Sermon: Maundy Thursday Message As you have heard and read in the worship bulletin tonight, today is Maundy Thursday – the day we follow the mandate Jesus gave to us – to “do this” in remembrance of me.” For some reason, the Latin word for mandate stuck in our language, and so we gather on Maundy Thursday. Tonight I invite you to reflect on this mandate Jesus has given us – by worshipping, partaking, listening - and by watching the images that are on the screen. These are various artistic renditions of the Last Supper - paintings, tapestries, wood carvings – even a sand sculpture and an Etch-A-Sketch rendering of this event. Most of us are familiar with the famous Da Vinci painting – but my Google image search came up with over 400,000 images – just a fraction of which you will see tonight. Anna Carter Florence teaches preaching at Columbia Seminary, one of our 11 seminaries – I heard her lecture here a few weeks ago – and I was so impressed I bought her recent book and even got it autographed. Dr. Carter Florence, says “The Lord’s Supper, “the best gift ever given” – “was also a brilliant idea, considering that we human beings are programmed to be (1) forgetful, and (2) hungry.” Maybe you caught the evening news last week on NBC when they interviewed a man who could remember everything he has ever done. Give him a date, and he can remember what day of the week it was – what he did, where he went – everything. Can you imagine? Doctors at a research center are studying this man’s brain, in hopes of finding insights that might lead to eventual treatments for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. After that story, Brian Williams, the news anchor came back on, and said, “I do well to remember where I put my keys.” I’m with Brian. Jesus knew that we human beings are forgetful. So he gave us this mandate – this command – to “do this” – to share these common things, “to do this in remembrance” of him – the very words that are inscribed this Lord’s Table we are using tonight. Because we are prone to forget, Jesus urges us to do this - again and again and again – so that we would never be able to forget Jesus. And in this sharing, we are reminded of what Jesus taught us - and what he accomplished for us in this Holy Week. By repeatedly doing this thing we call a sacrament – we are reminded over and over again of this invisible grace, this love, this unmerited favor that is given to each of us, by Jesus – in this sharing, each and every time. And the visible signs of this invisible grace, given in this sacrament – these signs are things we cannot easily forget, because – as Dr. Carter Florence points out, we are human, and we get hungry. What better “reminder sign” could there be for we forgetful humans than the sign of bread – this sign of food. For food is something we need every day. Food gives us nourishment, which then provides the energy we need to function. Lack of food, and we do not function all that well. If we receive no food, there is no nourishment – and our bodies begin to shut down. And if this goes on too long, then we die. This cycle is built right into us – part of our human make up. We cannot escape it – much as we might like to do in our efforts to lose some weight. We get hungry – every day – and this hunger reminds us of our need for food. Jesus also knew that we need other kinds of nourishment as well. Like love, and kindness – gentleness and grace and peace – self esteem and the esteem of others. Without these nourishing things, we also lose energy and vitality. Again, Dr. Florence says, “Jesus knew that you can starve a person with lack of gentleness Justas surely as you can starve her with lack of food – which is probably why we refer to many of these necessities as “fruits of the Spirit” – since our souls, our spirits, literally die without them.” It is harder however for us to recognize any hunger pangs when it comes to the fruits of the Spirit. We may not be aware of just how malnourished we are in these things. But when we find ourselves saying things like “Nobody loves me” or “I can’t do anything right” – when we feel like we are somehow broken or even beyond repair – we aren’t really going crazy – we are really just hungry – hungry for another kind of nourishment – the fruit of the Spirit kind. And it is right here, at this Table, that we also gain that kind of nourishment. We receive bread and grape juice – and through them we receive the spiritual nourishment we need to feed our spirit. “This is my body – broken for you.” “This is my blood – my life – poured out for you.” Jesus own life is for us – for you and for me - and for all who come in hunger to receive what is freely offered. The Apostle Paul, in the reading tonight, takes this one step further – reminding us of the nourishment we also need from the community, from the body. When Paul wrote to these Christians in Corinth, he was responding to what he had been told about the sharing of the Lord’s Supper in that community. Apparently some of the members were gathering in the early afternoon, and eating the full meal - and remember, at that time, it was a full meal. Other, still at work, could not get there until later in the day – and when they got there the food was all gone – and the wine was nearly all gone – and some of the members drank so much of the communion wine they got drunk. Paul blasts them on this – telling them if they are so hungry they should eat at home first – and then everyone, all the members – rich folks who did not have to work – middle class and poor folk who had to work until sunset – everyone should come together to share. Not doing so was “to eat and drink in an unworthy manner,” “For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves.” Discerning the body – does not mean this human body – my body – by the body of believers, the whole church – everyone who can be there – the “red and yellow, black and white,” all are precious in His sight” – and everyone needs to be included. One of our members, Mark Leach, sent me an email earlier this week. It seems rather providential that tomorrow, Good Friday, is March 21 st – or 3/21 – which is World Down Syndrome Awareness Day. This day – 3/21 – was chosen years ago, because that date is descriptive of the triplicate – the third set of the 21st chromosome – which is the genetic cause for Down syndrome. As many of you know, Mark and April’s daughter Juliet was born with Down syndrome – “endowed” with Down syndrome, as Mark puts it. And since then it has become Mark’s passion to address this, including the threat posed by prenatal testing, when women decide to end their pregnancies with there is a diagnosis of Down syndrome. Mark and April’s daughter Juliet is already a beloved member of this community of faith – she is welcomed around this table – she is part of this body of Christ here. And as a child who lives with something other than the typical – her very presence nourishes the rest of us. One writer, Morris West, in his book The Clowns of God, speaks of this same thing – as the main character holds a child like Juliet in his arms, and says, “She is necessary to you – for she will evoke from you the love that will make you whole.” As we gather today around the Lord’s Table, this meal we do again and again – we are fed, we are nourished – by real food – by the spiritual nourishment – the invisible grace Jesus offers us in it – and by each other in this community of faith, all of us who gather around the table as a body of believers. And we do well to ask ourselves – who is not yet a part of this body of believers – who could be here? The neighbor next door – the stranger – someone who is like me – someone who is not so much like me? The person who struggles, the person who feels unworthy of the grace Jesus offers freely to them? Let us never forget – seated around that Table long ago were two disciples - Peter and Judas – one who would deny knowing Jesus, and the other who would betray Jesus. And all the while Jesus knew it – and Jesus still offered these two his own life – just as Jesus offers it to us each time we do this, in remembrance. So tonight let us gather – to be fed, to be nourished – by these common things, by the Holy Spirit – and by one another. And all God’s people said Amen.
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