Maundy Thursday Message

Introduction: On 911 my son and I participated in the 911 salute with the BoyScouts. Boy Scout troops from around the state signed up for hour shifts and for 24 hours would line up in rows with the front row saluting the flag for a specified period of time. We did this to remember that dreadful event.

We as humans need activities scheduled in our lives to remember significant events. Jesus knew this so on the Night he was arrested he instituted what we call today the Lord’s Supper, the Last Supper.

How Does this Supper Proclaim and help us remember the events of Jesus’ Life? How does it help us remember the Gospel?

We look at 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 at what Jesus instituted on His Last Supper with his disciples, and How Paul uses that to encourage us to remember, proclaim and live the Gospel of Jesus.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

We Remember the Gospel.

In the quote from Jesus, Remembrance of me is mentioned 2x.

vs. Oral Tradition - Remembering passed down from generations.

On that night what is interesting is that Jesus did not institute the sermon, or words on that night. - Important as we need the word to help us connect the dots.

However, there is power in doing in full body activity to help things sink in to become a part of us. We are concrete creatures, and Jesus knows this, he designed us that way.

After Baseball practice - fellow team mates response after he heard me say, “I read a lot of books on how to play baseball.” His response, You don’t learn baseball by reading books, you learn it on the field, practicing and playing the game. You learn by doing.” - It really is both, he did not realize that I read the books and practiced all of the drills in the book.

Darle’s Funeral - One of the most inspiring moments is the Military Honors - Through the actions, hearing taps, hearing the gun shots, the folding of the flag and its presentation to Shirly.

When we take communion, we remember the Gospel through action.

We look at the bread and cup and are reminded that the Divine Son of God took on ordinary flesh.

We remember that Jesus was historical who lived on this planet and had meals with his disciples.

When we see the bread broken and the cup poured out we remember that his body was broken and his blood spilled out on the cross. His love for us to redeem us, and his sacrificial death to save us from sin.

When we come forward to partake, we demonstrating an active Faith that comes forward to receive the grace Christ has offered. If we stay seated in our seat we are reminded that Christ came to us and we can rest in Him.

When we eat the bread, we remember that all who receive him are called children of God, that He is now in us, and we are in him.

When we drink the blood we remember his resurrection that the life is in the blood, he is alive, and he is in us by the Holy Spirit.

We remember that Jesus was broken to make us whole.

We remember that we are in a new covenantal relationship because of the story of God.

Finally, the whole image of a meal points us to the final banquet when he comes again.

By re-enacting the Gospel in a Physical way it helps the Gospel sink in deeper.

But Paul ads an interesting note in verse 26.

We Proclaim the Gospel through Communion.

vs. 26 - For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Moving from remembering to proclaiming is quite a step. How do we proclaim the Gospel through this supper?

Context: The Corinthians were a divided Church, The rich gorged themselves on the communion meal, and the poor got little. Paul tells them in vs. 27 this is eating the bread and cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner.

Maundy means “Mandate.” We call it Maundy Thursday, because it was on this Last Supper that in John’s accounting, Jesus washes the disciple’s feet demonstrating how they are to be servant leaders and it ends with the mandate to “Love One Another, as I Have Loved You.”

The Corinthians were remembering by celebrating communion, but they were not living it out amongst themselves.

On 911 people from all around the country gather and remember that day. We even remember how united we became as a country on that day. People helping each other no matter our politics, race, or creed.

So we gather to remember, but after the remembering we immediately go back to our sides, living out a disunity that is contrary to our remembrance of 911.

To Proclaim the Gospel in the Lord’s Supper is to first remember the Good News of what Jesus did, is doing, and will do. Then to reflect on the implications on our life, and then third to proclaim it by living those implications of the Gospel.

“One Contemporary Catholic writer notes that both in the Scripture and in the early church, the Eucharist often functioned as a time of preparation for going back into a harsh, persecuting world during the week.” - Craig Blomberg.

How, by shaping us in the Gospel, helping us to remember, and then proclaim it with our lives.

Bridge:

So, How Does this Supper Proclaim and help us remember the events of Jesus’ Life? How does it help us remember the Gospel?

1 Corinthian 11:23-26’s recounting of what Jesus instituted for the Lord’s supper and Paul’s use of it in his letter has shown us that 1) It helps us remember Jesus and the Gospel by means of physical re-enactment where every action reminds us of Jesus did, is doing, and will do. 2) It helps us proclaim the Gospel by moving from remembrance to its implications, to living it out in our lives.

I hope that challenges us tonight as we take communion and experience the tennebrae service that symbolically and through the word helps us remember the Gospel account from Jesus’ last Supper to his Death.

Conclusion:

Because tonight will help us remember and proclaim Jesus through our lives.

It will be like on Youth Camp in AZ before I was in full time ministry. I was a Youth Sponsor, and the leader of the camp to prepare us to minister to the Youth who were about to arrive, put a candle in the middle of the room, and had us just stare at it for a number of minutes. Then he blew out the candle and said. The Light is Jesus, when you looked into the light what did you notice, and what was Jesus telling you? I said, “Well now looking into the darkness, I see the imprint of the light in my eye. So as I look at all of you, I see you through the imprint of Jesus in my eyesight.

May tonight’s supper, and tonight’s service be an imprint of remembrance of Jesus, so when you are here, or out there, you see and live according to that imprint of Jesus.