1 April 2010
Maundy Thursday
Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14; Psalm 116:1, 10-17; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26;
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
This year’s Lenten Re-Connect Program was centered on the study of the Creeds, in particular the Apostles’ Creed. It has been, I think, not only educational but also inspirational. The small group discussion questions have led the participants to think deeply about what it is they believe, what beliefs are important to them, what is essential for a Christian to believe, and how they pray. It has led me tonight to give what I think is more a meditation than a sermon, based on a poem by Ann Weems entitled “Holy Communion.” It begins
Eat. Drink. Remember
who I am.
Yes, for five Thursdays some of us have gathered together and shared first a meal – “eat, drink.” And following the meal one evening was spent looking at the ancient creeds of the church and the history and the heresies behind them. The next three Thursdays we looked very closely at the oldest Creed of them all, the Apostles’ Creed; especially we looked at the biblical sources used by the early church leaders to define our beliefs, define our God, the one who, when Moses asked for a name said, “I am who I am.” It is a remarkable play on words, “remember who I am!”
Eat. Drink. Remember
who I am
so you can remember
who you are.
The creeds are statements of our faith. They define us as Christians but they don’t make us followers of Christ. It is in living a Christ-like life, following in his footsteps, acknowledging that we are imperfect beings in need of forgiveness, in need of God’s abundant grace, that we take the first baby steps in becoming what God expects of us, God’s vision for us. In tonight’s gospel when Peter protested that Jesus should not wash his feet, Jesus said to him, ”Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Give over, Peter, I’m not too holy to wash your feet; you are not too unworthy for me to wash.
How easy it is for us to forget who we are, what we are. How easy it is for us to think that we are entitled to things that are God’s. “Remember who I am so you can remember who you are.”
Eat. Drink. Remember
who I am
so you can remember
who you are
and tell the others
After Jesus had washed the feet of his disciples, he asked them, “Do you know what I have done to you?” So often when he has asked them a question like that, that wonderful, motley, improbable group of men, has replied, it seems in unison, “Yes, Lord!” How to get someone off your back, off your case – just agree with them. I can remember as a child my father helping me with my homework, and he would conclude by asking if I understood. I learnt early, and well, to say, “Yes!” otherwise I would have to listen to him for another fifteen minutes or more.
Jesus, this time, did not wait for an answer; instead he said, “I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.” It is by example that we best let it be known who and what we are. There’s an old song, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.” Do we understand what Jesus has done for us? Are we prepared to go out and tell of his unconditional love for us? “Remember who I am so you can remember who you are and tell the others.”
Eat. Drink. Remember
who I am
so you can remember
who you are
and tell the others
so that all
God’s people
can live
in communion. . . .
in holy communion.
The assignment for tonight’s Re-Connect class was for each of us to write our own creed. If you have never done that, you should try it. Try to write in a hundred and thirteen words or less – that’s how long the Apostles’ Creed is – what it is you believe. I thought I had done pretty well until I counted up a hundred and sixty-five words!
But I do strongly urge you each to try it, put it down on paper, see what it is that in your heart and mind defines you as a Christian and what is important to you to believe; how you would explain your faith; how would you explain why we do the things we do, especially the events of tonight when just as Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, we wash each others’ feet in recognition of the fact that we are all servants, meant to serve one another, and yet not one of us is greater than those we serve or those who serve us. How would you explain the events of the next few days?
Jesus spent three years of his life teaching through word and deed that to be his disciples we must love one another as he loved us, that we must serve one another as he served us, that we must live in communion with one another, in holy communion! “Eat. Drink. Remember who I am so you can remember who you are and tell the others so that all God’s people can live in communion. . . .in holy communion.”
Amen.
Sonia F. G. Stevenson, M. Div.
Church of the Good Shepherd