Tag Archives: Lord’s Supper

Breaking Bread

Eastertide

April 26, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Luke 24:13-35

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’ That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. –Luke 24:27-35

Christ is made known to us each time we break and share bread. Eating together is one of the oldest symbols of community where together we assure that each person present gets some of the very staff of life.

Jesus brought a message of salvation for all God’s children as he sent his disciples forth to carry his salvation and love to the ends of the earth. It is not easy to open our hearts to such breadth of love when we have been carefully taught to be cautious of the other. Cultural norms are hard to even recognize as influencing our behavior, much less change them.

Paul had to deal with this issue in his first letter to the church at Corinth (see 1 Corinthians 11:17-34). He writes instructions about people who arrived early. He did not want them to continue the practice of eating all the food before others came. The early birds might have been from the middle or upper class. They might have provided much of the food being offered. The late arrivers were most likely the working-class people arriving late because of the hours they had to work. Paul told the early arrivers if they were hungry, they should eat before they come. The food used to celebrate the Last Supper was to be shared equally.

I do not think Jesus envisioned a world where all had the same amount of wealth. I do believe he expects us to live together in a world where everyone has enough to meet their basic needs. And in a world where one’s wealth is the result of the oppression of the other.

Prayer: God of Love, help us examine ourselves to find where our behavior is driven by anything other than loving as you love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

One Body

Maundy Thursday

April 9, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Romans 6:3-11

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. –Romans 6:3-4

I was six when baptized. I remember it very well. A short, skinny, sickly little kid, the congregation could only see the top of my head when I took the last step to the floor of the baptistry in my small hometown church. Dr. Fred Keller did the honors. He was a history professor at Phillips University, located about 50 miles northwest of the church, and an ordained minister in the Christian Church now called the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Our church was too small to afford a fulltime pastor. Many of the small rural communities that surrounded Enid, Phillips’ location, were shepherded by both faculty and seminarians in parttime capacities.

I “went forward” and made my confession of faith the week before my baptism, a surprise to everybody in the sanctuary, I think, including my parents and Dr. Keller. He and I had a friendly chat after church. I guess he was satisfied that I knew what I was doing as he scheduled the baptism.  Dr. Keller and I routinely had chats anyway because I was a history buff at a very early age. I think he enjoyed my curiosity. Before we entered the baptistry, Dr. Keller walked me through the procedure. After he said the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost,” placing his hand gently over my mouth and lowering me backward into the water, he just as gently raised me to a standing position. I felt different as I stood for a moment to get my balance. I cannot describe what that difference was, but I knew that I had made a lifelong commitment. I remember that.

Once again, the scripture above reminds me of my baptism and that commitment. Today we remember Jesus’s last supper when he took the bread and blessed it and gave it to all the disciples saying take and eat of this all of you for this is my body broken for you. In like manner, he took the cup blessed it and gave it to them, saying this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins drink of it all of you.

For the last few weeks, I have shared the reenactment of this supper at home via Facebook and my laptop as my congregation practices safe distances in response to the covid-19 pandemic. While I would prefer to be sharing the Lord’s table in our sanctuary, the fulfillment of Jesus’s instruction to do this in remembrance of him does not require a special place. We are one in Christ wherever we may be as we celebrate how large and how far-reaching the Lord’s Table is.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for being present with us whenever and however we come together One Body with you sharing your love throughout a troubled world. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Hospitality

Eastertide

May 21, 2019

Scripture Reading: Acts 16:9-15

We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshipper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.’ And she prevailed upon us. –Acts 16:11-15

We need to revisit the heart of hospitality. In the first place, hospitality is not a milestone around our necks, an overbearing requirement to get ahead in the world or meet the expectation of others. Hospitality is a privilege for Lydia in our scripture today. She gets to welcome this wonderful man and all his friends into her home as perhaps a celebration of his great gifts which he shared with her.

My mother was a practitioner of the art of hospitality. I can just see her opening the door of our house with a big smile on her face saying, “Come in, it is so good to see you.” I do not think anyone left Mom’s house without at least being served a glass of water and usually was offered tea and something to eat. Now Mom could get into quite a frenzy preparing for guest and we kids were caught up in making everything just perfect but that was all a part of the joy of entertaining others.

The church in one of the few places left in the world where people of various generations can just, for a few moments, get to know one another and enjoy the pleasure of each other’s company. We say it every Sunday when we acknowledge that we are a people of the table. Jesus taught us to embrace hospitality as a reminder of his constant presence with us. While the formal service at the Lord’s Table is of highest importance, we celebrate his presence in every instance when two or three* are gathered in his name sharing good will along with cookies and coffee. Maybe if we practiced a little more hospitality, we would deal with a lot less hostility in our world today.

Prayer: Lord, teach us the joy of your hospitality as we share it with one another. Amen.

*Matthew 18:20

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.