Sermon for the Episcopal Church of St John the Baptist, Capitola,

given by Rev. Stu Fitch/March 20, 2008, Maundy Thursday

  The Episcopal Church of Saint John the Baptist welcomes all to worship God and to share

Christ's love in the world.  We are a parish family committed to provide liturgy, Bible study, music, counseling, and Christian education for children, youth, and adults, and to equip all our members for life and for service to other

Sermon

  We¹ll never forget that night.. The twelve of us with Jesus in the upper room.  The lamps were lit, making our shadows dance on the wall.  We were reclining on mats around the common bowl of food, leaning on our left elbows so that it was easy to lay our head close to the person on our left to talk. John was reclining thus next to Jesus.  Our right hand was free to dip into our common bowl.. 

  At one point Jesus said: "One of you who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me."   We were all startled, looked around and  our own inner doubts, guilts and ambivalent feelings made us utter:  "Surely not I?" "Or is it I?"  Peter asked John to ask Jesus of whom he spoke.  But no matter, in reality it is all of us.

  What Jesus did next broke the pattern of the Passover celebration we had expected .He took the loaf, blessed it and broke it and passed the halves in each direction and said:  "Take, eat, this is my body, given for you. Do this in rememberance of me.²" His words were shocking , strange and puzzling.  We had no time then to grasp the meaning of those words.

  Then after supper he took the cup and after giving thanks, passed the cup to us sayng: "Drink from it, all of you, this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."  What could he possibly mean, his body, his blood?  No Kosher Jew will touch blood!!! And yet the words struck deep within us, calling forth something we needed to know and experience as True. Later we came  to understand, it was Jesus¹ outward and visible sign of his presence and unconditional Grace, which would be with us always.

  His strength was symbolized by the body, the bread. His life by the blood, the wine  We have needed his strength and life to carry on and continue his work and live as ones  forgiven and forgiving.

  For those of us brought up in the Jewish tradition, to remember is to make present.  So each time we share the bread and wine in his memory, he is present with us.   The best way we have come to explain this feeling of Grace is to say that Jesus is with us in his Real Presence, present in our gathering, and present in some mysterious and spiritual way in the bread and wine.

   That supper was not the last with Jesus, but the beginning of many more where our offerings of bread and wine have come to represent our selves, our souls, our bodies and our lives which we offer to be united with Jesus' life and strength, then returned to us as the bread of heaven and the cup of salvation..We come to his table with prayers and our  Special Intentions of needs and thanksgivings.  And we know he is here in his Real Presence. We in him and he in us. Together  his Presence and ours enable us to live in the world as One---living out the Grace of the One we have received.

  But I'm getting ahead of my story of that night in the Upper Room.  After sharing the bread and cup with us and saying "This is my body, this is my blood," Jesus got up, took off his outer robe and tied a towel around his waist.  Then he poured water into  basin and began to wash our feet and wipe them with his towel. He circled around us as we reclined on the mats around our common bowl.   When Jesus came to Peter, Peter questioned saying, "Are you going to wash my feet?"   We all understood Peter¹s resistance as only the lowest servant washed the feet of  his master's guests. Jesus said we would understand later, but Peter balked and said, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered: "Unless I wash you, you have no share of me." Then Peter, bless his hot headedness, demanded, "Not my feet only but my head and my hands also." But  Jesus replied, "One who has bathed does not need to wash except for the feet, but is entirely clean."

  Later it dawned on  us, yes we were bathed and made clean through our relationship with Jesus  and our commitment to him. But as we travel life's way, our feet get dirty, so speak ,and we need to be cleansed.. Jesus once said, "In my Father's house are many rooms."  We could say, "On my Father's Way are many way-stations.  Stop to be refreshed and have your feet washed." It feels like that every time we share the Lord¹s :Supper.  We have learned to let our Lord serve us with forgiveness,, cleansing and renewal.  And to help us integate the facts about ourselves by using what we have and what we are  in his service.

  After Jesus had washed our feet he said, "Our teacher has washed your feet,you also ought to wash one another¹s feet.". We see now how he enacted the new command he would soon give: "Love one another just as I have loved you." Mandamus is Latin for a mandate or commend.  We have come to understand  they  now call that Thursday so special to us, Maundy Thursday from the command to love one another.

   Jesus  love  was always appropriate, .sometimes tough and challenging but always with love.   He expressed this  love in so many simple acts of service , like the foot washing. ,in  forgiving , in healing, in listening, in including and just hanging out with all of us. He challengerd us to love as  appropriately as he did.   It was catching and we all wanted to love in those everyday ways.

   We are to be servants and friends to all others  What happens is not  all about us but all about them.  His Grace comes through us when we wilingly put others needs ahead of our own.   We seek to find ways to meet the needs of those others in humble and gracious ways.  Jesus set the tone for our ministry which continues to this day.  In doing so it is like seeking and serving the Christ nature in all persons.  As Jesus said, "When  you do it to the least of my brothers,you do it unto me."

  He has emphasizing our Oneness with him,  with others and all of creation, and the oneness  and wholeness within ourselves. We help each other wash the dust from our feet, not by judging  or lecturing or preaching, but by care--fully serving and being served . Through washing away the dirt on our feet through gentle strokes and calling forth the Christ from within.

  At one point during our meal, Judas went out to do  what we supposed to be an errand. We would soon find out what it was.  It was after supper that night that Jesus lead us across the Kidron Valley to a place where  there was a garden, Gethsemene.  There he bid  us to pray with him .Shamefully we fell asleep.  It was then that Judas returned with a crowd, kissed the Master and  a struggle occured.,  They arrested Jesus and led him off to trial..  The eleven of us fled. in fear.  What happened next  waits to be told on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

  But  now,on his night of nights,we obey his commands:  to take, eat and drink, making his presence real by remembring him.  By striving to love one another even as he loves . And to wash each other's feet.