Thanksgiving for the Holy Eucharist - "Take, thank, break, eat"

Living God, your Only-Begotten our Lord Jesus Christ gave us the Eucharist as the memorial of Christ’s life, suffering, death, resurrection and session in glory. As we give thanks for having made us one body in Jesus our Lord by water and the Holy Spirit, renew in us that mystery in bread and wine taken, blessed, broken and shared together to proclaim your glory until the Lord comes, who with you and the Holy Spirit, is one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Readings

Exodus 24: 3 - 8 

Psalm 116:12 - 13, 15 -18 

Heb. 9:11 - 15

Mark 14:12 -16,22 - 26

Good Morning to you.

Covid is asking us to do the opposite of all what we were doing. We said come together now maintain 1 meter distance, we told children not to use a phone and now it is thrust into their hands, we had gatehrings and now we cant gather as a group. In the same way  and when we are not able to travel from our homes and not able to join together at the Lords table, we are called to remember and celebrate the Institution of the Holy Eucharist and the actions of revelation - Take, bless, break, share.

For us the Eucharist is a sacrament instituted by Jesus, the night he was betrayed. And Sunday after Sunday we enter into the our churches and as a community we participate in this sacrament. This participation makes us a sacramental people, a people who participate in the grace of God. 

What does the Eucharist mean in times of a pandemic and a background of imbalance in society. There are people who have and do not have - money, food, vaccines, to name a few. There is an imbalance in the environment. 

The Eucharist has two elements. The bread that symbolises the broken body of Christ and the wine that symbolises the shed blood of Christ. Both these elements are part of the Passover meal.

At the Passover meal Jesus takes the bread, he blesses it or give thanks for it, breaks it and gives it to the disciples to eat to share amongst themselves. Now this action of Jesus was seen before the Passover meal when he fed the 5000 with 5 loaves and two fish and when he fed the 4000, and after the Passover meal at the home in Emmaus. 

On all three occasions there was something special that happened. At the feeding of the 5000 Jesus told the disciples who wanted the people to be sent away, to give them something to eat. The disciples come and make a presentation to Jesus, with all their financial analysis to show why they can't feed the 5000. But Jesus turns their direction. 

When Jesus turns their direction from the way they think and see and act, and when they walk that path the miracle happens. You need to be willing to run in the direction to which Jesus points. He asks them, how many loaves do you have, go and see. Jesus took what was available, gave thanks, broke it and shared it. All ate. All were satisfied. 

On the other hand you also need to part with what you have for Jesus to do a miracle. Someone gave that bread and fish, in Johns gospel we see that it is a little boy.

Very often we don’t pay much attention to the words of Jesus. Very important. What do you have? God and see? In Matthew he also says bring them to me.

In today's context of travel restrictions and pandemic where there is an imbalance in food, money, technology for children to pursue education Jesus is calling us to play a double acting role. As the disciples to go and see what we have then we play the second act by giving whatever we have. And then the miracle takes place, there is sufficient for all, all are satisfied.  

So what can we give, the food we have, the money we have, our vehicles with petrol and diesel to go and deliver, our tech equipment.

At Emmaus the disciples didn’t identify Jesus even though he walked with them and opened their hearts to the scriptures. When he was invited into their home he went in. At the table, he took the bread, gave thanks, broke it and gave it to them. This action of Jesus opened their eyes, They recognized Jesus. 

They realised that all this time Jesus was with them. The events that surrounded them prevented them from seeing Jesus. The events and the emotions connected to it drowned them, even though their hearts burned as they heard his words. The joy of seeing Jesus drove those disciples back to Jerusalem to share that good news with the other disciples. Today, Jesus is in our midst. In the midst of this pandemic in the midst of environmental destruction he is walking with us and talking with us. 

Are we drowned by the pandemic and the emotions attached to it? Or is God speaking to us, warming our hearts, so that we will open up for Jesus to be seen by the world? For the world to see him and recognise him, the bread has to be taken, blessed, broken and shared. Are we willing to be that bread a resource in the hands of Jesus? 

We come t the Passover meal Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, breaks and gives it to them to eat. He says, this is my body. He is preparing them to see his body being broken. After that he takes the cup of and give it to them to drink, he says this is my blood. They were to see this blood shedding from the cross. The writer to the Hebrews says this blood is unblemished and can cleanse our conscience.

As a sacramental people, we are washed by the blood of Jesus. This act was not just one for them to see, but to remind them of what God in his love for this world has done through Jesus. For them to be part of that body and to participate in that body. To be part of the body of Christ and to participate in his body is God's gift of grace to all of us. And the Eucharist is it's symbol which reminds us who we are, a sacramental people, and our role as the body of Christ to serve the living God.

People of God, the Eucharist is not just a Sunday affair. It is a sacrament that is lived day in and day out, in the midst of different people, contexts, experiences. A life through which the world recognizes Jesus. That's why at the end of the service we respond to the dismissal go in peace to love and serve the Lord with the words. For that we need to offer ourselves to Jesus as that bread. Then he will take, thank/bless, break and share us amidst the different people, contexts and experiences. And the world will recognize Jesus.

May God give us the courage to live out our sacramental live in a meaningful way, in these times of Pandemic. And then in the words of the Psalmist we can say "O Lord, Truly I am your servant".

(Upcountry deanery English service on Zoom - 06.06.2021)