Humble Us
John 6:53-55
So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.
Let Us Break Bread Together LBW 212
1 Let us break bread together on our knees; let us break bread together on our knees.
Refrain When I fall on my knees, with my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me.
2 Let us drink wine together on our knees; let us drink wine together on our knees. Refrain
3 Let us praise God together on our knees; let us praise God together on our knees. Refrain
Text: African American spiritual
Some believe this Spiritual was used as a password used by slaves in Virginia seeking the location of worship services they were forbidden to attend by their masters. While there is little historical evidence to indicate this is the case, this hymn is clearly a call for Christians to come and humbly receive the sacrament!
In the ancient church posture mattered. Coming before God on bent knees was a sign of humility. In our modern Churches we rarely consider our "posture" anymore, all kinds of practices are present at communion: some kneel , some stand, some, as we do here, walk through in a line… but we should remember our posture sometimes indicate our attitude!
This song asks us to approach the elements on our knees, but then also encourages us to raise our faces to the “rising sun”. And this is a very curious phrase... because in ancient times altars and churches were oriented toward the east, toward the ‘rising sun”. So this might be a reference to that eastern orientation. And it may reflect a passage from Malachi 4:2 that says “for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings” - which in the NT was considered a reference to the second coming of Christ.
But I seriously doubt that there were many historians or theologians among the slave communities that preserved these lyrics. This was a Spiritual, a slave song sung by people in bondage, and I wonder if those slaves, many of whom could neither read nor write, might not have had something entirely different in mind when they sang it - not so much the “rising Sun” appearing in the eastern sky, but rather the “rising Son” proclaimed at Easter!
Prayer: Father, we come before you with our knees bowed and our hearts bent, to receive the gift a risen Son. Transform and humble us by that gift that we, like slaves of old, can witness to your grace in the midst of difficult times. Amen.