Maundy Thursday

"A new command I give you; Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all people will know that you are my followers, if you love one another."

(John 13:34-35)

This in not necessarily a NEW COMMAND. In Leviticus (one of those books we avoid) we find this in 19:18:

"Do not seek revenge of bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Sovereign."

This verse was in the context of Jesus sharing in the Passover, washing the feet of his rag tag followers, predicting his betrayal by Judas and Predicting Peter's denial.

So this is really nothing new. We have been told in the OT and in the NT to LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS GOD HAS LOVED US. What does that mean? (Wait for responses?)

Maundy Thursday has become synonymous with the celebration of Communion because of the association with the Passover celebration. Communion has become such a part of religious tradition that we have a tendency to settle back into a sort of "lacquered formality" that in reality has little claim on us. When rituals of the bread and cup are encrusted in tradition and routine, they may be conveniently, even sacramental, uncoupled from the commandment to ACT out LOVE in concrete ways beyond the rituals of eating and drinking....

Here at Spirit what do we call this sacrament of communion?

The LOVE FEAST....but is it? Do we love one another as Jesus loved us? Do others look at us and say....my, my, my....those Spirit of the Lakers...look how they love one another....they must be followers of Jesus!

But it is amazing that we have followed the command of Jesus to eat and drink the bread and cup....but we HAVE NOT followed the command to "wash one another's feet".........and this is an expression of our love....our love for one another. We haven't made foot washing a sacrament....nor have we made love a sacrament – or is it a sacred act?

I don't have an answer for this – but I have always wondered – why none of the disciples had taken it upon themselves to wash feet as the disciples entered the room to celebrate the Passover. This would have been the normal ritual....maybe they were already feeling the pressure....maybe they already had a sense of some impending doom....maybe they were having their struggles among themselves and washing feet was just a little too close for comfort....

The Benedictines have found it important to reenact the ritual of foot washing as a part of their daily faith routines....but the majority of Christians find it difficult, awkward to take up the wash basin and the towel. To get up from the table, where we are secure and comfortable is hard. To take off the shoes can be embarrassing. Maybe we haven't had a pedicure for months, years. Maybe our feet are full of calluses. To bear this part of our body can be uncomfortable. But this reminds me of LOVING....of SERVING....it can be uncomfortable....hard....heartbreaking....almost impossible....To put on a towel, take a basin, kneel, and wash dirty feet requires that we humble ourselves. To love one another as Jesus loved us means that we humble ourselves – that we love each other through the dirt and the grime and the calluses of life.

Maybe we want to believe that we can be obedient to the SPIRIT of Jesus' example without engaging in the literal act of foot washing. At worst, we will want to avoid John's account of Jesus' foot washing altogether.

Maybe like Jesus disciples we GROPE for some understanding of this event. Maybe like Peter, we may first resist being washed, then misunderstand completely by wanting to be washed from head to toe.

Like Judas, we may accept Jesus' washing but carry on with the plans we have already made, as if the ritual has no bearing on the destinies we construct for ourselves.

Some of us may want to imitate Jesus as teacher, imitate Jesus as servant, imitate Jesus as lover...but find it difficult to believe that means attending to the dirt and grime and smell of a sisters or brothers foot. We may find it difficult because this is uncomfortable discipleship.

So tonight....do we leap to eat the bread and drink the fruit of the vine? Do we leap up for a towel, grab a basin and wash everyone's feet? Do we leap up and LOVE one another as Jesus has loved us? What does that mean? I leave that to your imagination tonight.....