Scripture Mark 14:22-25
“He took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them …”
“Took”
… “Blessed” … “Broke” … “Gave”. Four
words. Four verbs. The same four verbs used to describe the only miracle story
found in all four gospels: the feeding of the 5000.
To understand
this profound connection between Last Supper and 5000 fed, let’s establish the
first and last verbs as the framework: Took and Gave.
The kingdom of
God that Jesus has come proclaiming and practicing – freely taking bread and
freely giving bread – is predicated on God, and God alone, owning it all. And since God and
God alone owns it all, in this world, all are to receive a fair share of the
goods. And to make sure that fair share is taken – and given – God appoints us
as stewards to make sure it is so. To freely take and then freely give – to
each according to their need, as scripture makes plain many times – each and
every one of us who claims to follow Jesus is called to engage in this process,
which can be messy. A stewardship process that the Bible calls justice.
“Jesus
took the bread … and gave it to (his disciples).” And there was enough to go
around. For as the feeding of the 5000 has already made plain: Because God owns the world, there is enough
to go around. There is always enough! But we think otherwise, and so there
is never enough. And so we act otherwise, and so we get what we can and guard
it with our lives.
To
our Jesus of the 5000 and this Last Supper of justice: Having enough is never a
problem. Taking it and giving it till all are satisfied: That is our challenge.
God owns it all – and there is always enough.
“Jesus took the
bread … and gave it to (his disciples).” Founded on the ownership of all by our
abundant God, Taking and Giving provides the framework for all we do.
But what about
the Blessing and the Breaking, in-between? Blessing is about joy. Breaking is
about suffering. Joy and suffering: These two words seem as opposite as taking
and giving. And yet, as well, these two form a pair.
If
we live according to the taking and giving framework established by Jesus –
whether it be among 5000, or the intimacy of this supper – we will be broken.
We will be broken. For “if one lives for justice (presuming) a world that belongs
to God, one will (be broken by) human injustice in a world that refuses
recognition of such ownership.” (1)
Such
brokenness doesn’t sound like a blessing, to me. Until we stop and think of those
who lived that way. There are the figures of our history books: Gandhi and Dr.
King … Sojourner Truth and Dorothy Day. But
what about those we personally have known
who have voluntarily – lovingly – broken their lives open for us and for a
better world all around us, because they knew – they really, really knew – that
God owned all, and that God would provide?
Who
are those souls who have blessed your lives? Someone who has broken himself or
herself open for your benefit – for the world’s? How has that person’s voluntary
brokenness served as a blessing for you, in your life? Let us pause for 30
seconds and remember that person or persons. Let us pause for 30 seconds and
consider how their brokenness blessed our way. I will keep the time …
Blessed it and Broke it, in the process.
Jesus did it. And
others for us.
And so can we, for others.
For
if God owns all – and God provides enough: What is there to keep us from taking
and giving bread freely? As has been done in this fellowship hall every
Saturday morning for a quarter century now for those in need?
If
God owns all – and God provides enough: What is there to keep us from
participating in God’s blessing by breaking open our lives as Jesus once did?
Our
faith is about participation with Christ, and not substitution by Christ. We
–are invited to travel his journey from the justice of this meal to the
violence of those who hate that injustice to the resurrection that occurs along
the way—and that awaits.
So
let us join now in this, the New Passover meal. Celebrating our release from
the bondage of Pharaoh’s fears. Celebrating our liberation to serve our
abundant God. Celebrating Jesus's Resurrection -- our Resurrection -- to come!
(1) Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan, The Last Week: A Day-by-Day Account of Jesus's Final Week in Jerusalem (HarperSanFrancisco, 2006), 118.
