Luke 22:14-20
I once had an abnormally busy day when I was in seminary. The kind of day in which you can’t seem to catch a breath. A brutally long research paper was due in my first morning class. I had to take an exam in the class that followed. Then I had to meet with a professor. Afterwards, I had to drive to the local campus ministry building where I worked. What should have been a short drive turned into an hour and a half traffic jam. I sat in the congestion of cars, fuming and irritable and tired. The totally agitated state in which I arrived at work did not bolster my confidence or enhance my ability to do a good job.
I don’t remember what the topic was for that night’s Bible study, or what Scripture we read during it, but I do remember how the night ended. As a group, we passed around bread and juice and held a time of communion. In the student union of an old college building, we found holy ground. We gathered, we ate, and we remembered Christ through this act that we shared together.
We celebrate Passover and take communion in order to remember. Through these rituals, we remember God’s strength and Christ’s gentle care for us. We remember a God who protected a beloved people and a Christ who sacrificed himself for us. And in such moments, God restores our busy lives and gives them meaning.
Dietrich Bonhoffer said, “I do not understand your ways but you know the way for me.”
When Jesus offers his disciples the first communion, they do not understand how that meal will give meaning to the rest of their lives. Jesus is the way. And on that journey to him, God will protect you. That is the promise of Passover.
Consider
List three ways you feel God’s care and protection today.
Pray
God, I do not always understand your ways, but I know you are the way for me. Amen.