Prepare the Table

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, “The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.’ So the disciples set out and went to the city and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.’ They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, ‘Surely, not I?’ He said to them, ‘It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.’ While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, ‘Take; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.’ When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Mark 14:12-26 

As you well know, the "last supper" is the traditional Jewish Seder and has become, for Christians, the model of communion or eucharist. Although this passage in Mark does not say there were women involved with the preparation, every Seder I ever was honored to be part of was prepared by women, with curious children milling about and getting in the way. We have pictures in our mind of this last supper, mostly famous Rennaissance paintings, all of which had no idea what that event was like. It would Jesus' last meal with the ones he loved, his family and friends, and they would hold this as their sacred and new tradition. Their way of moving forward in the midst of terrible tragedy. We are reminded that being at table is one of the most intimate gatherings, and we are invited to prepare the table of love for others who might never be invited anywhere else.

Wondrous Creator, you call us to your table

providing us with all our food and our sustenance

we rely on you for our breath and our sight

and you call us your family and your children.

We set rules to keep strangers away from our table

we keep your abundant generosity to ourselves

we act like we have created all that we have 

and brag about our independence and our skill.

You call us to prepare a table with many seats

a place where the smallest and greatest can gather

a family table where we move over to let others sit

and where we share all of your loving abundance. Amen.