Today's Meditation - Maundy Thursday - April 9, 2020

Today’s Meditation for Maundy Thursday

Luke 22:14-20

¹⁴When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. ¹⁵He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; ¹⁶for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” ¹⁷Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; ¹⁸for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” ¹⁹Then 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.” ²⁰And 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.

This day/evening is one of the most sacred in the Christian Year.  We generally celebrate by gathering with our Christian sisters and brothers and we share communion together.  This year, that is not to be.  I am envisioning Christ with his disciples in that Upper Room.  The disciples were more than likely in a buoyant, expectant mood.  After all just days ago, the crowds in the street were praising God, shouting Hosannas and waving Palm fronds, placing their cloaks on the ground for the young donkey Jesus rode upon.  But I think Jesus was mired in a more somber apprehension of what was to come that night.  There can be no doubt that Jesus stared at that broken loaf of bread on the table and caught a vision of what would happen to his own body the next day.  He then peered into the cup of wine and glimpsed an image of his own face and knew that it would be stained in the blood he would shed.  How haunting, gripping, and poignant.  Most denominations have rules about Holy Communion; who can serve it and who can receive it, and even how it is served.  Thankfully, our own denomination of the PCUSA has loosened many of the old rules in regard to this.  But I don’t think there are any rules about Communion in a pandemic.  I might be breaking them, if there are. 

In my opinion, based on the life of Jesus Christ and the stories we read about him in the scriptures, he was utterly inclusive.  Jürgen Moltmann in The Church in the Power of the Spirit writes: “The Lord’s supper takes place on the basis of an invitation which is as open as the outstretched arms of Christ on the cross. Because he died for the reconciliation of ‘the world,’ the world is invited to reconciliation in the supper.”

Here’s what I want you to do today.  Whether you are home alone or with your family, take a piece of bread tonight at your dinner table.  Yes, an ordinary, everyday piece of bread (that’s what Jesus had to work with), give thanks to God for that bread, ask God for blessing upon it and say, “In remembrance of you, dear Lord, I take this bread and eat it knowing that you gave your life for me.”  In the same way, take your glass of water, your milk, juice, or even wine…any liquid (it doesn’t matter!)  And say, “In remembrance of you, dear Lord, I sip from your cup and know that you have forgiven my sins.” 

I don’t think God will lose any sleep that we will forget that the Eucharist is sacred.  I think God is more anxious that we might forget that it’s ordinary.  Until we meet again in ordinary time!

In Remembrance of Me