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\, A\SIGN THAT MEANS LOVE

chy ION MEDITATION - FIRST IN LENT
JOHN \13:1-9

MARCH 1\, 1973

More than we are usually aware &#, you and I depend on signs in order to communicate

with others, in order to affirm our own identi ty \and in order to express feelings and
emotions which lose something when limited by our vocabulary. Signs, in the form of

symbolic objects or ritualized behavior are vital to us.

In a very important book on the History of Religions, Mircea Eliade observes that:

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| ",..symbolism plays a decisive part in the religious history of humanéty;\ it is through

symbols that the world becomes transparent, is able to show the transcendent".
There are signs or symbols that communicate the same thing to everyone.\ A skull and
cross bones on a bottle label indicates to everyone that the contents are poisonous.

Simple bodily gestures such as a frown or smile or a wave of the hand are ordinarily

understood in the same manner by anyone who perceives.them. \ Although recent studies of

"body language" have suggested that we communiate more about ourselves than we intend by

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our gestures and postures.| Cultural conditioning also determines the content of symbolic

or ritualized behavior. Diplomats representing our nation in foreign cultures have to learn

that a smile isn't perceived in the same manner in the orient as it is in the West. } And I

was interested to read that the administration's efforts to strengthen our relationship

with India almost went down the drain because our new Ambassador handed a_piece of paper

to the wrong person as he was presenting his credentials.
SSS OO OES

Ther eare symbols and rituals that have very personal and intimate meansingsnot shared

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by others. | There are two documents hanging on the wall of my study: | they stand for two

academic degrees and they tell anyone who sees them only that I completed the course of

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study at two institutions of learning.\\ But to_me - they have an altogether different

set of neanings:| they symbolize - for me - personal experiences | friends, professors, hard
work, joy and heart break.

You and I can look at a bunch of daisies and our shared perception is one of pretty

flowers.\ But I'm going to be perceiving something more than that: | daises are a symbol -

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for me - because my bride carried a bunch_down the aisle at our wedding.

And, of course, all of us have established ritualized, symbolic behavior in our most

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intimate relationships with our spouses, children and dearest friends. | When we try to

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describe those rituals onset ively they sound either meaningless or silly | to others.\ But
between those who share their wdtoant they become powerful and eloquent methods of

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communication,

Pursuing it just a bit further, those commonly accepted symbols and rituals can have

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an altogether different meaning to different individuals when they bring their own personal
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experiences to then.\ For instance, the American Flag - a very common symbol - obviously,-

means one thing tga returning Prisoner of War; and an altogether different thing to a

young man living in Canada becasue his conscience would not permit him to participate in
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either the war or the system of conscrption which powered the war.

My concern this morning - and my reason for briefly exploring the subject of symbols -

is that the Sacrament of HOly Communion is a symbolic ritual that employs symbolic objects.

As in the case with the flag, the Sacrament enjoys a certain degree of shared perception.

But as in the case with my daisies, or that little ritual you play out_with your children

every night and which is far too personal for you to describe, the Sacrament also is
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perceived in different and personal ways by every individual who participates_in it-\ I

bring to it my experiences and feelings and you bring ours. | I bring memories of celebrat-

ing it with my family and my little brother sneaking the last sip out of my father's cup 1

bring memories of the Sacrament shared by the graduating seniors of my class, ail of whom

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had been hired by nice middle class suburban churches except Jimmy Sawyer who was blac

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and to whom I served the bread and wines\I bring memories of the first time I presided over

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t crament eek after Ims ordained in a tiny, rural Pennsylvania congregation that
he Sacrament one w r Iwas ordaine iny y greg

did not have a minister, of losing my place, and of being gently chided by a crusty old

Elder afterward who told me that Presbyterian ministers never walke@ in front of the

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communion table ~ thus interposing themselves between the people and the elements like a

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priest \ I bring memories of serving my own children the elements here last September, bf

of one of them saying "thank you" when I handed the bread, and of another back in the pew
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allowing as how it "really did taste like bigod."

All of us bring personal expertence to the Lord's table.| And I'm coming to understand

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that the content we bring is every bit_as important as the shared understanding which we've

read or been taught.\ we know what it's supposed to nean\and what I'm saying is that when

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it doesn't mean that for us:|when personal, intimate memories and experiences crowd out
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the theological content - it's alright:fin fact. it may be more of what the Sacrament

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was intenéd to do in the first place,

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The Directory fr Worship, part of the constitution of the United Presbyterian Church ~

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USA describes the different theological possibilities {The Sacrament is{"The Lord's 5 Supper ~'

the Breaking of Bread - The communion - The Eucharist or Thanksgiving". \ It is a memorial,

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an act of remembrance, a means of grace, a channel of Gad's Tove, an act of peritiuc ec

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contrition, devotion or joy\ But thevg, the Directory for Worship says, with great wisdom:
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"Let no one presume that words can exhaust the meaning of the Sacrament but let each one
search in the light of God's word for such further trudk as God may be pleased to reveal
to him." |

It occured to me, that we might be helped in our celebration of communjon on this

First Sunday of Lent to try to understand ~ those xperiences and memories the disciples

of ourLord must have brought to the holy meal every time they observed it after he had

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died.\ It occured to me that this ritualized behavior and these symbolic objects might

become a little more intimate if we could see for a moment what they saw,\and feel what

they felt.
And it occured to me tht whenever they sat down at table and broke bread one of them

must have said:\"Remember how he washed our feet that night!" | Consider the motional impact

of “<IRRRMMGHE that act. \ We have nowy of knowing what they were feeling as they sat

down around the table tn the Upper Room. \ We can speculate that the tension of the

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week prior was beginning to show. \ They had come inte the city on the first day of the week

Aad were Were a ews steadily "
waving palm branches.jBut the situation had/simbitx deteriorated every day since. \ surely

they knew that ; ; .
Y SOME VERY powerful men were planning a way to get rid of him.| Surely

they came to the table with the uneasy sense that this just might be the last meal they

would share\ Surely there were lost dreams and broken hearts and even anger at that table.

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But whatever they were feeling someone forgot to perform a very common and normal ritual.
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It was customary for a host at a dinner to provide a basin of cool water and a towel and

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to wash the dust from his guest's feet, or to have a servant do it.[ It was the norm -not
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the exception and we speculate that it was their practice to take turns performing ded

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But someone had forgotten or neglected to do it.|so it was that Jesus himself - in the

midst of that heavy atmosphere - full of tension and anxiety - got up, took the basin and

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towel, and - one by one ~- washed the feet of each of his disciples.

Everyone of them, regardless of what they had on their_minds, would have thogght:

[si shouldn't be doing this: |ne ought to be taking care of him."| And when he knelt before

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Peter and began to wash the feet of this strong, spirited man, Peter - always the one

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to speak what others only thought - said, No Lord - I can't let you do that. find Jesus

rept ted: "Peter, you don't understand the full significance of what I am doing - but some

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Consider the impact of wheireheasid \ Tt was an acting out of the whole meaning of

his life: [it was a visual demonstratioA of what it means to love and to accept other
people as they are: it was a powerful affirmation of each one of them_as persons \ 1 am

sure that whenever they broke bread together, someone said, (‘Renenber how he washed our

feet." ) and that in remembering they experienced his love all over again. {1 don't think
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they spent much time discussing the intracicies of sacramental theotogy: \put I would geess
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that the remembered experience of him washing their feet became a sacramental reality for

them as long as they lived.

In Gedspeil, a musical dramatization of the Gospel according to MAtthew, each
character develops throughout the play:\2 prostitute,| serious gentlemen, |2 silly young
girl, a big time operator. a TFlippant jokester.\ithen they sit in a circle for the tast

Supper, Jesus passes cleansing cream to each one the and they wipe the make-up from their

faces.\There is no more pretending, \no more clowning .\ no mere play acting.\ And then Jesus

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goes around the circle touching each one and in a gesture reminding each one of who she
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or he was when first met by hin.| Then he gives each a warm and vigorous enbrace \ Each one

is powerfully affirmed as a person and undergirded and loved as part of the ritual of communw.

symbolic represe wks
That's what the Sacrament isha ritual :| styxkeeed behavior that ombeliaes
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sonetining:|2 sign that means God's love far us-\ Part of that meaning we share’\and

part of it we have sensed in experienceé too personal to mean anything to anyone else.

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So let us commune this morning: \ open to the memories these symbols evoke:

open to the love of God which they represent. ~ Awd whew is agerepriate a
deo eaek ch > fy ee SeraAy J Wokwately, Pere malhy ,
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Volant we Go ww aie he ge tuo. Tem AG. ove wd
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Father, we are grateful for the Sacrament and what it has meant to your people down
through the centuries. We are grateful for the meanings it has for us. But most of all
we are thanful for the love which it expresses.

Amen