Little Things Matter

Once upon a time there was a film called the 10 commandments. It starred Charlton Heston and watching this film at the drive-in is one of my earliest childhood memories.

The exhilarating bit was the part where the good guys got to walk through the walls of the Red Sea and the bad guys in their chariots all drowned. The spooky bit was the plague of the first born. This was the plague that finally convinced Pharaoh, at least temporarily, that he should let the Jewish blue collar workers go out into the wilderness and worship to their God.

Now bear in mind Pharaoh had changed his mind each and every time Moses had called down a plague upon the land so there was no real guarantee that Pharaoh wouldn’t change his mind this time.

Moses well understood the fickle heart of Pharaoh. He had also checked the Macdonald's app on his phone to discover that there are no drive through MacDonald stores in the wilderness on the way to the promised land.

So he asks his people to bake some bread but they have to do it in a hurry. There won’t be time to do all the proving and knocking back and waiting for the bread to rise. So they skip those bits of the recipe and make something akin to our pitta bread today. Unleavened bread. Bread without the yeast.

Meanwhile the angel of death is passing over the land and striking down the first born. This same angel is also skipping those houses that have the blood of the lamb daubed on the doors of the house.

For our Jewish brothers and sisters this is one of the most solemn feasts on their religious calendar. Understandably its called The feast of the Passover.

Growing up as a faithful practising Jew this celebration would have been a wonderful occasion for Our Lord. This was what he was up to with his little band of blokes the night before he died.

In the upper room there would have been lamb, olives and of course the things that we are familiar with, bread and wine. More little things.

I tell you all this because it helps to explain why we still use flat bread, unleavened bread, bread without yeast at our eucharist today and not the big fully stuff that we buy from the supermarket.

There are a couple of little things in the Eucharist that came back to me the other day that I hope might be helpful for you.

First, after the bread is blessed, I usually keep my forefinger and thumb together just in case there are any tiny parts of the blessed bread that are still on my finger tips. The chances are remote, but it helps to remind me of what it is and WHO it is that is here at the altar with us.

Secondly Our unleavened bread at the eucharist starts off completely covered. It is hidden under the veil or under the corporal. The bread of the life, the Master is often hidden from us and reveals himself ever so fleetingly and tantalisingly. This is perhaps the most powerful part of the story of the disciples going to Emmaus. It’s not until they sit down at table and the stranger breaks the bread that they realise who it is that has been walking alongside them. The Risen Christ sharing their story, their grief, their life, their journey.

Another little thing. At the Eucharist in Hamilton we deliberately bless more hosts than we need and the excess is reverently placed in the tabernacle behind the high altar; not just for safekeeping but also for two other reasons.

One, because under normal circumstances, the Church would be open and people can come in and say their prayers in the nearer presence of the blessed sacrament which is… well it is Him. This is why we approach communion with joy and respect, reverence and hope, confidence and humility.

Secondly there are times when Mrs Tiggywinkle might not be feeling too well and would like someone to bring her communion at home. Then the blessed sacrament can easily be accessed and taken to Mrs. Tiggywinkle or a nursing home or a hospital or wherever the need is.

In the very early days of Christianity, when it was a crime punishable by death, Christians used to meet in furtive secrecy on a Sunday and bless enough bread for each person to make their communion at home once a day. Then they would scurry home, make their communion each day and return the next week. They returned faithfully, fearfully knowing that it was the little things that mattered.

In today's gospel the disciples have had a bit of argy bargy about who is the greatest and The Master knowing their angst uses the parable of a little child to teach them what is really important. It is the little things, like a child, like the busted bread. Like Him.