At the Table - Sermon for Maundy Thursday Year A

At the Table

Maundy Thursday A

April 6, 2023

Christ, Preston, MN

Matthew 26.17-30

Many years ago, Cindy and I were members of Nativity Lutheran Church in Alexandria, VA, just outside of Washington DC. I was still a lay person and had gotten involved in leadership positions. Over 20 years prior to that, as a new church start, a “Phase 1” facility had been built. There was a multipurpose room used as a temporary sanctuary, some offices and classrooms. But for some reason, Phase 2 had languished and was not built. Finally, there was energy to add a permanent sanctuary and folk from the denominational headquarters in New York, the old Lutheran Church in America, arrived to “help.” 

Unfortunately, the meeting got contentious and emotions ran high. I don’t remember the exact issues, but I suspect it had to do with the long time since Phase 1 had been built. Even so, after a long and trying day, we closed out our time with worship and Holy Communion. As we gathered around the railing together I could feel the tensions dissolve. There was something about gathering around the table that restored us and healed our relationships.

I often wonder what the meeting would have been like had we started with worship and Holy Communion just as Jesus started his journey to the cross with the meal that we now call the Lord’s Supper. Scholars debate whether this meal was a true Passover meal, but Matthew is clear that the Passover themes permeate the story: we are delivered and freed, just as the Israelites were.

I came across an old Jewish folktale that says before God created the world, he forgave it. It seems that forgiveness, grace, and mercy are baked into the very essence of the world. It’s in our DNA. Of course, there was nothing to forgive at creation, but God anticipates the need for it anyway. Just so, Jesus anticipates the need for forgiveness, not only for Judas and the disciples but also us. It doesn’t change Judas’ betrayal and the desertion by the disciples, but it anticipates it and  provides for it.

The importance of meals is well-attested in the Bible, including tonight’s reading from Exodus. The meal we now call Passover not only prepared the Israelites for escape, it embodies the very themes of deliverance and in the reenactment. For thousands of years it continues to remind us of God’s presence. Meals were and are crucial for hospitality. They were even safe places, refuges from harm. It is no small thing that when people gather for significant occasions, we eat.

We know that God loves us and we hear the words of assurance to that effect during every worship service. But God knows we are fleshly creatures who not only forget but also need tangible expressions of that love. Holy Communion addresses all of our senses. We touch, taste, feel, hear, and see God’s love for us. That’s why I love Lutheran Sacramental theology because it claims, as Jesus said, “This is my body, this is my blood.” that we take the very creator of the universe, who forgives, into us. Tonight, as we continue our journey with Jesus and thinking about how he was stripped and beaten, mocked and condemned, deserted by his closest friends, we do so by first eating with him. We come to the table by faith, for faith, knowing that whatever our failings, God loves and forgives. Thanks be to God. Amen.

My sermons often preach a little differently than written and you can find the video here.