Maundy Thursday - 2010

 

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.”

Maundy Thursday.  Gründonnerstag (or Green Thursday).  Clean Thursday.  Shear Thursday.

 

This day has many names and customs, many going back to very early church history. 

 

Clean Thurs., or Shire Thurs: 

 

By the 4^th Century, this day was devoted to the reconciliation of penitents.  Those who publicly confessed to notorious deeds on Ash Wednesday spent Lent atoning for these sins and were forbidden to attend church until Maundy Thurs.  (Door-keeper Deacons would have been kept busy during Lent!) 

 

At the first part of the Thurs. service, those seeking forgiveness knelt at the door until they were eventually permitted to approach the priest and receive forgiveness.  After the service they bathed and shaved, activities forbidden during Lent. 

 

This cleansing was to represent the fact that they have been made clean, or free from guilt — and therefore the name “clean Thurs.  Throughout the middle Ages this service was considered to be the end of Lent (and the beginning of the Triduum).  This was also the first time candidates for baptism was able to recite the Creed. 

 

And Altar Guild members — take note!  This was the day that the altar cloths were washed, and the church cleaned for Easter.  That included ceremoniously washing the altar with water and wine. 

 

Gründonnerstag or Green Thurs.:

 

This name originated in German-speaking countries, and again goes back to this being a day of reconciliation.  Penitents would carry green branches as a sign of their joy.  Green also represents hope and victory.  In fact, until the 13^th Century priests wore green vestments on this day, changing to white at the Eucharist.  In many countries it is still traditional to eat green foods such as spinach, salad, broccoli, or pea soup.

 

In England, the term “Maundy” refers to the custom of the monarch distributing alms to the poor, giving out “Maundy money” which is specifically minted every year for this purpose.  Each set of 4 coins equals 10 pence, and each person chosen receives an equivalent number of sets or part of sets to equal the Queen’s age.  The number of those chosen for this custom is also equal to the Queen’s age, so this year 84 men and 84 women will each receive 84 pence each.  

 

But these fun facts are peripheral to the fact that this is the day that Jesus gave us all a new commandment – a mandate, or in Latin, “mandatum” that we are all to follow. 

 

               “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.”

 

LOVE. 

 

How difficult to carry it out. 

 

We are to love one another always, not just “when I feel like it”, or “if I like you”, or “she’s pretty”. 

 

Jesus knew his time with his disciples was coming to an end, but he still continued to teach and love.  At this supper, summed up all his teachings, and gave them the most important lesson of all — not just in words but in action. 

 

As a former teacher, I was taught that effective teaching consists of explaining, showing, and allowing the student to try.  Think of when you had biology or chemistry.  It is said that “actions speak louder than words” and Jesus was a master Teacher.

 

Let us go back in time.  This part of the world is dusty and hot.  People wore sandals, and when they traveled, their feet got dirty…and hot.  (Think of when you last tried to walk across the beach in sandals.  It’s not very comfortable with all those grains of sand sticking between your toes!)  So a good host would have a servant (or wife) wash a guest’s feet.  It was a major sign of hospitality, and I’m sure the cool water was a welcome relief!  It was, however, definitely the servant’s job—not the hosts. 

 

Now, as he did so often, Jesus is turning this convention upside down.  He is Teacher and Lord.  Teachers and Lords just didn’t DO this kind of thing!  It was unheard of.  It’s worse than a host washing a guest’s feet — it was as though the master were washing his servant’s feet. 

 

As usual, Peter didn’t get it…until threatened that if he didn’t allow Jesus to serve him, Peter couldn’t be part of Jesus.  He couldn’t share.  And of course, not sharing was unacceptable for him.  Irrepressible Peter wanted more!  “If more of me is washed, it would show how much I REALLY want to be part of you, Lord, so wash more of me!”  He missed the point.

 

Jesus wanted all to recognize that he was here to serve.  He wanted to make sure that his followers knew that one could only follow him if they followed his example.  They could only share Jesus by being Jesus in the world.  “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me”, he said.  What was true with the disciples then is true for us now.

 

“You should do as I have done…you are blessed if you DO them,” he said.  Not think about it, not watch someone else do it, not set up a group to do it for you.  I’m reminded of a church I was once at which, in the late 19^th century, was THE society church of the city.  Women would volunteer for the altar guild… and then send their maids to do the work.  That is not what Jesus had in mind.

 

Jesus’ love translates into action.  It is caring for the sick, the imprisoned, the homeless, the poor, the aged.  We too cannot share in Jesus without acting as Jesus did.

 

One of the most amazing recent examples of love that I can think of is the Amish reaction to the 2006 shooting in one of their schools in which 5 children and the gunman died.  Unfortunately, this was really not that different from those in other parts of the U.S. or England, or Finland, or Germany…

 

…with one glaring difference — LOVE.

 

The Amish are so steeped and practiced in their expressions of love to one another, that within hours a neighbor offered solace and extended forgiveness to the shooter’s family.  They set up a charitable fund for his family, and about 30 Amish attended his funeral.  His widow was even invited to the funeral of one of her husband’s victims. 

 

The widow, Marie, wrote, “Your love for our family has helped to provide the healing we so desperately need.  Gifts you’ve given have touched our hearts in a way no words can describe.  Your compassion has reached beyond our family, beyond our community, and is changing our world, and for this we sincerely thank you.” 

 

It was an amazing example of love.  But what struck me is the world’s reaction of surprise, disbelief, and even scorn that anyone could or would react in this way to such a horrendous act.  Reporters were amazed that there was nothing more in the local Amish weekly paper than the obituary notations of the children and condolences to the families.  When the editor was asked why more details were not given, he responded that “that only inflames people’s hatred, and that isn’t what Christ would want.  We don’t write to make something sensational.” 

 

Some commentators criticized the swift and complete forgiveness as being inappropriate.  I think the Amish got it right, and the world has the problem.  Experts explained that this willingness to forgo vengeance does not undo the tragedy or pardon the wrong.  Rather, it constitutes a first step toward a more hopeful future.  The Amish truly practice Christ’s commandment to love one another.  It is part of who they ARE.  They ACT with love.  They truly SHARE in Jesus.

 

LOVE.

How do we practice that love in our daily lives?  Do you remember that popular phrase “You will know we are Christians by our love.”?  I think that was in the 60’s or 70’s (?).  How true is that today, when talk radio is filled with proclaimed Christians using violent words expressing anger and hatred to those ideas and people with whom they disagree? 

 

On this night, Jesus took off his outer robe and tied a towel around him, as a servant would do.  He knelt in front of them.  He took off dirty sandals.  He got close to smelly feet.  It is not possible to wash someone’s feet without getting down and personal. 

 

When did we last do that?  There are opportunities out there to get down and dirty.  Serving food at a soup kitchen, and not just providing some soup.  Staying overnight with the homeless, or helping their children with their homework.  Pounding nails into a Habitat for Humanity house.  Distributing food to the poor at the Food Pantry or Fish. 

 

I admit, I didn’t really understand the problems “the poor” have, or how close to being “one of those” I could be, until I looked folks in the eye and talked to them.  Until I met a single mother struggling with 2 babies and all her belongings in 2 large black garbage bags.  Until I talked to a woman who was well educated and had been a successful teacher, but could no longer work because of medical problems and thereby lost her job…and her home. 

 

Jesus didn’t just ask us to take off our outer robes of respectability and serve others, he commanded it.  We are to lay aside all those aspects that give us status over another, and serve our neighbor. 

 

About 30 years ago I was shocked to be involved in a vestry meeting in which the discussion revolved around starting a soup kitchen in the church.  The discussion dragged on and on, pros and cons were presented, and at times some fairly heated points of view were voiced.  Some issues were necessary – insurance, health department procedures, who would be responsible, and cost.  But none of these were deal breakers.  It all ended with a bang when someone heatedly said “But, we can’t have THOSE people using our toilets!”  The vote followed, and “THOSE” people lost. 

 

We never know when “THOSE” people become “ME”.  Many in today’s difficult economic society are finding that out the hard way.  THOSE people are Jesus, and in welcoming them into our lives, caring for them, and loving them, we welcome the Lord.  We share with Jesus.

“For I have set you an example”, Jesus said. 

 

There is a oneness expressed in serving others.  One loses oneself in concern for others.  People often say that in giving they actually gain. 

 

The apostles learned, at this table, this night 2000 years ago that there is no right or left hand, no head table, no one greater than another.  Tonight, we too are gathered in a circle around a table in communion with one another, and will soon be in communion with Christ. 

 

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.”

 

Dcn. Marge Forsythe