Debbie
Cato
Exodus
12:1-14; 1Co 11:23-26; John 13:1-17; 31b-35
The
Way of the Cross – Maundy Thursday
Peace
Presbyterian Church
April
2, 2015
Let
us pray: God
our helper, by your Holy Spirit, open our minds, that as the
Scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may be led into
your truth and taught your will, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our
Lord. Amen.
Jesus’
Last Hours
We
have been walking the “Way of the Cross” for nearly 40 days now.
We've asked questions like, “Who are we? Who are we in our
relationship with God?” We've talked about temptation; about
self-denial and repentance. We've looked at the challenge of
obedience, servitude and sacrifice. It's been some hard stuff; stuff
that feels uncomfortable. We are getting closer. Today, we enter
into three sacred days on our journey with Jesus to the cross. This
is the ancient Triduum: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy
Saturday.
Three
days of emotional peaks and valleys and plateaus that offer an
exercise in intimacy and distance, along with hope and despair. If
we travel well over these next three days, we will be left broken.
Broken open and vacant and receptive for Easter morning.1
Momentum
shifts today. It is a day of transition. Things become darker.
Shadows lengthen. Our vague, general ideas about Lent become
specific items: a towel; a bowl; a cup; some bread; bare feet.2
Jesus
knew his time to suffer and die on the cross was here. His hour had
come.
He
chooses to spend his last hours sharing a meal with his 12 closest
friends; the disciples who have been with him since the beginning of
his ministry. These were his confidants. These were the men who
couldn't seem to get it. these were the men he was relying on to
continue his ministry. These were the men who, three years prior,
left what they were doing to follow Jesus. Simon (who is called
Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother
John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector;
James son of Alphaeus, and
Thaddaeus (called Judas); Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot.
Jesus chooses to spend his last hours in fellowship with his travel
companions. No more healings, no more miracles, no more crowds.
Just Jesus and the twelve.
This
inner circle intimately gather for a meal with Christ. On this
Passover everything has been prepared according to Jesus'
instructions. They gather in the Upper Room around 7:00 to begin the
Passover traditions. They talk, they laugh, they recite the Passover
scriptures and sing the hymns. They eat the traditional Seder meal.
The disciples have good intentions; and yet there are impending
betrayals. It's like a lull before a storm. It is a night of hollow
voices – promising loyalty, perseverance, and boldness. Jesus'
inner circle is in transition. Soon even their hollow words will be
transformed. Even their decisions and fears and hopes will be turned
to light. But first, they must experience the darkness.
What
decisions, what losses, what needs are gathered in this sanctuary
tonight? What fears and possibilities and even hopes are residing
inside of you? Inside of the person sitting next to you? What are
you too afraid to hope for? Too afraid to talk about? To repent
from? To share?
Maundy
Thursday – this night, is a time for us as individual followers and
for us as the Body of Christ at Peace Presbyterian to remember our
callings. It is the time for us to recollect our commitments to God.
To make confessions and trust in a God who is bigger than our past
hopes and our future mistakes.3
On
that first Holy Thursday, Jesus spent his final hours with his
closest friends. John the Beloved. Judas Iscariot, who would betray
Jesus. Peter who would deny knowing Jesus.Andrew, James. Philip,
Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus
(called Judas), and Simon the Zealot all betray Jesus. They
abandoned Jesus when he needed them most. This gathering is a time
to remember who exactly was welcome at His Table.
Tonight
is a night to remember and name all who are welcome at this Table –
this
table
which through the ages is Jesus table. People like …… and …..
and ….. and
me.
Those who have betrayed friends and will do so again, are welcome at
the Table. Those who will deny and curse before the night is up,
they are invited to this table. Those who claim their identity but
not their behaviors are honored guests at this Table. To those who
betray God over and over again; Jesus says, “Come.
Come and dine with me.”
To those who deny knowing Jesus through their actions or words or
lack of actions or words; to those who run when God calls them; the
Lord says, “Come
my beloved. I love you. You are welcome”
In
the middle of their meal together, while everyone is comfortably
lounging, enjoying the meal and the conversation, Jesus gets up from
the table. He takes off his outer robe and He ties a towel around
himself – the dress of a lowly servant. Jesus methodically goes
from disciple to disciple, kneeling down in front of them, gently
washing the filth off their feet, drying them with the towel that is
tied around his waist.
In
those days, foot washing was not a symbolic ceremony, nor for that
matter, was the breaking of bread or the pouring of wine. It's Jesus
actions on this night, His last night, that changes them. In Jesus’
time, foot washing was practical. Dusty, muddy, manure-strewn roads
made sandaled feet grossly dirty. The first-century household slave
had the foot-washing task. It was one of the most demeaning and
filthy tasks in their culture. And yet, the King of Kings, hours
before his arrest and crucifixion chooses the servant’s role and
this lowliest task as an object lesson for his disciples. The
humbleness of Christ on this night is shocking. It's incredible.
After
washing the disciples’ feet, including Judas' feet, Judas Iscariot
leaves to
betray
Jesus. Jesus knew he would. But he washed his feet in the same
manner
he
washed the others.
Jesus
intentionality levels the playing field. He says, “For
I have set an example for you. You also should do as I have done to you.” You see, Jesus
calls us into down-ward mobility, bidding us to leave higher safety
for a lower and broken world. There is nothing too lowly for us to
do for another. Or for our enemies.
Sitting
back down, Jesus gives them a new commandment, his final words of
wisdom if you will. Jesus says, “I
give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I
have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone
will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one
another.” A
commandment of love, patterned on his love for them.
Maundy
Thursday derives its name from this very moment of Jesus’ last
hours– the mandatum novum – the new mandate or new commandment.
Jesus says, if each and every one of you will just love one another
the way that I love you, everyone will know that you are my
disciples. He knows that this kind of outlandish love, flowing out
of humility and service to one another will cause his followers to
look different in the world; it will cause them to stand out. He
says, others will be drawn to you just as people are drawn to me.
All that I have done; the healings, the miracles, the teachings, and
the foot washing – it has all been out of my love for you. It has
no limits. It makes no demands. It doesn't discriminate. It’s
unconditional. And soon, I will commit THE ultimate, amazing act of
sacrifice, out of my love for you and then perhaps, finally then, you
will understand.
On
this night of his arrest, after the guests feet are washed and their
bellies filled; Jesus takes two simple things from their meal –
leftover bread and wine. In his last meal before his death, Jesus
takes and shares with his disciples the bread and the wine, speaking
of them as his body and blood, signs of the new covenant. The old
law is out. The new covenant of love is in. Jesus commended
breaking bread and
sharing a cup to remember His death and to proclaim it.4
After
we affirm our faith by reading one of our Confessions together, we
will share
the Lord’s Supper with one another; the same meal Jesus shared with
his beloved disciples in his final hours. We will speak the same
words He spoke that evening. And we will do it in remembrance of
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Jesus
spent his last hours in the fellowship of his friends. It started
out as an ordinary Passover meal – at least to His disciples. It
ends with three gifts to the Church – a Church that would not even
begin to form for forty two days. Jesus leaves His legacy. Jesus
left a legacy of humility and servitude and love. Jesus’ entire
ministry – down to his last hours, exemplified these three traits.
Jesus commands us; he mandates us to love; but not only to love; but
to love as Christ loves. How can this be? Is love not a feeling?
Can feelings be commanded? Of course not! However, choices – the
choice of loving behaviors, Christlike actions – can be chosen in
the strength of Jesus, the towel-girded Christ.5
I
pray that as we prepare to come to the table, we will come with the
humility of knowing how far we fall short. May we see the times that
we have betrayed our Lord. The times we have denied our faith. The
times we have run away, rather than follow Him. In the midst of your
brokenness, may you hear the voice of Jesus saying to you, “Come.
I love you. This is my body broken for you and my blood, poured out
for you for the new covenant. A covenant of love.”
Let
us pray:
Servant
Lord, in Scripture you teach us how to love and serve, not just
through words, but through your life and ministry. You show us how to
stand in a servant’s posture and live with love as our call. Give
us strength and wisdom and perseverance so that we may follow your
example, serving you and others by sharing your love. Show us how to
wear a servant’s towel. Use us to meet the
deep
needs of those near and far. Help us not to be afraid of getting
messy, but to risk our own time and energy for the sake of following
your call. When others serve us, may we accept their gifts with
grace. We commit ourselves to your service, and ask all of these
things in your name. Amen.
2Ibid.
4
BOO W.24
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