Maundy Thursday

In previous centuries traveling was quite different than it is today. Today we are used to hopping in our cars. And when we get hungry there’s usually a restaurant on a nearby exit. So, we stop and eat. But, I think most of us who have studied history realize that things weren’t always that way. For example when the wagon trains rolled west, the people needed to pack provisions along—food and water.

I remember Brenda and I discovered the importance of having provisions that time when we were backpacking in Northern Michigan and a bear stole our food. We suspended our backpack with all our provisions it, from a limb of a tree about 20- 30 feet in the air, just like the ranger told us. But that didn’t stop that bear. About 3 in morning as I lay in our tent I heard some big thuds and some grunts. I knew what happening. I could also hear that animal right outside the door. At that time all I worried about was the bear coming in our tent or about Brenda waking up and screaming. Thankfully, neither of those things happened. But, the next morning when there was nothing to eat and we had to pack up our gear and hike out with 40 lbs on our back then I realized the value of having provisions

Our experience made me think about the prophet Elijah. How he took a longer hike without provisions and how God provided for him Maybe you recall the story. He was fleeing for his life from Jezebel, the evil queen who was trying to kill him.

³Elijah was afraid^ and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, ⁴while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” ⁵Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” ⁶He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

⁷The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” ⁸So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God

In traveling to Mt. Horeb Elijah was retracing the journey of God’s people Israel after they left Egypt. His forty day journey was intended to symbolize their 40 year journey in the wilderness. And just as God provided manna for his people all those years, so he provided for his prophet. Just as he kept Elijah safe from Jezebel, so he had redeemed his people from the Egyptians and from enemies along the way and he provided water and “heavenly bread.”

The Lord takes care of his people. In the words of David, another, who knew the provision of God,

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”

When the Lord was here on earth he also cared for those who were with him. He also prepared a table for them. We see that in our story for this evening. Remember that Jesus was celebrating Passover, the very feast that reminded the Jews of the time God had rescued them from Egypt. They ate unleavened bread and roast lamb to remind them of the meal that God had commanded their ancestors to eat before they left Egypt. And, no matter what they faced. they knew that the same Lord who provided for their ancestors would provide for them and redeem them and give them a hope and future… that he would continue to prepare a table before them in the presence of their enemies.

I think I may have told you the story of when I was young and asked my grandpa about Psalm 23. “What does it mean grandpa when David says ‘The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.’ Does it mean that he didn’t want the Lord to be his shepherd?” “No,” said grandpa. “It means you’ll never lack anything… that God will always provide.” But grandpa didn’t stop there. He then shared with me stories from his own life how God had provided. How God had preserved his life after his lung was gassed in World War 1 and he was hit shrapnel fire. How God had cared for his family during the Great Depression when he was injured and they faced mounting medical bills. Somehow there was always a bag of groceries on the front step and coal in coal bin. How many of us bother to tell our children and grandchildren the story of how God provided for us? How many of us even stop to think about those times? Of how God has prepared a table for us in the presence of our enemies

That’s one important lesson of Passover. And that’s a message Jesus wanted his disciples to hear. For they also faced enemies and a wilderness. Jesus had told them that one of them would betray him—information that clearly shattered their little group. Is it I? Is it I? That seemed to degenerate into argument over who was the greatest. And their once tight group was fractured. Next Jesus told how Peter would deny him and he knew the guilt the shame that would fill Peter’s soul. Another gospel relates how Jesus also predicted that all his disciples would abandon him after he was arrested. The disciples had not idea what was in store for them, but Jesus knew. And he knew how it would shake their faith. In Matthew 26: 31, he tells them

This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:

“‘I will strike the shepherd,

and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’^

Jesus saw how his frightened disciples would scatter and later huddle together behind closed door in anguish and confusion.

And so the Lord prepared a table for his disciples, giving them just what they needed to face the enemies without and within.

Our Lord has a way of doing that—giving us just what we need. No, he often doesn’t take away our enemies. He promised that in this world we will have trouble. And evil people, Satan, and even the realities like disaster, sickness, death prove to us time and again that what he said was true. But he also provides. I remember that only a couple of weeks before my dad passed away I was able to spend vacation with him. My seminary had ended and I was able to go down on New Years. And then the day before he died and just before he left on what would be his last trip, my dad called me on the phone. My mom was late getting back and dad didn’t have anything to do so he called and we talked. A little thing, but it helped. I could say that in presence of that great enemy death God provided what I needed.

But, what did the Lord provide his disciples?

⁹And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

²⁰In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

Jesus put himself on the table. In John 6: 51 Jesus said,

¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.

His disciples probably didn’t understand the significance of what he was doing. But, through the bread and cup he was demonstrating to them that just as the bread and the wine became one their bodies, so his Spirit would be one with theirs. Now I realize at this point that some might thinking. “Oh, so that means that disciples would not face their enemies alone.” But, that’s not quite it. Remember they ate Jesus broken body and drank his shed blood. That put them on the cross with Jesus. And what Jesus doing on the cross. He was defeating our enemies. He was dying so that our guilt might done away with, just as Isaiah had prophesied

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to his own way;

and the LORD has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

Or as Peter the denier would one day state

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. 1 Peter 3: 18

he has put to death our old self that desires to sin,

⁶For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—⁷because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Romans 6:6

¹⁵And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again 2 Corinthians 5: 15

And by his death and resurrection he also defeated our final enemy death

⁵If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. Romans 6: 5

causing the Apostle Paul to later declare,

“Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”^

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor 15: 55

No our Lord no longer was simply giving his 12 disciples and all his disciples after them the grace to simply sustain them in a wilderness of enemies. He was giving victory as he himself declared John 6: 57- 58

⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.”

So too with cup

⁷After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. ¹⁸For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

And that what he has given us today. This is bread we ate and the cup we drank from. In the middle of this wilderness in the presence of our enemies, our Lord prepared a table for us.

There was a woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and was given 3 months to live. As she began getting her things "in order," she called her pastor and asked for him to come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes.

She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she wanted read, and what dress she wanted to be buried in. She also requested to be buried with her favorite Bible in her left hand.

Everything was in order and as the pastor was preparing to leave, the woman suddenly remembered one final request that was very important to her. "Please Pastor, just one more thing," she said excitedly. "Sure, What is it?" was the pastor's reply. "This is very important to me," the woman continued... "I want to be buried holding a fork in my right hand."

The pastor gazed at the woman, with a loss for words. "That surprises you, doesn't it?" the woman asked.

The pastor replied "Well to be quite honest, I'm puzzled by the request."

The woman explained. "You see, Pastor, in all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I remember that when the dishes were being cleared after the main course, someone would inevitably lean over to me and say, 'Keep your Fork'. It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming, like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance to end the great meal."

The pastor listened intently and a smile came upon his face. The woman continued, "So, I just want people to see me there in the casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder....'What's with the fork?'... Then I want you to tell them:

"Keep your Fork...the best is yet to come".

We just celebrate Holy Communion.  Take a look again at the empty cup you or someone next to you drank from. Not only will this sustain us as we face a world of enemies, it is the Lord’s promise I have defeated your enemies and the best is yet come. AMEN!