Maundy
Thursday 04/02/15 Homer Ave UMC
Sermon Title: “Servants aren’t
greater than their master”
Old Testament
Lesson: Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14
New Testament
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Gospel Lesson:
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Friends,
brothers and sisters, once again today is Holy or “Maundy” Thursday. This is
the day in our Holy Week that we have the “Last Supper.” That dinner that
happened almost two-thousand years ago, in the Upper Room with Jesus and his disciples.
During
this dinner, Jesus gives us the sacrament of Holy Communion, or the “Lord’s
Supper.” After this dinner, Jesus then gives us the gift or the ordinance of
the washing of the feet. Jesus thirdly gives us the commandment or the “Maundy”
to love each other. Lastly, he then leaves us with peace.
Now
certainly this Holy or Maundy Thursday story has many more details than what I
just gave you. We have the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas Iscariot for
30-pieces of silver. We have the discussion and the table banter of the
disciples at the “Last Supper” table, that wasn’t recorded in the gospels, but
likely occurred. We have the prophetic language of Jesus, talking about how he
would leave his friends and disciples soon. The disciples likely wondered why
this was their “Last Supper” with their Lord. We also have the Apostle Peter
not wanting Jesus to wash his feet, and etc., and etc.
Many of us have seen movies about the “Last
Supper” story. Some of these movies have likely included the washing of the
feet, and maybe even the rest of the story. I would be highly surprised for
example, if anyone here tonight has never seen the Leonardo Da Vinci painting
of the “Last Supper.” While we don’t know all of the details of this day, many
of us seem to have the story seared into our brains in one way or another.
Some
churches, some Christian groups, or even some Christian families go to great
lengths to attempt to recreate this story from the gospels every year. Some
churches have a Jewish Passover Seder dinner, some churches, some Christian
groups, and or some Christian families even do a reenactment of the “Last
Supper,” and do some various other things, as well.
Tonight,
I have decided to focus on what I see as the four main events of this day, of
this “Last Supper” story.
Here
are these four main events once again: one, we have the event of the gift of
the sacrament of Holy Communion given to us by Jesus Christ. For on this day,
we now formally have the official sacrament of bread and cup, the “Lord’s
Supper.” Due to this, we as brothers and sisters in Christ, will partake in the
bread and the cup together here tonight. We will then have a foot or hand
washing ceremony, as this is the second big event of what Jesus did on this “Maundy”
Thursday. In fact the word “Maundy” comes from
the Old French and Middle English word “mandé,” which means a “mandate” or a “commandment.” It also comes
from the Latin word “mandatum,” which roughly translates to “a
commandment.” According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, one
definition of Maundy is “a ceremony of washing the feet of the
poor on Maundy Thursday.” It also connected to the commandment, the “Maundy,”
of Jesus telling his disciples to love each other. So this is where we come up
with the term “Maundy.”
Thirdly,
Jesus commands us in the form of an actual commandment or a “mandatum” in the Latin, to love one
another, and to care for one another. Lastly, Jesus leaves us with his peace
and his love, and then shortly after heads to the Garden of Gesthemane for a long
night of prayer. This forth event of leaving us with peace is indicated in the
gospel according to John 14:27 that says, “Peace
I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world
gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid” (John
14:27, NRSV). This is one of the reasons that we share the peace of Christ with
each other after church each Sunday.
As
I said, there are many other details, speculations, and nuances of this day’s
events, but these are the four big events, that as I said, I wanted to focus on
tonight. In doing this, I have picked a piece of a verse from the gospel
according to John from tonight, where Jesus says, “servants aren’t greater than
their master” (John 13:16a, CEB).
Now
in the time that Jesus lived, there was slavery, there were servants, and there
was a clear socio-economic or social and economic division between the very
rich, and the very poor. Yet, I was struck when Jesus said in our gospel
according to John reading from tonight that, “servants aren’t greater than
their master” (John 13:16a, CEB). Now most rich and powerful Romans and most rich
and powerful people in Israel at this time, would probably say, “That is in
fact very true!” “We the rich, are better than our servants!” So was Jesus
saying that some people are just better than others? No, this is not what Jesus
was saying at all.
You
see, since Jesus lowered himself into the very role of a servant, or a slave,
he was modeling servanthood for us. For when Jesus was washing the feet of his
disciples, he was telling them in that moment, that he was their servant. Yet,
he is still as he said, their Teacher and Lord, but he was showing them to be
servants to each other. So whoever is serving each other, regardless of whatever
the socio-economic position that the servant is in, the person they are serving
becomes a master in a way. In the act of the washing of the feet, Jesus was
showing his disciples in this way, the way of servanthood. He is saying in this
example, I am not better than you. Sure Jesus is better than us all in reality,
in that he was sinless, the Son of God, and the Messiah, but what he was doing
here, was modeling servanthood.
So
if you were to serve dinner to a homeless person, who had no job, and no money,
Jesus would say that in serving this person dinner that “servants aren’t
greater than their master” (John 13:16a, CEB). That in that moment of serving
that homeless person dinner that you were not greater than the homeless person you
were serving.
I
have done this foot and hand washing ceremony or “Maundy” for a few years now.
What I always find playfully humorous though, is that I always have a few folks
that give me a look with their eyes that says, “pastor you shouldn’t be washing
my feet.” As if to say with there eyes, “pastor, you don’t need to be lowly to
me, as to wash my feet or hands.”
I
wonder, other than Peter, if any of the other disciples who received the foot
washing from Jesus had that same look in their eyes? As to say, “You, the
Messiah, the savior of the world, are going to wash my feet?” Jesus not only
likely replies with his glance, as to say, “yes I am,” but in addition, he
says, when you do this, “servants aren’t greater than their master” (John
13:16a, CEB).
I
have to admit that the Roman Catholic Pope, Pope Francis, really impressed me
both times that he performed the washing of the feet. For he, the leader of the
biggest Christian Church in the world, that has some 1.2 billion members, went
into a juvenile detention center in Rome, Italy, and washed the feet of the
incarcerated children there. Not only did he do this, but he washed the feet of
boys, of girls, and people of different faiths. He even kissed the feet of each
one of them. When I first saw this on television, I literally remember having
tears in my ears watching it, realizing what Jesus said all those years ago,
“servants aren’t greater than their master” (John 13:16a, CEB).
So
this is why I tell the story of the four big events that occurred on this day,
and this is why we share Holy Communion, the washing of the feet, a call to
love each other, and the sharing of the peace of Christ.
In
looking more closely at the scripture readings from tonight, I must say, that I
am really fond of the scripture reading from the Book of Exodus. This reading is
the story of the Jewish Passover, and how the Jewish people were told to take a
flawless lamb and to sacrifice it. After doing so, they were to smear the blood
of the lamb all around the outer portion of their house doors posts, as protection
from the death of their first born children. In this story we also get the
institution of the Jewish Passover Seder, the same meal that Jesus and his
disciples shared together on this day.
Yet
the pure and spotless lambs that saved the first born of the Jewish people, is
now Jesus Christ, the pure and spotless lamb that will shed his blood for the sins
of the world. His shed blood will cover the door ways of our sins, so that we
will not be passed over by God. So that we can be in a right relationship with
God.
In
the Apostle Paul’s Epistle or letter to the church in Corinth, or the
Corinthians from tonight, Paul tells the Corinthians how he was taught the
sacrament of Holy Communion. He explained its importance, why we do it, and how
to do it.
In
the gospel according to John reading from tonight, we get these four main
events that I talked about a little earlier. We get the story that we tell and
re-tell every year. The story that is part of the life changing gospel of Jesus
Christ. The story that touches us, that changes us, and that restores us.
I
want share a story with you on this Holy or Maundy Thursday about the servanthood
that Jesus taught us on this day. This story is called “The Starfish,” by
author unknown. Here is how it goes: “A man was walking along a beach upon
which thousands of starfish had been washed up. Left on the sand by the
receding tide the starfish were certain to die as the sun dried them out. The
man also saw a boy picking up starfish and flinging them back into the sea. Planning
to teach the boy a little lesson in common sense, the man walked up to the boy
and said, “I have been watching what you are doing, son. You have a good heart,
and I know you mean well, but do you realize how many beaches there are around
here and how many starfish are dying on every beach every day? Surely such an
industrious and kind hearted boy such as yourself could find something better
to do with your time. Do you really think that what you are doing is going to
make a difference?” The boy looked up at the man, and then he looked down at a
starfish by his feet. He picked up the starfish, and as he gently tossed it
back into the ocean, he said, “It makes a difference to that one.”
So
you see Jesus says on this day, “servants aren’t greater than their master” (John
13:16a, CEB). So I challenge you and I challenge myself on this night and every
day to live out the servanthood that Jesus Christ taught us on this night. Sure
we might not make a huge difference to everyone, but what if God uses us to save
just one starfish? Perhaps then, we would see the fullness of why Jesus came,
why he will die for us soon, and why he did the things that he did. Amen.
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