When He gave us the Lord's Supper?

Pastor Robarge’s Sermon
Maundy Thursday, April 21, 2011

We all long to be a part of something that’s bigger than ourselves. In human nature, God created us not in a vacuum, not to be alone, not to be separate. There are not too many people who are lone rangers. Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto, right?

There are not too many times we find that people say they want to be apart, they don’t want to be a part of something bigger. It’s something within us. We even have the Atheist Convention here this weekend. Atheists long for something bigger. They don’t want to be alone in what they believe. They want to find out that they’re a part of something bigger and so they come to a convention. People aren’t alone in the fact that they have something that’s in them that says, “I want to be a part of something bigger.”

And here we are tonight. We’re gathered here in this place because we want to be a part of something bigger and we’re included into something bigger. When we come up to the table of the Lord shortly, we’re a part of something bigger. We’re a part of something bigger that’s happening even right here at Gloria Dei. We have three other services that are going to take place here. We’re a part of all that is happening here.

But not just here in this place. We look across our city and this night, how many Christian churches are going to be coming to a similar table? And they’re going to all be doing that same thing. They’re going to be looking at it as a bigger picture, not even just there. Around the world, around the United States. On this day, people come to the same altar, to the same place where they find the Lord’s table. His body and His blood are offered for them, not just individually but a part of a bigger picture, a bigger story.

The disciples were not unlike us. They, too, wanted to be a part of something bigger. Before the night that Jesus was betrayed, the disciples were continuing to talk about what the new kingdom would look like. What position are they going to have? Who’s going to take the left? Who’s going to take the right? Who’s going to be in power? They identified something that was bigger than themselves, and they wanted to be a part of it.

But as Jesus sits them down in that upper room and He starts unfolding the things before their eyes, He says this story that they are a part of, this picture goes way beyond what they can imagine. It goes way beyond an upper room. It goes way beyond time. Jesus starts to show them the pieces, the picture they are a part of.

So Jesus is in this upper room in Jerusalem on this night, the night of the Passover, just as all of the Jewish families in Jerusalem that night were gathering for a Passover meal, the Passover meal signifying something they are a part of, a much larger picture, even a picture that extended 2,0003,000 years before that night. He starts with this because He’s painting for them a picture, a picture that they are a part of a much larger story.

It started way back in that Passover feast, as God instituted it. He spoke to Moses and Moses spoke to the people. He said, “Find a lamb, spotless lamb. Sacrifice it at twilight and take the crimson blood and soak it across your doorway, for the angel will pass over your house.” You see, it was a sign of deliverance for the people, a sign of freedom.

And Jesus made no mistake. He could have offered this meal at any other time of the year. Any other time, it would have been different. And there it was on that night He was betrayed, He sat down with His disciples and He shared that meal with them. Then He said there’s something different, though. The story doesn’t end there. Those disciples meant something. They were gathered around the room. Who was there?

We know the twelve. We know Peter, James and John. We know the other disciples all gathered around to hear the message from Jesus to understand and try to look at this concept of a much bigger picture. We’re all familiar with what the Last Supper looks like from da Vinci’s point of view. We can see the people who were around. We’re able to see that picture. But we have to understand that Jesus had a much bigger picture in mind. He wasn’t just speaking to His disciples. He was speaking to you and to me.

When He broke that bread and He said, “This is my body,” when He shared that cup and He said, “This is my blood, do this in remembrance of me,” the remembrance goes back to that Passover story because families, generations afterwards would celebrate that Passover meal. And as they celebrate it, they would remember that God was with them, that He was their deliverer and that He was constantly going to be with them. It was a constant reminder for them through this meal.

And Jesus extends that out when He offers before them bread and wine, but He says, “With this, I am with you.” He knows and understands what the disciples are going to face in the next few days and even in the next couple of hours. The disciples don’t know anything yet, but Jesus knows. He knows they’re going to have to face this and try to understand and try to figure out if they’re going to be sent to the cross, if they’re going to be persecuted, if they’re going to be beaten.

They’re going to be scared. They’re going to run. They’re going to flee. Jesus says, “I need them to know that I am with them, that my presence is constantly with them.” And so in this meal, as He breaks that bread and He shares the wine, He says, “This is me. I am with you.” And it’s a constant theme with Jesus because even past this time, after the supper, after the crucifixion, after the resurrection, He’s there. Jesus rose and there He was, and the last thing He said before ascension, He says, “Lo, I am with you always to the very end of the age.” It’s a constant reminder that Jesus is bringing to the people His presence among them. He says, “Disciples, you are a part of a greater picture, of a bigger story than you can even imagine.” And that’s why He paints the picture of the Passover and brings it to their attention, because there’s a bigger scope.

And as Jesus sees you at that supper, He wants to reassure you of the same, that His presence is always with you. He knows the things that we experience. He knows the situations that we see in a broken world. We see pain and we see illness. We see disease. We see brokenness all over the place, and He says, “I am with you.” Don’t ignore it. Rest assured Jesus says, “I am with you,” right here in these words, “This is my body and this is my blood.” We find that His constant presence is with us and when we step to the table, when we eat and drink of His body and His blood, we are rest assured that He is with us.

We can face a lot, go through all kinds of trials but we know, we know that He is present. The upper room was kind of an ever changing environment. da Vinci, as we see, paints a picture. It’s not a picture of probably what the upper room looked like in Jesus’ day but, for da Vinci, he wanted to paint the picture of a contemporary setting, of something that was happening in his setting and with his people. It’s an Italian villa that he paints, but that’s what’s so perfect about the picture of the upper room. It can be ever changing.

The upper room is right here with us today. When we come to the altar of the Lord, we hear His words, “This is my body and this is my blood.” We know that He is with us, and we know that through the eating and drinking of His body and His blood, we have the forgiveness of sins. There’s nothing to fear. No pain, no death, no sin. We have defeated that through Christ.

Those are all the things that are happening when we approach the altar of our Lord. Do you see what happens when we look at the Lord’s Supper? We want to try to distance ourselves again, “Well, that was a long time ago.” But you see, we’re a part of a larger story, a bigger picture. When Christ was sitting with His disciples in that upper room, He was thinking of you. So were you there? Absolutely. Amen.