Maundy Thursday Sermon

Da Vinci's Last Supper

Maundy Thursday Meditation on Exodus 12:11
Preached at St. John's Lancaster April 5th, 2012

“And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s Passover.”

The Children of Israel had suffered long in a land not their own. What had started as a sojourn of opportunity and deliverance soured quickly after Joseph died. The favour of the ruling powers evaporated with the rise of a new dynasty in Egypt. Foreigners who had been welcomed for the skills they brought and the connections they had were now seen as a threat to the stability and security of the realm. They were over the centuries relegated to the status of slaves in their adopted land. But all of that was about to change. God had raised up a man, Moses, and instructed him to lead the people into a land of promise. Their trek was to be a sign for all peoples of how God provides for the elect in a sometimes hostile and difficult world. And their journey was destined to become a symbol to all people of how God is faithful to us as we wander in the wilderness of our own emotions and realities.

Things had come to a climax, and it was almost time for the journey to begin. The plagues of Egypt were only a warm-up for the events of that night, when the firstborn would be slain, unless the blood of God’s assigned sacrifice covered and atoned for those waiting inside each dwelling. From that night on, the people of the atonement, God’s people, would be a pilgrim band, a tribe apart, living in the world but not of the world, bound for a promised land which was their heritage and their birthright. As a symbol of this uncertain and sometimes uncomfortable status, the Children of God were instructed to institute a new meal which would commemorate their deliverance by blood from their slavery. They were instructed to take this meal dressed and prepared for the journey of a lifetime. Their food was to be camp food, prepared without time for yeast to rise or meat to be delicately prepared. Their side dishes were to be bitter herbs, emblematical of the dangers and difficulties of the road ahead. And so they entered into this new reality as people prepared for a journey they could not have fully understood. Like Abraham before them, they left that which was secure and comfortable, if imperfect, for a land promised by God, a land that they could scarcely imagine.

And here we gather, the people of God in this place, ready to begin our own journey to that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Along the way we will meet dangers, challenges, and opportunities. Some of us may loose faith and fall by the way. Others will suffer mightily and fight the good fight. None of us will be given the opportunity to see this journey as a pleasant stroll in the countryside, because it is so much more than that. It is the very journey from the slavery of our sins and those of the culture in which we live into a land promised by God- a land of service, and sacrifice, and commitment to the ways of God. On this night, in this sacrament, we commit ourselves to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and our neighbors as ourselves. Often, there will be no time to think about how we will accomplish this journey. The storms of life and the realities of human need will come at us in ways which are both unexpected and immediate. We often will not have the resources we need, and we will be forced to trust in God because we will be inadequate to the task. We will fail on occasion, and hopefully in humility we will rise and by His grace do better next time.

On this night, as we receive the strength of the sacrament and strip the altar of God, are you willing to strip away all of those things in your life which are extraneous to the journey, to the living out of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Are you willing to put aside the comforts and securities of life and embrace the call of God to you and to the Church, whatever the cost may be, and however frightening and unknown the future may appear? The children of Israel that night experienced the deliverance of God. They were made one with their God and responded by an act of faith which made them willing to follow him immediately wherever he might choose to lead them. On this night, we are called to do the same. As we receive this Holy Communion, as we wait in the silence of this disconcerting and terrible night, let us, like them of old, re-commit ourselves to following him wherever he chooses to lead us as individuals, and as the people of God. In the Name of The Father, and of The Son, and of The Holy Spirit. AMEN.