Maundy Thursday
John 13:1-17, 31b-35; I Corinthians 11:23-26; Exodus 12:1-14
Maundy. Mandatum. the Latin word for command. On this night we gather to fulfill what Christ commanded his disciples. Actually in the course of this evening's service we are confronted by what can be identified as at least three commands. We will in a few minutes hear a reading of the Gospel from John in which we have the familiar story of Jesus on the night he was betrayed taking a basin of water and washing his disciples' feet. And after he did this he turns to his disciples and informs them that if he their Lord and teacher can serve them then they also should serve one another. As the lesson continues Jesus turns from the command to serve others to a command to love one another. Jesus declares this to be a new commandment, the new dimension being his identification with the form of love. "As I have love you, you also should love one another."
Then, as our service moves on into the night we come to the moment when Christ enters into our midst through the celebration of Holy Communion. Here we encounter a third command set in the very words of instituting our communion service. After taking the cup and blessing the bread Jesus commands his disciples to "do this for the remembrance of me." Three commands, mandatum, that inform and shape this night.
The starting point for this evening is the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples and a command to serve others. Service has come to have a rather peculiar face in our modern society. Many of our area schools now require that students do a certain number of hours of community service before graduating or to qualify for certain academic or social organizational memberships. High school teens regularly call the church office looking for opportunities to serve. In addition the peer jury system and our local courts regularly stipulate that community service must be served as part of the payment for some milder legal conviction. The dictionary has as many as 10 different definitions for the word service ranging from military duty to an act that benefits another.
I was raised with the idea that service involved in some way an act of sacrifice or humility. Jesus kneeling before his disciples. The one who is the greater serving the lesser. While Jesus did his act of service in earnest, it is easy to see this image as purely symbolic as it has been recreated through the centuries by kneeling popes and royalty. No one really sees such moments as so much service to another as a good publicity stunt or photo op. Required acts of service too quickly become symbolic gestures. The idea of sacrifice-of service as more than just a gesture is part of the challenge we have tonight in understanding this first command to service.
A recent telephone call from a teen (not a member of this church) is revealing . she called to tell me she wanted to do something to help people but only on Saturday after 2 and before 5 because she had sports and studies and a busy social schedule and she really didn't want to do anything outside with bugs . But her mother said to be sure it was with people because that looks best on your college resume and she liked the idea of working with the hungry but she really didn't want to cook anything and she definitely did not do dishes but helping people was something she really wanted to do. To serve when convenient and practical and comfortable to my agenda is a curious definition of service. There is service, symbolic yet at times helpful, and then there is service like those who work the third shift at PADS. Coming in at 3 a.m. to prepare breakfast and clean up the facility so everyone is gone by 7 a.m. There is nothing convenient about 3 a.m. There is nothing all that special about 3 a.m., just a few homeless hungry people being fed and sheltered. The example of our Lord kneeling before his disciples is not intended to highlight the need to do acts of kindness now and then. The command to serve others is intended to direct our whole lives. Service is not just a listing of tasks to be accomplished. Service provides a sense of purpose and meaning that transcends the task.
A servant act done to impress others is not service but politics. A servant act performed for personal gain is not service but career, social or economic advancement. The servant act is usually discovered by most of us to late when we say things like. I should have done that or I could have done that. Christ has set the example. "you also should do as I have done to you." But his example goes further when he gives us his new commandment . "as I have loved you, you also should love one another." A command to love. Clearly someone is not clear on the concept. Love is a feeling, an emotion, it is not a thing to be held or an object to be directed. I cannot tell you how to feel towards something.
I remember my mother ordering my sister to eat her beans and like them. The reply was always, "I'll eat them but I won't like them." So it is with much of the world around us. We may tolerate other people or nations but it doesn't mean we like them. Love is not an emotion that any one can turn on or off by command. Love is a discovered quality of relationship. So Jesus invites us to first discover the love he has for us. "as I have loved you." What has Jesus done for me? That is where this whole night begins. In this time of the movie the Passion of the Christ we are tempted to focus on the suffering of Jesus as proof of what he has done for us. But this is far to narrow an understanding, especially in light of the context of this evening. Jesus taught his disciples to see the world in a different way.
Jesus acted against pain and suffering, hunger and thirst. Jesus made whole the broken and challenged the injustice of prejudice and abuse. Jesus demonstrated his love by calling others to faith. To love as he loved. This is not a call to suffering but it may be a call to sacrifice. It is certainly a call to witness to the same vision of justice and wholeness. This is no small task. In many places around the world the Christian community is not the majority faith. In many places it is not even allowed to proclaim the faith in words but the witness continues through acts of love. Love makes no requirement of the other. It is a gift offered so the Lutheran World Federation sent over 30,000 quilts made by Lutherans in this country as relief to earth quack stricken sections of Iran. So the Lutheran hospital in Jerusalem remains the primary care facility for Palestinians the majority of whom are Moslem. So the Lutheran Social Service network in the United States remains the largest and most dollar efficient system of its kind without regard for the religious belief or ethnic identity of those being served.
To love as he loved, in word and deed, service led by the heart and spirit. So as people led by the spirit and the example of Christ's love we gather this night around his holy table. Here we hear his final command. "do this for the remembrance of me." There is no mystery in this command but there is a moment of wonder and awe. A gift is offered. It is a moment of grace. God has entered once more into the world, into our world, into this moment. In the silence of prayer, in the harmony of hymn, in the taste of wine and the full flavor of bread.
Christ offers himself for us. Christ offers his grace to us, that we might stand with him before the throne of God. Maundy. Mandatum. A new commandment I give you. A command given not with threat of consequences if the command is not carried out, but a command with the promise of blessing if it is fulfilled. A new commandment to love as God loves. As God's love was revealed in the life of Jesus. To love as God's love was made perfect in the form of humble service. Even as we hear the whispers of betrayal and anticipate the trial and crucifixion we remember as he commanded that we remember, remember that God so loved the world that a grave will not be the end.
Amen.