Bouncing to Jesus

Brad Sullivan

Maundy Thursday, Year A

Thursday, April 17, 2014

St. Mark’s, Bay City, TX

Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14
Psalm 116:1, 10-17

1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-17, 31b-35           

Paul said whenever we have communion, we proclaim Jesus’ death.  I thought it was all about Jesus’ life and resurrection, and it is, but Paul said we proclaim his death.  Why is that, what’s that about?  Basically I think it goes like this:  Jesus is with us not only in life and resurrection, but also in death. 

I’m going to go right out on a limb and say death stinks.  I’ve said death is a doorway to resurrection, and it is, and at the same time, death is still terrible, and we’re proclaiming that Jesus is with us throughout our lives and in resurrection, and in our deaths and in the thousands of little deaths we have throughout our lives, the disappointments and failures.  Jesus is there with us, and we’re proclaiming that Jesus is with us throughout all of that in the communion.

How exactly does that work?  I don’t know.  I don’t have the first clue.  We’re not supposed to know.  Jesus didn’t explain how communion works.  He simply said, “have a meal together, and I will be with you.  In life, death, resurrection, have a meal, and I’m with you.”  We’ve wasted countless hours and years and lives in the church arguing about and trying to figure out how the mystery of communion works. We have fancy words to describe it, “transubstantiation”, “consubstantiation,” how stupid.  We don’t need to know how it works, it is a mystery, and we’ve had fractions within the church because people understand this mystery differently.  How incredibly stupid. 

Kids don’t worry about how communion works. They just love getting to come be with Jesus.  I’ve seen kids literally bouncing up to have communion, which, if your kids bounce on the way to communion, don’t you dare stop them.  If your grandkids or some kids whom you don’t even know bounces on the way to communion, don’t you dare stop them.  Let them bounce.  They’re joyfully coming to be with Jesus.  They don’t care how it works.  It’s a mystery, and they love it.

What isn’t a mystery is Jesus’ command to his disciples to go, and serve, and love.  That’s what he was teaching them when he washed their feet.  Now I don’t know if feet were different back then…maybe they wore sandals instead of encasing their feet in these sweat producing shoes, but nowadays…I’m not a bit fan of feet.  Washing each others’ feet is uncomfortable and awkward, and intimate (I mean, you don’t give a foot massage to someone unless you deeply know and love them, that’s an intimate thing), so washing each others’ feet is intimate and quite possibly smelly, and I think that’s the point. 

Jesus wanted his disciples to go, and serve, and love, and going and serving and loving is often uncomfortable and awkward, and intimate.  If you go to someone’s home to help serve them in some way, that’s intimate, and it may be smelly, but have you even noticed that with the foot washing, after the awkward and intimate and smelly, there is a profound presence of love. 

When we serve others, it may be uncomfortable and awkward and intimate and smelly, and then afterwards, there is the profound presence of love.  Go, serve, love.  That’s who we are as Jesus’ disciples.

Last year we collected books for Tennie Holmes elementary for the first graders so they would have books to read over the summer.  We’re doing that again this year, and we need someone to spearhead it, to get folks to buy the books and collect them here, and then have a party to wrap them up and get 3 or 4 folks to bring them to the school and deliver them.  I’ve had  a couple “no”s so far from folks who wanted to lead it but couldn’t, so if you want to say yes…just throw something at me.  Throw your shoe at me, you’re about to take it off anyway, and we’ll get those books gathered for the first graders at Tennie Holmes again.

We’re also going to do something to serve the kids at our two other elementary schools as well.  I don’t know what yet, but we’ve got teachers and librarians and nurses in those schools, and they’re going to ask and tell us what is needed, and we’re going to work together and fill that need. 

We used to be known for having fajita dinners here at St. Mark’s to help fund the Honduras Medical Mission trips we’d take, and I propose we start having those fajita dinners again to pay for whatever service we’re going to be doing for the elementary schools.  We need someone to spearhead that too, by the way, so throw your shoe as well.  We’ll do the Cinderella thing and talk afterwards.  

That’s who we are as Jesus’ disciples.  We’re people who go and serve and love.  That’s what Jesus asks us to do.  Notice that Jesus didn’t say, “I’m about to die, so make sure to worship me properly.”  Jesus said, “I’m about to die.  Share a meal together and I’ll be with you.  Life, death, resurrection, I’m with you.  So be with me, and then go, serve, love.”  Go.  Serve.  Love.  Amen.