Sometimes when I’m teaching and the students go wildly off on a tangent, I’ll try to draw them back in by pointing toward the window or the door exclaiming, “Look!” and when they turn to look I say, “There goes the point!” In the middle of this chapter there is a moment like that when Jesus is with his disciples in the upper room eating the Last Supper.
This moment was one that Jesus had planned out and prepared for. He was aware that Judas had agreed to betray him, and the scene was set. It was Passover, and Jesus sent Peter and John to prepare the meal. The room was waiting, and he told them how to find it. Everything was just as Jesus had told them it would be, so they prepared the meal.
At the table, that night, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper. “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer,” he said. The moment is building. He is about to do something that he has had in mind for some time! Perhaps even from the creation of the world, or maybe when Adam and Eve fell into sin. He took bread, gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” The he took a cup of wine and says, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” It’s a whole new relationship to God! This is a holy moment! God is giving gifts of forgiveness, peace, strength and faith.
So what are the disciples doing? Are they in humble awe, moved to worship? Do they piously receive the gift with reverent fear? No. They’re arguing about who is the greatest.
“Look! There goes the point! Holy moment going out the window, because all you guys can think about is who’s better than whom.”
But in another way, maybe, for us, that is part of the point we need to take hold of. We are easily distracted from spiritual truth. When God is offering us lavish forgiveness we want to be better than the next guy. (Is that so we don’t have to get as much forgiveness as he did? That would be kind of crazy. Don’t we want as much of God’s gifts as he will give?)
Have you ever walked into church and, seeing there will be a baptism, groaned, “Oh, man! This is going to add ten minutes to the service”? Have you ever gone to the rail for Communion and thought, “What was she thinking when she put on that outfit.”? Have you ever stood up for the Gospel lesson and looking around, thought, “My goodness! I cannot believe that these parents just let their children color during the worship service!”? (Look! There goes the point!)
God is at work giving life and salvation. And he works through this time in the Word, too, strengthening our faith and filling us with his Spirit so we can live as his people. We need the forgiveness he gives for being so easily distracted. However, in the Word and Sacraments, the Holy Spirit also works in us to set our hearts and minds on Jesus, to put his agenda first in our lives, and to shape our lives to reflect his priorities.
Heavenly Father, thank you for your Holy Spirit who empowers me to live for you. Too often, I find that I get distracted from you and my attention goes where it does not belong. Help me to fix my eyes on Jesus, to live in his forgiveness, and to reflect his love to others. Amen.
This moment was one that Jesus had planned out and prepared for. He was aware that Judas had agreed to betray him, and the scene was set. It was Passover, and Jesus sent Peter and John to prepare the meal. The room was waiting, and he told them how to find it. Everything was just as Jesus had told them it would be, so they prepared the meal.
At the table, that night, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper. “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer,” he said. The moment is building. He is about to do something that he has had in mind for some time! Perhaps even from the creation of the world, or maybe when Adam and Eve fell into sin. He took bread, gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” The he took a cup of wine and says, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” It’s a whole new relationship to God! This is a holy moment! God is giving gifts of forgiveness, peace, strength and faith.
So what are the disciples doing? Are they in humble awe, moved to worship? Do they piously receive the gift with reverent fear? No. They’re arguing about who is the greatest.
“Look! There goes the point! Holy moment going out the window, because all you guys can think about is who’s better than whom.”
But in another way, maybe, for us, that is part of the point we need to take hold of. We are easily distracted from spiritual truth. When God is offering us lavish forgiveness we want to be better than the next guy. (Is that so we don’t have to get as much forgiveness as he did? That would be kind of crazy. Don’t we want as much of God’s gifts as he will give?)
Have you ever walked into church and, seeing there will be a baptism, groaned, “Oh, man! This is going to add ten minutes to the service”? Have you ever gone to the rail for Communion and thought, “What was she thinking when she put on that outfit.”? Have you ever stood up for the Gospel lesson and looking around, thought, “My goodness! I cannot believe that these parents just let their children color during the worship service!”? (Look! There goes the point!)
God is at work giving life and salvation. And he works through this time in the Word, too, strengthening our faith and filling us with his Spirit so we can live as his people. We need the forgiveness he gives for being so easily distracted. However, in the Word and Sacraments, the Holy Spirit also works in us to set our hearts and minds on Jesus, to put his agenda first in our lives, and to shape our lives to reflect his priorities.
Heavenly Father, thank you for your Holy Spirit who empowers me to live for you. Too often, I find that I get distracted from you and my attention goes where it does not belong. Help me to fix my eyes on Jesus, to live in his forgiveness, and to reflect his love to others. Amen.
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