‘This is my body which is for you.’ 1 Corinthians 11:24
Brothers and sisters, probably one way or another most of us will know the story of Les Miserables. You may not have read the book but you have probably seen the musical or the film. The central character is Jean Valjean, a criminal who has spent twenty years of hard labour learning that you either get squashed in this life or you do the squashing. On release no one will hire him and no one will out him up for the night; no one that is until he comes across a kindly bishop. The bishop feeds and waters him and gives him a warm bed to sleep in; and how does Valjean repay him? By stealing the bishop’s silver! Of course, the police chase after him and soon catch up to him, and Valjean tells the somewhat unlikely story that the bishop gave him the silver. The police take him back to the bishop’s house and Valjean waits to be uncovered, his lie shown to the world. Amazingly, the bishop not only backs up his story but tells Valjean that he forgot the most valuable items, giving him his silver candlesticks. This act of grace, this act of love, causes Valjean to look at his life and question: does he want to live in a dog eat dog world or would he rather live like this man, this bishop, this Christian. The rest of the book, the rest of the musical, is Valjean’s answer to this critical question. The bishop’s gift changes a life it changes the life of Jean Valjean.
Right now we live in an anxious world. A pandemic, a cost of living crisis, and a European war, have led to increases in anxiety wherever we look. We look at our bank balances, the roads, and the state of the NHS and we’re tempted to turn inwards to lock our doors and turn away from others in need. Anxiety, we feel it and we feel it all too readily. What we need, what I need, is some real joy. Not happiness—certainly not the type of happiness—which too often we seek inside a bottle, or in a spending spree, or even in a holiday. No, what we need, what we want, and what we are made for is real lasting joy. Real, as it were, bankable joy, joy we can count on and which cannot be taken away from us. The world is crying out for joy and God wants to give it to us. However, like Jean Valjean, the world is too ready to believe—we are to ready to believe—that real goodness does not exist. Like Valjean we’re too ready to take the easy stuff—the stuff that promises happiness for a short period—and run, when, like the bishop, God is holding out so much more. Tonight we celebrate the institution of an amazing gift, a gift which never stops giving, and which God promises if we receive it in the right way, if we receive it with faith, if we receive it with thankful hearts, will be that source of joy which we’ve been looking. Tonight we celebrate the gift of the Eucharist.
We know the back story covered in our first reading (Exodus 12:1-8,11-14) we’ve studied Exodus as a church, and we’ve studied it through the Lent Devotionals as a diocese. So tonight, I just want us to focus on our second reading (1 Corinthians 11:23-26): ’the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you’. You know many people imagine that the Eucharist is just a symbol. That what you get when you come forward is just a wafer of bread and just a sip of wine; that the Eucharist is just a symbol, a nice way of remembering. I think Flannery O’Conor, the novelist, got it about right when she said: ‘If it's just a symbol, to hell with it’. Sounds a bit harsh on first hearing doesn’t it? However, when you reflect upon it I think she’s got a point. If I’m starving and someone gives me a Hovis OR Warburton’s logo, if they give me a symbol of bread but no actual bread, I won’t be best pleased. If this Easter, someone gave me a Cadbury’s symbol, a chocolate wrapper, but no actual chocolate I might be tempted to give them a piece of my mind. It’s not a symbol that I need when I’m hungry it’s actual food. If the Eucharist is just a symbol, it might be a nice reminder, but it won’t be what we need, and it certainly won’t bring us any lasting joy. What changes Valjean’s life around wasn’t just a symbol, it wasn’t the promise of a gift, or a picture of a gift it was actually a gift, a most costly gift of solid silver candlesticks.
Our Gospel reading tonight was taken from John’s Gospel (John 13:1-15), from the story of Jesus’ foot washing. Do you know in John’s Gospel there is no account of the Last Supper, this foot washing story takes its place. The reason why there is no Last Supper is because John has already dealt with the Eucharist back in John chapter 6. You’ll remember the famous feeding of the five thousand. Well after the feast—of course—the people get hungry again, and they come back to Jesus wanting more bread. Astoundingly, Jesus answers that they shouldn’t chase after bread which goes off, but instead they should eat Him. Jesus says: ‘I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live for ever. This bread is my flesh.’ You can imagine what happens next, the crowds start complaining about cannibalism and turning their backs on Jesus. Jesus could have solved this instantly if he had just turned around and said: ‘Calm down, I was only being symbolic, I was just using metaphor, I was just talking in signs’. But He doesn’t, instead He says: ‘Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you […] For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink’. You know what made a difference to Jean Valjean was receiving that priceless gift but not just receiving it, but by realising and believing in its value. If Valjean had looked at the candlesticks and assumed they were just a symbol of the candlesticks he might get if he worked hard enough, or if Valjean had looked at the candlesticks and assumed they were fakes, then His life would not have been transformed. Only the real deal, only a costly gift, only actual amazing grace transforms lives and gives real and lasting security and joy in a world of anxiety of doubt. On the first Maundy Thursday Jesus institutes a real and lasting gift, a gift which gives lasting joy and which is available to anyone who will receive it. In the Eucharist Jesus gives Himself. In the words He repeats through the mouth of the priest at every Eucharist Jesus says: ‘This is my body which is for you.’ This is no mere symbol, this is the most precious gift anyone can ever receive. This is the antidote to all anxiety. This is the gift for all spiritual hunger. This is lasting joy which cannot be taken away. This is the gift we need, and which the world needs and it is available for free, from any church, in any part of the world. Like Valjean, all we need to do, is realise its value, accept it’s worth, and be willing to be changed out of all recognition; changed to be more like Jesus. In giving this gift of Himself to you, and in receiving it regularly, Jesus will strengthen your faith, banish your doubts, and give you the joy you can get in no other way. A real and lasting joy, which will see you through any pandemic, any cost of living crisis, and any European war. This Gift is free and available today, all you need do is recognise its value and in faith come forward and receive it. Amen. (from Fr Mike).