Sermon Illustrations for Maundy Thursday (2014)
Illustration
Object:
Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10) 11-14
This passage gives the historical reason and setting for the feast of the Passover. God saved Israel from Egyptian slavery when the angel of death passed over the homes of Israel and killed the children of the Egyptians. Every year they thanked the Lord for this miracle of favoritism for his chosen people.
A lamb was given in sacrifice for their sins and for this miracle. Jesus became the last lamb to be sacrificed for his people -- for all who believed in him! He was the perfect lamb without defect. He had no sin in him. We are all children of Abraham through faith in Christ.
They were saved back then if they took the blood of the lamb and put it on their doors. We are also saved by the blood of the lamb. This ceremony becomes the symbol for the Lord's Supper where we drink the blood and eat the bread.
In the early church, the Lord's Supper was most often part of a regular meal (as was Jesus' last supper). It could begin with the blessing of the bread and end with the blessing of the cup of wine. Ours is usually reduced to just a piece of the unleavened bread and a sip of wine. The meaning should still be there. Symbolism is and always has been an important part of worship: certain days were holy, certain words had special meaning, certain hymns (psalms in Jesus' day) had significance, bowing our heads, kneeling, sitting in church pews, how the bread is made, the ashes on our heads, and so on.
You are to eat it in haste. We take our time at the Lord's Supper. We don't have to get out of town before the Egyptians catch up with us. The important thing for us is that the blood will save us from destruction that will fall on those who don't believe and partake of the bread and wine. May God have mercy on them.
It is our job to make them a part of our fellowship so that they may be "saved" from the wrath to come.
This is one passage that makes "haste" important. They had to get out of town before the Egyptians came after them. There were probably times in Germany during Hitler's regime when Jews had to get out of town in a hurry. We should not assume that all things are the same in God's world. The important thing is to listen to him. Hurry when he says hurry. Slow down and relax when he says. In either case, we should thank him for his sacrifice as we take the bread and wine.
Bob O.
Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10) 11-14
But would grandma approve?
They ate standing up. They had their shoes and coats on. They brought their backpacks to the table. They gulped down their food. They wasted the leftovers. The story of the Exodus is a story of urgency, a story of God doing things in a hurry.
We come to church to slow down, but not everything that God does in the world happens slowly.
We come for calm but not all of God's actions are peaceful. Sometimes there is urgency. Sometimes God call us to act right now.
OR
We wash our hands to keep the germs out. Locks and alarm systems keep out intruders. We have rules and regulations and laws designed to keep threats at bay. Background checks and no-fly lists are there to prevent dangerous people from getting too close. We go to great lengths to make sure that hazardous situations, toxic influences and lethal germs always remain outside. We do all that we can to have it all pass us over; to have death itself pass over us.
Scott B.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Famed modern theologian Karl Barth nicely sets the tone for celebrations of the Lord's Supper and of its first celebration in the Last Supper:
The Lord's Supper ought to be more firmly regarded from the Easter standpoint than is generally the case. It is not primarily a mourning or funeral meal, but the anticipation of the marriage of the Lamb. The Supper is a joyous meal: the eating of his Jesus Christ's flesh and the drinking of his blood is meat and drink unto life eternal in the midst of our life. We are guests at his table and so no longer separated from himself.
(Dogmatics in Outline, p. 155)
An extended family meal is a celebration. This is Barth's point. The Eucharist is a celebration meal. Meals have a way of building fellowship, a time you can bond and really be yourself. In ancient cultures (the cultures of some of our immigrant families) an invitation to a family meal is the highest compliment one can receive from the host. We are guests at God's family meal!
Sharing meals is a bonding experience. Martin Luther describes this bonding in an intimate way, as a union in Christ's Body:
Christ used bread and wine for his supper as many kernels, each having its own body and form are ground together, becoming one bread, so every human being is an individual kernel, that is, his own person and a separate creature. But because we all are partakers, we are all one bread and body and are called one lump.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 6, p. 45)
This bonding, receiving the sacrament, makes a big difference in everyday life. Luther describes this well:
But our Lord Christ desires that just as your greed speaks to you and preaches to you endlessly of money and goods, or power and honor, in the same manner you would let yourself be drawn and led into that life, and think on your redeemer, who died on the cross for you; and so set your heart on fire, that you desire to be with him being weary of this world.
(Ibid., p. 47)
Mark E.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Bishop William Quayle (1860-1925) of the Methodist Episcopal church attended a communion service with many in attendance, including a father and his young daughter. The two moved forward and knelt at the altar to receive the elements. The servers gave the elements to the father, but passed his daughter without serving her. They rose from the Lord's Table with a broken heart, as she was not received as a guest by the human server. The girl looked up to her father with tears in her eyes and asked, "Papa, do I not belong to Jesus?" Bishop Quayle said, "My heart was broken like the little girl."
Jesus loves everyone, and if we have a relationship with him we are welcome at his table!
Derl K.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
A district superintendent in the United Methodist church, along with a dozen other district superintendents and the bishop, is responsible for the appointment of pastors to churches in his district. A superintendent reported that the process becomes an excruciating exercise when appointing pastors to mid-size congregations. These congregations, which compose the vast percentage of churches in a conference, are average in size. And a pastor often will not accept an appointment to one of these average-size congregations because no pastor considers himself or herself to be average. But in fact, as the district superintendent reported, most pastors are average. That is what average means. Though, even in the profession in which humility is to be emblazoned, ambition is extolled.
Application: The sacrament of Holy Communion confesses that we are all equal and in equal service of the Lord.
Ron L.
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
You can often tell where someone is from by the way they speak. Sometimes you can tell what someone does for a living, or what their values are by what they wear. A haircut in a picture or the shape of a pair of glasses can tell you in what era the picture was taken. Sports teams and high schools and even street gangs have signature colors. Logos on clothing, jewelry, and even tattoos can all serve to tell the world who you are and to whom you belong.
Christians wear crosses of all kinds and in all ways, but that is not how Jesus says people know his disciples.
Scott B.
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Here again it talks about Jesus' love, this time for his own twelve. Now he showed them the full extent of his love by what he was going to do for them.
Foot washing was the role of a servant. It was another demonstration of Jesus' love for his twelve. It was humbling. It was an example for them to follow. Since it was a high holy day they must have all taken their shower, so the only thing left was their feet.
The saddest part of the meal was that Jesus knew his traitor was at the table with them. He still kept him in the group and did not reveal who it was -- maybe hoping he would repent and be cut to the heart. Judas was devastated, but only after it was too late and he had betrayed his best friend and Lord.
It was too much for Peter. He wouldn't have Jesus stoop so low as to wash his feet, but when Jesus said that he would not have any part with him unless he did, so he went to the other extreme and wanted Jesus to give him a whole bath. If nothing else this shows that neither Peter nor the others understood the significance of Jesus' act.
Do children understand the full significance of their confirmation? I know I didn't for many years. I knew some World War II veterans who suddenly remembered their confirmation work when they were in trenches under fire. It made them turn around and restored their faith.
I know of some churches that have reinstituted a form of foot washing. One even went to the extreme of dusting off the shod feet of the participants, propped on the altar rail, with a rag.
How hard it is for many to feel like they are receiving something that they do not deserve. We are sometimes too proud. We want to earn what we get. We are often like Peter, except we won't receive anything for nothing. We have to learn to obey, even if we don't like it or it seems to make no sense to us.
How often do we take time to list all the blessings God has given us, which we do not deserve? It is more fun to list the things we want God to fix now -- if he wants us to believe in him. It is also more fun to list the sins of others which we feel are far greater than ours.
When I was in Nepal, old pastor Tir, the first Christian in Nepal and the most revered Christian in the country, knelt humbly down to the wash the feet of his students at a group meeting. There was not a dry eye in the place.
Our main assignment from this passage is to learn where we may serve our brothers and sisters in Christ. Where can we serve our church? Is the pastor setting an example?
Bob O.
This passage gives the historical reason and setting for the feast of the Passover. God saved Israel from Egyptian slavery when the angel of death passed over the homes of Israel and killed the children of the Egyptians. Every year they thanked the Lord for this miracle of favoritism for his chosen people.
A lamb was given in sacrifice for their sins and for this miracle. Jesus became the last lamb to be sacrificed for his people -- for all who believed in him! He was the perfect lamb without defect. He had no sin in him. We are all children of Abraham through faith in Christ.
They were saved back then if they took the blood of the lamb and put it on their doors. We are also saved by the blood of the lamb. This ceremony becomes the symbol for the Lord's Supper where we drink the blood and eat the bread.
In the early church, the Lord's Supper was most often part of a regular meal (as was Jesus' last supper). It could begin with the blessing of the bread and end with the blessing of the cup of wine. Ours is usually reduced to just a piece of the unleavened bread and a sip of wine. The meaning should still be there. Symbolism is and always has been an important part of worship: certain days were holy, certain words had special meaning, certain hymns (psalms in Jesus' day) had significance, bowing our heads, kneeling, sitting in church pews, how the bread is made, the ashes on our heads, and so on.
You are to eat it in haste. We take our time at the Lord's Supper. We don't have to get out of town before the Egyptians catch up with us. The important thing for us is that the blood will save us from destruction that will fall on those who don't believe and partake of the bread and wine. May God have mercy on them.
It is our job to make them a part of our fellowship so that they may be "saved" from the wrath to come.
This is one passage that makes "haste" important. They had to get out of town before the Egyptians came after them. There were probably times in Germany during Hitler's regime when Jews had to get out of town in a hurry. We should not assume that all things are the same in God's world. The important thing is to listen to him. Hurry when he says hurry. Slow down and relax when he says. In either case, we should thank him for his sacrifice as we take the bread and wine.
Bob O.
Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10) 11-14
But would grandma approve?
They ate standing up. They had their shoes and coats on. They brought their backpacks to the table. They gulped down their food. They wasted the leftovers. The story of the Exodus is a story of urgency, a story of God doing things in a hurry.
We come to church to slow down, but not everything that God does in the world happens slowly.
We come for calm but not all of God's actions are peaceful. Sometimes there is urgency. Sometimes God call us to act right now.
OR
We wash our hands to keep the germs out. Locks and alarm systems keep out intruders. We have rules and regulations and laws designed to keep threats at bay. Background checks and no-fly lists are there to prevent dangerous people from getting too close. We go to great lengths to make sure that hazardous situations, toxic influences and lethal germs always remain outside. We do all that we can to have it all pass us over; to have death itself pass over us.
Scott B.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Famed modern theologian Karl Barth nicely sets the tone for celebrations of the Lord's Supper and of its first celebration in the Last Supper:
The Lord's Supper ought to be more firmly regarded from the Easter standpoint than is generally the case. It is not primarily a mourning or funeral meal, but the anticipation of the marriage of the Lamb. The Supper is a joyous meal: the eating of his Jesus Christ's flesh and the drinking of his blood is meat and drink unto life eternal in the midst of our life. We are guests at his table and so no longer separated from himself.
(Dogmatics in Outline, p. 155)
An extended family meal is a celebration. This is Barth's point. The Eucharist is a celebration meal. Meals have a way of building fellowship, a time you can bond and really be yourself. In ancient cultures (the cultures of some of our immigrant families) an invitation to a family meal is the highest compliment one can receive from the host. We are guests at God's family meal!
Sharing meals is a bonding experience. Martin Luther describes this bonding in an intimate way, as a union in Christ's Body:
Christ used bread and wine for his supper as many kernels, each having its own body and form are ground together, becoming one bread, so every human being is an individual kernel, that is, his own person and a separate creature. But because we all are partakers, we are all one bread and body and are called one lump.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 6, p. 45)
This bonding, receiving the sacrament, makes a big difference in everyday life. Luther describes this well:
But our Lord Christ desires that just as your greed speaks to you and preaches to you endlessly of money and goods, or power and honor, in the same manner you would let yourself be drawn and led into that life, and think on your redeemer, who died on the cross for you; and so set your heart on fire, that you desire to be with him being weary of this world.
(Ibid., p. 47)
Mark E.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Bishop William Quayle (1860-1925) of the Methodist Episcopal church attended a communion service with many in attendance, including a father and his young daughter. The two moved forward and knelt at the altar to receive the elements. The servers gave the elements to the father, but passed his daughter without serving her. They rose from the Lord's Table with a broken heart, as she was not received as a guest by the human server. The girl looked up to her father with tears in her eyes and asked, "Papa, do I not belong to Jesus?" Bishop Quayle said, "My heart was broken like the little girl."
Jesus loves everyone, and if we have a relationship with him we are welcome at his table!
Derl K.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
A district superintendent in the United Methodist church, along with a dozen other district superintendents and the bishop, is responsible for the appointment of pastors to churches in his district. A superintendent reported that the process becomes an excruciating exercise when appointing pastors to mid-size congregations. These congregations, which compose the vast percentage of churches in a conference, are average in size. And a pastor often will not accept an appointment to one of these average-size congregations because no pastor considers himself or herself to be average. But in fact, as the district superintendent reported, most pastors are average. That is what average means. Though, even in the profession in which humility is to be emblazoned, ambition is extolled.
Application: The sacrament of Holy Communion confesses that we are all equal and in equal service of the Lord.
Ron L.
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
You can often tell where someone is from by the way they speak. Sometimes you can tell what someone does for a living, or what their values are by what they wear. A haircut in a picture or the shape of a pair of glasses can tell you in what era the picture was taken. Sports teams and high schools and even street gangs have signature colors. Logos on clothing, jewelry, and even tattoos can all serve to tell the world who you are and to whom you belong.
Christians wear crosses of all kinds and in all ways, but that is not how Jesus says people know his disciples.
Scott B.
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Here again it talks about Jesus' love, this time for his own twelve. Now he showed them the full extent of his love by what he was going to do for them.
Foot washing was the role of a servant. It was another demonstration of Jesus' love for his twelve. It was humbling. It was an example for them to follow. Since it was a high holy day they must have all taken their shower, so the only thing left was their feet.
The saddest part of the meal was that Jesus knew his traitor was at the table with them. He still kept him in the group and did not reveal who it was -- maybe hoping he would repent and be cut to the heart. Judas was devastated, but only after it was too late and he had betrayed his best friend and Lord.
It was too much for Peter. He wouldn't have Jesus stoop so low as to wash his feet, but when Jesus said that he would not have any part with him unless he did, so he went to the other extreme and wanted Jesus to give him a whole bath. If nothing else this shows that neither Peter nor the others understood the significance of Jesus' act.
Do children understand the full significance of their confirmation? I know I didn't for many years. I knew some World War II veterans who suddenly remembered their confirmation work when they were in trenches under fire. It made them turn around and restored their faith.
I know of some churches that have reinstituted a form of foot washing. One even went to the extreme of dusting off the shod feet of the participants, propped on the altar rail, with a rag.
How hard it is for many to feel like they are receiving something that they do not deserve. We are sometimes too proud. We want to earn what we get. We are often like Peter, except we won't receive anything for nothing. We have to learn to obey, even if we don't like it or it seems to make no sense to us.
How often do we take time to list all the blessings God has given us, which we do not deserve? It is more fun to list the things we want God to fix now -- if he wants us to believe in him. It is also more fun to list the sins of others which we feel are far greater than ours.
When I was in Nepal, old pastor Tir, the first Christian in Nepal and the most revered Christian in the country, knelt humbly down to the wash the feet of his students at a group meeting. There was not a dry eye in the place.
Our main assignment from this passage is to learn where we may serve our brothers and sisters in Christ. Where can we serve our church? Is the pastor setting an example?
Bob O.
