Maundy Thursday Reflection
On Thursday night, we gathered in the way that we could, via ZOOM, to share the story of the disciples in the upper room with Jesus.
The video from that event feels personal because those gathered shared from their hearts. And so out of respect for the "one time" nature of that gathering, we are not sharing the video. However, here is the essence of what was shared. I invite you to grab a cup of tea, coffee, hot cocoa, and a comfort food snack and steep in the story once again.
I am grateful for the creative work of Marcia McPhee of Worship Design Studio who modified the language of a comfort food love feast for use in these strange circumstances. We also set our worship last night to the comforting music of Taize. (You can learn more about the community here. and you can sample some of the music here.)
Welcome
In many ways, we began a single act of Holy Week worship on Sunday, remembering Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Tonight, on Maundy Thursday, we remember the mandates (the commandments) that Jesus gives while gathered with his disciples in the upper room for the Passover.
We continue on Good Friday – tomorrow – remembering Jesus’ seven last words.
Tonight… Jesus leaves his disciples with three mandates. Those mandates are:
1. Humble yourselves.
2. Remember me and be renewed – my life among you, my fleshy existence.
3. Love one another.
Tonight we remember the disciples’ Passover observance…we join them in remembering, and we encounter new remembrances and we are sent out…
Scripture Lesson
John 13:1-17, 31b-35 (NRSV)
The word Maundy is actually an Anglo-French word referring to “mandates” or commandments. On Maundy Thursday, we remember Jesus joining his disciples in an upper room and offering them three mandates –
Humble yourselves.
Remember me.
Love one another.
The way the story is told, as the Passover meal unfolded, Jesus demonstrated the ways that the disciples were to behave. He didn’t just tell them – he showed them how to follow in his footsteps well, how to humble themselves, how to remember Jesus, how to love one another.
In the ancient Middle East, foot washing upon entering someone’s home, especially for a shared meal where guests would recline on the floor with dishes of food to be shared, would have been the norm. It was a necessity…and a point of hospitality. It was how one welcomed guests. And it was a dirty task often extended to guests by servants in the household.
Here in the upper room, where the disciples and others are gathered for the Passover meal, Jesus – Rabbi, Teacher, Master – insists that he wash each disciple’s feet.
This is a turning of tables.
The Master serving the Servant.
It’s about who serves whom more than about being clean.
And unless the disciples are willing to receive this humble service, they likely will not be able to pass this service on to others with the right frame of mind.
Humble yourselves.
Humble yourselves.
The Passover Seder is a meal and a remembrance in story and action and symbol that recalls the liberation of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt.
It is a time for laughter and tears, for songs and for prayers.
History and tradition shape this gathering.
Those participating know the story…they are shaped by the story and understand that they are part of the story.
Jesus gathered with the disciples in an upper room to mark this special time.
Two important things happen while they share this meal…
First, Jesus acknowledges he will be betrayed. And he will be betrayed by someone beloved, someone with whom he shares this Passover tradition, someone with whom he’s breaking bread…
In turn, each of the gathered say, “surely not I,” including the betrayer himself.
Surely, not I.
Surely, not I.
The second thing that Jesus does in this passage is to establish a new act of remembrance, and he asks that his followers remember EACH time they break bread and share the fruit of the vine. Each time. I remind you that bread was the way food made it from your plate to your mouth because flatware was not a thing. And wine was served at meals because it was the clean alternative to water…so the mandate to remember each time you eat or drink is vital. In some way, this is intended to be a daily thanksgiving.
At the end of their time together, they sang a hymn and went out into the garden, into Gethsemane where Jesus asked the disciples to stay awake with him as he prays, as he asks that if possible, this cup of suffering pass from him…where he sweats drops of blood.
But before they leave for the garden, he has one more mandate for his disciples, gathered together with him for the last time.
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should also love one another. BY THIS everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
I wonder if you have ever had the encounter of someone observing you serve someone else, perhaps on a mission trip, or someone has seen your loving and graceful interaction with a less-than-loveable co-worker and said, “how can you do that?” “why do you do that?”
Jesus tells his followers, without a lot of details and direction, to simply LOVE ONE ANOTHER as they have been loved.
They have walked with this man who has sat with prostitutes and tax collectors, who has touched lepers and cast out demons. And he wants them to do the same.
THAT IS ALL. Love one another. It sounds so simple.
But right now, in a time of distancing, we even have to rethink how we love one another.
When we “break bread” together as a church in our worship, we remember that Jesus invited folks to his table as part of his ministry, not just at the Last Supper. So we wanted to create a way for all of us to break bread together with whatever we have at our homes. Indeed, what we’ve asked you to do is to prepare your favorite “comfort food!”
I invite you to share with the group gathered online what food you are bringing to the table for our virtual feast.
I’m going to unmute participants, but I’d ask that you remember that when one person is talking, it is nearly impossible for another person to talk. So if there is noise in your background (a tv, music, a pet that is making a joyful noise), I encourage you to mute yourself unless you are also speaking. If you are familiar with ZOOM, you can also use the chat feature, and I’ll try to share what shows up there….
So, what food you are bringing to the table for our virtual feast?
Jesus used the parable of a great banquet to which all people are invited in order to talk about what the “kin-dom” of God, the family of God, looks like.
He said, “Go to the highways and back alleys and urge people to come in so that my house will be filled.” He often invited the most unlikely guests to his meal-times, confounding the disciples.
In this way, he was encouraging a deep love and connection beyond social norms. He knew that we humans need connection and inclusion. Jesus comforts us, saying “you have a place at the table” and Jesus challenges us to make sure we are doing the same–that all people know they are welcome in our hearts, in our homes, in our churches–even if we can’t physically be with each other right now.
It is difficult in this moment not to be near some of the people we love and might be worried about. Take a moment and say out loud the names of people you wish were right there next to you at your table today.
Jesus is no longer physically on earth, yet every time we gather around a table and we call him to mind, he is present with us in Spirit. And so too, our loved ones are with us. Let this be a comfort to us.
We also want to call to mind, the people we cannot name, whose names we do not know. But we know they need our prayers and God’s comfort.
For those who have lost loved ones
For those who are sick and recovering
For those who are caring for loved ones who are sick at home
For those who are caring for persons in medical care
For those who are separated from loved ones
For those who are feeling alone and isolated
For those who are helping and are so very tired
For those who are struggling to find friends, food, and comfort
For those who are afraid
For those who are anxious
I invite you to take a deep breath on behalf of all those we do not know and cannot call by name. As we do so, we know that God knows who needs our prayers and the Spirit, Breath of God, is blowing from within us outward as a Spirit of Compassion and Presence.
Blessings at the table are part of our Judeo-Christian heritage. Indeed, Jesus adapted his Jewish ritual blessing spoken before and after meals. He asked us to remember him whenever we break bread and raise a cup in thanksgiving.
This is why we call our communion prayers the “Great Thanksgiving.” In this feast of love and comfort, we can call to mind things for which we are deeply grateful. I invite you to speak aloud a couple of things that you are grateful for in this moment.
And so I invite you to raise a plate of “something” on your table, or a glass of whatever you are drinking, and let us bless it in this way, repeating after me there at home:
Holy Comforter
We gather in your name…
invited by Jesus…
bound together with your Spirit…
in union with each other…
Feed our bodies and our spirits…
with your comforting presence…
so that we might be your comfort to others…
Bless this food…
and break open our hearts…
Bless this drink…
and pour out your love…
Amen…
As you savor your comfort food, I invite you to imagine what extravagant love looks like as you reach across the social distance to loved ones, to friends, and even acquaintances or strangers to fulfill the third commandment – to love one another.
And now may you shelter not only in place, but in peace. May the peace and comfort of Christ be present with you now and forevermore. Amen.
The video from that event feels personal because those gathered shared from their hearts. And so out of respect for the "one time" nature of that gathering, we are not sharing the video. However, here is the essence of what was shared. I invite you to grab a cup of tea, coffee, hot cocoa, and a comfort food snack and steep in the story once again.
I am grateful for the creative work of Marcia McPhee of Worship Design Studio who modified the language of a comfort food love feast for use in these strange circumstances. We also set our worship last night to the comforting music of Taize. (You can learn more about the community here. and you can sample some of the music here.)
Welcome
In many ways, we began a single act of Holy Week worship on Sunday, remembering Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Tonight, on Maundy Thursday, we remember the mandates (the commandments) that Jesus gives while gathered with his disciples in the upper room for the Passover.
We continue on Good Friday – tomorrow – remembering Jesus’ seven last words.
Tonight… Jesus leaves his disciples with three mandates. Those mandates are:
1. Humble yourselves.
2. Remember me and be renewed – my life among you, my fleshy existence.
3. Love one another.
Tonight we remember the disciples’ Passover observance…we join them in remembering, and we encounter new remembrances and we are sent out…
Scripture Lesson
John 13:1-17, 31b-35 (NRSV)
Humble yourselves.
Remember me.
Love one another.
The way the story is told, as the Passover meal unfolded, Jesus demonstrated the ways that the disciples were to behave. He didn’t just tell them – he showed them how to follow in his footsteps well, how to humble themselves, how to remember Jesus, how to love one another.
In the ancient Middle East, foot washing upon entering someone’s home, especially for a shared meal where guests would recline on the floor with dishes of food to be shared, would have been the norm. It was a necessity…and a point of hospitality. It was how one welcomed guests. And it was a dirty task often extended to guests by servants in the household.
Here in the upper room, where the disciples and others are gathered for the Passover meal, Jesus – Rabbi, Teacher, Master – insists that he wash each disciple’s feet.
This is a turning of tables.
The Master serving the Servant.
It’s about who serves whom more than about being clean.
And unless the disciples are willing to receive this humble service, they likely will not be able to pass this service on to others with the right frame of mind.
Humble yourselves.
Humble yourselves.
The Passover Seder is a meal and a remembrance in story and action and symbol that recalls the liberation of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt.
It is a time for laughter and tears, for songs and for prayers.
History and tradition shape this gathering.
Those participating know the story…they are shaped by the story and understand that they are part of the story.
Jesus gathered with the disciples in an upper room to mark this special time.
Two important things happen while they share this meal…
First, Jesus acknowledges he will be betrayed. And he will be betrayed by someone beloved, someone with whom he shares this Passover tradition, someone with whom he’s breaking bread…
In turn, each of the gathered say, “surely not I,” including the betrayer himself.
Surely, not I.
Surely, not I.
The second thing that Jesus does in this passage is to establish a new act of remembrance, and he asks that his followers remember EACH time they break bread and share the fruit of the vine. Each time. I remind you that bread was the way food made it from your plate to your mouth because flatware was not a thing. And wine was served at meals because it was the clean alternative to water…so the mandate to remember each time you eat or drink is vital. In some way, this is intended to be a daily thanksgiving.
At the end of their time together, they sang a hymn and went out into the garden, into Gethsemane where Jesus asked the disciples to stay awake with him as he prays, as he asks that if possible, this cup of suffering pass from him…where he sweats drops of blood.
But before they leave for the garden, he has one more mandate for his disciples, gathered together with him for the last time.
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should also love one another. BY THIS everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
I wonder if you have ever had the encounter of someone observing you serve someone else, perhaps on a mission trip, or someone has seen your loving and graceful interaction with a less-than-loveable co-worker and said, “how can you do that?” “why do you do that?”
Jesus tells his followers, without a lot of details and direction, to simply LOVE ONE ANOTHER as they have been loved.
They have walked with this man who has sat with prostitutes and tax collectors, who has touched lepers and cast out demons. And he wants them to do the same.
THAT IS ALL. Love one another. It sounds so simple.
But right now, in a time of distancing, we even have to rethink how we love one another.
When we “break bread” together as a church in our worship, we remember that Jesus invited folks to his table as part of his ministry, not just at the Last Supper. So we wanted to create a way for all of us to break bread together with whatever we have at our homes. Indeed, what we’ve asked you to do is to prepare your favorite “comfort food!”
I invite you to share with the group gathered online what food you are bringing to the table for our virtual feast.
I’m going to unmute participants, but I’d ask that you remember that when one person is talking, it is nearly impossible for another person to talk. So if there is noise in your background (a tv, music, a pet that is making a joyful noise), I encourage you to mute yourself unless you are also speaking. If you are familiar with ZOOM, you can also use the chat feature, and I’ll try to share what shows up there….
So, what food you are bringing to the table for our virtual feast?
Jesus used the parable of a great banquet to which all people are invited in order to talk about what the “kin-dom” of God, the family of God, looks like.
He said, “Go to the highways and back alleys and urge people to come in so that my house will be filled.” He often invited the most unlikely guests to his meal-times, confounding the disciples.
In this way, he was encouraging a deep love and connection beyond social norms. He knew that we humans need connection and inclusion. Jesus comforts us, saying “you have a place at the table” and Jesus challenges us to make sure we are doing the same–that all people know they are welcome in our hearts, in our homes, in our churches–even if we can’t physically be with each other right now.
It is difficult in this moment not to be near some of the people we love and might be worried about. Take a moment and say out loud the names of people you wish were right there next to you at your table today.
Jesus is no longer physically on earth, yet every time we gather around a table and we call him to mind, he is present with us in Spirit. And so too, our loved ones are with us. Let this be a comfort to us.
We also want to call to mind, the people we cannot name, whose names we do not know. But we know they need our prayers and God’s comfort.
For those who have lost loved ones
For those who are sick and recovering
For those who are caring for loved ones who are sick at home
For those who are caring for persons in medical care
For those who are separated from loved ones
For those who are feeling alone and isolated
For those who are helping and are so very tired
For those who are struggling to find friends, food, and comfort
For those who are afraid
For those who are anxious
I invite you to take a deep breath on behalf of all those we do not know and cannot call by name. As we do so, we know that God knows who needs our prayers and the Spirit, Breath of God, is blowing from within us outward as a Spirit of Compassion and Presence.
Blessings at the table are part of our Judeo-Christian heritage. Indeed, Jesus adapted his Jewish ritual blessing spoken before and after meals. He asked us to remember him whenever we break bread and raise a cup in thanksgiving.
This is why we call our communion prayers the “Great Thanksgiving.” In this feast of love and comfort, we can call to mind things for which we are deeply grateful. I invite you to speak aloud a couple of things that you are grateful for in this moment.
And so I invite you to raise a plate of “something” on your table, or a glass of whatever you are drinking, and let us bless it in this way, repeating after me there at home:
Holy Comforter
We gather in your name…
invited by Jesus…
bound together with your Spirit…
in union with each other…
Feed our bodies and our spirits…
with your comforting presence…
so that we might be your comfort to others…
Bless this food…
and break open our hearts…
Bless this drink…
and pour out your love…
Amen…
As you savor your comfort food, I invite you to imagine what extravagant love looks like as you reach across the social distance to loved ones, to friends, and even acquaintances or strangers to fulfill the third commandment – to love one another.
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