Thoughts for the Day

* The Last Supper by Leonardo de Vinci

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever! ....

When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;
he brought me into a spacious place.
The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?....

It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in humans.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
They swarmed around me like bees,
but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the Lord helped me.
The Lord is my strength and my defense
he has become my salvation.

The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
The Lord has done it this very day;
let us rejoice today and be glad.....

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his steadfast love endures forever.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

I have always had an interest in liturgy. By this I mean the way we order our worship, and the way we use ritual. It's why I ended up writing the five "Sermon Slot" books years ago, and doing an MA in Pastoral Liturgy. As humans we constantly create ritual and symbol in our lives. Think of the ritual you have before going to bed.... put the dog out, check the windows, lock the doors, make a last drink.....! Or the way we use candles in church as symbols of Christ the 'Light of the World'. In our worship Jews and Christians have always used ritual and symbol.

Look at the words of Psalm 118 above - only part of it can be included here. Notice the repetition of the first two and the last two verses. In fact these lines are repeated five times in the psalm. Now imagine the Passover multitudes making their way to the Temple, with everyone responding to a single voice that cries "O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good," with the answer, "his steadfast love endures for ever". You should be able to find other places in the psalm where the people would have answered similarly.

For Psalm 118 is the last of the Hallel Psalms hymns of praise that were sung at Passover when the nation remembered their deliverance from Egypt as Pharaoh's slaves. This is the hymn that Jesus and the disciples most likely sang as they finished the Last Supper, as Jesus, the 'corner stone' went to his death to save us from being slaves to sin, and to reconcile us to the Father.

Lord Jesus,
as You sang the traditional psalms
at the last Passover with your disciples,
in a great paean of praise to God
for all that He had done for His people,
may we learn to put all our trust in You.
When times are dark and the world
is troubled may we learn that in
'returning and rest we will be saved'
and that in 'quietness and trust will be our strength'*
Amen.

* Isaiah 30.15