Holy Thursday 2015

Meditation from Maundy Thursday service.

The bread and cup, two symbols that mean a great deal especially to us as Disciples. The Lord’s Supper is a central part of who we are, each week when we gather we find ourselves celebrating this symbolic meal.

I invite you to hear(read) our scripture for tonight found in the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 22: 7-23

Perhaps the greatest symbols of Jesus sacrifice are right in front of us, at least on a weekly basis. We often take them for granted. They simply become just “part of what we do” and can begin to lose their meaning over time.

Which is why Maundy Thursday is such an important service for us to celebrate. It is a chance to be reminded what the symbols of the bread and cup mean to us, individually and corporately.

The Table- fellowship, friendship, nourishment, unity...what are other things you think of when you think of the table, communion or otherwise?

Bread- work of so many hands. Those who prepare the ground and plant the seed, those who harvest and make ready the grain, those who mix the dough and bake the bread, those who serve and clean up following meals…

Cup- fruit of the vine, harvested and made into a drink to quench our thirst. What do you think of when you think of the cup of this meal?

Christ body- broken for us, that we might be reminded of what it cost for us to be welcomed into this family.

Christ blood- poured out for us, that we might be reminded of what it cost for us to be welcomed into this family.

These 2 symbols remind us, that it cost us nothing but it cost Christ everything. 

The bread and cup are our most frequent reminders of Christ’s sacrifice. In every meal we eat and every cup we drink at the Lord’s Table or the family table we are reminded that life is a gift to us from God.

They are signs of forgiveness, symbols of love, an action of grace.

This symbol recalls Christ’s sacrifice for us and call us to sacrifice for Christ. We do that when we offer bread to someone who doesn't usually sit at “your table” or a drink to someone who is thirsty.

When we offer life through sharing the bread of life and the cup of salvation that Christ first shared with us, we show God's forgiveness, love, and grace.

Christ’s sacrifice for us is made real in our lives when we realize that ordinary bread made by ordinary people is holy when we take and eat and remember. When ordinary grapes taken by ordinary people and made into ordinary wine are holy when we hold the wine to our lips and drink and remember.

This bread…remember his body given for us.

This cup…remember his blood poured out for us.

Ordinary people made holy when we sit and listen and know, that God invited us here to this table of forgiveness, love, and grace. (Paraphrase from Chalice Worship).

Let us pray-Gracious God, remind us that we are made holy because of your grace in our lives. As we seek to share with others the sacrifice of your Son Jesus Christ. Show us the places we can share with others the bread of life and the cup of salvation. Help us to make our table a welcome one. Amen.

A blessed Holy Thursday to you.