Messages, Meditations, and Musings on the Life of Faith by Rev. Dr. Scott E. Olson, Interim Pastor, Christ Lutheran Church, Preston, MN

Thursday, April 2, 2015

"Radical Hospitality" - Sermon for Maundy Thursday

Radical Hospitality
Maundy Thursday – Narrative Lectionary 1
April 2, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
Matthew 26.17-30

There was a video making the rounds of the Facebook feed in my neck of the woods a few weeks ago. It showed an experiment some young adults were conducting about generosity. The first few clips show one of them coming up to various people in restaurants, saying they are hungry and asking if the diner would be willing to share some food. None of them did, even though it was obvious they could well afford it. Then, the next set of clips showed one of the experimenters handing out food to a homeless person and another coming up to that homeless person a while later with the same request: “I’m hungry, can I have some of your food?” All of the homeless shared.

Now, as counter-intuitive as this seems, it does square with my experience: those that have little tend to be far more generous than those who have much. This isn’t a Stewardship sermon (though if it hits you that way, it’s okay). Rather, I tell this story to get at how someone who seems to have so little shares his entire self: Jesus. Some have seen this “Last Supper” of Jesus as the last meal of a condemned man. However, we know it’s more. I almost think of it more as a funeral meal while the deceased is still alive. I have known people who have celebrated milestone birthdays comment about their parties as a funeral lunch except they get to hear the good things while they are alive. (As an aside, I think the funeral lunch may be more important than the funeral service, maybe even more so. So, please don’t tell your family you don’t want any services or at least let them throw a party.)

We all know the power of sharing food with one another, how meals can ease conversation and build relationships. One of my family’s values growing up was that we all have dinner together, and my father would get apoplectic if one of us wasn’t there. Yet, what is so remarkable about this supper has intrigued readers for ages: the presence of Judas the Betrayer. This act of betrayal was so profound that we remember it each week in the Words of Institution at Holy Communion: “On the night in which he was betrayed…” We don’t say, “On the night of his Last Supper” or “On the night he was arrested.” No, it was on the night of his betrayal. Let us not skip too lightly over this. Have you ever noticed that they all say, “Surely, not I. Lord?” Think about it for a moment: not only did none of them know which of them it was who would betray Jesus, it could have been anyone. In point of fact, all of them will desert Jesus at some point and his closest friend will deny he knows him.

Each of the four gospels has a unique twist on the institution of the Lord’s Supper. It is only in Matthew’s rendering that Jesus says this meal is for the forgiveness of sins. Two thousand years later, we reenact this scene, not just on Maundy Thursday, but whenever we gather to share the Lord’s Supper. We do so because, although we sing the same song as the disciples, “Surely not I, Lord,” we have just as much potential to betray and deny and abandon our savior as they did. We do so because, as Martin Luther says in his Small Catechism, “where there is forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation.”

Though we gather tonight in somber reminder of just how much that life and salvation cost, we also gather to celebrate the radical hospitality that Jesus offers to everyone who comes, everyone. Particularly, we rejoice with our young people, many who are communing for the first time, and all who have a deepened understanding of this great gift. As I told them last night at the class, this is one of those “hot fudge sundae” times, hot and cold, sober and joyous at the same time. It’s okay to feel both. In fact, it’s almost mandatory, because funeral dinners are like that. As we reflect on the price our Lord paid, we are grateful for the great love he pours out upon us. Amen.

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