Return to the Table, Maundy Thursday, April 1, 2021

Grace, mercy and peace be with you, from God our Father, and our Lord, Jesus Christ, whose body and blood were given and shed for us.                                               

Return to the Table, is our theme this Maundy Thursday evening. 

You arrive home one Friday afternoon after a long, hard day’s, and week’s work. As you pull up to your house, you stop at the mailbox and pick up your mail. As you sort through it, you see the usual stuff: a couple of bills, a credit card offer, a flyer advertising an upcoming sale. 

But then, something different: an oversized envelope with a wax seal on the flap. Heavy, ornate paper with the address handwritten in beautiful flowing letters. There’s no return address, but you can tell that this is a special invitation.

You crack the seal and open the envelope. Inside is an engraved invitation to join the Queen of England for a grand and luxurious banquet. All travel arrangements have been made for you. You’ll travel first class with all expenses paid. 

“But I have nothing to wear”, you think to yourself. Then you notice that formal attire will be provided for you. 

You call your boss to see if you can have a few days off, and you’re stunned to discover that your employer has already been notified, and you’ve been given paid time off to attend the royal banquet, with all your responsibilities at work taken care of for you while you’re away. 

A few hours later, you’re on a plane, winging your way across the Atlantic. When you arrive in London, you’re met by a chauffer, and taken by limousine to a luxurious suite. You rest and then prepare yourself for this honor of a lifetime. 

You dress in the formal clothing that you find waiting for you in the closet, attire  fit for a king or a queen. 

Then you’re taken by limousine to the banquet hall. 

It’s not what you expected; it’s filled with regular people just like you; all having the time of their lives. You expected it to be good, but this is so much better. You’ve never experienced anything like this, and you never dreamed you ever would. 

Then the Queen enters; everyone is in awe of her presence. You’re amazed at how gracious and kind she is.Then the meal is served; it’s sumptuous, the food is exquisite; you’ve never tasted anything so satisfying.

You go back to your luxurious hotel, and what do you find waiting for you? 

Another invitation, inviting you to join the Queen again and again, night after night, for as long as you’re there. It all seems too good to be true; but here you are, being treated like royalty.

This may sound like fantasy, but in reality, you’ve been treated far better than this. You have an invitation from someone far greater, far more regal, to attend a meal far more nourishing, at a place far more magnificent. 

You have your Lord’s gracious invitation, to receive His sacred body and blood, at His holy Table for your soul’s health and salvation.

The apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11, 23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

The night before He died, Jesus invited His disciples to the Upper Room, to share the Passover Meal with Him. During this meal, He instituted the holy Supper for His disciples and followers of all generations to have and share in.

In a way, that Passover was the disciples last meal with Jesus, their Last Supper with Him visibly, in the flesh. But in another way, it was their first meal with Him. 

After Jesus died and rose, though they would not see Him, He would be with them they celebrated this meal, Holy Communion. 

Though they would not see nor taste His body and blood for their forgiveness, because it’s hidden in the bread and the wine, Jesus would truly be there in what we call His sacramental presence. 

In the same way, Jesus is here with us tonight, in His body and blood; and here for every time we celebrate this Sacrament.

Jesus promised His followers for all generations to come: “This is my body” and, “This is my blood”, given and shed for you. 

In sacrificing Himself for you on the cross, and in giving Himself to you in the bread and the wine, Jesus is giving you the blessings that exist only in His royal presence.

This is a celebration far more rich in kindness and grace than any banquet with any earthly king or queen. This is an invitation to come into the presence of the king of Kings, and to be blessed with eternal blessings.

No invitation to any celebration in your lifetime, can match this magnificent invitation to return to our Lord’s table, and receive His heavenly gifts. 

By saying, “Do this in remembrance of Me”, He’s inviting you to His Table, to receive these eternal blessings, over and over again.

To make it through this life with Christ, it takes more than a single time or moment of blessing; it takes the receiving of His blessings time and time again.

And so time and again, Jesus calls you to return to the Table of His heavenly blessings. 

In our opening illustration you were invited to come to the queen’s banquet over and over again, so the King of Heaven invites you again and again to the banquet of His greatest gifts for you, forgiveness, life, salvation, peace and joy and more.

Because this sacred Meal at our Lord’s Table imparts such great gifts, we approach it most seriously. To deny or dismiss or take for granted the gifts Jesus gives us through His body broken, and His blood, shed for us, is a terrible, callous selfish thing to do. 

So God instructs us in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29, So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, we prepare our hearts in repentant faith, as we receive the sacred gift of Christ’s body and blood, that it may be for the strengthening of our hearts, and not the hardening of our hearts.

Just as, in our opening story, appropriate attire was provided for you to attend the royal banquet, so in His other great sacrament for you, Holy Baptism, God has clothed you with the righteousness of Christ, so preparing your soul with repentant faith to take part in the banquet of His body and blood.

In the Confession and Absolution of your sins, God has pronounced His grace upon you, to ready your heart to receive the body and blood of His Son.

Through instruction in God’s Word, the Holy Spirit prepares your mind to worthily receive the Sacrament, believing that this is indeed, Christ’s true body and blood, given and shed for you.

Over and over again, our Lord, the King above all kings, invites us to the Table above all tables, there to receive the gift above all gifts, His true body and blood, for our soul’s health.

May you always respond to His gracious invitation, and gladly return with true repentance and faith, again and again and again, to the Table of the Lord’s eternal blessings for you.

And as you do, may His peace, which passes understanding, guard your heart and mind, in Christ Jesus, your Lord, who gives His very self for you. Amen.