Coming to the Table

Psalm 116:12-19

12What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me?

13I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord,

14I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.

15Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.

16O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, 

the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds.

17I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord.

18I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people,

19in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. 

Praise the Lord!

Reflection

Photo Creative Commons Licence. by Ian Britton

There can be little doubt

That what we do this night

Bears little resemblance

To the meal Jesus shared with his disciples

It is not a Passover meal

And is not meant to be

Where we sit at a table

They probably lay on the floor

Where we meet in a public place of worship

They probably met in someone’s home

Where we live in a time of perceived peace in this country

They were living as a conquered people

Where what we are doing lies at the centre of our faith

They were being introduced to new rituals

Yet here tonight in this place

As poor as the resemblance may be

We do as Jesus commanded his followers to do

We lift a cup in thanksgiving

And remember Jesus by eating the bread

It is a reflection of an ancient ritual

That we do not fully comprehend

Just as the High Priest offered portions

Of the lamb that had been sacrificed to the people

So Jesus offers himself to us

So come to the Table with hearts held high

Gather around for it is Jesus who invites you here

The Peace of the Lord be with you all

And also with you

As you gather around the table

I invite you to share the peace

Care for the creation

Peter Lockhart

I've just been watching a video of a lecture by Jeremy Jackson found on Byron Smith's blog, here. After preaching on the destruction on the oceans last year this was how I finished my sermon.

As we wait and we witness our own folly as God’s stewards we are reassured by God’s gracious word to us from Paul’s letter to the Romans, “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

It is the peace with God that can inspire us to consider again our place as witnesses to the future we hope in by the way we live as citizens of the coming kingdom now.

Maybe this is what John Calvin was on about when he wrote: “The custody of the garden was given in charge to Adam, to show that we possess the things which God has committed to our hands, on the condition, that being content with frugal and moderate use of them, we should take care of what shall remain... Moreover, that this economy and this diligence, with respect to those good things which God has given us to enjoy, may flourish among us; let everyone regard himself as the steward of God in all things which he possesses. Then he will neither conduct himself dissolutely, nor corrupt by abuse those things which God requires to be preserved.”
(John Calvin: Commentary on Genesis 2:15)

Despite our inability to respond to the wonder of creation appropriately, despite our destructive interpretation of 'dominion', despite our hurt of nature and each other the empty tomb reminds us that God chooses to love us and forgive us and invites us to a future yet to be fully understood or seen: a future in which God promises not simply to save human beings but renew the whole creation.

God’s grace comes and echoes in our lives like the distant crashing of waves against the shore, a comforting sound as the Spirit moves within us and draws into God’s life and God’s future. When we taste of the bread and wine our hope is that one day the renewal of the whole creation will occur and we will be blessed as we see the reflection of God’s glory and live as God’s people.