Isaiah 55 New
International Version (NIV)
Invitation to the
Thirsty
“Come, all you
who are thirsty,
come
to the waters;
and you who have
no money,
come,
buy and eat!
Come, buy wine
and milk
without
money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and
your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to
me, and eat what is good,
and
you will delight in the richest of fare.
3 Give ear and come to me;
listen,
that you may live.
I will make an
everlasting covenant with you,
my
faithful love promised to David.
4 See, I have made him a witness to the
peoples,
a
ruler and commander of the peoples.
5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,
and
nations you do not know will come running to you,
because of the
Lord your God,
the
Holy One of Israel,
for
he has endowed you with splendor.”
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call
on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
and
the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to
the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and
to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Isaiah 55,
Words of prophecy
700 years before Christ. Using images of ordinary things like bread, milk, to
convey the presence of God! This was written to those in exile, they
likely had nothing that was free at that time!
Wine and milk and
bread available without cost!
To pay attention
to God, to discern God’s presence even in people who were exiled-basically
prisoners of war-- far from their homeland. That even in the midst of suffering
God’s love is right there with them! Despite their homeland, their holy
city of Jerusalem, and the Temple all being destroyed, God was present.
And to prophecy
the coming Messiah, the savior! The gift of the messiah would bring them
eternal life--the covenant of God’s promises thru out millennia. Specifically
that a descendant of King David would bring them to freedom, for all eternity! Jesus,
a direct descendant of King David was the fulfillment of this prophecy.
“Seek the Lord
while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked
forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to
the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God,
for he will freely pardon.
God requires
living faith, as indicated in repentance and change of behavior
And God has
unlimited compassion . . . will abundantly pardon.
This is a
reminder to keep God foremost in thoughts and in our hearts.
A reminder that
unrighteousness is anything that turns us away from God. Turn TOWARD God, and
God will have mercy, and freely pardon.
As elsewhere in
scripture...all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of GOd, but The LORD is
gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
Which brings us
to our Gospel lesson…
Mark 14 New
International Version (NIV)
22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and
when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying,
“Take it; this is my body.”
23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given
thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
24 “This is my blood of the[c] covenant, which is poured
out for many,” he said to them. 25 “Truly I tell you, I will not
drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in
the kingdom of God.”
26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to
the Mount of Olives.
During our trip
to our national meeting in Cleveland...one of the first nights, part of our
merry band were gathering for supper, and one of the folks, not a pastor, a lay
leader in her congregation, told about being a camp leader, on the last night of camp serving communion.
And how special and meaningful that was for her. Years later, she cherishes
that memory! And my friend Pastor Dawn shared about the first time she served
communion to her son, her grown son who has autism and rarely would come
forward to receive, he takes it afterwards. But one day he walked forward,
hands out. And how beautiful that moment was for her. And then i shared about
my favorite service here, Maundy Thursday. The night before Good Friday, When
we share the story of Jesus’ last supper, the beginning of the tradition of
holy communion. And what is so precious to me, is that Pastor Steve and i get
to serve each of you ourselves, that we come to each of you, saying the Body of
Christ, the blood of Christ-for you, It’s so personal.
Rachel Held
Evans, in Searching for Sunday.
"The
sacraments ...reminded me that Christianity isn’t meant to simply be believed;
it’s meant to be lived, shared, eaten, spoken, and enacted in the presence of
other people. … I can’t be a Christian on my own. I need a community. I need
the church."
The Table of Lord
goes by many names, The Eucharist (from the word for Giving thanks!) the Lord’s
supper. Holy Communion. All these are correct. All convey aspects of the depth
of meaning of this sacrament.
We call it
Communion--from the root word that also gives us “Community”, being together.
I especially love
this meaning.. Because it is what we were created for. We discussed this
before.. That God, created us to be together with God and each other. And Jesus
who came to embody that perfect community and to show us how it’s done and to
give us the gift of the holy spirit to make it happen;
Also RHE: Church
is a moment in time when the kingdom of God draws near, when a meal, a story, a
song, an apology, and even a failure is made holy by the presence of Jesus
among us and within us
Yes Jesus is
present always, among us and within us. Brother Lawrence, a 17th century monk
wrote of cherishing the presence of God even in the mundane tasks of kitchen
duty! I confess, I almost never think of the presence of God while I’m cleaning
the kitchen.. But if somehow i do, i know that Brother Lawrence is right. That
God is there even in the very mundane. Recognizing that God is present in the
most ordinary of moments, can help us to live out our faith more
completely.
In the Gospel
lesson, note the sequence there… Jesus gives, teaches, they worship, then go
out.
In our pastors’
discussions, I have said that church isn’t just here in these 4 walls. The
“real Church” if you will, is afterwards, at coffee hour, in the lunch after,
in the taking of flowers or a treat to a shut in. helping serve meals on
wheels, volunteering or giving to Caritas and other organizations. Helping
provide school supplies to needy families!! A brief, Friendly chat with the
clerk at Woodman's or Walmart….it’s sharing a bit of time and self, during the
rest of the week. That’s the real church. It’s the relationships. Spending time
together, having a bite together, serving others together.
author Jean
Vanier...Unity....Unity does not come from the acceptance of exterior structures
or laws, dogmas or ways of worship. It surges up from a life that flows within
us and through us all together. It is hearts and minds bonded together because
they are bonded in communion with Jesus.
Did you ever
notice in the gospels how often Jesus is depicted at a meal with others? And of
course, it’s mostly not with the people you’d expect. Jesus said believe in me,
but the way he showed to do that, is to spend time and often, a meal
together!
Henri Nouwen says
that when we have a meal together with others, A spiritual bond grows, and we
become food and drink for one another. In the most complete and perfect way,
this happens when Jesus gives himself to us in the Eucharist -in Holy
Communion.
We work and live
and love with other people. We laugh and cry with others. We celebrate births
and mourn losses, and a lot of the time we do it over a meal. Jesus knew how
important it is to enjoy a meal together and turned His very last meal on Earth
into one that His followers could have together to completely and perfectly
remember Him.
Jesus gave us the
gift of this meal...his Self to share together. Jesus gives, teaches, we
worship, then go out.
At the table, we
Remember Christ’s
sacrifice,
It joins us into
one body..
We confess,
We’re forgiven…
We give thanks
We go out
-together- to serve.
The table is set
for each of us. Let us come to it-together :)
