Maundy Thursday 2007

Jn 13:1-11, 31b-35

In a section of John’s gospel called the farewell discourse, chapters 13-17, we join Jesus with friends for a final meal. Scripture provides us with several similar farewell narratives – one for Isaac in Gen 27, one for Jacob in Gen 49, one for Moses in Deut 31-33 and one for Samuel in 1 Sam 12. The framework or literary style is common among them:

Setting: the one leaving or dying calls his own so they are together before the separation.

Memory: experiences shared are remembered.

Exhortation; the departing one calls for love and loyalty.

Admonition – before the danger, while alone, an admonition is given 16;1-4.

Transfer: power for the entrusted task is given.

Expectations: expressions of hope in the promises of God are made.

In the case of Jesus, the setting is the night before Passover, the talk around the table is perhaps remembering events they have shared, and the one departing calls for love and loyalty. They are admonished to pray that they not enter into temptation. They are told that Jesus has prayed for them and will send them another comforter the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth. They are expected to love one another as Jesus has loved them. This is the Spiritual testimony: a new commandment: I give you that you love one another as I have loved you. Why is this command called new?

In Leviticus there is a summary of the law and in the synoptic gospels Jesus gives the summary of the law as love of God and neighbor as yourself. So what is new about this command?

The command is new because a new source of love is possible in and through Jesus. The new love is demonstrated in the incarnate Word (prologue Jn 1:14). The Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth. The love that marks the relationship between the Father and the Son is available for each of us by the power of the Spirit. We are invited to participate in the love of God in the same way Jesus demonstrated during his ministry on earth – by committed obedience to God and by service to sisters and brothers, near and far.

Jesus treated all who gathered, even Judas, for that last meal as friends. He shared bread and wine from a common cup an act and symbol of unity. Sharing one cup, one loaf of bread, unites us symbolically and the one whose body and blood we share in sacrament also unites us because we are all one in Christ. Jesus is about to return to the Father and counts it as glory. Through all the signs that Jesus did in his ministry we are invited to see his messianic identity. More importantly, every sign, every act, every teaching pointed to the Father as a God of love, so that in service to the will of the Father every action bore the active witness of unconditional love.

Jesus expressed love by humble service. After supper he rose from the table, took off his outer garment, tied a towel around his waist, and began to wash the feet of his friends. Peter objected because he did not understand the deeper meaning of the servant posture Jesus was taking. Things were changing – Jesus was acting like one of the slaves, not dignified, not the thing for the leader to be doing and Peter was uncomfortable. Some people get very quiet and draw away from uncomfortable encounters while others come forth with a lot of words. Peter seems to be the verbal type in this scene. The smart students stay quiet when they don’t understand but the talkers always expose their lack of understanding. Jesus assured Peter that he will understand later.

The real power of love is the humble posture of servanthood. WE are so engaged in political and religious rhetoric about who counts as a person today – we have overlooked the nature of being servants to one another. The extent to which we understand the new commandment is the extent to which we are willing to be servants. If we take the Gospel seriously, we cannot avoid the example of Jesus’ loving service to others. The whole thrust of love is outward – toward the other – without distinction – without approval – without justification – but simply because the other has need. Faithfulness to God is demonstrated in the way we receive others: it is the heart of the mission of the church. Loving one another is a mark of the Christian community.

John believes that there is something unique and distinctive in the faith community. John thinks it is important that the Christian community be grounded in love for each and every member. The united community transcends ethnicity, economic status, gender, political ideology, language and age. How well do we love one another? The grade we get in this test shows us the grade we get in demonstrating whose we are. If we are one in Christ we must respect the dignity of every person and love everyone in the name of Christ. We can disagree and we ought to when we struggle with what to do with limited resources, but even in division and disagreements, the world ought to see whose we are by the way we treat one another.

The love Jesus offered is nothing less than the gift of self – it is grace, pure grace. Jesus gave his life to the disciples as an expression of the fullness of his relationship with the Father and as a way of demonstrating God’s love to all people. Jesus’ death is love extended to all. To love as Jesus loved is to live life fully, shaped by a love that knows no limits and holds a new concept of community. The old covenant based on law becomes new in the command to love. The old Passover from slavery into freedom is enlarged in the new Passover from death to life. The old summary of Levitical law is made new in the incarnate Christ.

In the footwashing portion of our service tonight, we can, if we will, catch a renewed sense of community. We can take on the posture of servant – one to another – as brothers and sisters in Christ. The way we share what we have in meeting the millennium development goals is a good example of how we show love one for another:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

2. Achieve universal primary education

3 Promote gender equality and empower women

4 Reduce child mortality

5. Improve maternal health

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB

7. Ensure environmental sustainability

8. Develop a global partnership for development

If every person who is financially able would contribute 0.7% of their income to these goals the world would know that we are servants of Christ because we love one another. That is the shape obedience to the new commandment would take today.

As we gather to share from one loaf of bread and a single cup of wine we are reminded that we are one in Christ. It is the Lord’s Table and all are welcome.