Maundy/Holy
Thursday 4/09/20 - 7 pm - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “The Servant Savior: Our Standard”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19
New Testament
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Gospel Lesson: John
13:1-17, 31b-35
This
past Sunday 04/05/20 we celebrated Palm Sunday, which is the day that Jesus triumphantly
entered the holy city of Jerusalem on a donkey, to the shouts of “Hosanna!” Celebrating
Palm Sunday is always best when we gather physically as a church, wave our
palms, and celebrate Jesus’ triumphant entry into the city together. As I said on
Sunday’s Palm Sunday service, this is my first time in 38 years of life, that I
have seen a Palm Sunday where we haven’t been able to gather to face to face.
Tonight,
is also the first Maundy or Holy Thursday service that I have seen where we
haven’t been able to gather face to face. This is also the first Maundy or Holy
Thursday service that I have ever attended or led, where we cannot offer
communion to everyone here in person.
This
night, this first day of the Jewish Passover, Jesus gathers his friends, the
disciples, for one final dinner together. This dinner is in the holy city of
Jerusalem, where Jews from all over the world would flock to celebrate the
Passover holiday. The holiday of the Passover is one where the Jews celebrate
leaving slavery under Pharaoh in Egypt through the Red Sea, and the receiving
of the Law of God and the 10-Commandments. Jesus, who was a Jew, Jesus’ disciples,
who were also Jews, gathered for one last dinner, on this the first day of the
Passover holiday.
Traditional
Jewish Passover meals are often called “Seders,” and the food served therein is
all symbolic of that first Passover in Egypt, when death “passed over” the
houses of the Jews. The Jews were instructed to kill a pure, white, spotless
lamb, and to smear the blood of that lamb over their doorposts and lintels. The
blood of the lamb would save their first-born child, and thus death would “Passover”
there first born (Ex. 12:1-14, NRSV). This is the holiday of the Passover, and Jesus
and his friends, as such, are having one last meal together. We often call this
meal the “Last Supper,” and the gift, the sacrament of bread and wine that we
have received from this dinner is Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Supper.
Tomorrow, on Good Friday, Jesus will die for us, his spilled blood on the cross
will be our forgiveness. For Jesus is the new, pure, white, and spotless lamb,
but his blood won’t just save us for the night, but for all of eternity, if we
put our trust in him.
For as John the Baptist said in the gospel of John 1:29 when
saw Jesus walking towards him:
“The next day he saw Jesus coming
toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world!” (Jn 1:29, NRSV).
So,
while Jesus and his disciples might have eaten lamb also on this night, and
while the blood of the lamb caused death to Passover the Jews for a night in Egypt,
Jesus’ blood will give us eternal life. Jesus is the new Passover or “Pascal” Lamb.
While
Jesus and his friends might have ate other things at this Passover Seder dinner,
like I said, Jesus placed special emphasis on the bread and the wine. Now in
the Book of Exodus, the Jews had eaten unleavened bread at one point, as they
had to flee Pharaoh in Egypt so quickly that their bread didn’t even have enough
time to rise.
The
Apostle Paul tells us specifically of this night in the Upper Room, this Last
Supper. In our reading for tonight from 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, it says:
“For 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” (1 Cor. 11:23-26, NRSV).
On this night, this Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday, Jesus
has a final dinner or supper with his disciples. As part of this Last Supper,
Jesus gives us the gift, the sacrament of Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Supper.
For nearly two-thousand years, Christians all over world have celebrated Holy
Communion, or the Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper together. We have broken bread
and shared in the wine or the juice.
Some churches have Holy Communion every Sunday, some
monthly, some even less, and some not at all. In some churches it is believed that
this bread and juice, when prayed becomes the literal body and blood of Jesus
Christ. Some believe that the bread and the juice are here only to draw us to
repentance and towards Christ. These folks would argue that the bread and the
juice in and of themselves have no power.
When we call something in the church a “Sacrament” though,
we are making the claim that we believe that something unique and special
happens in and through that sacramental experience. In this way, as United Methodists,
we don’t see the bread and juice as just bread and juice, as just a memorial of
this original event. Instead, we see Holy Communion or the Lord’s Supper as a
great mystery of God’s grace. We believe that in the pastor praying over the
bread and juice, through the power of the Holy Spirit, that Christ is present
with us, in us, and in the elements of bread and juice. United Methodists
believe in this “Real Spiritual Presence,” as this connects us more deeply to
the Triune God and grows our faith in Jesus Christ. Holy Communion or the Lord’s
Supper in the United Methodist Church then, isn’t just a memorial, it isn’t
just something we do only to cause us to repent and grow closer to God. We believe
that when the bread and juice are consecrated, through the power of the Holy Spirit
that the bread and the cup become a unique and special and are a sacramental
means of God’s grace.
For these reasons, I prefer not to offer “Virtual Communion”
over the internet, as this would mean that I, through the power of the Holy Spirit,
would be consecrating bread and juice all over the place. Generally, in our
tradition, the Lord’s Supper is consecrated and shared together as a family, as
a congregation. I will do this for those few of us gathered here this evening.
At home though, if you want, you can get some bread and juice if you have it.
You can partake of it as a “love feast,” to show your love and devotion to Christ,
to repent of your sins, but it won’t be the same consecrated communion that we receive
in church. Nevertheless, you are welcome to get some bread or a cracker and
some juice and participate in a “love feast” with us, which is not consecrated
communion.
On this night, this first night of the Passover, in the Upper
Room, we of course get the gift, the sacrament of Holy Communion or the Lord’s
Supper. Jesus also washes the feet of the disciples, as this is a big part of
the tonight’s gospel of John reading (Jn. 13:1-17, NRSV).
Some churches have and continue
the practice of washing feet or sometimes hands. We don’t believe as United
Methodists that washing feet or hands is a sacrament, but we do it to display
the love and the humility of Jesus Christ. Jesus, “Our Standard,” knelt like a
lowly servant and washed his disciple’s feet, showing that we are here to serve
and to love each other. Jesus shows us, as my sermon title for tonight says,
that he is “The Servant Savior: Our Standard.” We are to be like him.
It is also interesting that some call this day, this night,
“Maundy Thursday,” and some call it “Holy Thursday.” There are even other names
to. Holy Thursday tends to emphasize the give of Holy Communion or the Lord’s
Supper, sometimes also emphasizing the foot washing.
The Church of England, the Anglican Church, the Episcopal Church,
the United Methodist Church, and others, call this “Maundy Thursday” for a very
specific reason. This is the reason in the last two verses our gospel of John
reading for tonight, John 13:34-35, which says:
“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”
(Jn. 13:34-35, NRSV).
In Latin the word “Mandatum,” means commandment or mandate
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maundy_Thursday). In English “Mandatum”
translates to Maundy. So “Maundy Thursday,” emphasizes Jesus’ commandment or mandate,
that we should all love each other, as Jesus is “The Servant
Savior: Our Standard.” Holy Thursday, as I said, has again historically
more emphasized Holy Communion and the washing of the feet. I call today
Holy/Maundy Thursday, as I think that this whole night and its events are
important.
On
this night, this Last Supper, we receive Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Supper,
we receive the example of the washing of the feet, and commandment, mandate, or
Maundy, to love each other.
Since
many of us are in social isolation right now, and since we are implementing
social distancing right now, some of us “huggers” and “handshakers,” just can’t
do that right now. Yet, we can still love each other right now. We can love
each other with phone calls, e-mails, text messages, over social media, through
written letters, and many other methods. Jesus’ commandment or Maundy isn’t
specific, he just tells us to love each other. So, friends, let’s do that, for
Jesus Christ is “The Servant Savior: Our Standard.” Let’s
strive to be like him!
I hope that you few that
are here, and you at home, know how loved you are by God, by me, and this church.
Friends, Happy Maundy/Holy Thursday, and I hope to see you all in person very
soon! Amen.
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