Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, Thursday, March 28th 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
There’s a history behind what we do here tonight. It is a history deeply rooted in the traditions of the Jewish faith and their celebration of Passover. Passover was the time they remembered how the angel of death ‘passed over’ the houses where doorposts were smeared by blood of a lamb and their first-born were spared.
Passover is the celebration of their freedom from slavery in Egypt and the beginning of a new journey towards the Promise land.
Passover Festival recreated for the Jewish people the events and circumstances of their deliverance.
- They would feast on the lamb.
- They would eat unleavened bread.
- They would taste bitter herbs.
Our communion celebration takes place within the framework of the Passover. Much of the symbolism of the Passover meal is carried over and reinterpreted within the Christian celebration of the Eucharist – a Greek word indicating “Thanksgiving”.
Many of the elements of Passover are taken on in our celebration of communion and give them an enhanced meaning. New elements are also present.
The lamb is still there – the lamb without blemish is represented through Jesus Christ, the lamb of God. His sinless life reached its brutal end through the bloodshed of the cross where He claimed to die for our sins and prayed, “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.”
The death of the first born is also there. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
The beginning of a new journey of faith and discovery is signaled through Christ’s proclamation that the Kingdom is being moved into a new phase through His life and ministry. This was not a journey straight from freedom to the Promised Land – but one that along the way would be nurtured and fed by His Presence – the Bread of Life.
The sign of the new Kingdom would be passing through the waters–not the waters of the Red Sea–but the waters of baptism. In baptism the old would be declared gone – the enemy of sin a conquered enemy buried beneath the waters – and the new covenant be in force.
The nature of the new covenant is startlingly different. Whilst the Israelites would on occasion fall prey to the notion that God had chosen them to be superior to their neighbors– through the ceremony of washing His disciples feet Jesus made it clear that in this strange new world – servants would be kings and royal authority exercised through service.
The keynote, the dominant theme, the overriding concept and meaning to be the hallmark of this new covenant was self-giving love– the Greek word “agape”. “Agape” was not love that was mere emotion or sentiment, not love in terms of affection or attraction, not even love that was defined by friendship and trust –but something deeper. Love that dared to express itself towards enemies. Love that embraced the unlovable and transformed the bleakest of circumstances. Love that could take a symbol of execution, bathe it in resurrection life, and transform it into an icon of faith.
Just as Passover was a celebration that bid the celebrants to call to mind the saving acts of God, so in communion we are called to remember. To remember Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the cross in such a way as it feeds our spirit and renews our faith.
Our memories function in unusual ways. Words and pictures can come and go, but tastes and smells have a habit of staying with us.
So in our remembrance of God’s saving work in Jesus Christ we eat and and we drink. We go beyond words. We seek to ingest the life of God, to allow our lives to be filled by the Holy Spirit. To visibly and tangibly embrace and be embraced by the love of God “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lords death until he comes”. (I Corinthians 11:26)
Just as the Promised Land would be a distant hope for the Israelites – so the coming Kingdom would be one the church has to move towards in faith and hope. The kingdom had come. The kingdom would be with us. Yet the kingdom is still to come in its fullness.
It is for us to nurture our spiritual lives through participating in this ceremony, in this memorial, this recalling - this act designed to bring us into the nearer presence of God - in such a real way that we recognize ourselves as God’s children, free and forgiven through Christ’s death on the cross, empowered through the coming of God’s Holy Spirit and ultimately victorious through Christ’s resurrection.
The focus of celebrating communion is not the act itself. It is a preparation for service. After washing His disciples feet Jesus said, “As I have done for you so do for one another.” The act of communion prepares us for service to others in Christ’s name. We for a while 'look in' so we can 'look out'.
This also recalls the events of the Passover. The celebrations were to remind the people, not only of who they were and what God had done for them, but also that they had a mission and a task to ensure others came to know the saving acts of God. They were a people set apart, not just so that they may live in the light of God's presence, but that their communal life would be a light for all nations.
Passover Festival recreates for the Jewish people the events and circumstances of their deliverance. They feast on the lamb. They eat unleavened bread. They taste bitter herbs. They recognize that their deliverance has come to them at a price, a price that involved the death of first born sons.
So tonight you are invited to this table we sometimes call the wedding feast of the lamb. The lamb being Jesus Christ, the lamb of God, the lamb who was slain, the lamb who freely offered His life for our forgiveness and renewal. 'Behold' declared John the Baptist, as Jesus approached him for baptism, 'Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world'.
So tonight we are invited to eat of the bread. Bread that reminds us of the manna in the wilderness. Bread that reminds us of the body of Christ. 'This is my body which is broken for you'. Bread that reminds us of unity and gathering, of nurture and sustenance. Bread that reminds us of the One who declared 'I am the bread of life”
So tonight we are invited to drink the wine of the kingdom. The cup after supper, the cup of blessing. The cup of the new covenant. The cup that represents the life blood and love of Jesus that was poured into our world through His life, His death and His resurrection. The cup that declares; 'Christ died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.' The cup He promises that He will drink with us in the eternal kingdom. 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me”
So tonight we are invited to think again upon John 3:16 &17. 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son so that whomsoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
So tonight we are invited to the celebration of the upper room. To sit around the table with Jesus. To seek for our life to be nurtured by His love that we may go out into the world to serve His Kingdom.
There's a history behind what we do this night. A history rooted in the passover. A history reshaped through the life of Christ. A history that we become part of every time we gather around this table to share this bread and wine.
Tonight, in Jesus name, we are invited to be history makers
and place our lives into the care of God's love,
as we pledge our lives to God's service.
Amen.
REV. ADRIAN PRATT
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