The ironies in this Holy Week just keep piling up, as if some mythical bulldozer were running out of control. Today is Maundy Thursday, the day in which Jesus assembled His disciples in the Upper Room to share the Passover Feast. But at the feast he did something different as we can read in the account from Luke 14, "And when the hour came, he sat at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you I shall not eat it[until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."
Jesus did this, Jesus said this in Jerusalem. On the night before He knew He would be betrayed and crucified. Jesus didn't go hide in a safe space, He fulfilled His earthly mission to become the Savior of the world.
Unfortunately, for most of the world, the Maundy Thursday liturgy at best will be viewed on an LCD screen, if it even presented at all. For this year, this 2020, the Church worldwide is hiding in all the safe spaces it can find. Rather than being out in public proclaiming the Gospel, we are in hiding with it under a bushel basket.
I could go on with my rant, to no effect. And I would not have written anything today, except for the fact that at Morning Prayer, my devotional reading [which I do before The General Thanksgiving] was about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who is remembered in the Church Calendar on April 9 [see the book, Lesser Feasts and Fasts].
Bonhoeffer was hanged on April 9 at Flossenberg Prison by Hitler's Gestapo for allegedly conspiring to assassinate Hitler..
Dietrich Bonhoeffer resided in Germany during WWII speaking out against the Nazis. He didn't have to. He had numerous invitations and opportunities to flee to England or the United States, but he chose to stay in Germany. His personal, spiritual struggle to reconcile his work of violence against Hitler with his Christian faith is documented in his book The Cost of Discipleship.
I wonder what Bonhoeffer would have to say to us, if he could see the Church refusing to do the work of the Church because of the threat of a virus and because the Government authorities tell us we cannot do Church. What would he say?
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