i am drawn

to the blood

A sermon on Communion based on Mark 14:12-27:

Today’s Scripture begins with Jesus and the disciples concerning themselves with the sort of thing that makes up a lot of our lives, making preparations. 

But, there was nothing routine about their preparations that day. 

Thickheaded as the disciples could be, and they could be thickheaded. Even they knew the preparations they were making that day had a life and death significance to them. 

After all, the last time they had been in the city, the chief priests, scribes, elders, Pharisees, and Sadducees had all tried to trap Jesus in what he said. 

So you can bet the disciples were following all of Jesus’ directions to the “T” that day. 

And while we may not be receiving any direct instructions from the Lord these days, we can all relate to how the disciples must have felt that day. Can’t we? After all, never before have all of our preparations had such life and death connotations attached to them. Have they?

Now, before we go out, we must consider if there’s an outbreak. If we have our masks. If others will be wearing their masks. If anyone we’re going to encounter is especially vulnerable. And we also really need to contemplate how we’ve been feeling in a way we haven’t before. It’s a lot to consider. 

In fact, as humans, we’re probably not meant to shoulder that kind of a burden. It’s too much for us. 

The easiest way forward is to simply admit our limitations and put the masks on. That way, at least, you can say you tried.

But that’s about the best we can do. Isn’t it? To say we tried…

Because that’s what’s really unsettling, isn’t it? How, despite all the precautions the disciples took, and there were plenty, none of their precautions were enough to keep away the disorder and danger that was swirling around them. They couldn’t keep Jesus safe that night. 

Think about it! We’re chaffing about having to wear masks. The disciples had to find an undercover guide, to lead them to a safe-house, that had been surreptitiously prepared. 

And we think we’re going overboard!

But, despite all those precautions, it wasn’t enough! Before the night was out, Jesus was wrongfully arrested and lead away to his death. 

Not a one of the preparations the disciples took could keep away the pandemonium and peril that threatened them at every turn. 

And deep down, we all know why. Don’t we?

Because the real threat doesn’t lie out there. Does it? It lies in our chest, in the human heart.

 And it still does. Doesn’t it?

…As the meal got underway, Jesus told the disciples something they could never have been prepared for; “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said, “one of you will betray me.” 

Hearing this prediction, the best any of them could do was ask if they were going to be the one to sell their savior up the river. Their very question betraying their own culpability.

Betrayal was at the heart of the Lord’s Supper that night. And it’s been at the heart of every one since, too.

None of the precautions the disciples took could keep away the treachery that lies at the heart of the human heart—the betrayals from which all manner of unrest and uncertainty flow. The treachery that did Jesus in. 

But, and here’s the thing, none of that was enough to undo what Jesus was doing at the table that night! And every other time he gathers his betraying, denying, and fleeing disciples around his table, too!

At the table, Jesus sacrifices his own safety, for ours! Jesus makes his table a safe space, by forfeiting his own!

The confession we make each week, and the promises Jesus makes in Scripture right now, is that the events of that night were not random and tragic. They were part and parcel of Jesus’ sacrifice!

As Jesus gives all the instructions to the disciples, and as it all comes to pass exactly as he says, it clear who’s in control. Whose meal it is; Jesus’.

The temptation is to imagine the betrayal, denial, and desertions are all an undermining of what Jesus was up to. And in a way, they were. But that’s not all they were! Because they were also the apéritif to Jesus’ main course of grace! 

Every single one of the disciples betrayed Jesus. Yes, Judas betrayed him. But Peter denied him, three times. And the rest cut and ran. But Jesus still gave every single one of them everything he had to offer around the table that night. 

And he offers no less to you, today!

The night of Jesus’ last earthly meal, Jesus gave himself so entirely to the unrest and uncertainty of this life that he was consumed by it. 

That’s what he means when he says the bread is his body, and the wine is his blood. At this meal, Jesus is literally consumed by this world! He’s chewed up and swallowed by it! 

But that’s not all he is. Because when Jesus is consumed, a bait and switch occur! As Jesus’ body and blood are consumed, the person doing the eating is consumed themselves! By Jesus, no less! 

At this meal, Jesus means to consume you with his mercy and love!

This night of the Last Supper and every one since Jesus sacrifices himself for his disciples. Over and over again! New disciples, as long as the Good News continues to make them! And old disciples, too. As long as we continue to struggle with our own betrayals, denials, and desertions. 

And each week, Jesus proves faithful disciple we’ve failed to.

If you’re here today, and you feel like you have no right to come to the Lord’s table, you’re as close to Jesus’ bosom as you can get! You’re reclining right next to the Lord for his meal of mercy and grace!

The Lord’s Supper is not an escape from the disorder and danger that are always swirling around us. The Lord’s Supper is a meal where Jesus comes to us, and gives himself to us. Amidst all the uncertainty and unrest! To us, who have had a hand in unleashing all the disorder and danger.

At this table, Jesus does not give a purity test, he gives himself. At this table, Jesus provides something more substantial than all the pandemonium and peril around us, he gives us himself!

At this meal, Jesus sacrifices what belongs to him, his eternal peace and wellbeing. And he does so for you! He does so to give you what he gives up! His welfare! His peace!

And he gives you all this amidst everything that would threaten to undo it! 

As Jesus says, he gives his peace, not as the world gives. In other words, Jesus gives his peace when there is strife, when there is restlessness. 

Which we all have more than enough of that these days. Don’t we? 

Which just means you have all the fixings of Jesus’ meal of peace and harmony! You have everything Jesus needs to give you everything he has to offer. Already! 

In this meal, the host, Jesus, becomes your main course. He wraps himself up in, under, and around this bread and wine. And when you consume them, you are consumed by him! By his mercy and love! 

…Try chewing on that.