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Maundy Thursday March 29, 2018

Posted on March 29, 2018 by Beth Crane

Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14
Psalm 116:1, 10-17
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Maundy Thursday comes from the Latin Mandatum Novum, meaning “new commandment.” Jesus said, “ I give you a new commandment,that you love one another.” Jesus did two other revolutionary things on that day. He took the bread and wine that they had shared before, and he said the usual blessings, but then he said of the bread, “This is my body” and of the wine, “This is my blood.” And he said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”” The word translated as “remembrance” is anamnesis. Literally, “un-forgetting.” Do this for the unforgetting of me. Do this to call me into your midst.
And then, after supper, he washed their feet. He did a thing that servants, slaves would do. Peter could not bear this. Martin Smith of the Society of St, John the Evangelist has a wonderful meditation on this. He says that Peter’s difficulty in accepting Jesus as a servant mirrors our own. He points out that it is much easier for us to look up
to Jesus as our Lord and Master that it is for us to look down at him as he washes our feet. We have been trained to be self-sufficient, and it is extremely difficult for us to accept the unconditional love that we receive from our Lord this day and every day. It is that unconditional love that is touching me very deeply this year as we gather for this service. Martin Smith says that Jesus is telling us that, if we don’t let him wash our feet, we will be cutting ourselves off from him. That is why Peter asks Jesus to wash his hands and his head as well.

God’s unconditional love is so beyond our earthly imaginings that I believe we have to spend our whole lives gradually learning to accept that love. In a profound sense, Maundy Thursday is about learning to allow our Lord to minister to us, to serve us, to wash us. At the end of his meditation, Martin Smith offers this prayer: Spirit of yielding, Spirit of consent, Spirit of Yes, Spirit of letting-go, Spirit of acceptance, Spirit of humility and openness, Spirit who trains my eyes to look down at Jesus looking up to me, ever ready to wash and serve me—I need you, I need you to give me a fresh receptivity to the unconditional love of God, to make my embrace of the Cross real and not just a matter of words.” (A Season for the Spirit, p.154.)

And my prayer, Beloved Lord, open our hearts to your love. Amen.
Beloved Lord, open hour hearts to your love. Amen

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Easter 5C RCL April 24, 2016

Posted on April 24, 2016 by Beth Crane

Acts 11:1-18
Psalm 148
Revelation 21:1-6
John 13:31-35

There are certain events which change the course of history. This is true of the story we read today in our opening lesson. Peter is a faithful Jew. He has followed the Law every day of his life. He has never eaten anything that the Law declares to be unclean.

One day, he goes up to the roof to pray. He is hungry and a meal is being prepared. He has a vision. A large sheet comes down from heaven. On it there are all kinds of foods, some of them forbidden by the dietary laws. A voice, which he takes to be the voice of God, tells him to “Kill and eat.” Three times he refuses, saying that nothing unclean has ever entered his mouth. This happens three times, and Peter refuses three times. But then God tells him that all these foods have been made clean. The sheet is pulled up into heaven.

Then three men come from Caesarea. They have been sent by an angel to go to Joppa, get Peter, and bring him to the home of Cornelius, a Roman citizen and an officer in the Roman army, a centurion, who is a man of faith, not Jewish, but a supporter of the synagogue in his city and a compassionate person who cares about his neighbors.

Cornelius had been praying and an angel came to him and told him to send to Joppa and have Peter come to his house, so Cornelius has sent messengers to fetch Peter. As Peter is finishing his time of prayer, and has just had this vision, the messengers arrive from Cornelius. Meanwhile, Cornelius has gathered all the members of his household, plus many neighbors, to hear Peter’s message.

The next day, Peter and his ministry team go with the messengers to Cornelius’ house. Peter begins to speak about his vision and how he has realized that God shows no partiality. God loves everyone. As he is preaching and teaching, the Holy Spirit falls on these Gentiles. They begin speaking in tongues and praising God, and they are baptized.

The news that these Gentiles have accepted Jesus, have received the Holy Spirit, and have been baptized, reaches the apostles and the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem.

The followers of Jesus up to this point have always assumed that they would continue to be a part of the Jewish faith. They would follow the law and all the observances of their faith but they would also be following Jesus. They assumed that this new faith was open only to Jews.

But now the Holy Spirit has filled these Gentiles and they have been baptized. The apostles and followers of Jesus in Jerusalem want to know how this could have happened. So, Peter is telling the story of how God opened the horizons of his faith. Peter is sharing how God has convinced him that God loves everyone and that faith in God is for everyone. And he says,”If God gave then the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” And the Jerusalem community responds, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

A couple of chapters ago, in Chapter Nine of the Book of Acts, we have the story of Saul, meeting the risen Lord on the road to Damascus. He gets a new name, Paul, and a new identity. From persecuting the followers of Jesus, he is called to preach the Good News to the Gentiles.

God spoke to Peter and to Saul, and expanded their vision. If they had not responded as they did, the course of history would have been very different.

In our gospel for today, Judas has just left the room to go and betray Jesus. This is a tragic moment in history. Jesus must have had many feelings as he contemplated Judas going to the authorities and promising to lead them to our Lord. Jesus knows that he is going to the cross. What a horrible reality to face. And yet, he uses this moment to give the apostles and us the great commandment, that we love one another as he has loved us.

The encounters that Peter and Saul had with the Lord called them to love everyone as Jesus has loved us, and they responded faithfully to that call.

Herbert O’Driscoll writes, “For us, moving year by year into an increasingly multi-racial and multi-cultural society, this passage is eloquent. I would suggest that it asks us to live in this society as a Christian but to remain open to the ability of the Holy Spirit to work through men and women who do not share this tradition with us.”

God loves everyone. God showers gifts of the Spirit on everyone. When Pope Francis took several Muslim families home with him to the Vatican to embark on a new life, he was expressing that love.

May we do the same.  Amen.

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Maundy Thursday March 24, 2016

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Beth Crane

Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14
Psalm 116:1, 10-17
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Maundy Thursday. The word “Maundy” comes from the Latin mandatum—Mandatum novum—a new commandment. Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

Our King washes our feet. Our Savior washes our feet just as a servant would do. Kings don’t wash people’s feet. Kings don’t take off their formal garments, grab a towel, kneel on the floor and wash the feet of travelers and pilgrims on the journey.

Peter is scandalized. “Lord, you shouldn’t be doing this.” But Jesus tells him and us that we can’t have a share in him—we can’t be in the close relationship that we want and need to have with him if we don’t let him serve us. That’s when Peter asks our Lord to wash his hands and his head, too.

Our King washes our feet. This tells us how far his kingdom is from the usual order of things. He calls us to a kingdom in which love and service are the highest ideals. We can’t be in fellowship with him unless we let him serve us. We can’t participate fully in his life unless we love and serve others.

How far this is from a world where terrorists attack innocent people in Brussels. How far this is from the idea that might makes right.

Our King washes our feet. May we let him cleanse us. May we let him come into our hearts and make us whole. May we let him lead us into a ministry of love and servanthood. May we follow him as he leads us into his kingdom.   Amen.

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Maundy Thursday April 2, 2015

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Beth Crane

Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14
Psalm 116:1. 10-17
1 Corinthians 11:21=16
John 13:1-17, 31b-35

At this last gathering with his closest followers, Jesus did three revolutionary and life-changing things.

The first thing that he did was to wash the disciples’ feet. If you went into the home of a rich person, that person’s slave would wash your feet. The was a profound sign of hospitality. At the very least, all of the apostles realized that Jesus was a rabbi, a teacher. Peter realized that he was the messiah. Some of the others were probably grasping that fact as well.

The savior of the world washes his followers’ feet. All through his ministry he has kept saying, “I am among you as one who serves,” and he calls us to be servants, too.

The second thing is that he takes the bread and wine and says the usual blessings, but then he says that we should share this meal in remembrance of him. He gives us this meal as a way to call him to be among us. This meal reminds us that whenever we gather, he is in our midst.

The third thing is the commandment he gives us: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

May we carry on his ministry of servanthood. May we be ever more aware of his presence among us. May we love one another and love others in his Name.

Amen.

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Maundy Thursday—April 17, 2014

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Beth Crane

Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14
Psalm 116:1, 10-17
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-17, 31b-35

In the time of Jesus, if you entered the home of a prosperous person after a long journey, a slave would take you to a special room and there you would take a bath. Most people walked. The roads were dusty. Folks wore sandals or went barefoot. Feet got dirty. If you entered the home after a short journey, a slave would come to you, take off your sandals, and wash your feet as you sat at the table. People usually lounged on cushions around the table.

When he washes the feet of the disciples, Jesus is doing the work of a slave. We can imagine the disciples sitting in shocked silence as he washes their feet one by one. Finally, he gets to Peter, and Peter is not going to have his Lord doing the work of a slave. But Jesus tells Peter that he can have no share with Jesus unless he allows Jesus to wash his feet. What does this mean?

Gail R. O’Day of Emory University writes: “To have a share with Jesus is to have fellowship with him, to participate fully in his life. It draws the disciple into the love that marks God’s and Jesus’ relationship to each other and to the world. One’s share with Jesus, then, is the gift of full relationship with him.” (New Interpreter’s Bible, p. 723.)

We are called to accept Jesus’ model of servanthood, and we are called to do servant ministry in our own lives. We are also called to be cleansed and transformed by Jesus. We are called to realize that there is no task that is below us if it is done in the service of God, and that there is no person who is beyond the love of God.

Again this year, I think of Pope Francis, who so joyfully models Christ’s servanthood for all of us. Pope Francis has a share in the love that is between God and Jesus and the Spirit. That is what we are called to do—to accept Jesus’ ministry to us, to let him cleanse and heal us, to ground ourselves in his love, and then to share that love with others.

Amen.

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