He Qi, Do As I have Done
“Love One Another”
Maundy Thursday
17 April 2014 7:00 p.m. Eucharist
Maundy Thursday
17 April 2014 7:00 p.m. Eucharist
Parish Church of Trinity, Ashland (Oregon)
God, give us hearts to feel and love,
take away our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh.
Amen.
And so we begin the Three Day Liturgy: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and
Easter. It is a single ritual, and that
is why the sending rite at the first two
services doesn’t include a dismissal.
Most of what is taught and preached and passed on in the Mystery of the
Triduum is found in the stories read, the prayers said, the chants sung, not in
any sermon or homily proclaimed. The
mystery is just too great, too ineffable.
And so we are reduced to actions and not words: washing feet, eating and drinking what is
offered when it is offered, stripping and washing the altar, sitting in
darkness, praying through the night, then on Friday touching the Holy Cross,
maintaining silence, and then at the start of Sunday on Saturday evening
lighting the new fire, singing “the light of Christ,” baptizing, flowering the
church and singing in joy, and then on Sunday having once again the meal at the
table of plenty that Jesus has always offered.
We often are overwhelmed by the symbols, and
focus on the less important parts of the story.
You may not have noticed, but a couple of weeks
ago, Spanish scholars announced that they had accomplished, at long last, what
Percival and Arthur had failed to do, find the Holy Grail. They cautiously said
they cannot be sure that it is the actual the chalice used by Christ at the Last
Supper, but based on two medieval Egyptian fragments of text and a lot of cross
referencing and use of obscure maps, they are certain that it is the Grail that
was sought and honored by the faithful of the Middle Ages. A jeweled goblet, a later addition, encases a
more ancient simple goblet of carved onyx that dates from the turn of the era.
I think most of us are suspicious of such
claims, if only because the Middle Ages are known for having so many, many
relics from the life of Jesus that they stretch credulity.
Beside that, the Gospel stories we read of the
Last Supper clearly are not focused on the table settings. They are not even really about the meal
itself. The synoptics say it was a Passover
Meal, while John says it was one last meal before Passover. What is key is the act of loving service
Jesus performed for these, his friends, even the one whom he suspected was
about to betray him. What is key is his
prayers for them, and the fact that he said that this shared meal, this bread
and wine, somehow were his body broken for them and his blood poured out for
them. What is essential is that he gave
them a new commandment, the mandatum novum from which we give Maundy Thursday
its name: that they love one another as
he loved them.
The love he models and commands is not disembodied
sentiment and feeling, it is a series of actions, a state of the will. It is putting the well being of the beloved
above ourselves. It is giving them the benefit
of the doubt. It is sacrificing oneself,
accepting hurt, to help them. Jesus washes the feet and loves even the one who will betray him. Later in the night, he will wake his sleeping friends at Gethsemane, but will not scold them for not being able to watch and pray. Rather, he has compassion and empathy, "the spirit is willing, but you're just too tired.!"
This is the true Holy Grail. This is itself a sacrament every bit as holy
as the body and blood he offers us.
I invite all of us to come to partake the sweet
bread and wine of God, and to pray tonight.
I invite us all to come the rest of this Church service—by returning
tomorrow, Saturday evening, and Sunday Morning, so we can see in this whole
story the depth of Christ’s love for us, and of the Father’s love of the Son. And most of all, I invite us, with Jesus, to
love each other as he loved us.
Thanks be to God. Amen
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