We will gather at church at 7 p.m. on Maundy Thursday, April 13. You are invited. But if you can’t join us, have you ever thought about remembering the institution of our holy meal at home. Everyone has to eat dinner.
Of course, you could make a special meal. And put on a tablecloth and use the good china and silver.
But Jesus says, “whenever you eat the bread or drink the cup, do so in remembrance of me.” In other words, if you can’t join us at church, and if you can’t have a really special meal, you and your family, or you and a friend, or you alone can remember the Last Supper over any regular nightly meal. Hamburger Helper. Leftovers. Our daily bread. It doesn’t matter. Just take a normal meal and make it sacred in remembrance of Jesus and his followers that first Maundy Thursday.
Eat your meal. Make sure you have some sort of bread. And something like grape juice or wine.
And during the meal, read the story of the Last Supper: Matt 26:17 -30 or Mark 14:12-26 or Luke 22:7-20.
And think about how Jesus gave them a new commandment that his followers should love one another as he loved them. And how Jesus got down and washed their feet to make a point they might remember, about how loving is serving. It’s not about who gets served, but about who is serving.
And instead of dessert, or, maybe better, as dessert (for what is sweeter than God’s grace!), share the bread and the cup. Even if you are alone, I promise, you are sharing the meal. You will know the words (you just read them). But here they are again.
Ask God to bless your holy meal (even if you didn’t say a prayer of the rest of the food you have eaten!)… that it might be his holy meal.
You might also want to pray the Lord’s Prayer out loud!
Then take the bread and say, “At the supper, he took bread, and after giving thanks and blessing it, he broke the bread and said, ‘This is my body with is broken for you.”’ And then eat the bread.
Next take the cup and say, “After the meal, he took the cup and after giving thanks and blessing it, he said, ‘Take and drink in remembrance of me.'”
Give God thanks that you didn’t miss the Last Supper. Or perhaps, more correctly, that God’s grace hasn’t missed you.
