Now we come to the time of a holy meal.
Our time is not unlike other times. There are people in the streets demanding to be heard, rebelling against a broken system, struggling under the weight of empire.
It has been thus for our whole history as a nation, (even when we didn’t see it), and it was thus during the time of Jesus’ life among his friends: oppression, defiance, disruption, refusal to meet the moment with the kind of homage the empire required.
And just when it was about to hit fever pitch, just when the authorities had decided they couldn’t take anymore, just when the dissident-disciples had decided they couldn’t take anymore, just when Jesus knew it was all about to boil over,
he gathered with his friends for a meal.
They laughed and talked and planned. They compared notes and ideas, they perhaps sang songs of resistance — or wrote the phone number of a lawyer somewhere discreetly on their bodies.
And then, as the meal was ending, Jesus said,
just one more bite, this time as a ritual for remembering,
one more sip, this time as a ritual of remembering.
He broke bread, poured wine, passed the plate and the cup and said “do this.”
However awful it is about to get, do this, and remember that I am with you.
They did, and we do.
The night will be ugly, but day will dawn. And we will remain in holy community, caring for one another, standing up for the most vulnerable, doing our best to keep one another safe, sharing memories and maybe plotting and planning.
We will be community, just as Jesus said. And in the meal, in the eating, in the drinking, there is love.
Let us pray.
God of revolution and grace, pour your spirit on these gifts of bread and wine. Let them be for us strength for the way, light for the road, hope for a new day. And let us be exactly those things for your world in pain. Amen.
Now, the meal is ready: these are the gifts of God for the people of God. Let’s eat.
When the meal is done:
Now, O God, we give thanks for this meal, and ask that you would bless us on our way: our bodies as the body of Jesus; our community as your community of grace. In your sweet name we pray, Amen.