O Lord, stir up in us the flame of that love
which burned in the heart of your Son as he bore his passion, and let it burn
in us to eternal life ✠ in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Maundy Thursday may well be the most liturgically complicated gathering of the entire year. For one, we remember the Passover meal of the Jewish faith whereby we recall how God saves us from oppression. We recall that on the night before he died, Jesus gathered his disciples around the table and instituted the Holy Eucharist, telling us to “do this in remembrance of me.” There is the betrayal by Judas, the denial by Peter, and the arrest of Jesus in the Garden after a time of intense prayer – all events that the Stripping of the Altar evokes. Though we are not enacting it this year, this is also the night when Jesus models the nature of true leadership when he serves his disciples by washing their feet. There is the new commandment, mandatum in Latin, which gives us the name Maundy Thursday, in which Jesus says that we are to love one another. Finally, Maundy Thursday begins the Triduum, the three holy days which encapsulate tonight, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and the Easter Vigil. As the notes in the bulletin point out, worship tonight does not end, we simply pause at the close of this first act before returning tomorrow for Good Friday to continue the liturgy. All of this: Passover, Eucharist, foot-washing, betrayal, agony, love, and Jesus’ Passion make Maundy Thursday the most complicated liturgy of the Church year.
While
some might say “There’s just too much going on, it’s too hard to follow,” that’s
exactly the point. Perhaps the complicated nature of this night is why Peter will
say “I don’t know the man” or why none of the disciples are able to stay awake
with Jesus while he prays. Our celebration of Maundy Thursday is complex,
perhaps even confusing at times and this is precisely because the first Maundy
Thursday was also complex and confusing. The liturgy, both in whole and in
parts, is intended to help us to experience the complexity, depth, and grandeur
of our salvation which begins unfolding this evening.
As
the Psalms have been all week, the Psalm will be the focus of this sermon, as
it weaves a thread through all of these themes and helps us to find our way.
Psalm 116 is about God’s faithfulness, saying “How shall I repay the Lord for all the good things he has done
for me?” In so many ways, God blesses us; and in particular, in Holy Week, we have
specific good things that Jesus does for us. For us, he gives us a perpetual
way of being companions. The word “companion” is made up of two Latin words – “com”
meaning “with” and “pan” meaning “bread.” A companion is someone we break bread
with. By telling us to “do this in remembrance of me” Jesus gives us a way to
be companions with one another when we are estranged, he gives us companionship
with him when we need strength and comfort, he gives us companionship with all
the saints in heaven and on earth. In washing the disciples’ feet, he gives us
a different, better, and lovelier way of being in this world – being servants
of one another instead of always trying to climb over one another to reach the
top. In his steadfast prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane, he gives us the model
for all virtue and prayer: “not my will, but thy will be done.” For us and for
our salvation, Jesus knowingly and willingly allows himself to be betrayed,
denied, arrested, and crucified with the result being our salvation at the cost
of his own innocent life. He shows us that love is the true grain of the universe.
All of these good things, Jesus gives us abundantly.
Psalm
116 can be a lovely prayer for us to pray on Maundy Thursday as it invites a loving
response of praise and thanksgiving. To be sure, such a response is good and
pleasing to the Lord, but our
focus tonight isn’t on ourselves, it is on Jesus. So instead of us praying this
Psalm directed to God, let us hear it as Jesus’ own prayer to the Father, and pray
it with him.
The
Psalm begins with “I love the Lord.”
The prayer I’ve been using to open these sermons in Holy Week is: “O Lord, stir
up in us the flame of that love which burned in the heart of your Son as he
bore his passion, and let it burn in us to eternal life.” As Presiding Bishop
Michael Curry preached at the Royal Wedding in 2018, “If humanity ever captures
the energy of love, it will be the second time in history that we have
discovered fire. When we discover the redemptive power of love, we will make of
this old world a new world.”
Love
is what fuels Jesus in his Passion. It is this intense, brilliant, and pure
love that sustains and compels Jesus to do all the good things that he does for
us and for our salvation. In the perfect and beautiful love of the Trinity,
Jesus is a part of the truth that God is love. As Christiana Rosetti put it in a
poem, “Love came down at Christmas, love all lovely, love divine.” It was this
love that Jesus calls people into as his disciples. It was this love that healed
the sick, forgave sinners, welcomed the outcast, and fed the hungry. And, ultimately,
it is this love that is nailed to the cross and will rise again in three days.
It begins and ends with love. Love is the alpha and the omega of Holy Week.
With
this love, Jesus then lifts up the cup of salvation, as verse 11 of Psalm 116 puts
it. We understand that this cup of salvation is not merely a cup of celebratory
wine, but it is also a cup of sorrow, as it is filled with Jesus’ own blood,
shed for the life of the world. The Psalm notes “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his servants.” “Precious”
here means something like a precious stone – something that is rare, valuable,
honored, and beautiful. The good thing that Jesus gives to us from the love of
the Trinity is the most splendid and sacred thing we could ever have – the love
of God which took on flesh was poured out for our salvation and given to us in
such a way that we can continually lift up the cup of salvation in his name and
partake of this love. It reminds me of the words to that great hymn: “Love so
amazing, so divine, demands my life, my all.” The gift that Jesus gives us in the
cup of salvation is indescribably full of grace and mercy.
As
the Psalm continues, we see that Jesus does these good things for us because he
is fulfilling his vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people. It’s not that Jesus does these things behind
closed doors or in secret, but rather in the presence of all so that we become
witnesses to this loving faithfulness. As we think about Maundy Thursday and
this great love that we are given, I want to leave you with an image. If you’ve
eaten in some Middle Eastern restaurants, you perhaps have experienced dining
that is closer to what Jesus would have known. We eat at tables while sitting
in chairs. This isn’t how many other cultures eat. Instead, they eat on very
low tables that are more like shelves that are nearly floor level. Instead of
sitting in chairs, people recline on the floor, often on a pillow or cushion. And
sometimes, for support, people would recline on one another.
We
didn’t hear the specific verse in tonight’s Gospel reading, but earlier in the
chapter, John writes, “One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining
next to him.” Picture yourself here, reclining against Jesus. Close enough to
hear his heart beating; beating with that pulse of love that bears all things,
hopes all things, endures all things, believes all things, and makes all things
well. All of what unfolds tonight and over the next three days is done so that
we see and know of our salvation. We are made witnesses of this reconciling love
that passes all understanding. If you’re not sure how to think about the death
of Jesus or the glory of Easter, just spend some time in stillness, spend some time
imagining that you are reclining next to Jesus, feeling his warmth, hearing his
heart, and knowing his love.
