Date: April 14th
Preacher: Pastor Ashley Rosa-Ruggieri
First Reading: Exodus 12:1-14
Psalmody: Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Gospel: John 13:1-17, 31b-35
There is something powerful about sharing a meal together. A meal that is shared in a home dining room, in a restaurant booth, at a café table, or on a picnic blanket in the grass. A meal of tea and scones, a burger and fries, sweet potato chili and cornbread, or chicken nuggets and mac n’ cheese. The setting itself is not the only reason the meal is powerful, nor is it the food being eaten, but rather the most powerful part of sharing a meal together is the relationships that are formed, built, and nurtured. As Christians we too have a meal that we share together, that calls back to a meal shared by Jesus and his disciples so long ago, and tonight, as we commemorate Maundy Thursday, we remember this meal together.
Our scripture readings for tonight give us a snippet of what happened around that Last Supper table other than a meal, and also show an example of how when we join in communion, we are following in traditions that have been practiced since before the forming of the New Testament. Let’s start with what else happens around that table. We know that Jesus ate this Last Supper with his disciples, and that they will soon go to the Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus’s final journey from capture to cross will begin. But tonight, we remember the lesson that Jesus taught to his disciples then and to us now, as they sat around that table. He stood from his seat, wrapped a towel around himself and washed their feet. It is important to consider that at the time, foot washing was done by servants in the household, and was considered a lowly act. People wore sandals and walked around dusty roads day in and day out. Their feet were quite dirty considering the miles they traveled while open to the elements. But Jesus washed the disciples’ feet to teach them what it means to love and serve others. Our reading ends with his commandment for us that he just taught through his own actions—to love one another. This is our defining feature as disciples of Jesus—to love one another. Jesus says this is how people will know we are followers of Christ, by our way of loving one another.
And that is what we have been doing here and now as we have shared the meal of communion in unfamiliar ways these past months. We have loved one another. We have cared for one another’s health and safety, and in doing so we have accepted our call from Jesus and loved one another. In doing something new and different and at times even uncomfortable, we have loved one another. It has been hard and frustrating and confusing, but what a reminder we have tonight of what all of that was for. Because Jesus showed his disciples how to serve everyone and then told them to do so in love.
Tonight, after some time, we will begin to transition back to sharing communion in familiar ways. In fact, this will be my first time ever here at Trinity to share communion with you all in this way. But I do not want us to think that this meal we have been sacredly sharing in a different way is somehow less than the meal we will share tonight. Remember at the beginning of this sermon I said that it is not just the setting or the food itself that makes sharing a meal powerful, but the relationships that are affected by being together in those moments. The same truth applies when the meal is the Lord’s Supper. Our reading tonight from 1 Corinthians is what has been used to form what we call the Words of Institution. They are the words that I say every time that I preside over communion, and we share this meal together. These are words that have been used by followers of Christ for hundreds of years, and they are the same ones we have heard these many months. The method we commune with tonight may be different, but the meaning, the words, they are all very much one in the same.
We might also remember that in this time of unfamiliar communion practices, there moments of sacredness, nonetheless. There were powerful moments, like in one of the first weeks when I communed with someone who had never served communion before. I was the first person they had ever told “This is the body of Christ given for you, the blood of Christ shed for you.” What an impactful, holy moment to share with someone over this meal. There were moments of humor, like when we had the cups that were very hard to open and everyone struggled to do so, or when a wafer came out in many little bits instead of a whole wafer. What a remembrance of holy humor shared over this meal. There were moments of confusion when we weren’t all sure which way the circle of three was going, but in the end, we were all served, nonetheless. What a holy reality for all to be filled over this meal. There were moments that you had while sharing this meal with those around you that I may never know, but you will remember. And all of these moments of sharing this meal in a new, different, unconventional way were sacred and holy in their own right. They may have been paired with moments of anger or frustration at how things were for the time, but in the end, we were all still sharing this meal together and remembering the promises and sacred words given to the disciples long ago and passed down through generations of Christ followers to us here today.
Another name for communion is “Eucharist” which comes from a Greek word, and it means “to give thanks.” So tonight, as we transition into a familiar way of communing, I give thanks that we can do so on a holy day like this one. I give thanks for the communion meals we have already shared during my time here, and I give thanks for all the ones yet to come. I give thanks for the opportunity to show love for one another, and for the new ways we will always be learning to do that. And I give thanks for this meal that we share together. A meal that is important because of its original setting and context, and important because of the food and drink we share, but most of all is important because of the relationships that are lifted up when we share this bread and cup together in any form. Give thanks with me tonight for the sacredness of every communion meal we have shared, and for the opportunity tonight to continue to share this holy meal in ways that are led by loving one another. Thanks be to God.