April 18, 2019

“Remember”

St. Luke 22:7-23

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.  So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it."  They asked him, "Where do you want us to make preparations for it?"  Listen, he said to them, "when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters and say to the owner of the house, 'The teacher asks you, "Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?" 'He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there." So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.

When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."

Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!" Then they began to ask one another which one of them it could be who would do this.

Spring is in the air.  Do you smell it?  In the early morning there is more nitrogen in the air and as is passes through one’s nostrils the scent of spring.  Smell is a powerful sense for memory.  A certain smell, the smell of spring, can flood one’s memories of former springs.  All of a sudden that forgotten spring is remembered and becomes present.

What if the smell of freshly broken bread and finely poured wine snapped our memory back to the Last Supper? 

What might we see?  What might we hear?  How would we take it all in?  How would that event shape our memory of Jesus?

There are 4 cups in the ritual of Passover.  Each significant of God acts on behalf of God’s people:  1. “I take you out…” 2. “I save you…” 3. “I redeem you…” 4. “I take you as a nation…”

Luke records 2 of the 4 cups. Jesus lifting up two cups – one that toasts the coming of the Kingdom of God and one that is the ‘new covenant in my blood.’

Luke recalls the breaking of the bread at Passover and Jesus saying, “This is my body given for you.”

2000 years of the sacrament – 2000 years and thousands of theologians have heard Jesus words that have influenced our understanding and practice today. 

But what if, what if we returned in remembrance to that first Last Supper?  What were the disciples hearing?  Were they hearing that they were eating Jesus’ flesh and blood?

Luke seems to have a different nuance – namely that Jesus ties this eating with the Kingdom of God.  He shares this last meal and says he will not share a drink of the vine again until the Kingdom of God comes. 

God’s loving rule is coming and that will be celebrated in this toasting of the wine – the first cup in Luke.  Luke’s emphasis on the Kingdom of God must not be overlooked.  For God in Christ is turning the tables and feasting with the least of these.  God in Christ and in this meal is calling for justice – originally the freeing of slaves from Egypt:  A celebration of liberation of those oppressed and marginalized.

Then in giving the bread in Luke what if Jesus is not pointing to the bread when he hands out the loaf?  What if he is pointing to his own body and saying the sharing of this bread is a way to remember the sacrifice I am about to make?

Imagine Jesus saying:

“Look at the way I’m giving myself into death.  When you break bread remember to live in this way.”

What if the cup is the cup of suffering Jesus refers to in his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.  What if Jesus is saying, “My blood is about to be spilled – let it be remembered with this cup!”

What if we went back to that first Last Supper and discover that Jesus is really inviting us into a way of life – that we truly remember him when we live a sacrificial life.

Oh, what a passive act this Holy Communion has become.  Where we just pass around thin wafers and wine with some sentimental remembrance.

When Jesus eats this meal with his disciples there is nothing passive about it. 

When Jesus says ‘remember’ he is saying ‘live the way I live!’  The Holy Sacrament is more a meal of love – agape love.  Remember the way to truly live is to die to self.

As a seminarian I took a course entitled:  The Church – The Sacrament of Christ Our Savior.  I learned that in remembering of Jesus at this meal the faith community becomes the bread broken and identifies and enters the broken places of life with the Bread of Life. 

I came to know as the wine is poured into the cup for Communion, so the faith community – you and I are to pour our lives out bringing healing and hope to those we meet each day.  By taking this sacrament we become Christ to those around us.

Rather than this Holy Sacrament being a way out of our sin Jesus tells us to remember -  it is a way into a new way of life.  Sharing in this Sacrament is the way we follow the Christ and are given and poured out in service to others.

Amen