After All, It was Our Lord's Supper
In other places and times it might be called Eucharist, Holy Communion, Sacrament of the Altar, or Blessed Sacrament.
No matter what it is called, for the last 2000 years, it is celebrated in accordance with the instructions of our Lord Jesus Christ given at His last meal with His disciples, in that private upper room in a stranger's home. A borrowed room for a homeless God-man who was facing a voluntary, horrifying, cruel death -- the holy, sinless God for His sinful unworthy, ungrateful creatures.
With His suffering death looming closely at hand, what did Jesus consider most important?
Apparently He treasured most the opportunity to explain to His disciples what exactly was going to happen, and what it all meant.
T. S. Eliot reminds us that too often we "have the experience, but miss the meaning."
Of all the terms for the celebration, probably the Lord's Supper paints the simplest picture of what happened that night so many centuries ago.
Lord's Supper is probably the most commonly used term. I like the term Eucharist, though, because it, I believe, paints the most profound truth of the event.
Eucharist: from the Greek word eucharistia, which means "thanksgiving."
And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them...(Luke 22:19)
He gave thanks! When the rest of the world would have said, "It's time to get out of Dodge " and raced for the nearest and quickest way out of town, He lingered. He waited. Pondered the events to take place and shared the meaning of it all with His friends. He wanted desperately for them to understand.
He didn't want them to miss the meaning.
Eucharistia - thanksgiving. When He had given thanks. Knowing that the iron spikes would pierce His hands and feet the next day, that He would be on public display while He died, for hours, jeered by the crowd. Until He took that last gasping breath --"It is finished!"
He gave thanks.
(Another phrase from T. S. Eliot: And still we call this Friday good...Yes, it has been called "Good Friday" for centuries.)
But there is more in the word than thanksgiving.
The root word of eucharistia is grace (charis).
Grace is a gift. He was giving us the gift. Or was He receiving the gift? For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross....Maybe we are the gift....We are the gift to Him, as He is the gift to us....
But there is another word hidden in there: Joy (chara).
Joy: the holy grail sought by all of mankind for all our history.
From Augustine in his Confessions: "Without exception...all try their hardest to reach the same goal, that is joy."
C S. Lewis describes that same longing, or yearning, as coming from the deepest emptiness of our heart, because the very genesis of our search for it was placed in our hearts by God Himself.
Just as the little word joy is found hidden deep in the meaning of thanksgiving, so is it found deep in our lives in the act of thanksgiving. After all, have you ever seen someone who is truly thankful, expressing his gratitude to God, who was angry? Bitter? Mean-spirited? Impatient? Depressed? Overwhelmed? Unhopeful? Joy is like a precious oil that cleanses us from thoughts and actions that displease God.
Why live a life of cheerless ingratitude?
Thanksgiving precedes the miracle, and releases our joy. Daniel, praying and thanking God..as was his usual custom...knowing the lions' den was waiting...Jesus and the loaves and fishes...Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus...our Savior Redeemer in the upper room...the disciples on the road to Emmaus...
thanksgiving first and then the miracle of God's action.
Thanksgiving.
Grace.
Joy.
It's all there, in the word eucharistia and in the event of the Eucharist.
When we celebrate Lord's Supper, or Eucharist, are we going to "have the experience, but miss the meaning"?
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