Reflections on the Remembrance Supper

Reservations to be considered:

If we know that Jesus’ bestowal was the 4th epochal Revelation; and 

 If we know that the “consecrated bread and wine” are quintessential part of most Jesus-based religions of authority (in reference to TUB); and

 If we know that as per most Eucharistic practice, the ritual is meant to be a “cleansing” post-confession and a pathway to the “presence of Jesus” and thereby to “eternal life”; and 

 

If we know as TUB readers that we are invited to find new ways in which to further the notion of the religion *of Jesus* and depart from yesteryear’s practice of a religion _about Jesus_; then, 

 

How could we partake in a Eucharist Passover Supper session that integrates the more progressive teachings of the 5th epochal Revelation and keep us —TUB practitioners— from being perceived by the unaware and curious potentially interested person, as just another version of authority-based Christianity?

 

Response:

Hi, firstly – that’s a whole lot of IF’s. This particular compilation suggests an IF/Then implication: IF A is true then B, except in this instance it looks more like: If A & B & C & D are all true then E seems unviable/unsustainable. Logic errors are usually rooted in false assumptions and in the line of logic outlined by you there are several assumptions which when dealt with should make things clear.

 

Firstly, the word “consecrated” – when associated with objects, at least from within the canon of the UB, is superstition. People can be consecrated but bread and wine are merely symbols and our gathering and sharing is a ‘living symbol’ of our spiritual communion, a celebration of sonship and worshipful recognition of the life sustaining work of the Master.

 

Second, what the traditional religions have to say about their version of the Eucharist doesn’t really shape ours. Our version [not that there is such a thing yet] is not based on or reflective of any tradition. Technically, ‘ours’ is rooted directly in the text and that version, as we understand it, is retrieved from tomb of 2000 years of tradition. This doesn’t make ours better than anyone else’s, just different. The Revelators went to great pains to highlight the damage that was done by the well-meaning followers of Jesus and suggest how his work may be retrieved and even protected. Also, it should be stated, our brotherhood is not a religion of authority. We are a congregation of mutually consecrated brethren. There is no authority to which we can point outside of the text, at least – and we are mindful not to make a fetish of that. We have no pope. We have no determiner of orthodoxy. We are, in a very real sense, the liberated sons of God – unrestrained by tradition or hierarchy. We define our own terms, and change as suits – we are not bound by the iron band of tradition. We know we could fall into the same errors to which the Apostles fell victim, to glorify the messenger at the expense of the message – in our case the danger being making a religion about the book as opposed to living the religion which it was bestowed to establish but maintaining consciousness of this can assist us in avoiding these pitfalls.

 

That said, we have no quarrel with the rituals of any tradition and we certainly wouldn’t be so arrogant as to see ourselves superior to our brothers and sisters who are at home among the various Christian families. We know our salvation is dependent upon our faith in God and not in our participation in some ritual.

 

The Remembrance Supper is a time of communion and can be effected in a variety of ways. However, I’m not entirely sure how the readership should approach The Passover Supper itself. It certainly seems like an obligation we should observe and Jesus wanted us to have such a ritual but it would have to be recalibrated to reflect the ideas and ideals of Jesus as outlined in the UB and I have not undertaken to do such an update but it’s next on my list! Also, such a meal is usually spent and the ritual usually celebrated with family but the Urantia teachings are so far on the periphery of mainstream civilisation that such a practice cannot be widespread. I don’t doubt that it someday will become one of the most popular traditions but that day remains a while away yet. At best, it would be a special occasion during which the family of believers could come together to celebrate the life of the Son and the glories of sonship.

 

No traditionally minded Christian would consider what we would undertake as orthodox and as for those outside the fold of the traditions our celebration would not be offensive or frightening but, more likely, be intriguing and encouraging.

 

It is worth noting that there is no “we”. I am not forcing anyone to do anything. I am merely offering to host a Remembrance Supper in which the life of the Master is reflected upon and celebrated. I am not, nor could I if I wanted to, “introducing” a ritual to our “community”. I am offering an invitation and, as the Master said, “All who will may come.” Jesus invited us to His Table and said: 179:5.7 (1942.6) … “When you do these things, recall the life I have lived on earth among you and rejoice that I am to continue to live on earth with you and to serve through you.” And that is just what I am proposing: to facilitate a gathering of my spiritual family, to share a glass or 3 of wine and some bread, and to reflect upon and celebrate the life and teachings of the Master.

 

I believe that this is a spiritually powerful thing to do. It certainly couldn’t do us any harm. I think we have lots to learn from trying it and I think it would be great to foster and nurture us as a spiritual community and as individuals.

The role of ritual and formalised religion are hot topics in the UB community. A considerable portion of the readership are, in one way or another, refugees of some one of the Christian traditions and the break with the tradition was often painful and somewhat acrimonious. This trauma, undoubtedly, plays a key role in the cultural reticence of community towards “anything” to do with formalised religion. Having experienced, first hand, the ‘barrenness of formalised religion’ many are hostile towards tradition [with all its ceremonies, rituals, and dogmas] and this sensitiveness makes progress on this issues as a community virtually impossible.

The UB teachings themselves have much to say on the topic. While it might be said that the teachings on these matters are divisive, we know that no such thing could be true for the real roots of division lie not so much in the teachings as in the murky depths of ego, personal trauma, and our own confused thinking. The teachings repeatedly stress the need for unity. Jesus repeatedly called for unity among the fellowship of believers. Machiventa’s whole paper is on the subject of unity and yet we constantly beat the war drums of division – we are constantly pulled into the US/THEM war paradigm, the timeless refrain of the ego. We are the true believers, they are pagans, heathens, and infidels. We love truth and righteousness, they love lies and deception. Ever and anon has this old tune been played and an intoxicated humanity dances into the fires of division and calamity.

The Master’s Table should be a place of communal respite from the ceaseless struggles of life, a place where we can safely put aside our differences and celebrate the one whose life inspires and unifies us all. You would need to be made of strong stuff to persist in animosity towards a brother in the presence of Jesus – the one who forgave even those who took his life.

Jesus specifically wanted to institute a new Passover, a bloodless Passover. 125:2:3 (1379.4)… “Jesus…became increasingly determined someday to establish the celebration of a bloodless Passover.” He purposefully gave us the Remembrance Supper as a communal sacrament. This has always had a strong appeal to my heart but I have never encountered anything that might fill this yearning for communion.

I have attended the Eucharistic celebrations of many Christian denominations but the sense of true welcome always evaded me. Perhaps it was just me, burdened as I am with the ever present sense of being an ‘outsider’ but, ever and anon, throughout life I have been blessed to find many brothers and sisters with whom I have enjoyed the shared communion of worshipping our Father. Though, in the Father’s presence and in communion with my celestial brethren I feel utterly at home in this universe – my Father’s House. Private worship is a duty and a privilege but there is the question of the socialised form of group worship – is that a duty and a privilege? Shouldn’t it be at least somewhat nourishing? Or perhaps offer us nourishment in different ways? We do know that private devotions strengthen us for social service, could it be that communal worship would have personal benefits?

It intrigued me that 179:5:2 (1942.1) The old Passover commemorated the emergence of their fathers from a state of racial slavery into individual freedom; now the Master was instituting a new remembrance supper as a symbol of the new dispensation wherein the enslaved individual emerges from the bondage of ceremonialism and selfishness into the spiritual joy of the brotherhood and fellowship of the liberated faith sons of the living God.

This is something to celebrate. Celebration, like laughter, grows in company. Some things are amplified by company. We are told, repeatedly, that we are social creatures and that while association has its costs, it also has its benefits. In the company of true friends burdens and sorrows are halved while laughter and happiness is amplified. The teachings offer repeated warnings of the vulnerabilities of the solitary being and of how there is strength and safety in numbers. The fruits of the spirit empower us to overcome the inevitable frictions that ever arise when imperfect beings come into close contact – that’s why I like to call them God’s Grease, they help us all get along better. Indeed, it is in the very act of driving us crazy that people create the opportunity for us to acquire a character that is more Godlike – we simply and literally couldn’t attain divine destiny without them. All the more reason we should celebrate having found one another. And there is so much to celebrate: being a child of God, the duty and the privilege of sincere worship, the union of souls in service, the pursuit of everlasting perfection, the illumination provided by the life of the Son of Man, to mention but a few.

 

There are a couple of things I think might be worth exploring in this. 179:5:9 (1943.2) This is the new Passover which I leave with you, even the memory of my bestowal life, the word of eternal truth; and of my love for you, the outpouring of my Spirit of Truth upon all flesh.” The life of Jesus blessed us with two things of inestimable value: his life and his love and they offer us channels to explore during a remembrance supper. He gave us a New Passover. However, this Passover would not be a mere duty but a privilege to celebrate.

 

He further said: 179:5.7 (1942.6) … “When you do these things, recall the life I have lived on earth among you and rejoice that I am to continue to live on earth with you and to serve through you.” Here we see that we are invited to co-create our lives in association with him. Our service becomes the gateway or the door through which he enters into the world again. Our lives are thus beset with profound moral concerns and to aid us in balancing these urges to divine service we are gifted with the Spirit of truth. We are taught that his life is a bestowal of the Bread of Heaven and when we ‘break the bread’ we are breaking off chunks with which to nourish the soul. Every one of his apostles loved Jesus for some one trait or attribute. Consider Matthew’s comment: “Some men, the more you know them the less you love them. This man, the more I know him, the less I understand him and the more I love him!” He is a source of endless inspiration and the Remembrance Supper is coming together to feast on this inspiration. This is not anything like traditional Eucharistic celebrations such as I have known, and this is especially true given that the fabric and structure of this event would be drawn directly from the UB.

 

Jesus warned us: : 179:5.7 (1942.6) “As individuals, contend not among yourselves as to who shall be greatest. Be you all as brethren. And when the kingdom grows to embrace large groups of believers, likewise should you refrain from contending for greatness or seeking preferment between such groups.” This is a specific warning to watch out for the machinations of ego. There is in the human brain an element that constantly assesses one’s place in the social hierarchy. If it believes that you are low in the hierarchy, it gives rise to feelings of anxiety, inadequacy, and desperation. If it believes that you occupy a high place in the hierarchy it can lead to feelings of confidence and competence – and if over developed, it leads to arrogance. The animal brain is mightily influential of our thinking and behaving and so our sense of our place in society can lead to profound cognitive static, if we believe [rightly or wrongly] that we are of low status. If we fail to remain conscious of this, it can influence our thinking – leading us to jockey for position, and otherwise engage in unseemly striving with ones fellows for dominance and status.

It is the vulnerable nature of ego leads it to crave control and to strive for dominance. While the soul, on the other hand, craves service and liberty. Jesus admonished us to be conscious of these things and to strive to rise above our lower nature. At his Table our lower natures should be subdued.

 

 

179:5.9 (1943.2) When Jesus had thus established the supper of the remembrance, he said to the eleven: “And as often as you do this, do it in remembrance of me. And when you do remember me, first look back upon my life in the flesh, recall that I was once with you, and then, by faith, discern that you shall all sometime sup with me in the Father’s eternal kingdom. This is the new Passover which I leave with you, even the memory of my bestowal life, the word of eternal truth; and of my love for you, the outpouring of my Spirit of Truth upon all flesh.”

179:5.8 (1943.1) The remembrance supper was established without ecclesiastical sanction.

179:5.10 (1943.3) And they ended this celebration of the old but bloodless Passover in connection with the inauguration of the new supper of the remembrance, by singing, all together, the one hundred and eighteenth Psalm.