Eucharist Teaching
30 Mar
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.
This is good. My only critique is that you make no explicit mention of the Marriage of the Lamb–which is central and critical to the meaning Eucharist. Yes, you’ve alluded to some of the significance of that Marriage in your other points, but the coming of the Kingdom is the consummation of a profoundly intimate and radical union–a union that changes who we are, changes who God is and, as a consequence, radically transforms all of creation. The meal to which the Eucharist looks forward is a wedding feast and the Party at the end of all things that it anticipates is a celebration of a marriage. It’s no accident that the language of marriage and the implicit grammar of marital intimacy are repeatedly chosen by the prophets and by Jesus.
Sure, it’s kind of a personal obsession–this whole marriage business. But I’m right about this one.
And it also happens to be biblical.
Thanks Brett. It was one of those times where it was exactly what I needed to hear, when I needed to hear it.
Hey Joel,
How dare you poke holes in my flawless understanding of the Eucharist… Okay, I’m over it. You’re definitely right though. In Revelation it literally calls it “The Wedding Feast of the Lamb”- which makes it more than just a kingdom party. I’ll have to think more about that piece of it though. I’ve always been uncomfortable with the “Married to Jesus” stuff. Maybe I need to get over that too
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Hey Janessa,
It make me happy to know that you got something out of it. I really liked when we all took communion together after the talk. Very cool stuff.
This was my favorite teaching since I’ve come back from IHOP. Perhaps because it felt like home. I’m not going to lie, I actually didn’t read this blog post, but I was there. Sitting right next to you. As you read it. And recorded it.
It was absolutely glorious to hear you talk about the great Feast at the end of the age. And, like I said at small group, I’ve never really understood the Eucharist. I get why we do it, but putting it in the context of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, it makes more sense. I just want it to penetrate my heart now.
The thought of keeping a tradition that has been passed down through the ages and was put in place by Jesus himself is pretty darn amazing. I’d like to keep that in mind too as I take time to reflect on the Eucharist and the Marriage Feast.
Thanks for sharing that night, it was great.
Hey Courtney,
Super happy it helped you connect the dots a bit. I think the Eucharist is definitely worth reflecting on as a community and individuals, so much going on there.