The last wine glass
LAST week I broke our last wine glass! It was the culmination of what has been for me a rather depressing symbol of the restrictions of lockdown. We once had a reasonable collection of wine glasses, but one by one they had succumbed to various accidents. As we entered Lockdown 2.0 last November, we had only two left; one for me and one for my wife. And that’s all we’ve needed for the last five months. Nearly half a year without friends or family over for a meal or a drink. Those two wine glasses have been a sad symbol of how relationships have been so restricted and have suffered over the last year.
Today is Maundy Thursday and it’s the day that Christians remember another symbol (also involving wine) – this time not a symbol of restriction, but of an incredible invitation to relationship. On the night before he died, Jesus shared a meal with his friends. They broke bread and drank wine, and Jesus told his disciples to keep on doing the same to remember him. The bread and wine were of course symbols of Jesus’ body which would be broken and his blood which would be shed, the very next day on the cross. But the meal itself is a symbol too. The central, sacred ceremony of Christianity is a meal. It’s a symbol of rich relationship, both with one another and with God. A relationship made possible through the death of Jesus on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.
As we emerge from lockdown it’s time to check and restock our cutlery and crockery collections. And make sure you’ve got enough glasses too! The coming months will be full of invitations once again – invitations to eat and drink with friends and family, even if it still has to be in the garden or in the park for a while yet. And as we let people into our gardens (and eventually our homes) again, remember that God too waits to be let in. Jesus once said: “Here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Revelation 3:20
This Easter, take time to consider the invitation from God, through Jesus Christ, into the fulness and richness of relationship with him.
REV WILL HUNTER SMART
Rector, St Nicolas Newbury and St Mary’s Speen