Spong talks about how the God in the sky who dabbles in our affairs does not make much sense to our century and its knowledge. He writes about how a God asking for a blood sacrifice does not make sense to a more refined philosophical mind.
And he talks about how the liturgy and how the sacraments will need to change to reflect this newer and closer interpretation into who we are and who Jesus is and what God is.
The last supper. The linchpin of most Christian services. It has to change.
It can no longer be the reminder that he died as a blood sacrifice for us and for our sins to be forgiven. We can no longer believe in a heartless god.
For every milestone humanity has a celebration. Birth, adulthood, marriage, death. And the last supper is one of these: graduation.
It was time for these men and women to go out on their own. To teach others. To share a wisdom of love, forgiveness and mercy. And to probably raise a little revolution.
Do this in memory of me could very well be the poetic "remember what I taught you. Now go out there and do me proud."
How do we celebrate that Jesus has taught us what we need to know to succeed in changing the world so that we all live and love better and closer? We celebrate the teaching represented by the disciples' graduation into full leaders of their own.
I am not trying in any way to diminish the passion of the Christ. That passion has a deep and long lasting meaning for so many. I am only trying to deepen our understanding of what was happening and what it all means at all its different levels.
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