Maundy Thursday
Lectionary Texts:
OT: Exodus 12:1-14
Psalter: Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19 (UMH 837)
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Gospel: John 13:1-17, 31-35
Today we commemorate Jesus' last supper with his disciples and the tradition he established as our Lord's Supper (Holy Communion, Eucharist). There are numerous issues surrounding the last supper and our celebration of it. We have four texts, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Paul. John has a last supper but no bread and wine, a footwashing instead. Luke's version differs in having two cups, one before the bread, one after. The manuscripts of Luke have considerable textual variation dealing with this. Other issues include:
Was the last supper a Passover meal? Who should be allowed to take communion: small children? Non-Christians? How do we best administer communion in this age of rightful germophobia? How often should we have communion?
I'm not going to deal with any of those issues today. Rather, I'm going to get--to me--what is the heart of the matter. What do Jesus' words, "This is my body," and "This is my blood," mean for us as United Methodist Christians today? I have told about the historic options before in classes most of you have been in: transubstantiation, consubstantiation, real presence, memorial. Methodists don't have an official doctrine on this (other than that we don't believe in transubstantiation). We tend to be somewhere between real presence and memorial.
Memorial is far easier to explain. It is that we are simply reenacting the last supper in remembrance of Jesus.
Real presence is much more difficult to explain. It is that Christ is present in the bread and the wine, not in any transformation process, not in any particular philosophical understanding, not in any way that can be rationally explained. We experience his presence in the elements. He is with us in the bread and wine, in a way that is more tangible than any other experience of him.
While I think most Methodists lean toward the memorial understanding, many of us feel communion at, what I would call, a deeper, more spiritual level. He becomes a part of us.
Communion is meant to be a fellowship act. We do it together. Covid has been terrible for communion, at least for me. The liturgy is the same. The elements are the same. But not being there makes it all not the same. I hope you are doing better with it than I am. I think all of us will be doing better with it when we can be in church. I pray that that day is not too far off.
O Christ in the bread, Christ in the wine,
Help us through this time of spiritual famine, this pandemic. Renew our faith. Remake our congregations. Bring us back safely and soon to our churches. Amen.
Faithfully,
Christian
2 comments:
We were blessed to attend Maundy Thursday service outside, in the Memorial Garden, at CUMC last night. As with any outdoor worship over this past year we were give little sealed cups of juice with a wafer on top. Although this is not the same as communion before, at least we are participating together and taking part in the Great Thanksgiving. I pray next year that Maundy Thursday service will be fully restored. Although I’m not sure we will ever use intinction again?
I'm voting against intinction. And the Common Cup is definitely gone. As a Case Investigator, I unfortunately find out about a lot of outbreaks in churches. Anywhere where people gather indoors is dangerous. I'm glad you were outside. Being in a well-ventilated area is key. We will get through this.
For a few years I practiced Zen at a Zendo led by a Jesuit, Roshi Robert Kennedy, SJ. It was at Saint Peter's University in Jersey City, and almost all the hardcore regulars (by which I mean, those of us who came every morning and meditated from 5:30 am to 7 am and then had breakfast together) were Catholics. They used to love to ask me questions as the resident freaky Protestant (the other exception to the Catholic rule was an actual Chinese Buddhist from China). They were utterly confused about what we thought communion was. I did my best to explain.
Post a Comment