Exodus 12:1-14; Luke 22:14-30
The Reverend Paul DeLain Allick, St. George’s Episcopal Church, April 9, 2009

Some of the best theology I’ve learned, I’ve learned from my mother. I remember once when I was little she asked me if I ever wondered what I would do if I could speak directly with Jesus? What would I do if he appeared to me? We talked about that possibility for some time. First we wondered how we would know if it was really him. Mom had the best answer, she said, we would just know in our hearts. Then we discussed what we would ask him. I think we decided that we wouldn’t have to ask him anything; we would just listen.

On this night that we remember the Last Supper I realize that I get to be with Jesus all of the time. I get to be with him when I pray the Daily Office, when I participate in Gospel Based Discipleship, when someone shares their faith story with me, when I pray the Rosary or when I just sit in silence and contemplate him. But I especially get to be with him when I come to the Holy Eucharist. In this Most Blessed Sacrament I get to encounter Jesus in a mystical, yet, concrete way.

Jesus told us that he eagerly desired to share this religious meal with us before he suffered. In the midst of a very difficult evening for him, Jesus left us a way to stay in touch with him forever. There he is thinking about his execution, knowing that one of his disciples is going to betray him. There he is listening to his disciples argue over who is the greatest. In the midst of that most anxious night, Jesus instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood so that in these Holy Mysteries we would receive our pledge of eternal life.

St. John Chrysostom, the great preacher of the 4th and 5th centuries, taught how it is that we encounter Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. He compared our encounter with Christ’s Body to the encounter of the Wise men. He wrote, “They only saw Christ in a manger, they saw nothing of what you now see…you see him, not in a manger but on an altar.” St. Chrysostom points out that we not only see his body but his power as well.

Even though we come with awe we still come. Again, St. Chrysostom, “Just as coming to it in a casual way is perilous, so failing to share in this sacramental meal is hunger and death.” He explained that in this Sacrament the gates of heaven are opened and we see past all the angels and saints to the Lord Himself. And not only do we see but we touch him as well. In this Blessed Sacrament we not only touch what is most precious of all but we consume it; the holy of holies becomes part of us. (Homilies on the First Letter to the Corinthians, Benedictine Daily Prayer, p. 1649, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN 2005)

Jesus said “Do this in remembrance of me.” In this Sacrament we do more than remember; we participate in the life of Christ. We fully engage all of our senses to enter into his eternal life. In this Sacrament we enter into the banquet prepared for us from before time existed.

The Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is no mere memorial dinner; this is the feast wherein Christ is really, truly present to us in the bread and wine. How? We do not know for sure but we feel his presence. We reserve the presence in this tabernacle; our Lay Eucharistic Visitors carry this presence out to those who are home bound.

Some of the other best theology I’ve learned, I’ve learned from children. One day during a Vacation Bible School I asked some second graders what Communion meant. I asked them because I was told by many adults that children shouldn’t receive communion because they don’t understand what it is. One little boy certainly understood what it meant. He said Communion meant that we get to be in God’s world for a little while.

In professional theology we call this anamnesis. It is a remembering that brings us beyond simply remembering to experiencing the memory. In the Blessed Sacrament, “We celebrate the memorial of our redemption in this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Recalling his death, resurrection, and ascension” we offer these gifts to God. (Eucharistic Prayer A, Book of Common Prayer 1979)

It is the kind of remembering done at the Passover explained in our lesson for the Book of Exodus. It is the reliving of the experience of God setting his people free from bondage.

As we enter into the anamnesis of Jesus’ Last Supper we should eat it the way the Israelites ate that first Passover meal. We eat it hurriedly with our loins girded, our shoes on our feet, and our staff in our hand. We do this because we are about to go on our Exodus, our journey. Our journey is to go out into he wilderness of our lives and serve God. Our journey is to go out into the wilderness of our lives and proclaim the good news of all that God has done for us. We do not receive this miracle, participate in this anamnesis only for ourselves. It should drive us out on our mission.

We keep this feast so that we can transform our lives; so that we can transform the world. We keep this feast so that we can understand the ministry of reconciliation: taking all the broken pieces of our lives and healing them in the name of Jesus. We search out the broken pieces of our world and work for reconciliation. We break the bread of Christ’s body so that we don’t have to be broken anymore.

If we participate in these mysteries only for our own comfort then we miss the purpose. These mysteries should transform us. In order for that to happen, we have to be ready to be transformed.

As St. Paul wrote to the Church in Corinth when teaching about the Eucharistic Feast, ” Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (I Corinthians 5:7-8)