The Fourfold Movement Of The Lord's Supper (Maundy Thursday)

"The Fourfold Movement Of The Lord's Supper"
Mark 14:22-23



There is a movement
a rhythm
to the last Supper.
As with most of what Jesus did
this movement is
poetic
parabolic.
Few words.
Few motions.
All of them
overflowing with meaning
and purpose
and intention.
It is the movement
of a flower blooming
opening slowly
letting its fragrance
and full beauty
slowly be released
and those who witness it
say, “Ahhhhhhh.”
That “Ahhhhhhh,”
is our reverent response
to the slow
and purposeful tempo
of Jesus’ motions
at the Last Supper.
Those motions
those progressions
are what we will bear witness to
tonight
as we move
with Jesus
through the courses
of the Last Supper.

Scripture Reading:  Mark 14:22-23  (KJV)
And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.  And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.

“And as they did eat, Jesus TOOK BREAD…”
Unleavened bread.
Leftovers.
Crumbs and chunks
orts off the serving plates
maybe picked up
from the table itself.
Bread from the Passover meal,
celebrating the Exodus
the major salvation event
in Old Testament history.
The deaths of the firstborn,
the firstborn of the the Egyptians--
killed
the firstborn of the Hebrews,
spared
saved
by the blood on the door.
The quick bread.
Made in haste.
Eaten in haste.
Eaten while death passed over,
while death was happening
all around them.
Waiting
to move out
to journey towards a new life
a life of freedom
freedom and life
born in the throes of death.
Jesus took that bread,
the bread of death
and anxious waiting.
Forever after
bread will never
just be bread.
That is
for we who believe
we who have been touched by God
who have been led
from slavery to freedom
who have been put on a journey
towards a new life.

"...and BLESSED IT…”
A blessing.
In a word, “thanksgiving.”
Simply thanks to God.
Expressing gratitude.
Remembering God.
Not just God’s favor
or protection.
Not God’s blessings
But God,
being thankful to God
simply because God is.
Invoke God at the table.
Wanting God to be there
to be a part
of what we’re doing
and who we are
and where we’re at.
Thank you.
Jesus’ life
about to end,
with that bread in hand,
says, “Thank you” to God.
“Give thanks in all things,”
wrote Paul.
Even for death
thank you
with the bread of death
the bread of the excruciating wait
the knowledge that
in a day or so
he’d be dead
even then
thank you.
The words of the blessing
aren’t recorded.
Just the movement
with simple words:
“Took bread.”
“Blessed it.”
Maybe just a simple,
rote,
table blessing
like children at the dinner table:
God is great!
God is good!
Let us thank Him for our food.
By his hands we are fed.
Let us thank Him for our bread.  Amen.
By that blessing
the simple bread
the fragments
become endowed
with power
with memories
with himself
with God.


“...and BRAKE iT…”
Broke the death bread.
Broke the waiting.
Breaking
opens up what’s inside
to the outside.
A bird
from the egg.
A worm
from the over-turned soil.
A baby
from the womb.
A word
from the page of a book.
Everything’s exposed.
Death is broken
to expose the new life.
Tense waiting is broken
to expose the joy
that is now.
And part of God
is being broken.
God is exposing
God’s self
in risky vulnerability
through Jesus.
God’s opening of self
is risky bidding
that we do the same.
Bread breaking.
Self-breaking.
Self-exposing love.
Broken bread.
A broken heart.
Broken out of risky love.
Would it lead
to our “broken and contrite heart”
before this God?
Being broken
is the risky
vulnerable path to God.
By brokenness,
not by an oasis of serenity.
By brokenness,
not by some sense of
divinely deserved protection.
By brokenness,
not by the promise of
some magically charmed life.
By brokenness,
not through a program
or bestseller from the self-help section
at the bookstore.
By brokenness,
first God,
through Jesus
for us.
Then,
our hearts,
“contrite”
before the broken Jesus
for him.


“..and GAVE it to them…”
A gift.
Is a gift given
really a gift
unless it’s opened?
Received?
Or,
is just giving enough
to make it a gift?
A gift--
not just the thing itself.
It carries a part
of the giver.
My grandparent’s Bibles
And my mother’s Bible,
more than just Bibles
to me.
They are part of my mother,
my grandparents.
Their hands
held them.
Their eyes,
fell upon these pages.
Their lives,
changed by what they read,
in these particular Bibles.
Gifts.
Giver.
History.
Experiences.
Life.
All of it blends
into that which is given.

The gift
for you
must become the gift
for another.
Gifts are meant to be given,
not grasped
for the self
becoming an idol.
“Then he gave it to his disciples…”
The abundant life
of Christ.
The salvation
of Christ.
The ransoming life
of Christ.
The sacrificial love
of Christ.
The brokenness
of Christ.
The blessing
of Christ.
All of who Christ is,
in the given bread.
A gift.
To be given.  And given.  And given.


“DO THIS…”
Means all of it.
All four movements
the full rhythm
the poetry
the parable nature
of this sacramental meal.
No picking
and choosing.
No,
just the giving
without the breaking.
No
just the bread
without the blessing.
No
just the blessing
without the giving.
Follow
the natural rhythm
of the meal:
Took bread
Blessed it
Broke it
Gave it
A rhythm
that will lead
to the Cross.
And,
to the Resurrection.
This is the rhythm
of the Gospel
the Good News.
This is the shape
of the Christian life--
the shape
of the bread:
taken
blessed
broken
given.