Christ for You - Maundy Thursday

                All that we believe, teach, and confess is put into practice in these three days.  Humble, penitent sinners confess their sins.  Called undershepherds of God’s flock pronounce the Good News of sins forgiven for the sake of Christ.  In spite of short attention spans and eyes inundated with screens of all sizes, the saints gather to sit and listen as God is at work through His mighty Word.  These hearers of the Word then meditate and reflect upon the Word, read, preached, sung and prayed.  Then those who have been made one through the work of the Holy Spirit celebrate that unity as together they receive Christ’s Holy Body and Blood under the bread and wine for the forgiveness of their sins.  We remember that Christ is at the center of it all – what is preached, what is confessed, what is received.  It is truly all about Christ for you!  Christ, who willingly walked the way of the cross in our place, comes to us through the Church’s liturgy of these "Three Days," known as the Triduum. 

                On this first of the Holy Three Days, Maundy Thursday, our belief is put into practice as we receive Christ’s lasting testament in the Lord’s Supper.  It is at the Lord’s Table that troubled sinners, who have reflected upon their own sin and need throughout the Lenten season, receive the tangible absolution – Christ Himself for your forgiveness.  This is no mere meal of remembrance.  It is the very body and blood of Christ present for you here at this time and place for your benefits.  The dismissal to the communicants in Lutheran Service Book reminds us of what these benefits include as the pastor says, “The body and blood of our Lord strengthen and preserve you in body and soul to life everlasting.  Depart in + peace!”

                Therefore Maundy Thursday is about weak and weary sinners coming to the Lord for the blessed rest that He gives through His Word and the Lord’s Supper.  At the communion rail, He forgives our sins, lifts our burdens, grants us strength, fills us with hope and sends out into the world to serve as we have been served.  Our confession of faith is not for books and pastor’s posts.  Ultimately, our confession of faith is about opening our ears and our mouths and receiving the blessings that the crucified Lord gives to the Church through the Word and the Lord’s Supper.  Our theology is not abstract in the least bit.  It is the concrete confession and reception of Christ as the Church assembles, especially on days like Maundy Thursday! 

                Lastly, one of the best volumes that I have found for reading and meditating during Holy Week is The 1529 Holy Week and Easter Sermons of Dr. Martin Luther.  I especially appreciate his sermon on Thursday morning, “An Exhortation to Receive the Lord’s Supper.”  Here are some excerpts from Luther’s sermon, “Now we come to the exhortation.  For I see well how remiss you are in availing yourselves of the Sacrament.  Some say no one should approach who is not hungry, that is, no one should go unless driven by his or her sins.  Others say that they have no need of it.  Satan has often kept me from the Sacrament, too.” (p, 72)  He continues, “I, too, am just now learning to comprehend that access to the Sacrament is not based on our worthiness, but that instead I come as an unworthy person who cannot be worthy.  God protect me from my worthiness.  Indeed I would like to be worthy, but that is an art to which I cannot achieve.  For this reason I come standing on your Word, O God, and I seek holiness and righteousness from you.” (p, 75)  He writes of the promise and grace of the Lord’s Supper, “The second thing that should move us is the promise, about which you have heard the entire week, Christ’s promise ‘for you’ is even stronger than the command…This is sheer comfort, offered to distressed people, who would like the forgiveness of sins…It is a precious medicine and food that helps you in soul and body and gives you eternal life in soul and body.” (p. 75)  He also extols the Sacrament on account of our great need, writing, “Furthermore, you have not only God’s Word, command and promise, but also your need around your neck…You will find much in your heart that afflicts you.  Christ sees this.  For this reason he institutes the Sacrament, commands it, and bases it on his Word so that you may have a means against such affliction.” (p. 76)   Lastly, Luther writes, “A soldier has his rations and must have food and drink to be strong.  In the same way here: those who want to be Christians should not throw the Sacrament to the winds as if they did not need it.  There is immeasurable need for it.” (p. 78)

                May you be blessed as you receive the precious gifts of God on this Maundy Thursday.  May you see your great need and how God meets those needs in the gifts that He gives through the gathering of the saints around Word and Sacrament.  Finally, may these gifts bless you in body and soul as we grow in faith toward Him and fervent love toward one another!

                Collect for Maundy Thursday – O Lord, in this wondrous Sacrament You have left us a remembrance of Your passion.  Grant that we may so receive the sacred mystery of Your body and blood that the fruits of Your redemption may be continually manifest in us; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.