Eucharistic meditation, October 23

Isaiah 25:6-8: And the Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; a banquet of wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined, aged wine. And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, even the veil which is stretched out over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time. And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.

As Pastor Purcell has pointed out in today's sermon, the Supper is a supper of the nations. The nations are a tribute offering, a grain offering, that Paul brings in before the Lord. And the bread of the Supper is likewise a tribute offering that is brought before the Lord. The nations, as Numbers says, are "bread" for the people of God, bringing their food and their treasures into the kingdom of God.

The conversion of the nations was always the hope of Israel. Beginning with Abraham, Yahweh promised to bless all nations through Abraham's seed, and the prophets frequently speak of the pilgrimage that the nations will make to Jerusalem where they will learn of the Lord's ways, devote themselves to following Him, and join with Israel in the worship of the one God. The goal and hope of Israel was one humanity joining on one mountain to worship the one God.

The meal we celebrate each week is the fulfillment of those hopes. We are on the mountain where the Lord has prepared a lavish banquet for all peoples. We come here from all corners of the earth: Some can trace their ancestry to Northern Europe, some to Southern Europe; some to Africa, some to Korea or Japan or China. Some have ancestors in Latin America. And we are all here at this one table, all the nations of the earth, enjoying a feast of wine in the presence of God on the mountain of God.

This Supper is the goal of mission, but it is also the impetus for further missions. Ultimately, we will gather at an eschatological banquet, where we will feast forever. For now, however, we gather for a time in order to be sent out. The Catholics at least get this right. They recognize that the whole sequence of worship leads to a climactic moment of dismissal. They call their worship services a "Mass," a term taken from the last words of the Latin Mass, which translated mean "Go out, you are sent."

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, October 23, 2005 at 09:35 AM

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