Exodus
12:1-4 [5-10] 11-14; Psalm 116:1-19; 1
Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-17, 31b-35
A few years back Oldsmobile sales were down; GM planned to
drop the line. Oldsmobile lovers went and bought; collectors bought. Before you
knew it, Oldsmobile was back in business. The new ad campaign was, “This isn’t
your father’s Oldsmobile.”
Many congregations include a Seder meal in Lent trying to
reclaim in some way the ancient meal of liberation. But, let us not be confused,
this meal, with all of its importance for our first covenant brothers and
sisters, is not our meal. I thought Mom’s 1987 Oldsmobile nine- passenger wagon
(we called it the land yacht), was a great car, but at 14 mpg I don’t want to
drive it. The Seder meal is the Oldsmobile our fathers (and mothers) drove.
The Passover bread of affliction is not our bread. The
bitterness of the cross and the bitterness served at the cross is not our
bitterness. That affliction and bitterness was taken on by Christ for us and
for our sake so that we might be justified with God and freed to live.
Our meal is not to be rushed. In the Eucharist, we are not
asked to stand or recline when eating; neither does it require unleavened bread;
Paul says to use a loaf of bread. In Corinthians we are even told to wait for
late comers.
We are not God’s first covenant people. Born in baptism, fed
at the Lord’s table, we are second covenant people. We have something new, with
more power, more agility, higher octane, and a lot more miles in it. Our meal
is nothing less than the body of Christ “given for us” here and now. It is not
a meal of remembrance, eaten once a year. This meal is to be done as often as
we eat and drink it (Luther says weekly). It is a meal of incorporation. As we
are made members of the body of Christ, so now the body is nourished for the
work ahead. This meal is not for the release of the few; it is for the
forgiveness of sins for all people.
Comparisons showing the relationship between the two meals
are reasonable, but let’s be clear: “This is not our father’s Oldsmobile.” In
the mystery of our Eucharist meal, we receive Christ’s presence and we are
changed. We are made high-quality bio-fuel for the work of the gospel. We are new
gas tanks containing new, higher octane fuel with more frequent fills available;
and the mileage is great.
Prayer
Lord, we thank you for freeing us from the slavery to sin
and for the gift of new life that leads us in new ways. Amen
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