EASTER
3-A
6 April AD 2008
Read lessons
1 Peter 1:17-25 and Luke 24:13-35
The protesters
in Tibet are getting their fair share of news coverage. They are
try-ing to embarrass China which, as I understand it, has claimed
that ancient nation as one of its outer provinces. We can't blame
the Tibetans for wanting their indepen-dence. With the eyes of
the world on China because of the Olympics, now is the time for
the dissidents to act.
In December
I reprinted a small article in a Sunday bulletin gleaned from
a news-paper. Since few of you will be traveling to Beijing it
probably didn't matter much to you. However, it announced the
list of objects that will be restricted from the Beijing Olympic
village. The (November 2) article said (to the surprise of many)
China will not allow Bibles or any other religious symbols; eliciting
no further comment was the specific prohibition of "cups".
No one asked me about the cups.
With all
that China has to worry about; Beijing's pollution, Tibet, terrorists,
its own dissidents, security issues, you would think the last
thing they need to be concerned with is cups being smuggled into
China. But the authorities see value in a cup; whether it is made
of wood or gold, whether it has a picture of the apostles on it
or it is incised with a simple cross. As a religious symbol, the
cup is a power-ful image. The Chinese government knows that next
to the cross, the cup is the most revered symbol among Christians.
The cup,
or the chalice as we call it, bears testimony to Christian unity,
it speaks of solidarity even in suffering, of communion and a
fellowship which crosses national boundaries. By the cup we are
partakers, united in a common thing-the suffering of Jesus gives
us our identity. "Let this cup pass from me..." Jesus
prayed in the garden.
Chinese officials
are acutely aware of what such solidarity accomplished in Poland
and then in Eastern Europe and in the old USSR. All around the
world people are one in the fellowship of Christ's cup-in the
breaking of his bread. As we com-mune we, pray for sisters and
brothers in prisons; we remind media outlets of human rights violations,
we speak out about fellow believers apprehended for the crime
of praying.
You and I
understand, however that it's not the cup that matters. Sure,
we'd all
like one made of gold and mounted with semiprecious stones. But
it's not the cup so much as what's in it. Properly used the cup
imparts the most precious blood of Christ which ties us into his
life-his life is ours.
The blood
of Jesus ransoms us from sin and death pulls us away from our
old habits and the ways of life inherited with our human nature.
It strengthens us in our resolve to be and live as the people
of God, united in Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. Christians
identify themselves in relation to Jesus: they proudly boast of
being washed in the blood of the Lamb. A Christian's first loyalty,
is not to their state but to their God. This God-first attitude
has gotten Christians in trouble beginning with the Roman empire.
"We must obey God rather than men," the apostles tell
us. For that same reason communism and Christianity have ever
been at enmity.
More precious
than gold or silver the blood of Jesus ransoms us from our old
nature (original sin) and purifies us to be the people of God.
In the breaking of the bread and in the fellowship of the cup
we experience brotherly love and a mystical communion with heaven.
We enjoy a solidarity with all true Christians across time; the
sharing in bread and cup is a truly catholic moment-for there
is only one Church. In it we pray together for the disenfranchised,
for the suffering and for those whom society considers worthless.
We disciples, the Church, pray for and with those who mourn and
weep; and sometimes we even rejoice together over the wonderful
things God has done.
United in
the bread and in the cup, Roman Catholic Christians in Poland
stood together in the streets and called for an end to oppression
with numbers too great to ignore. The cold war was coming to an
end, the iron curtain was failing, in large part to the international
fellowship of the bread and the cup.
It was the breaking of the bread and the fellowship of the cup
that turned the first Easter day around. It happened late on the
eve of that very day, the day of our Lord's resurrection. Two
dispirited and disappointed disciples had had enough, they needed
to leave Jerusalem, at least for a while. When Jesus steps into
the picture the weary pair are nearing Emmaus. The conversation
betrays their broken hearts, "but we had hoped that he was
the one..." (apparently not?). "The women came back
from his tomb with a wild story... saying he was alive, that they
had seen angels..."
By means
of the Bible Jesus explains everything to them, how the Son of
Man was
supposed to die and rise again. The two are grateful for the conversation
and pre-vailed upon their traveling companion to join them for
the evening. (If nothing
else, Jesus had taught them hospitality.) As they sat down to
eat Jesus took the lead. The moment of faith happened when he
broke the bread. For as soon as he did so their eyes were opened;
they knew it was Jesus, alive! Even though it was late, they ran
all the way back to Jerusalem. They told how the risen Lord Jesus,
who had been with them all afternoon, made himself known to them
in the breaking of the bread. In the fellowship of the bread;
in communion faith is seen, it is nourished and sustained.
The fellowship
of the broken bread and the cup continues after two millennia,
it is the cornerstone of Christian worship. The ritual keeps the
story of the cross and the resurrection ever before our eyes-it
is the story which marks us as disciples and gives us our identity,
it shapes who we are. In 1 Corinthians 11:26, St. Paul taught
us "as often as we eat the bread and drink the cup we show
forth the Lord's death until he comes..."
While it
is possible to participate in the ritual without faith, it is
not advisable. What gives us our identity, our strength, grace,
mercy, peace, courage, is given specifically for faith. To eat
apart from faith, to eat but not want Jesus' gifts is unthinkable,
this is to eat to your own judgment. St. Paul urges us to "examine
yourselves," "discern" what is given you, understand
what you're receiving. Want it and give thanks for it.
Fellowship
in the broken bread and the lifted cup is a wonderful and a powerful
gift. It's significance is not lost on Chinese officials. But
is sometimes lost to us? Do we take it for granted? Let your eyes
be opened my brothers and sisters. Let them be opened and see
what an awesome mystery is this table set before us, a foretaste
of the feast to come.
In the name
of Jesus. Amen
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
Hamburg, NJ 07419
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