Lenten Devotional – Maundy Thursday

Q. 96. What is the Lord’s Supper?

A. The Lord’s Supper is a sacrament, wherein by giving and receiving bread and wine, according to Christ’s appointment, his death is showed forth; and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body and blood, with all his benefits, to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace.

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Cor. 11:26)

"The fellowship of the table teaches Christians that here they still eat the perishable bread of the earthly pilgrimage. But if they share this bread with one another, they shall also one day receive the imperishable bread together in the Father's house." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1954), 66.

  The simple act of sitting down around a table is something a lot of people don't find particularly important - but for Christians, the shared supper is a vital aspect of spiritual life. The Scriptures speak of three kinds of table fellowship that Jesus keeps with his own: daily fellowship at table, the table fellowship of the Lord's Supper, and the final table fellowship in the kingdom of God. But in all three, the one thing that counts is that “their eyes were opened, and they knew him.” (Luke 23:31)

  This meal is provided, not because we have earned the right to eat and drink with Jesus, but simply as an act of divine love. For Presbyterians this divinely initiated meal is one of two sacraments of the church, instituted by God and commended by Christ. We are following in the tradition of the early church when we affirm three primal material elements of life - water, bread and wine - as the primary symbols of offering life to God. Being washed with the water of baptism, we receive new life in Christ. In eating the bread and drinking the cup offered by God, our memory of the promises are made present by the Holy Spirit.

  “The Lord's Supper is a sacrament of continuous growth, nourishment and new life. In our Reformed tradition participation in this sacrament should follow the sacrament of baptism. Just as humans need food and drink for nurture and sustenance, Calvin wrote that the Holy Meal is God's way of providing for our maintenance during the whole course of our lives after we have been received into God's family. Both sacraments provide a visible, in fact a graphic, way of presenting God's promises.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “The Fellowship of the Table” Life Together, p. 66-69

Inviting Others to the Table

“And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples — for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Mark 2:15-16)

  I spent 20 years working in the addiction treatment and prevention field and did a great deal of public speaking to groups throughout the county where I worked. Parents would frequently ask me what steps they could take to keep their children drug free. Among my suggestions was to insure that they had regular family meals together. Family meals provide opportunities for ongoing, consistent conversations between parent and child and keeps parents involved in the daily activities of their children.

  My children are now adults and if you were to ask them their most memorable family moments sharing conversations around the dinner table on our deck in the summer would be at the top of the list. On a summer evening we would barbeque and share dinner on the deck and frequently would end up talking into the late evening hours.

  In scripture, banquets and feasts are prominent in sealing friendships and building relationships. The idea of hospitality runs deep in the thought of those in the Near East. Shared meals are a sign of community and acceptance. In the context of meals Jesus challenges our ideas about community. Jesus calls all disciples to be good neighbors, to be hospitable and welcoming. Jesus, both as guest and host of meals shares his reality of the kingdom of God. Jesus accepted and extended invitations regardless of social status.

  Even today, in the middle east, to invite a man or women to a meal is an honor. To share a common meal is an offer of peace, trust, brotherhood and forgiveness. Sharing a place at the table meant sharing life. In doing this Jesus shocked the concept of community and was criticized for it. "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them" (Luke 15:2).

Being Rich Toward God

”Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15)

  My wife, Karen and I went on vacation during July in Elmira, NY. Elmira is near Watkins Glen, NY where the Watkins Glen International Race Track is located. I have mentioned in prior posts I am a fan of NASCAR. Karen has been to the track many years ago, since she grew up in this area of New York. I have never been to the track and I wanted to visit and wondered if a visitor could actually get to see the track.

The start/finish line at Watkins Glen International.  Click any photo to enlarge.

  I discovered you can visit one section of the track and watch cars practice on the track most days for free. Watkins Glen is a road course track 3.4 miles long. I also discovered I did not have to settle for just watching other cars, but I could have the opportunity to drive three laps around the track myself (though not free). After the second lap you get to stop and take photos at the start/finish line. (photo included)

  I decided I could not pass up this chance. After I had finished driving my three laps around the track, Karen mentioned that doing this was probably on my bucket list. I am not sure I really have a bucket list, yes, there are a few things I hope I might do someday, but if they don't happen I won't be disappointed. As I thought about it, it occurred to me most bucket lists contain earthly items, but how about heavenly items.

  Some people do in fact develop their own bucket lists, those things they want to do before they kick the bucket. They believe they need to achieve everything on their list in order to feel fulfilled in life. Fact is we probably will “kick the bucket” before we complete the list, depending upon what we have on our list.

One Strange Herd

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. … Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (1 Cor. 12:12-13, 27)

   One day, my grandchildren wanted me to watch the movie, “Ice Age.” “Ice Age” is an animated movie about a wooly mammoth named Manfred, a sloth named Sid, and a saber-tooth tiger named Diego. These three unlikely companions discover a little boy and unite on a common mission to return the baby to his father.

  While on their journey they realized that they are on top of an erupting volcano, which was melting the glacier bridge on the ice field. Diego jumps to reach the others and falls short, he loses his grip and falls. Manfred unwilling to let Diego perish leaps into the chasm and tosses the tiger to safety. Diego is moved by Manfred's compassion, courage and sacrifice in this dangerous rescue.

  “Why did you do that?” Diego asks. “You could have died trying to save me.”

  Humbly, the mammoth responds, “That's what you do when you're part of a herd. You look after each other.”

  Reflecting on the circumstances that brought these three together, Sid muses aloud, “I don't know about you guys, but we are one strange herd.”

  Whenever I think of the church, I often think of this odd collection of individuals God has called together for His purposes to become His church, “this one strange herd.” The church is called out into the world by Christ as a expression of all that is good, acceptable and perfect in God's sight. God is His wisdom calls together the strangest collection of people full of failures, faults, sins and shortcomings but still remains confident that we can become Christ's church.

  Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book, “Life Together” speaks about this one strange herd, “If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty… then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Christ Jesus.”