Midweek Message: March 31
For spring break, I went on a mission trip to Taos, New Mexico. We were staying on the floor of a local church and were supposed to spend four days working on a house for Habitat for Humanity. I say “supposed to” because on day two, I fell ill and had to spend the next day and a half lying on the church floor groggy with medication. Luckily, the church had a beautiful wood carving of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper hanging on the wall of the Fellowship Hall. Staring at this carving became my entertainment while I was sick. Have you ever looked – I mean really looked – at that painting? I found myself wondering at what point in the supper they actually were. There was terror on some faces, sadness on others. But there was peace in Jesus’ face. I decided that the painting was from Mark 14:19. The disciples have just been told that one of their own will betray Jesus. But is that really what Jesus wanted them to take from that meal? The knowledge of a future betrayal? I don’t think so. The real question is: what new thing is Jesus giving the disciples to taste? I think they all felt betrayed by the one disciple who would betray Jesus, even though they did not know who it was. But Jesus did not want to leave them with the taste of betrayal in their mouths. He followed his confession by breaking bread and pouring wine. Jesus replaced the taste of betrayal with the taste of hope.
What new thing is God giving me to taste? On my mission trip, I tasted the disappointment of having to sit in the church and not participate in the work. But that bitter taste was followed by the hope that I saw in the faces of the single mother and her five daughters who would receive the home. Sometimes what God gives us in life is not easy to swallow. There is betrayal and disappointment. But, look for the hope that always follows. And think, what new thing is God giving me to taste?
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