We have a table before us. It is a familiar table; we have gathered around it together countless times before. It features the cherished elements of bread and wine; and taken together, those elements on this table form a sacrament.
Across the many traditions within the Christian church, we call this sacrament by different names. The Roman Catholics refer to the Mass, while the Eastern Orthodox church uses the Divine Liturgy. A number of Protestant denominations call it the Eucharist, others holy communion, and still others the Lord's Supper.
Whatever the terminology in the twenty-first century, however, we all trace the sacrament back to the same event in the first century. The table that is before us tonight recalls a different table from 2,000 years ago. Each time we partake of th…