Maundy Thursday Recap

I’m belated in writing this, but since Easter’s a fifty-day season, I suppose I’m not too late.

Each year, we do a Maundy Thursday Communion Supper. We choose to emphasize the fact that Thursday is the first shared meal or “Communion” rather than the last. We read all four gospel accounts, and we sing hymns, and we talk about how we can expand our table. We even recreate and reimagine the upper room by sharing a simple soup supper.

Here’s a picture of our table, as well as a link to other Holy Week Images:

And here’s some of our silliness on display…what gathering would be complete without a Last Supper selfie?

Finally, here’s a poem that seeks to convey the power invoked by table ministry.  May that table remain present during this Easter Season

Maundy Thursday Communion Poem
March 2018 (And revised slightly for 2019) 
Written by Bob Stillerman

When last we gathered at this table,
There was talk of transfiguration.
Jesus glowing in a white robe,
Moses and Elijah, too!
And we wondered what to make of all this mystery.

But don’t get caught up in all the spectacle.
Mark’s story has simplicity.
Beyond the mystery is a clear set of instructions:
This is my son, the beloved, Listen to Him.
Don’t just see Him, hear Him!

So in February, we broke our bread.
And we drank our wine.
And we promised to do so in Remembrance of Him.
We made a pact: We’ll pay attention to who’s missing at this table;
And we’ll pay attention to the conversations that are missing, too.

We read more headlines, another school shooting.
But it was far away from Charlotte.
We still had the privilege of safety.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn.”

In Charlotte, there is a huge discrepancy between rich and poor.
Upward mobility is not a reality. Poverty is systemic and generational.
And yet the wedge protects us.
Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor.”

Addiction. Divorce. Depression. Loneliness.
These are things we don’t talk about.
And people don’t run road races to fund research on their behalf.
But the silence of neighbors speaks volumes.
Jesus said, “Blessed are you who weep now.”

A quarter of our school children are hungry.
And too many more young people are locked up.
We say we value choice.
How many of our choices are based on survival?
And how many on privilege?
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”

We fill out forms: for taxes; for census; for SATs.
For loans, and for physicals, and even for a Facebook profile.
We’re lucky though – we seem to check the boxes society likes.
What happens when we don’t meet the criteria?
Jesus said, “Blessed are the persecuted.”

This is my son, the beloved, Listen to Him.

Jesus invited us to a table.
An equalizer.
An oasis from the nonsense of the world.
A place where no topic is taboo.
A place where no person is a stranger.
A place where even those who betray are offered trust.
A place where imperfection steadies one for a moment of pure presence.
A place where bread and wine break down rigid barriers.
A presence that’s just as palpable as it was two millennia ago.

Jesus gave himself to the disciples.
Told them that he loved them.
Told them to love each other.

What a conversation it must have been!
Maybe they shared remarkable things.
Maybe they shared silly things.
Maybe they played a game of two truths and a lie.

It matters not. What does is this:
Tables transform the world.
Tables steel us for Friday.
Tables carry us through Saturday.
Tables beckon us to Sunday.

Do you wanna help roll away the stone?
Then start tonight.
Join a neighbor at the table.
Have a conversation.
Find empathy.
Find common ground.
Find faith.
Find resolve.
Find confidence.
Find Jesus.
And listen to Him!