The Loud Supper

Open with clip from The Chosen

Please stand as you are able:

Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed)

Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed)

Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed)

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.

You may be seated.

We opened with a short clip from the upcoming season of The Chosen. It took place in the upper room and what is called the Last Supper. Jesus is telling his disciples that they are about to experience profound sorrow. Part of what will make their sorrow so deep is the profound sense of joy the world will have. But be patient, for their sorry will be turned to joy.

Grief is a common human experience. I’m sure we would have 100% agreement on that, at least. Tell about learning to pray lament - complaints - in our small group study and how freeing that has been.

Not just our personal sadness. If we look around very much it’s easy to see that the world is pretty sad in general. There are a lot of things that feel broken. Not like they are supposed to be. We still battle racism, injustice, war, poverty, pollution. We have human systems that, even when they try to do good, mess it up much of the time. There is inequality, waste, and greed that corrupt human systems and institutions. So we have individual sorrow, but also collective sorrow.

We’ve been doing a short series called Come To The Table. Some of Jesus most profound and important teachings came in the context of a meal. Last week we looked at the nature of the kingdom of God in The Least Supper. At our Good Friday service we remembered the Last Supper, leaving our time there in sorrow and darkness and silence. We participated in, in some small way, the sorrow experienced by the disciples as their Lord was crucified.

This morning, we get to participate in their joy. Death, and therefore sorrow, do not get the final say. When Mary Magdalene when to the tomb that first Easter morning - it was empty! History - your history - will not end in sorrow and darkness and silence. It ends with shouts of praise and with laughter. Not with a Last Supper, but with a Loud Supper. Jesus, the risen one, will finally turn all our sorrow to joy.

Listen to what John records:

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Revelation 19:6–7 “Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come...”

I don’t know if you’ve ever stood outside a football stadium when a game is going on. You can tell, can’t you, when a big play happens - either good or bad. If it’s a bad play, you hear the groan of the crowd - mostly Razorback games. If it’s a good play, you hear the excitement. And if it’s a touchdown, the roar of the crowd reaches a new height.

John is hearing something like this. A crowd is roaring. They are celebrating. Not just a touchdown, but a victory. The ultimate victory. The conquering of sin and death. Anything that causes sorrow is now completely defeated, never to trouble us again. And This Loud Supper encourages us to celebrate in advance.

The marriage of the Lamb is when Jesus fully united with his church. Even more, it represents heaven and earth being brought back together. It could be said that all the ills and evils of human history are the result of the splitting of heaven and earth. When our first parents decided to live independently of God, a fracture happened. God’s will was no longer the only will done on earth. Now sinful human will, and the evil will of satan, would begin to vie for dominance. All the suffering, all the misery, all the tears of history - and all of our sorrow - stems from this one cause.

This Loud Supper celebrates the healing of this fracture, just as God promised he would do. Isaiah saw this future and wrote: Isaiah 25:6–8 “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.”

This renewal promised in Isaiah has begun through the resurrection of Jesus, and will find it’s culmination one day at the Loud Supper after all the work is finished. But we are invited to begin the celebration in advance because we have full assurance that Jesus, the risen one, will turn our sorrow to joy.

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Revelation 19:7–8 “Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready; to her it has been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.”

I can still remember the morning of my wedding day. For the groom, the preparation is pretty easy. Do basic hygiene and put on your tux. And then you wait… a really long time. (my pic)

But for the bride, the preparation is a ritual - and it involves many helpers. And a lot of time. And apparently it takes so much time you have to stop and have a snack. (Julie pic) I didn’t know having a sandwich was part of getting ready. I feel cheated.

So far I’ve seen two daughters married, and it’s still the same. Maybe not the sandwiches. But brides prepare themselves for the big event.

In our passage the bride has also made herself ready. Who is the bride? The church. Those who have put their trust in Jesus. Who follow him, who are becoming like him, and who do as he did. For John, the church is both the crowd roaring in victory and the bride making herself ready. The true church is the people of God who live ready for the return of the King. Living prepared is our bride-like response to the victory of Jesus. Who go in his name and do the things he did - healing the sick, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, announcing the good news that God reigns, that death is defeated, that new life is available.

We get to participate in the joy of his victory now. And as we live ready for his return, Jesus, the risen one, turns our sorrow to joy.

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Revelation 19:9 “And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.””

The reason we can begin to live in joy today is because the Resurrection of Jesus has assured the outcome of the story. There is no ambiguity about how history will end. Christ has conquered. His victory and his kingdom have already begun. We only await its final consummation.

The Sagrada Familia (pic) is a famous cathedral in Barcelona, Spain. It was designed by Antoni Gaudi who began construction in 1882. What makes the cathedral famous, besides its other-worldly design, is that is still isn’t finished. For 143 years construction has been going on. They are saying now that, maybe, it will be finished next year.

But even though isn’t not fully completed, you can see the beauty that will be one day. You can still go in an participate in the joyful worship, even though there are things that aren’t quite right yet.

In the same way, in his resurrection Jesus has inaugurated his kingdom. Victory is already won. We get glimpses now of what will be one day. We can experience the joy and healing and new life of the coming kingdom as we wait for its fulfillment. We can experience his power to restore relationships and bring reconciliation, to defeat our inner demons of depression or drugs, we can see him lift up the outcast and embrace the outsider. The kingdom of God is not here yet in its fullness, but it is here.

We can live in confidence now that we will one day sit with Jesus, the risen one, and finally see all of our sorrow turned to joy.

But The Loud Supper is an invitation where we must respond.

“Blessed” in this passage is the Greek word makarios. It can also be translated “happy”. Those who are invited - who accept the invitation - will find ultimate happiness. Favor from God. We don’t like grief, and we constantly search for ways to avoid grief, deny grief, or numb our grief. But all the things we often chase - the latest fashion, a newer car, bigger house, larger bank account, better body - none of these things will ultimately shelter us from grief. They can make us happy in the moment, but soon that happiness fades and we have to begin the chase all over again.

Exchange short term grief for long term joy. Do you ever feel like a hamster running on a wheel and getting nowhere? Jesus offers, not necessarily short-term joy - we will still experience sadness in this broken world. But he does offer an eternal joy - one you can begin to experience now in spite of the occasional grief.

If you have never surrendered your life to Jesus - committing yourself to becoming his follower - why not let Easter Sunday 2025 be that day?

If you are already a follower of Jesus, the invitation is to live in the reality of the resurrection. It is so easy, once coming to Christ, to turn back to the world. To begin looking for short-term gratification to somehow deal with our grief instead of finding our joy in the promised future where we will sit with Jesus and share in a Loud Supper.

I talk about this a lot, because it is still a temptation even if you are a Christ-follower. You will either choose to live according to the secular story, trying to find happiness in the here and now, or you will choose to life according to this ancient, sacred story - the only story that can offer real life and fulfillment and joy.

Maybe for some of you, Easter 2025 is a day to repent where you’ve allowed the secular story too much space in your life and Jesus is calling you to re-embrace his story of self-giving love, surrender and mission - and the kind of joy that remains. This is the table that he invites all of us to.

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Communion

Let us pray…

We rejoice this morning in the words of Isaiah, now fulfilled in Jesus, who has come Isaiah 61:2–3 “to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.”

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection you gave birth to your Church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit. By your great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of your Son from the dead and to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. Once we were no people, but now we are your people, declaring your wonderful deeds in Christ, who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. When the Lord Jesus ascended, he promised to be with us always, in the power of your Word and Holy Spirit.

The pastor may hold hands, palms down, over the bread, or touch the bread, or lift the bread.

On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

The pastor may hold hands, palms down, over the cup, or touch the cup, or lift the cup.

When the supper was over he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

On the day you raised him from the dead he was recognized by his disciples in the breaking of the bread, and in the power of your Holy Spirit your Church has continued in the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup.

And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

The pastor may hold hands, palms down, over the bread and cup.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.

By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father (God ), now and for ever.

Amen.