Maundy Thursday – Our Eucharistic Model for Ministry: Take, Break, Bless, and Give
Maundy Thursday – Our Eucharistic Model for Ministry: Take, Break, Bless, and Give
When you think about it when we come together as Christians, we make up a very, very, unique group of people. Just the individuals gathered here represent a wide range of backgrounds, skills, social interest, political positions, and philosophical and religious beliefs. And…while we may feel somewhat at home when we come together in this place, we need to remember that world wide there are 70 million Anglicans with whom we are in communion. And… we need to remind ourselves that Episcopalians in the United States represent less than 2% of the national Christian population. The truth is that there are millions of Christians around the world with every color of skin on the skin color spectrum, who dress differently, live differently, think differently and who would not have understood a word that I have said so far.
Yet, for all our differences there is one thing we Christians hold in common. It is our story. It is the story that has touched each one of us personally. It is the story about God’s love for us as demonstrated in the person of Jesus Christ. Sooner or later in our Christian journey we discover that the one primary reason we must love one another is because Christ first loved us…. ALL OF US!
We all have known people who came to the church looking for friends who would share their interest in some standard for living. One young person came to see me in my office to ask what are the rules of the Episcopal Church. What she meant was; dress code, diet code, etc. when I told her that the Episcopal Church didn’t make rules like that, she was honest enough to say that the Episcopal Church was not for her. Some have joined the church because they enjoyed the rhythmic sounds of Elizabethan English.
The truth is that if we joined the church hoping to find companionship with like-minded people, we are destined to be disappointed. There may be cliques within the church, but the church is not a clique. A clique is a “small, exclusive set or snobbish group of people within a larger group.” When scripture tells us that Christ died for all people, in all times, and in all places, the concept of the church as a clique does not hold up.
Some we know have joined the church with the idea that those who shared a particular point of view would endeavor to make that point of view be accepted by the whole group. During the early 70’s a group of kids pushed to make the use of drugs an acceptable standard at Camp Cross. They soon discovered that the church is not a commune.
The Church is not a clique or a commune; the church is a community. As a Christian community our likeness, our identity (if you will) is grounded in our belief that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. We all have discovered that trying to live in a Christian community can be rough. We wonder at times how God could possibly love the corny jokes, the asinine opinions, the trendy style-setters, the fold singers, the traditional musicians, the liberals, and the conservatives… all gathered to worship Him in one church. Historically we know that however rough community living might be, it is in community, and through community, that God reveals himself. Again, all we hold in common is the spirit of God’s truth. A truth He has chosen to reveal through this hodgepodge of different individuals with different views of life, that we call the Church. I challenge you to name any other organization that holds to the same hope for wholeness. It is in the Church that we discover what it means when we sing, “For the love of God is broader than the measure of man’s mind.”
Here on this Maundy Thursday, we hear Christ giving us a new command. The name Maundy probably comes from a Latin world that means “mandate” or “commandment.” It refers to John 13:3-4, “A new commandment I give you, love one another as I have loved you.” then He gave us a way of coming to grips with His command in a profoundly simple and unforgettable way. He breaks bread with them. If we can grasp the meaning behind the four actions of the Eucharist, we will have made a good beginning on living the new commandment Our Lord gave His Church on Maundy Thursday over 2000 years ago.
“One the night in which He was betrayed, He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it too His disciples and said, this is my body…. this is me…. follow my lead.
The four actions of the Eucharist: Take, bless, break, and give… describe how we are to love like Christ.
What do we know from Christ’s example? First, we know that when He came into the world, He identified himself with our total humanity. The bread that we present at the altar represents our life and our livelihoods. Here O Lord, we present ourselves…. and…. what does the Lord do? He takes the bread…He takes us, and in so doing we are already assured of being accepted by Him. He did not accept one kind over another, but all human kind.
That is our first lesson in Christ-like love. He accepts all. If we can’t take Christ in the face of our brothers and sisters, we will never know what God can do through us as we join together in community. Each time we separate ourselves from God’s community we will se fewer colors in the rainbow of His truth.
Next, Christ, the model of our priesthood, takes our humanity and creates a dance. He takes us and He blesses us. To be blessed is to be empowered. When we have been blessed, we are inspired to move beyond our human challenge to “Be all that you can be!” Through communion we are empowered to do God’s will. We learn what the prophet meant when he said that in God’s love we are carried as on Eagle’s wings.
The third action of the Eucharist, He broke: one of the secrets of learning to live and love in God’s community is to be willing to lay our hearts desire on the alter and let it go. So much of what rips a community apart is our stubborn insistence that we get our way. My home-spun definition of original sin is: A congenital burning desire to have the last word on what is right and fair from my point of view. Jesus himself prayed to His Father that if it were possible to find another way to accomplish His purpose….to please do so. There was none. So, Jesus, our model for priesthood, was willing to lay down His desire….to empower God’s love for the whole world. Being a Christian means not always having your way.
The only way a community can work is when each of us in our turn is willing to lose for the sake of the whole. In times of conflict, I have learned to ask myself, “Is this a hill I want to die on?” Wouldn’t you say that most of the time, when there is a big dispute over something, it’s hard to remember what it was all about just ten years down the road? And, then something that which could have caused a war…. simply and mysteriously, slips into place. The Holy Spirit, whose job it is to bring us to God’s truth, is always on duty.
Finally, in the fourth action of the Eucharist…He gives. There are three benefits that come from participating in the Eucharist. Our relationship with Christ is strengthened – His blood…His life is now a part of who we are. Our relationship with one another is strengthened – we are now the Lord’s blood relatives. And, we are strengthened to do God’s will – “Send us now into the world in peace, and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart.”
On this night in history, the Son of God commanded that we love one another as He loved us. In our priesthood, modeled after the priesthood of Jesus Christ, we are to:
Take our neighbors with Christ.
Bless our neighbors in Christ.
Be Broken with our neighbors in Christ.
And with our lives strengthened in Christ – Give ourselves in service to our neighbors in need.
The four actions of the Eucharist are the four actions of our priesthood; Take, Bless, Break, and Give.
Amen
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