Gratitude + Communion
My friend Jon Grottis once said, “Gratitude is like a mosaic. If you step back and look at it you see the face of God. When we express gratitude we are recognizing the very essence of God in our lives.” – Jon Grottis
Perhaps the place we experience gratitude and see the face of God every week in our church is in Communion.
Each week we take the bread which represents the body of Christ given for us, and we take the cup filled with the fruit of the vine, which represents the blood of Christ poured out for us, and we GIVE THANKS.
This moment we call “Communion” has many names. Some call it Communion, others call it The Lord’s Supper, still others call it the Eucharist.
That word Eucharist is a Greek word and it simply means, “Thanksgiving.”
If you’re anything like me you may find yourself later this week gathered around a Thanksgiving table with family and friends to celebrate.
And at some point during that meal you’ll pause and ask the question…
“What are you grateful for?”
I think this is an important question but I think it raises even more important questions.
Questions like…
What happens when we center our lives on gratitude?
And… what happens when we don’t?
We know what happens when we don’t center our lives on gratitude. We’ve experienced that. A life void of gratitude is a life full of anxiety, fear, worry, stress, and anger. A life without gratitude leads to hate, resentment, and contempt.
And if that’s true, then we have wrestle with the all important question: HOW do we center our lives on gratitude?
Centering our Lives on Gratitude
The good news is that some 2000 years ago God put gratitude in the center of our lives. In fact, for those of us who consider ourselves followers of Jesus, our faith is centered on gratitude every week as we celebrate The Lord’s Supper.
And you may wonder why we do this every week. The reason why goes back 2000 years when Jesus was gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover with his disciples.
You can find this moment recorded in all four gospels but this morning I want us to look at how Luke tells the story. Luke was a doctor and he was a Jesus follower in the first century who took it upon himself to talk to as many eyewitnesses as possible to the life and ministry of Jesus and then share the eye witness accounts with all those who wanted to know more about this Jesus of Nazareth.
Luke wasn’t in the room when this happened, but there’s no doubt he talked to multiple people who were in the room.
Here’s the story Luke tells found in Luke 22.7-20:
Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread arrived, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, “Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together.”
Luke gives us some important details here and I want to make sure you see it. All this happens during the festival of Unleavened Bread. This is the time when the Passover Lamb will be sacrificed.
Jesus wants to celebrate the Passover Meal with his disciples. People from all over Israel and Judea have traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. This is one of the pilgrimage festivals that happens during the year.
So Jesus sends Peter and John to make all the preparations, which will include procuring a lamb, having it sacrificed, and then having the meat roasted for the passover meal.
Passover is one of the most important, if not the most important moment, on Israel’s calendar each year. This is when they remember what God did when he brought their ancestors out of Egyptian bondage.
Jesus wants to celebrate the Passover with his disciples. He sends Peter and John to make the Passover preparations. But they have a question…
“Where do you want us to prepare it?” they asked him.
He replied, “As soon as you enter Jerusalem, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” They went off to the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.
You may wonder, how did Jesus know all this? Did he have a prearranged plan already set up? The answer is no.
But Jesus knew that everything that was about to happen was a part of a larger prearranged plan. Jesus will not be arrested, tried, and crucified against his will. He is fully aware of God’s saving plan and all that is about to unfold.
When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”
Jesus knows that the time is near for him to face the cross. So now he’s seated with his disciples in this upper room in Jerusalem. Later this night he will be betrayed, arrested, and beaten. But before any of that, listen to what he does.
Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”
He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.”
This moment is what we call The Last Supper. (Picture of Jesus & his disciples at the Last Supper)
And this is where Jesus takes the very traditional Passover meal and transforms it into what we call the Lord’s Supper.
When we take Communion, The Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, we take the bread and we take the cup. But here, Luke tells us that Jesus took a cup of wine and gave thanks. Then he took some bread, broke it into pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
And then he took ANOTHER cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.”
Have you ever noticed that there were TWO cups?
What you might not know is that there were actually FOUR cups that were a part of the Passover Meal.
4 Cups of the Passover Meal:
1 // Sanctification – I will bring you out.
The first cup is the cup of Sanctification. That word, sanctification, simply means, “Set Apart.” This story about the Passover is the story of how the people of God were set apart, taken out of Egypt, by God to become God’s treasure possession.
While sitting at the table the one seated at the head of the table would take the first cup, fill it with the fruit of the vine, give thanks by saying… “Blessed are you O Lord, King of the Universe, who brings forth the fruit of the vine.” And then he would tell the story of how God brought his people out of Egypt.
At this table will be all the adults and all the children who are a part of the family. And this entire meal is meant to spark questions and curiosity.
The one who is at the head of the table then takes 3 Matzos, 3 pieces of unleavened bread, and takes the MIDDLE ONE out and breaks it, tears it into TWO. Half of it is wrapped in a white cloth and all the children are told to close their eyes and then other the half is wrapped in cloth is HIDDEN. We will not see it again until the end of the night.
Then the youngest child at the table will ask this question…
What is different on this night?
God told the Israelites… When your children ask, “Why are you doing this?” tell them… When the Lord brought ME up out of Egypt…
Me? This event took place some 3400 years ago, but every generation answers the same way… “I was a slave in Egypt.” I remember how God brought ME out of bondage.
We remember and we reenact the story. We remember what happened to our fathers but we tell the story as if it happened to us, to me, right now.
We remember and we retell the story of how Pharaoh did not want to let God’s people go. God had raised up a man named Moses to go to Pharaoh asking him to release his people, but Pharaoh would not. Why would he? The Israelites were his slaves and he was building his Egyptian kingdom on their backs and their slave labor. Losing them would destroy his economy and weaken his kingdom.
What Pharaoh didn’t know what that “NO” was not an option.
God proceeded to unleash 10 plagues on the land of Egypt. Each plague, by the way, was God’s judgement and condemnation of the gods of Egypt. Each plague declared that YHWH was the one true God above all other gods.
After each plague Pharaoh was given another chance to release the people of God. Each time he declined.
Then came the last plague. The worst. God in His great love told Moses to tell Pharaoh what would happen before it happened hoping that it would not come to this. If Pharaoh did not release the people of God from slavery in Egypt, then every firstborn in Egypt would die.
Pharaoh didn’t believe it, wouldn’t believe it, his heart was hardened and he still would not let the people of God go free.
So God told Moses to prepare the people for this night. Their firstborn children would be passed over on this night if they had this sign of faith across the doorpost of their home.
What would be the sign?
The blood of a lamb.
A perfect lamb, without blemish, sacrificed and it’s blood sprinkled across the doorpost of their home.
All of Israel sacrificed their lambs that night and in faith put the blood of the lamb across the doorpost of their homes. And that night, there was weeping and wailing all across Egypt including the cries and groans from Pharaoh’s palace. But because of the blood of the lamb, the angel “passed over” the homes of the Israelites and they were saved.
After this, Pharaoh told Moses to take the people and leave. And they left in haste, in a hurry. This is one of the reasons for the unleavened bread. Because they were in a hurry they needed bread for the journey but there was no time to wait to let the bread rise. They quickly baked cakes of unleavened bread that they could eat with their staff in their hand as they were leaving.
Ever since that night, each year the Jewish people celebrate the Passover. The word Passover is the Hebrew word Pesah which generally means “passed over” or “skipped over.” And in that way it remembers how the lives of their firstborns were saved.
So we drink the first cup and we retell the story as if we’re hearing it for the first time. We reenact the story as if it is happening to us!
Then it is time for the 2nd Cup:
2 // Deliverance – I will set you free.
This second cup is where we sing a song of praise. There’s a little Hebrew word, Dayenu, which means “It would have been enough.” It’s used traditionally during the Passover meal to give God praise and gratitude for all He’s done. It would have been enough if God had only done this, but he did so much more! This is where we express our GRATITUDE! And we praise God for his deliverance. For setting us free.
Now we eat the Passover Lamb! Now we remember that our ancestors were salves in Egypt for 400 years and we imagine what it must have felt like to finally hear God say, “I will set you free!” (Exodus 6.6-7)
As we lift the second cup we give thanks as we pray, Blessed are you, O Lord, King of the Universe, for bringing forth the fruit of the vine.
And now that the meal is finished, the kids are sent to find the missing piece of Matzah. Maybe you’ve forgotten about it. Remember at the beginning how this piece of bread was broken, half was wrapped in a white cloth and hidden.
This Matzah bread is called the Afikoman. It’s not a Hebrew word, it’s a Greek word that means, “I came.” It’s a once for all action. This bread will be the last food to touch our lips.
This Afikomen, this bread reminds us of Jesus, the bread that was broken for us, wrapped in a linen cloth, buried for 3 days, and then resurrected as our Redeemer and our Deliverer Then, he ascended to the Father. Hidden, out of sight, but one day He will return just as He came to redeem us!
The children return with the bread that reminds us that one day Jesus, Yeshua, will return.
This is the bread that Jesus broke with his disciples when he said… “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Like this bread, this Afikomen that was broken, hidden, and now has been found Jesus would be taken from us, broken for us, hidden first in a grave, but more than that… hidden in Heaven until the day He will return!
After this, we drink the 3rd cup:
3 // REDEMPTION – I will redeem you.
This third cup, the cup of redemption, begs the question, “What is redemption?” In the simplest of terms, redemption is buying the freedom of a slave.
You see, as the story goes we were once slaves in Egypt. Pharaoh was our master. We could not redeem ourselves. We could not buy our own redemption, or earn our freedom. Only God could redeem us, deliver us, and set us free. And so that’s exactly what God did at Passover.
This word Pesah, Passover, means more than just passed over. It also carries the meaning of the lamb which was sacrificed for the redemption of God’s people.
This cup of Redemption, this is the cup Jesus lifted up in the upper room when He said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.”
We drink this cup of Redemption every Sunday and we remember the blood of the Lamb that has been poured out as a sacrifice for us!
What’s interesting is that when you read the story of the Exodus you come to this historic moment. The Israelites have left Egypt but now Pharaoh has changed his mind. He can’t believe his entire slave labor force has left the country and so he sends his armies to go and bring them back. Israel sees the Egyptian army behind them with their horses, chariots, and swords. And before them are the raging waters of the Red Sea. Behind them is certain death. Before them is certain death.
The people panic. And then Moses says this…
“Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Exodus 14.13-14 (NIV)
That little Hebrew word, “Deliverance” is also translated as “salvation” or “rescue”… it’s the word, “yeshua.”
If you didn’t know this, Yeshua is the Hebrew name for Jesus. Jesus’ disciples would have called him Yeshua. His mother from the time he was born would have called him Yeshua. And on the day when Israel was being delivered from Egypt across the Red Sea, when it seemed as if all hope was lost, God made a way where there seemed to be no way. How? Yeshua.
This third cup, the Cup of Redemption, this is the cup that Jesus takes, gives thanks, Blessed are you O Lord, King of the Universe, who brings forth the fruit of the vine. And then Jesus, Yeshua, applies this 3rd Cup, the Cup of Redemption to himself!
Jesus is saying… Now I will REDEEM you. You were a slave to sin. No Longer! Now I am pouring out my blood for your freedom. I am the Passover Lamb, your Pesah Lamb, and now we are bought with a price, redeemed, set free to live as children of the Most High God!
We drink the cup of Redemption and we give God praise for Yeshua, our Deliverance, our redemption.
Finally, we raise the 4th cup, the Cup of Acceptance.
4 // Acceptance – I will take you as mine.
We take this cup and give thanks… Blessed are you O Lord, King of the Universe, who brings forth the fruit of the vine. And we drink this cup in faith awaiting the return of Christ and the coming Kingdom where He will reign forever and ever and ever, world without end. Amen.
Now we sing the psalms of Praise. Because God has promised to be our God.
Filled with Gratitude
Each year, the Jews gather to celebrate the Passover meal. Each Sunday, we gather as Christians to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Communion. The Eucharist.
And when we do, as we do, we give thanks.
Why? Because…
The bread of Christ and the cup of redemption fill us with gratitude.
And that gratitude leads us to worship.
By placing the bread of Christ and the cup of Redemption at the center of our worship we are filled with gratitude for the One who saved us, rescued us, redeemed us, and delivered us.
So we give thanks and we sing songs of praise.
Blessed are you O Lord, King of the Universe, who brings forth the Bread of Christ and the Cup of Redemption.
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