Remembering Then; Anticipating When
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First Lesson Cycle A Sermons for Lent and Easter
Object:
Today is called Maundy Thursday by Christians throughout the world. As some of you may already know, "Maundy" is an English form of mandatum, the Latin word for commandment. The scripture theme for this day comes from Jesus celebrating a Passover meal with his disciples on the night that Jesus was betrayed. Here Jesus told them, "I give you a new commandment; that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another" (John 13:34, see also John 15:12-17).
Maundy Thursday is a time for remembering what God's love looked like in Bible times, what that new love looks like now in our lives, and anticipating what God's ultimate love will look like when we celebrate resurrection.
In today's scripture lesson, God's love was remembered on a particular day by a family meal with specific foods prepared with precise instructions. It was to be consumed in haste with detailed actions and in the most reverent manner, even with instructions on how to get rid of the leftovers. Roast the meat. Don't boil it (v. 9). Don't use any kind of leavening agent (like yeast) when you bake the bread (v. 8). Burn up all your leftovers first thing in the morning (v. 10). Eat quickly, and be dressed and ready to move out as fast as possible, so keep your shoes on and your walking stick close by (v. 11).
Why was all this elaborate attention given to what seemed to be the most trivial? God wanted God's people to remember the pivotal event that demonstrated God's love for them.
To remember then meant sharing the story of deliverance from slavery in Egypt. To remember then meant recalling how God told their ancestors to sprinkle some blood on the doorway posts from the lamb sacrificed for the meal. Then the angel of the Lord would pass over and spare these households, striking only the Egyptians with a destroying plague (vv. 7, 13). Remembering the blood meant recognizing that the blood of the lamb was not simply a sign of God's love for a particular household; the blood was a sign of God's forever love promised to all of Israel. Blood was recognized as life both given and received by God; as vitality created and continued in God.
Remembering Passover was so crucial for the Hebrews that they even used today's text to begin a new calendar. All of Israel's history was to be dated from their deliverance from slavery (v. 2).
Jesus and his disciples also gathered to eat and remember God's mighty saving act. As they remembered then, they began to recognize what they were facing now, and perhaps even to anticipate what it would be like when this week would end. Perhaps they read aloud the verses of today's text as the meal was prepared and shared. Perhaps they tarried a bit over the words, "The blood shall be a sign for you on the house where you live, when I see the blood I will pass over you" (v. 13). Perhaps a few weeks later the disciples remembered the blood of Jesus on the cross and recognized the blood of God's new Passover lamb.
Remembering God's love helps us to recognize God's new love now and to anticipate God's promise of love when all is fulfilled.
Today in many congregations, Christians show what the servant love of Christ looks like through the washing of one another's feet (John 13:12-17). Most Christians will remember Jesus' last supper with his disciples as they celebrate Holy Communion. Here the unleavened bread and the roasted lamb become the body of Christ, the Lamb of God. Here the lamb's blood sprinkled on door posts become the saving blood of Christ. Here, the Lamb of God speaks to us, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me... this cup is the new covenant in my blood Do this as often as you drink it in rememberance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:24-25).
In our text for Maundy Thursday God reminds us that "This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord" (Exodus 12:14). We are gathering. We are celebrating. We are remembering what God has done to deliver us from bondage, recognizing what God is doing now to love and nurture us on our life journey, and anticipating when God will invite us to partake in the final feast of victory with all the saints.
So, what does all this mean for us today? What does Je-sus'new commandment look like right now in our congregation and community? What does it mean for us to remember then and to anticipate when?
First, each time we gather to share the communion meal, we are not simply remembering Jesus'life and death. We are receiving new life from him. We are being nurtured and sustained by him. We are participating with all of God's people in God's saving deliverance from all bondage to slavery and sin.
Second, each time we gather we are proclaiming the love of Christ to others. Paul writes, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26). Here we join "a great cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1) who surround us and inspire us to show God's love as a gift given to us, a body broken for us, blood spilled to deliver us.
Third, each time God gathers us to remember, God also sends us out to show what this new commandment of love looks like beyond church doors. Here's an old fable often shared in graduate courses in counseling and group psychotherapy. It is also a good demonstration of the new commandment of love Jesus gave to his disciples. It goes like this:
A holy man was contemplating what heaven and hell might look like. Suddenly he had a vision in which the Lord led him to two doors. The holy man opened the first door and saw a larger round table in the center of the room. A large pot of deliciously smelling stew sat in the middle of the table. The people sitting around the table were very thin and sickly. Their groaning filled the room. They looked like they were starving, even though that mouth watering stew was in their midst.
As the holy man watched, he noticed that these people were holding spoons with very long handles that seemed to be chained to their arms. Each one could reach into the pot and get a spoonful of stew. However, because the handle was longer than their arms, they were unable to get the spoons into their mouths. The holy man was deeply saddened at their misery.
"Now you have had a vision of hell," said the Lord. "Now open the second door."
When he entered, the holy man noticed that the room was exactly the same as the first. In the middle of the room was a large round table with the large delicious stew pot in the center. The people sitting around the table were fitted with the same long handled spoons. However, in this room the people were well nourished. Their laughter filled the room.
"Now you have seen heaven," the Lord said.
"But I don't understand, Lord," the holy man replied.
"Well," explained the Lord, "it's really pretty simple. In hell, people only think of themselves and try to satisfy their own wants and needs. They don't love each other. They don't even like each other. They certainly don't see that they need each other. As a result, nobody is satisfied. Everybody is miserable all the time... forever. Now watch closely. Notice that the people in this room are feeding each other. They may not always like each other, but they know that they need each other, and have begun to see that this is what it's like to love each other."
And Jesus said, "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another... by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
-- John 13:34-35
What does this new commandment look like for you? For your congregation? What might everyone see when they enter the doors of your home? What will they remember? What might everyone see when they walk through the doors of your church for the first time? What will they remember? What happens with the overflowing love of Christ that is in your midst? What will they remember? What will you share?
This is Maundy Thursday. As the Lord tells us in our text, "This shall be a day of remembrance for you" (v. 14). This is a day to remember the Lord's deliverance from slavery and bondage. This is a day to taste and to share the Lord's loving acts. This is a day to anticipate the incredible joy when Christ shares the full banquet feast with us forever. Amen.
Maundy Thursday is a time for remembering what God's love looked like in Bible times, what that new love looks like now in our lives, and anticipating what God's ultimate love will look like when we celebrate resurrection.
In today's scripture lesson, God's love was remembered on a particular day by a family meal with specific foods prepared with precise instructions. It was to be consumed in haste with detailed actions and in the most reverent manner, even with instructions on how to get rid of the leftovers. Roast the meat. Don't boil it (v. 9). Don't use any kind of leavening agent (like yeast) when you bake the bread (v. 8). Burn up all your leftovers first thing in the morning (v. 10). Eat quickly, and be dressed and ready to move out as fast as possible, so keep your shoes on and your walking stick close by (v. 11).
Why was all this elaborate attention given to what seemed to be the most trivial? God wanted God's people to remember the pivotal event that demonstrated God's love for them.
To remember then meant sharing the story of deliverance from slavery in Egypt. To remember then meant recalling how God told their ancestors to sprinkle some blood on the doorway posts from the lamb sacrificed for the meal. Then the angel of the Lord would pass over and spare these households, striking only the Egyptians with a destroying plague (vv. 7, 13). Remembering the blood meant recognizing that the blood of the lamb was not simply a sign of God's love for a particular household; the blood was a sign of God's forever love promised to all of Israel. Blood was recognized as life both given and received by God; as vitality created and continued in God.
Remembering Passover was so crucial for the Hebrews that they even used today's text to begin a new calendar. All of Israel's history was to be dated from their deliverance from slavery (v. 2).
Jesus and his disciples also gathered to eat and remember God's mighty saving act. As they remembered then, they began to recognize what they were facing now, and perhaps even to anticipate what it would be like when this week would end. Perhaps they read aloud the verses of today's text as the meal was prepared and shared. Perhaps they tarried a bit over the words, "The blood shall be a sign for you on the house where you live, when I see the blood I will pass over you" (v. 13). Perhaps a few weeks later the disciples remembered the blood of Jesus on the cross and recognized the blood of God's new Passover lamb.
Remembering God's love helps us to recognize God's new love now and to anticipate God's promise of love when all is fulfilled.
Today in many congregations, Christians show what the servant love of Christ looks like through the washing of one another's feet (John 13:12-17). Most Christians will remember Jesus' last supper with his disciples as they celebrate Holy Communion. Here the unleavened bread and the roasted lamb become the body of Christ, the Lamb of God. Here the lamb's blood sprinkled on door posts become the saving blood of Christ. Here, the Lamb of God speaks to us, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me... this cup is the new covenant in my blood Do this as often as you drink it in rememberance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:24-25).
In our text for Maundy Thursday God reminds us that "This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord" (Exodus 12:14). We are gathering. We are celebrating. We are remembering what God has done to deliver us from bondage, recognizing what God is doing now to love and nurture us on our life journey, and anticipating when God will invite us to partake in the final feast of victory with all the saints.
So, what does all this mean for us today? What does Je-sus'new commandment look like right now in our congregation and community? What does it mean for us to remember then and to anticipate when?
First, each time we gather to share the communion meal, we are not simply remembering Jesus'life and death. We are receiving new life from him. We are being nurtured and sustained by him. We are participating with all of God's people in God's saving deliverance from all bondage to slavery and sin.
Second, each time we gather we are proclaiming the love of Christ to others. Paul writes, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26). Here we join "a great cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1) who surround us and inspire us to show God's love as a gift given to us, a body broken for us, blood spilled to deliver us.
Third, each time God gathers us to remember, God also sends us out to show what this new commandment of love looks like beyond church doors. Here's an old fable often shared in graduate courses in counseling and group psychotherapy. It is also a good demonstration of the new commandment of love Jesus gave to his disciples. It goes like this:
A holy man was contemplating what heaven and hell might look like. Suddenly he had a vision in which the Lord led him to two doors. The holy man opened the first door and saw a larger round table in the center of the room. A large pot of deliciously smelling stew sat in the middle of the table. The people sitting around the table were very thin and sickly. Their groaning filled the room. They looked like they were starving, even though that mouth watering stew was in their midst.
As the holy man watched, he noticed that these people were holding spoons with very long handles that seemed to be chained to their arms. Each one could reach into the pot and get a spoonful of stew. However, because the handle was longer than their arms, they were unable to get the spoons into their mouths. The holy man was deeply saddened at their misery.
"Now you have had a vision of hell," said the Lord. "Now open the second door."
When he entered, the holy man noticed that the room was exactly the same as the first. In the middle of the room was a large round table with the large delicious stew pot in the center. The people sitting around the table were fitted with the same long handled spoons. However, in this room the people were well nourished. Their laughter filled the room.
"Now you have seen heaven," the Lord said.
"But I don't understand, Lord," the holy man replied.
"Well," explained the Lord, "it's really pretty simple. In hell, people only think of themselves and try to satisfy their own wants and needs. They don't love each other. They don't even like each other. They certainly don't see that they need each other. As a result, nobody is satisfied. Everybody is miserable all the time... forever. Now watch closely. Notice that the people in this room are feeding each other. They may not always like each other, but they know that they need each other, and have begun to see that this is what it's like to love each other."
And Jesus said, "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another... by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
-- John 13:34-35
What does this new commandment look like for you? For your congregation? What might everyone see when they enter the doors of your home? What will they remember? What might everyone see when they walk through the doors of your church for the first time? What will they remember? What happens with the overflowing love of Christ that is in your midst? What will they remember? What will you share?
This is Maundy Thursday. As the Lord tells us in our text, "This shall be a day of remembrance for you" (v. 14). This is a day to remember the Lord's deliverance from slavery and bondage. This is a day to taste and to share the Lord's loving acts. This is a day to anticipate the incredible joy when Christ shares the full banquet feast with us forever. Amen.
