tonight we served communion to families that desired to come into the church. i had been hanging out in luke 22 all week, and once again clinging on to a few sacred words...
the scene is the passover meal in a second story room that was swept and tidy. the apostles are gathered, jesus is there, and the meal is layed out before them. prior to distributing the 'elements' of the meal, jesus share with the apostles that he has 'been looking forward to this meal with them for quite a while...' my imagination tried to enter jesus' shoes with that comment. what were some of the human reasons he had been looking forward to this meal?
perhaps it was because this was the last night of a three year partnership with these guys. three years that were filled of moments of great victory and liberation in people's lives...but also moments when it is clear that nobody was getting what jesus was talking about...maybe a mix of both kinds of situations where the apostles may have been like..."ok, i think i get it." i imagine in that three year period, jesus would have been pleased with this group, and other times shaking his head and agitated.
but now jesus exclaims that this is the moment he as been waiting for..humanly speaking 'why this moment?'...may because jesus knew that we would be reading these words today...and maybe jesus knew that at times we would scratch our heads and not get it when we read through a parable...maybe jesus knew that the great miracles that are done in our midst would be celebrated for a short time, and then used as leverage for manipulation...may jesus knew that we, like the apostles, would not always be on track, and that we would need something to remember the basics of what he has done for us...something that we can return back to again and again, as long as we need a remindero who he is and what he as done.
perhas jesus was looking forward to this particular meal iwth the disciples so much, because he knew that we need to keep it simple.
i could not sleep last night because of some wonderful thoughts and emotions and prayers that have my head spinning...when i got done twisting and turning and finally shot up out of bed, i looked at my clock, and it was 3.16. it was appropriate that i respond to such a moment by entering a time of prayer with my xxx copy of the message. 'this is how much God loves us...' is how it starts... how do i know, what is my simple reminder...how do i get there without getting to lost in the wonderfl complexities of theology...i remember that he looked forward to sharing a meal with us, and what that meal means.
may you have a blessed good friday...the old is leaving...
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