Brett Tilford

It’s a bit long but here’s what I shared at our church last night…

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The Kingdom of This World

I believe Jesus came to start a new world within the ruins of the old one.  I think he called this new world order the kingdom of God.  And anyone that commits to live in the way of Jesus is a citizen of this kingdom.  This kingdom is fundamentally different than the kingdoms of this world.  Those kingdoms are driven by the gods of money, sex, and power.  Get as much as you can as fast as you can.  It’s a life of materialism.  A life that cares only for selfish pleasure.  A life that’s dependent on no one but yourself.  It’s a kingdom that uses violence to get what it wants.  It’s the worst of humanity.  A world not as God intended it but twisted and broken.

The Kingdom of God

However, Jesus preached that his was a kingdom of love.  Love for God, your neighbors… and even your enemies.  It’s a love that calls us to live humbly: not striving to be the greatest but the servant of all.  It’s a love that calls us not to wine and dine with the elite of society but with the homeless and friendless.  It’s a love that sacrifices and looks out for the good of others.  It’s a love that forgives not once or twice but hundreds and hundreds of times.  It’s a love that embodies mercy and preaches justice.  It’s a love that says it’s not enough that you have enough but when WE have enough.  It’s a weak love.  One that is easily crushed by the powers at be because it refuses to fight back refuses to defend itself. It will not return evil with evil but will overcome it with good.

The Family

And at the heart of this Kingdom is a family. Jesus said it would be our love for one another that would define us.  He said, that the only way people could tell we really were living the kingdom would be our love for one another.  Early in his ministry Jesus was approached by his literal mother and brothers and he pretended to not know them.  Why would he do this.  He said, it’s because these people who were living the kingdom way, the way of love, were his real family.  This is the reality of the kingdom of God. We are invited not only into the kingdom of God but into the family of God.

The Meal

And at the heart of this family is a meal.  But it’s not just any meal my friends.  It’s a meal that foreshadows a meal to end all meals  Down through history you have the prophets saying lots of crazy things about the end of the world.  Instead of the expected doom and gloom you normally get from prophets they seem to be full of hope.  Their message was basically this.  God is going to heal and restore his creation.  They agree that things are really screwed up now but they said it won’t last forever.  Some day, a day they often referred to as the “Day of the Lord” someday God would dwell with men again.  And in that day our relationship with him, other people, and all of creation (the rivers, rocks, animals and oceans) would be set right.  They promised that in that day the things we used to use to kill each other would be burned down and reshaped to farm the land.  They said that lions and lambs would sleep next to each other in perfect peace.  They said that nations would stop killing each other and start helping each other.  They said that God would rule and reign form Jerusalem and that people from all over the world would worship him.  However, they also said something else which was pretty remarkable. In Revelation 19 they said that God was going to throw a party- a feast.  A feast where rich and poor, young and old, and black and white will all sit down together at the table of brotherhood (as Martin Luther correctly said) and share a meal together.  It will be the realization of what Jesus promised and meant by the kingdom of God- literally the rule and reign of God realized on earth.

The Story

What theologians have noticed down through history is that Jesus seems to be alluding to this through his meal with the disciples.  READ MATTHEW 26:26-29 Notice verse 29 that is so important.  He’s saying, do this in remembrance not just of my death on the cross, although that’s very important but he’s saying this is a foretaste, a foretaste of the day of the Lord.

When we share this meal we’re saying not only that we remember Jesus sacrifice on the cross, although that’s super important, we’re saying that we remember his teaching about the kingdom of God.  We remember that one day we’ll sip wine with him in a world ruled by the goodness of God and in the mean time we’ll do our best to make that day a reality.

So you see the eucharist isn’t just a personal reflection on our spiritual life with God.  It’s a meal that signifies the rule and reign of God on earth.  It’s a meal that says, at the end of al things…love wins.  So we live in that reality now.  When we take this bread and cup with a community of Jesus followers we’re literally taking the future reality and pulling it into the present.

To me that’s a beautiful thing.

I’m discussing the place of the Eucharist (Communion, Blessed Sacrament, Lord’s Supper, or whatever your tradition calls it) at our small struggling Church in a few weeks.  I’m looking forward to the challenge of getting everyone as enthused about the tradition as I am… although undoubtedly I will fail.  Long term I think I can wear everyone down with my incessant pestering, “Isn’t this just so cool? What an amazing tradition that has lasted all these years. Eh? Eh?” on and on I’ll go until people start to see the light.

A few years back I sat on the Porch of Potbelly’s sandwich shop on the eve of Easter and expressed to my wife that I didn’t really care anymore.  It wasn’t that I hated the idea of Jesus’ resurrection. It was just that it was all so familiar and hum drum.  I just couldn’t fake the enthusiasm anymore.  This was also a low point in my Eucharist taking.  Now I see that my perspective on the Resurrection of Jesus was directly tied to my view of the Eucharist.  As one rose so did the other.

I was never a big fan of coffee.  Then I read a book by Howard Schultz (founder & CEO of Starbucks Coffee) and within a few short months I became a certified coffee snob.  I was never really a big fan of the Eucharist.  That is until I read the likes of N.T. Wright and became a certified Communion snob.  I had never heard anyone talk so passionately about the implications of the Resurrection.  He says, that the Eucharist is remembering that God has promised to resurrect all of creation.  That it’s full of hope. Not just that you can go to heaven one day but that at the end of all things- love will win.  When you take that bread and cup in your hands you’re saying, “I remember that God gave himself up so that the world could be set right. I remember the sacrifice of Jesus. I remember with all of the Christians through the ages that there is hope.”   To me that’s really beautiful.

They say that to be passionate about something you have to interact with someone who is passionate about it themselves. I hope to be that person for others when it comes to the Eucharist.