Year C Maundy Thursday 2022 Love Shown

Maundy Thursday, 14 April 2022 St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA “Love Shown” Collect: Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. John 13:1-17, 31b-35 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord--and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, `Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 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.” I am always fascinated with cooking shows. Watching masters of what they do, performing their skills. Their knowledge is beyond words. It is more than muscle memory, it is experience repeated over and over combined with knowledge and attention to detail. It is a beautiful thing. Often there is someone trying to learn through doing, or someone watching over the expert’s shoulder there to ask the newbie questions for all of us. They will try, and then the expert will peer over and say, “A little bit more” or “Give it another 30 seconds.” There is something beyond calculation going on. It is a deep knowledge inexpressible because they have gone this way so many times before they JUST KNOW. That type of expertise is fascinating to me. Malcolm Gladwell, author and analyst, says according to studies and his research, it takes about 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. But once you reach that threshold, you begin to intuit what is right and good in whatever it is you are doing. The Beatles played in Hamburg, West Germany for about 10,000 and hit the clubs back in Liverpool as Masters at playing together. It enabled them to intuit what each other would do, how to sing in harmony with one another without thinking about it, knowing what riff each other would take. A hive mind brought them together to a point of expertise that made them who they were. Jesus had been with his disciples for three years. They were fully committed to him and his teachings, and we see him here at the pinnacle of his time with them. He knew that the days of testing ahead would take their toll on them, and cause some of them to doubt their calling and who they were in him for a short time. But even in the knowledge that most would fail in the coming days, he did not give up on them. In our reading tonight, it says, Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. As he looked around that table that night, that is what he thought and felt. Love. Just love. Even for Judas. Remember, Jesus washed Judas’ feet, too. That is love. Often we are asked if you had one day left to love, what would you do. Jesus knew it, and this is what he chose. He chose to be with those he loved. He chose to model for them true Servant Leadership. If he had asked any of them to get up and wash his feet, they probably would have jumped at the chance and fought for the honor. But he stripped down, wrapped himself in a towel like a slave and washed his disciples’ feet. It is a lesson to us still. And in the midst of this we have an interaction with Peter. Beloved Peter who speaks first and thinks second. I love his honesty and his transparency. “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” The Teacher should not be doing this! It so reminds me of when he was the first to declare Jesus the Messiah, but then immediately after when Jesus predicts his death and resurrection, Peter denounces that. And Jesus says, “Get thee behind me, Satan!” Once again, Peter jumps in what is “proper,” what is expected, and Jesus says no. Then in a very bi-polar way, Peter swings the pendulum back the other way. Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” Ah, Peter. I love him so much. But Jesus was like those master chefs I started with. He knew what was needed, and for whom. He knew that Peter only needed his feet done. And he knew that Judas needed more, but Judas did not and his heart had already turned. But even in this knowledge, Jesus knelt down and lovingly, caringly cleansed the feet of the one who would have the audacity to betray him with a KISS of all things only a handful of hours later. For those of you who heard me yesterday morning, we talked about what we value, and how we in the church do not EVER have the luxury to write anybody off. Jesus did not with Judas. If that is not the example we should follow, is there ever any other option? Friends, how we love one another is the greatest testament that we are Christ’s followers. We uphold the respect and the dignity of every person, especially if they are a sister or brother in Christ. This night is even named for that. Maundy Thursday. Our English speaking forebears did not know Latin, the liturgical language of the Mass, and they knew on this Thursday before Easter that the liturgy was different. They heard these words, Mandatum Novum, a New Commandment I give unto you. These are the final words from today’s readings. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, `Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 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.” Our brand to use today’s parlance is loving one another. When I see people with protest signs saying that “God hates Fill-In-The-Blank” (you could put ANYTHING in there and probably be wrong), I have to remember the words of our Presiding Bishop, “If it’s not about Love, it’s not about God.” I think that echoes Jesus much better. I remember once reading a book called something like, The Evangelization of the Roman Empire. Now growing up evangelical I expected it to be about preaching and other churchy things, but the author kept coming back to the witness of Christians voluntarily moving into leper communities to minister to the sick there, and often contracting the disease themselves eventually. It spoke about the martyrs dying in the arenas being fed to lions and other beasts, and that they prayed aloud, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” People saw the faith in action, and even though they were facing death, the crowds recognized these Christians had something more that they themselves did not have. Anger was not their hallmark. Calling down vengeance was not their hallmark. Forgiving their persecutors and showing love for one another was their hallmark. That is what brought the attention of the world, and expanded the Gospel across the Empire. Tonight we will close up the Sanctuary, that space around the Altar. We will put away the candles, the altar cloth, the things that are other than the table itself. The Last Supper is cleaned away, and only the table remains empty and alone with the echoes of friends laughing, remembering, celebrating ringing in the Upper Room. On this night, we do not pray with Jesus when asked. We sleep, taking care of the immediate instead of the eternal. And even here, though hurt, Jesus understands and forgives us. We scatter when soldiers come marching in, or blow up and chop off bystander’s ears. Both are wrong, and we know it. We deny him when confronted about our allegiance or even our knowledge of him, and we realize it only when the cock crows. It has all happened before, and it will all happen again. There is nothing new under the sun. God bless us, God forgive us, and God help us. And thankfully, God loves us even through all of this. Friends, there is only one way out of this repetitive cycle, these endless loops of human frailty and sin. It is to do what he said to do. …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. Fellow disciples. Fellow sinners whose souls are willing, but whose flesh is so weak. Friends, as we come to this night when we were given this gift of remembrance, this feast of love, let us come willingly and readily in the knowledge that the table has been set for each and every one of us, and that here we can always find our way home as we will in all eternity. This is the appetizer for the heavenly feast, a foretaste of the promise of God the Father Almighty. We call this night the Last Supper, but it is far more the First Eucharist where Jesus makes God’s Love Shown. We resonate with the Real Presence of Christ, taken, blessed, broken, and given. The Table is Ready. Are we? Amen.