Maundy Thursday, Year C
Thursday, March 28, 2013
St. Mark’s, Bay City
Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Psalm 116:1, 10-17
“By this everyone will know that you
are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” More than anything else, Jesus wanted his
disciples to love one another. Fulfill
the law? Continue in the appointed
feasts and festivals? Continue in
worship and prayer in your daily life?
Those things were pretty well understood. That’s who Jesus’ disciples were as faithful
Jews. They worshipped God with the
appointed feasts and festivals and in their daily life.
Translating that to modern
Christianity, worshipping God with the appointed feasts and festivals and in
our daily lives is also understood. That
is who we are as Christians, following Jesus as his disciples in the Episcopal
Church. We live out the way of prayer of
prayer and service that we have been given in the Episcopal Church and worship
God in the particular ways that are a part of our life in the Episcopal Church,
and above all else, as Jesus’ disciples, Jesus wants us to love one
another.
Let’s face it, worshipping God in
the Episcopal Church is pretty easy. It is beautiful and
meaningful, but it isn’t overly difficult.
Loving one another? That’s where
the rubber meets the road.
I was having some conversations with folks
earlier this week, and we noted just how often we treat one another as though
Jesus never even existed. We talked
about the ways we often nitpick and grumble and often don’t seek reconciliation
with one another. Sometimes it’s over
big things and it’s awful hard to offer and seek forgiveness, and still we
often try.
It’s the little things that sometimes get
us. It’s the little things that the
Pharisees kept complaining that Jesus wasn’t doing in fulfilling every possible
aspect of the Law. They got so upset
about the little things, they didn’t even notice the way Jesus was fulfilling
the purpose of the law, loving God and loving people.
Earlier this week, we were noting how often
we also let the little things upset us way more than we need to. We all do this. I think.
At least I do this. I let little
things get to me. Why? Is that the narrative I want for my
life? Irritable when little things don’t
go my way? Not particularly.
I’d rather have the Gospel as the narrative
for my life. Love one another. Forgive one another. When there is death in a relationship or an
aspect of your life, look for and expect resurrection.
That’s Jesus prayer for us, that we allow
him and seek for him to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life in every part of
our lives: our prayer life, our family
life, our work life, our social life, our worship life. Jesus’ prayer for us is that his story be the
story for our lives. When we mess up, we
seek forgiveness and we give forgiveness.
In our relationships with one another, we seek grace and love, and we give
grace and love.
When there is death in our lives, whether
physical death, or a relationship dies, or a path which we are taking in our
lives dies, whenever there is death, we grieve the loss. We mourn the death, but as Jesus’ disciples,
with the Gospel as the narrative for our lives, we don’t grieve death as those
without hope. Our hope in death is for
new life, for resurrection. Our hope in
the Gospel is that even in death, we can still live out Jesus’ command to love
one another.
That is why “love one another” is Jesus
greatest and final commandment to his disciples. We can’t control when death occurs. We can’t control how others treat us. Sometimes, in certain moments, we can hardly
control how we treat others. We can,
however, continue to love each other.
This is ultimately how people will know that we are Jesus’
disciples. That is ultimately how we
will know that we are Jesus’ disciples, if we have love for one another. Amen.
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