The fellowship of the table

As the Maundy Thursday observance turned to the last supper, the symbols of Eucharist foreshadowed the grief that was to come.  Walking with the stream of men, women, and children toward the altar, I found myself surrounded by people I did not know, but who were connected to me.

In The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien brought together a cast of characters with different ethnicities, allegiances, and even languages, who shared a common enemy.  Their fellowship was based on an epic mission requiring epic action to succeed in destroying their enemy.

The fellowship of the table shares some similarities to this story.  We, too, are of many tribes and nations, and we share a common enemy. However, what draws us together seems so very ... ordinary. Jesus calls us to the "one anothers" – loving one another, serving one another, forgiving one another, building one another up.  He calls us to take up the towel and join at the table.
 
We sang a hymn that night that was not familiar to me, but it truly spoke to our part in the fellowship of the table – a fellowship that will come to fruition one day.

Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face;
here would I touch and handle things unseen;
here grasp with firmer hand eternal grace,
and all my weariness upon Thee lean.

Here would I feed upon the bread of God,
here drink with Thee the royal wine of heaven;
Here would I lay aside each earthly load,
here taste afresh the calm of sin forgiven.

Too soon we rise; the symbols disappear;
the feast, though not the love, is past and gone.
The bread and wine remove; but Thou art here,
nearer than ever, still my shield and sun.

Feast after feast thus comes and passes by;
yet, passing, points to the glad feast above,
giving sweet foretaste of the festal joy,
the Lamb's great bridal feast of bliss and love.
          (Horatius Bonar, 1857)

This is the second of a series of three reflections on Maundy Thursday.