Jesus in our pockets: A Maundy Thursday meditation on Holy Communion

 

Communion Meditation

Maundy Thursday

14 April 2022

Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Jerusalem

The Rev. Carrie Ballenger

 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Amen.

Some years ago, I was standing at the door of the church after the worship service, shaking hands with church members, when a little boy tugged at the edge of my robe. I leaned down to hear what he had to say. “Pastor Carrie” he said, “Guess what?” “What is it?” I asked.

He leaned in a bit more and whispered, “I have Jesus in my pocket!”

And then he reached into his little pocket and pulled out the bread I had just given him earlier in the service.

Now, should the bread of holy communion have been in this little boy’s pocket? Probably not! But I had indeed said to him, “This is the Body of Christ, given for you.” And he took those words to heart! This bread was his. This Jesus was for him! And he was taking good care of his Jesus.

On a separate occasion, my own son, 6 or 7 years old, suddenly spoke up from the back seat of the car. He said loudly, “Mom! I’m strong today!” When I asked why he felt so strong, he said, “Because today at church I drank the wine, and now Jesus’ blood is in me!” Amen!

How is it that children so often comprehend the mysteries of faith more easily than adults?

Dear people, this holy day on which we are gathered to worship is called Maundy Thursday, from the Latin for “commandment”. Or it may be called in German Gründonnerstag, “green Thursday”. Or it might be called Dies Panis, “day of the bread” or even Dies Pedilavii, “day of the footwashing”. But my favorite of the traditional names for this day is Dies Mysteriorum, “day of the mysteries”.

This is indeed a day in which Christians contend with many mysteries.

First, there is the mystery of the bread and the wine. Jesus said, “This is my body, given for you. This is my blood, shed for you.” What an awesome mystery it is, that he not only gave his body and blood for the world, but continues to be present for us in, with, and under the bread and wine today.

There is also the mystery of the foot-washing. On this day Jesus, Son of God, healer and teacher and miracle worker, knelt in loving service at the feet of his own disciples and washed their dusty feet. What a humbling mystery that is, that our Savior and Messiah came among as one to serve and not to be served.

And of course on this day we acknowledge the greatest mystery of all: That Jesus gave us a “mandatum”, a new commandment, to love one another as he has loved us.

They mystery is: How shall we follow that new commandment today? What does love look like in the midst of a pandemic? What does love look like during an exhausting military occupation? What does love look like when countries not far away are at war with one another? What does love look like when our beloved city of Jerusalem is brimming with tension and outbursts of violence? What does love look like when we want our neighbors to experience religious freedom, but are worried about whether we will be able to gather for the celebration of the resurrection?

We want to follow your commandment, Lord, but how?

Day of mysteries, indeed.

I have often heard the argument that Christians should not receive Holy Communion every Sunday, because it somehow makes it “less special.” But I am of the mind that we need to receive the bread and the wine more often, not less.

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

It seems to me that the mysteries of this day, and the mysteries of our faith, may never be fully comprehended until the day we see God face to face. But each time we come to the table to receive the one bread, we come a little closer to understanding. Each time we come to the table and share the cup of salvation, our hearts and minds are opened a bit more to the truth.

There is a unique oneness that we experience when we gather around the Lord’s table. We may also experience oneness at the breakfast table, or around a dinner table with good friends, but this is something else. This is a oneness, a belonging, a rootedness, that comes from knowing that we all need mercy, forgiveness, and grace in equal measure. We all need bread. We all need love. We all need Jesus. And thanks be to God: he shows up for us, again and again.

And so today, we will come to the table and once again receive the mystery of Jesus’ presence as little children. Then we will go out from this place knowing that the love of God in Christ Jesus goes with us. We carry this love in our pockets! We carry it in our hearts and on our faces. And with God’s help, we embody this love as a church, for the sake of a broken and hurting world.

Thanks be to God for the blessed mystery of Jesus’ intimate, extravagant, self-giving love for each one of us. Amen.