This is why we have often been at sea in thinking the Eucharist as first and foremost the representation of Christ's passion. You can see why: ' Do this in rememberance of me ' says the Lord as He breaks the bread and pours out the blood. That clearly brings the Passion to mind. But the more we focus on the Eucharist as the representation of the Passion in and of itself, the more I believe we lose that sense of the Eucharist as the act of encounter with the Risen Christ. ( Rowan Williams @ Trinity College, May 2002 )
Not to prove the Archbishop of Canterbury wrong, I decided to perform a random survey. Following a communion Sunday, during coffee I tossed out the question, " What does the Lord's Supper / Eucharist mean to you?"
Most peoples answers hinged on Jesus dying for their sins, and forgiveness. So, I'm wondering, when Jesus said, ' do this in rememberance of me ', have we been as Rowan Williams says, ' been out to sea in our thinking.'
Brother Randy made the comment in an earlier post, " the fusion of mission and sacrament seem to be on my mind as of late." Man, I love that...in physics fusion is the release of incredible energy. I truly believe when Jesus says, ' do this in rememberance of me ', it wasn't to be thimble and wafer, a toast to a friend that took our place on death row, saving us from a death sentence. The spiritual reality behind the table and meal, us colliding with the Life of Jesus creates an incredible fusion reaction...a release of resurrection energy.
The sacraments are more about life than death. It is about our invitation and then us...inviting. It is us living the reality of the Lord's Supper. The fusion of mission and sacrament...is what Jesus says in ' do this ', it's living life abundantly.
The invitation to the Lord's table, to be at peace with God and to be a child of God is not determined by religious ritual performance, or even orthodoxy...it is determined by whether you believe Jesus when he tells you, God welcomes you. This is the redemptive imagination of Jesus, if you accept the invitation and welcome, anything is possible...if you don't, nothing is possible.
Sacramental living can be upsetting to some, it can be miraculous, an incredible dinner party and a time of redemption and restoration.
" Do ' THIS ' in remembrance of me." Don't try and turn it into a memorial like you wanted to do on the mountain when Jesus appeared with Moses and Elijah. As Peter was babbling, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them, and sounding from deep in the cloud a voice: "This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of my delight. Listen to him." The " This " is the redemptive imagination of Jesus. It is sacramental living...living constantly in the invitation and welcome of God. This is the spiritual reality, truth and power behind all things missional.
Have we forgotten that many of the resurrection stories pivot around invitation and welcome. Jesus invites himself into the locked upper room after his death...he then invites his disciples who have abandoned him to make him there guest. " Have you anything to eat ", Jesus asks. I love this beautiful divine redemptive waltz, first Jesus leads by inviting himself in....and then invites the disciples to lead. Sacramental living lives in this profound space, that Jesus always extends the welcome and invitation of God...and invites us to do the same. It always seems, between Jesus' open and welcoming invitation, and our invitation...that we have to errect something, hoops to jump through, barriers, boundaries...a fine print clause. We need to get out of the way.
How can we forget on the beach. The disciples gone back to there old jobs fishing on the lake, and not having much luck. Jesus calls out from the shore, telling them to cast their nets on the otherside of the boat. They haul in an incredible draft of fish. Peter seeing his dear friend wades through the water to shore. On the beach Jesus invites, welcomes, cooks fish for his friends on an open fire...and turns to Peter, " Feed on my behalf." In other words, go and invite.
Sacramental living in the neighborhood of Jesus...is to live and believe that all the world is welcome...to go and invite. If the world is welcome to God, if my neighbor is welcome to God...then every living moment is a door into God in which the other may be welcomed...then our calling should be clear. This is sacrament...this is the fusion of mission.
Think of in the upper room, the night before Jesus' death. There gathered around the table...traitor; a friend who would deny ever knowing him; a group of followers that stumbled, messed up, who weren't really sure who he was or what his Kingdom were about, but, the invitation... was welcome and open.
Welcome...Come,take and eat...you go do the same.