It is Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday, the beginning of the Holy Weekend of Easter. Since the fourth century, Christians have gathered to mark Maundy Thursday as a time of remembering the Last Supper and the betrayal of Jesus.
Maundy comes from the Latin mandatum novum which means ‘a new commandment’. The ‘new commandment’ comes from the scripture reading we will hear tonight which tells of Jesus washing the disciples feet as preparation for their Passover Meal together and then instructing them to love one another. He uses the action to remind them of servant hood and being humble before another.
Washing feet is a liturgical act that has never caught on in the United Church! I guess we feel a bit squeamish about baring our toes in church and then having someone else touch them. Honestly, I feel a bit squeamish about doing that with anyone let alone another member of my congregation. But the idea of that kind of humility, that kind of vulnerability, that kind of service and maybe even that kind of squeamishness is what Jesus was on about when he talked to the disciples that evening around the dinner table.
I will be preaching about service tonight at the Maundy Thursday service. I wonder how the words will fall on the ears of the people who gather? What does it mean to you to hear the call of Jesus to love one another?
