Hey Alexa, Where is Jesus? The Lord's Supper

Waiting

Are we there yet? When are we going to get there? When are we going to get there? You've heard it. I've heard it. We've all said it way back when. Millions of kids have said it. It speaks to an impatience that all of us have. It’s almost natural. It also speaks to our ever present need to be the center of attention.

A famous Florida music philosopher once said that the waiting is the hardest part. Waiting is hard. Waiting tests our patience. I have a sister who can’t wait to open her presents on Christmas. Still. At this age. She likes to guess, she likes to talk, she likes to shake the box (which is a no-no at our house on 7th street). Anticipation at Christmas kills her. The family has tried various games with her, knowing this. One year we had opened all of our presents and it looked like we were done and she made the comment that I hadn’t gotten her anything for Christmas. However, I pointed out to her that, giving light to the chair she was sitting in was a lamp on the end table. Brand new. Even had a bow on it I think. She had spent the previous couple of hours sitting next to her Christmas present, right there in front of her and she never knew. She can’t stand to wait.

How many of you like to wait? Very few of us. Waiting is hard. Especially if you can smell the potluck that’s at the end of this service.

But waiting involves not knowing, and that kills us. I’ve been in situations where I felt like I was going to die because I didn’t know what was coming next, but all I knew is that it probably wasn’t good. And I was right. I had to wait, and at the end of the waiting was bad news. Anticipation becomes anxiety and anxiety is driven by fear. And all of that can become absolutely unbearable if there is no hope.

We are all waiting, this morning. But the waiting is not in fear. It’s not in anxiety. Our waiting involves a promise and hope. Here’s a glimpse of what is coming at the very end of time.

Revelation 19:7-9 “Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself. She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure. For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb!” He also said to me, “These words of God are true.””

A marriage awaits the church. A feast awaits the church. The marriage supper of the Lamb in which Jesus and his people sit down for a meal and enjoy the presence of each other’s company forever. No feast will ever compare to that feast. That feast is what we wait for. We are waiting for that day when we get to eat and drink and celebrate and enjoy the presence of the One who saved us.

That’s our future. But we’re not there yet. We wait. And we wait and we wait. And the waiting isn’t any fun. We wait for that day in a present world that is filled with war and violence and heartache and suffering and fear and anxiety. This day doesn’t look anything like that day. So much so, we may begin to doubt whether or not that picture we’re given in Revelation will ever get here.

Are we there yet?

We’re not. But Jesus is gracious. Jesus is kind. He’s not going to leave us hanging without hope. He’s not going to let us fend for ourselves in this world until some time in the future. Jesus in his grace has given us hope that can be seen. It can be tasted. That hope Jesus gave in a promise. We read it moments ago. Jesus gave us the gift of The Lord’s Table, the Lord’s Supper. That gift is a promise. We believe in this gift so much, we’ve stamped it onto our community here. The Table of Los Fresnos. If there’s anything that the Table is or does, at the very least we are going to always have this hope and this gift front and center.

That night we read is not simply a nice story. It’s not even a night at that table where Jesus gives us something to remember him by. Jesus goes much further than that. Jesus is at meal with his best friends. He knows this is their last night of whatever it is they consider normal. After tonight, things are never, ever going to be the same again. The road trips, the miracles, the conversations, the arguments, the public preaching, the hanging with best friends shooting the breeze… all that is coming to an end.

Will their baptism be enough to get them through the next few hours? The next few days? Months? Years? All the betrayal? All the heartache? All the suffering? Jesus is about to usher in the Great in-between.

The Great In-between

We all live in this Great in-between. So did Jesus’ best friends. In-between baptism and that great feast with the Lamb at the end of all time in the New Heaven and New Earth. We live between what Jesus has done for us in the past, giving us salvation and forgiveness, and what He will do for us in the future.

And so that night that Jesus is headed to the cross in that upper room with his best friends, Jesus gives them a promise of what He will do for them during the Great In-between. He gives them a meal, a meal that looks very much like that last meal with the Lamb and the church. Only this meal is in the present. Jesus gives them the Lord’s Supper.

The Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper is known by more than a few names.

The Eucharist

The Mass

The Lord’s Supper

Communion

The Sacrament of the Altar

The Lord’s Table

Regardless of what it’s called, the Lord’s Supper is, at least, three things:

His Presence

His Gifts

His Community

First, this Supper, this meal is Christ’s presence among us. We read it earlier:

This is my body, which is given for you.

This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

My body. My blood. Jesus gives us His presence. He makes that promise to a group of people who are going to be tempted to believe that Jesus has abandoned them. Which is ironic, because in the next 24 hours, they are going to abandon Jesus. Yet here he is… saying my body and my blood are here for you. In the great in-between, between baptism and the marriage feast of the Lamb Jesus promises to be present with them. That promise for them is our promise. Jesus gives us his presence in this meal.

Second, this meal is Jesus’ giving us his gifts all over again.

His Presence

His Gifts

His Community

Jesus talks about these gifts while he’s with his best friends that night:

This is my body, which is given for you.

This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

Notice the “for you” at the end of both sentences. Jesus is present. Jesus is giving himself to us in the meal. Again. And in this gift, Jesus is renewing the forgiveness and renewing the life he gives us in our baptism.

Matthew 26:28 “For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

This blood that Christ pours out is “for many” and “for the forgiveness of sins.” Here he’s not just talking about the cross. He’s talking about the meal. He is present in the meal to forgive sins.

John 6:54 “The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.”

The life Jesus gives us in baptism is also present in this Table. There is a renewal here. There is sustenance and nourishment here for you. To give you life again and again. The life you and I need to live in this Great In-between, which doesn’t look anything like the New Heavens and New Earth.

Forgiveness and life. Life here in the Great in-between isn’t so great. You and I both know it. I’m anxious. I’m fearful. I’m full of myself. Where will I not only be told it’s OK, in the Word, but where can I TASTE that it’s going to be OK? Where can I SMELL that it’s going to be OK?

What’s happening in this Table is that the Great Feast of the Lamb is already here and present. We get to eat that meal ahead of time. In the midst of all the crap. In the midst of our sin. Jesus gives us hope. Jesus forgives sin. Jesus gives life here. When we are beaten down by sin, when we are so totally self-righteous and thinking too much of ourselves… regardless of where we are at, we bring our sin here and we are forgiven again because Jesus promises to do that here. This, blood of the new covenant is “for the forgiveness of sins.”

And, then, this meal is creating a new community. It’s why we call it communion. Jesus communes with us here. We commune with each other.

Luke 22:17 “Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves.”

This meal is sharing with one another. What’s fascinating about the Table is that the Table itself is creating the community. The forgiveness at the Table we share. The life at the Table we share. This Table is all God’s doing and God’s action. It’s not what we do here, it’s what God does. It’s why we call it a Sacrament. This is how God brings us together. What he has done for us in baptism, he is again doing for us in this Table.

1 Corinthians 11:33 “My brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another.”

Note the sequence: when you come together. We’re already gathered here. We’re already eating and drinking here. Jesus is making us One body here… and because he is making us one body in the Table… “welcome one another.” The Lord’s Supper produces the very communion that God desires among ourselves. Jesus is doing all of the action here. We share this among ourselves because Jesus is sharing himself with us at this Table.

The most important thing we can say about this Table is that Jesus is here, present, with us. Jesus wants to be with you. He wants to be with me. Unbelievable. So we eat, and we drink this meal together. With each other. With Jesus.

This is what we do while we wait. This meal is Jesus’ promise to us while we wait. His promise to be present among us. His promise to renew his gifts to us. His promise to unite us. All of it… here. While we wait. Are we there yet? Nope. But we are there already. When we eat and drink of Christ’s broken body and shed blood, we are already tasting that meal that is waiting for us in the New Heavens and New Earth.

So when the Great In-Between looks hopeless, there is hope here. When there’s anxiety, there’s comfort here. In bread and wine. In Christ’s body and blood. Hey Alex, where is Jesus while we wait? Jesus is right here. He promised.

Let’s Pray.

On the night that Jesus was betrayed...