Can you drink the cup – The Cup of Blessings

Over the last two weeks we have been exploring Jesus’ question to the disciples through the eyes of Henri Nouwen in his book: Can you drink the cup.  We have explored the cup of sorrows and the cup of joy.  We have spoken of holding the cup and lifting the cup.  We have seen that the cup is a metaphor for life itself and that we are encouraged to take hold of our cup – our life and hold it and lift it.  We have been reminded that each of us has a life worth living and worth celebrating. And as we lift up our individual lives to one another, we share with one another the sorrow and the joy, the downs and the ups that make up each of our lives.  But lifting our cups makes us vulnerable.  Yet we are encouraged to not hold our cup close to our chest and take a furtive sip from it but to let our life be seen and recognized by those who share community with us.

Henri goes on to say that the act of lifting the cup is a way of offering a blessing just as Christ blessed the cup at the last supper.  And so each of our cups of sorrow and joy, when lifted for others “to life”, becomes the cup of blessings.  Our life becomes a blessing to others and the lives of others become a blessing to us.

When we lift the cup of our life and share with one another our sufferings and joys in mutual vulnerability, the new covenant in Christ can become visible among us. The surprise of it all is that it is often the least among us who reveal to us the blessings that in our life. In John’s gospel we read the words “there is no greater love than this than one lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” So often these words are epitaphs on the gravestones of fallen soldiers, but the words refer to the coming sacrifice of Christ who will allow his life to be given in order that his friends can receive eternal life.  We are also his friends and so we too benefit from this great sacrifice.  But these words do not have to refer only to the ultimate sacrifice. For they have great meaning and purpose in all of our life when we are willing to give of ourselves to one another.  “Silver and gold have I none,” said Peter to the beggar, “but such as I have I give thee.” In this instance, he gave the gift of healing.  We may not have that gift but the gift of our presence with and compassion for one another reveals that greater love of God and reveals a willingness to give of our life for one another.

And so we lift the cups of our lives to bring life to one another.  Years ago, the practice of remembering special events in the life of a church community was limited to church anniversaries, baptisms, weddings and funerals. Today congregations often take time in worship to celebrate births and birthdays; to acknowledge new people who come and those who leave.  Some of these occasions may require more preparation and involvement from us, but they are important because they provide us with opportunities to lift up each other’s life – whether in a joyful or a sorrowful moment – and deepen our bonds with each other.  To celebrate life is to raise up life, make it visible to each other, affirm it in its concreteness, and be grateful for it.

It is said that there is no ordinary life and that every life is worth recording.  When we were children, I am sure that many of us kept a diary. Sometimes it held interesting entries but many times it recorded a routine day.  I regret not keeping a closer track of my life not because I want to relive it or because I feel it is more special than another and want to proclaim it but because time fades memory and it is good to remember where we have come from and the experiences in life that have shaped us.  And so, our lives remembered can become a gift – a shared blessing - to others.

Yet we know that many people struggle to discover any blessings in their life. They feel the presence of illness, loss, handicaps and misfortune so strong that they cannot see where their life might hold any blessing.   But when Jesus took that cup on the evening before his death, it was a cup of sorrow, a cup of joy but also a cup of blessing that would become a cup of salvation.  It was the cup of a new and everlasting covenant, the cup that would unite us with God and with one another in a community of love.

Yes, there still is pain and suffering, injustice and cruelty in the world but there will come a day when all of this shall pass. For now, we live in this time between the earthly life of Jesus and the coming of the kingdom in the vision of John of the New Jerusalem. In this time, we live as a people with hope and promise who can not only live with our sorrows and joys but also discover our blessings.  And now Henri invites us to drink the cup that is our life now that we can see not just the sorrows and not just the joys but also the blessings remembering that this is our life – the one we have been given to live.     AMEN