In the name of the One who was, and is, and is to come. Amen.
Welcome
to this most holy night. The Maundy Thursday liturgy is perhaps the densest of
the entire church year. In some church traditions, this day is called “Thursday
of Mysteries,” and there are many mysteries tonight. There is the mystery of
the master washing the students’ feet. There is the mystery of the Eucharist
when Jesus says that the bread and the wine are to be his body and blood. There
is the mystery of salvation in the connection of the Passover meal to this meal
shared by Jesus and his disciples. In the stripping of the altar we are faced
with the mystery of betrayal. Based on the commandment given by Jesus, we have
the mystery of love’s ability to conquer all things. And it is this last
mystery, the mystery of love, that ties the tapestry of Maundy Thursday
together.
In
fact, “Maundy” is derived from the Latin word mandatum, related to English word “mandate,” meaning
“command.” It is at this final meal
together, according to John, that Jesus says “I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.” Before his crucifixion, love is the message with
which Jesus leaves his disciples. At the start of our reading, Jesus says “Having
loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” “End” in Greek
does not necessarily mean “conclusion,” but is the Greek word telos. A telos is not so much a conclusion as it is a purpose. So you might
say the end of an acorn is an oak tree. And this word, telos, also takes on an element of fulfillment. The acorn becomes
fully itself when it becomes a tree. So while we can understand “he loved them
to the end” to mean that Jesus loved his disciples up to the very last moment
of his life, it also has a deeper meaning- that in loving them, Jesus’ purpose
was fulfilled.
Love
is at the center of Maundy Thursday, and it is at the center of Jesus’ identity
and mission. Throughout John, including the letters attributed to the community
of John, love is central the message. In these Biblical books, “love” is
mentioned 122 times. The first letter of John notes that “God is love” and that
“we love because God first loved us.” And Jesus concludes today’s Gospel
reading saying, “by this everyone will
know that you are my disciples, that you have love for one another.” This love
is the culmination of Jesus’ teaching and presence among us. Consider the
“commands” that Jesus gives throughout the gospels: follow me and I will make
you fishers of people; proclaim the Good News and heal the sick; repent and
believe; take up your cross and follow me. But the end, the fulfillment, of
these commands is this one: love one another. As we will read tomorrow in
John’s recounting of the Passion, when Jesus breathes his last breath, he says
“it is finished,” using the word telos.
In this act, he embodies his teaching- “no one has greater love than this, to
lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” The mission and end of love is
fulfilled and perfected on the cross.
Throughout
his ministry, Jesus taught with parables, which might be defined as “earthly
stories with a heavenly meaning.” Because we cannot understand God on God’s
terms, Jesus comes and helps us to understand God on our terms through object
lessons and parables. Maundy Thursday is a parable of love. The parables were
told though, not purely as entertainment or a way to pass the time, but as
transformative teaching. And so there are at least three things that we learn
about love in the way that Jesus embodies it on this most holy night.
The
first is that love is about service. CS Lewis is one of my favorite authors,
and he had a lot to say about love that is helpful. He suggested that we don’t
waste our time wondering whether or not we are loving our neighbor, instead, we
should act as if we did. And when we behave as if we love someone, we will come
to love them. Lewis also said that love is not an emotion or feeling, but
rather a state of the will. More succinctly, perhaps the company Nike said it
best- just do it. Scholars tell us that in first-century Israel, it was fairly
common for the servants of a household to wash the feet of the host’s guests.
Roads, of course, were unpaved and sandals provided little protection from dirt
and mud. The host would have never been the one to wash feet though.
But
Jesus doesn’t let cultural norms stop him from showing how to love. By washing
the disciples feet out of love, Jesus demonstrates that love is not about
following rules or expectations. Love does not worry about what is seen as
“proper.” Love is not afraid of getting dirt under its fingernails. Love might
be felt in your heart, but it is expressed through your hands.
Secondly,
Jesus’ love that night shows us that love is open to all. Love knows no
boundaries or degrees. Jesus never says “love people like you” or “love those
who love me” or “love people who love you back,” instead he simply says “love
one another.” We waste so much time trying to decide who is loveable and who
isn’t. One astute spiritual writer said “there is no one whom you couldn’t love
if you knew their story.” Our culture though operates from a different
assumption. We judge before we love. We assume that love is earned, not given.
We talk of love as something that you “fall into” instead of surrounding us on
every side. Much of our culture is obsessed over legislating and defining who
is allowed to love whom in the covenant of marriage. But Jesus simply says
“love one another.”
In
the gospel narratives, Jesus knows what is coming. He knows that he will be
denied by Peter and betrayed by Judas. And yet, both of them have their feet
washed by Jesus and partake in the meal. There is no greater love than this. I
cannot begin to imagine knowing that someone will hand me over to my certain
death, and then lovingly and subserviently washing their feet or having dinner
with them. And yet, tonight, this is the parabolic lesson that Jesus is giving
us about love- that love never ceases, love does not have qualifications, love
does not write anyone off.
And
lastly, love is vulnerable. Why God chooses to work through flawed humans, I
don’t know, but God does. Jesus knew that by associating with the disciples
that he was associating himself with imperfect people. He had probably picked
up on the fact that Peter’s bark was worse than his bite. He doesn’t seemed to
be surprised by the fact that Peter denies and deserts him in his hour of need.
And he also knew that Judas tended to look out for himself and was always
looking for an opportunity to make a quick dollar.
CS
Lewis, again, says it best in this longer quote- “To love at all is to be
vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly
be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your
heart to no one. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries;
avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your
selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless- it will
change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable,
irredeemable. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe
from all the dangers of love is Hell.”
Love
is the most powerful force that can move the human soul, and true love can
transform us like nothing else. Those of you have lost a loved one have learned
this lesson- to love is to be vulnerable. Tonight, when we strip the altar, we
will see love laid bare. Love leaves us exposed and open to hurt. But is only
in opening ourselves fully that love can take its deepest root in our lives.
Jesus opened himself fully, to the end, to love. And his vulnerability is seen
in tonight’s betrayal.
Love
is the end, the purpose, and fulfillment of Jesus’ life and death. Maundy
Thursday is the night in which we gather to celebrate this love, and to pray
for the grace and strength to follow it and live it. Love is an action that
knows no limits and opens us to both vulnerability and joys that would
otherwise not be possible. But this sort of true and deep love is a challenge.
There is a reason why people show up in droves on Christmas Eve, but only the
faithful few show up on Maundy Thursday. This is not the sentimental love of a
newborn baby, this is the gut wrenching love of the cross. It is only through
this sort of raw and deep love that we can face the vulnerabilities and pains
of love that we see on Good Friday. And it is the love of God that will bring Jesus from death to the fullness of the Resurrection. These three days are the
holiest in our Christian calendar, and love is only way through them. Love is
the only way to find the joy and peace that is our end, our telos, in this life. Beloved, let us
love one another, so that everyone might know that we are his disciples,
because love is from God. Amen.
