In Remembrance of Me

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

April 17, 2014

Maundy Thursday

Exodus 12:1-14

Psalm 116:1, 10-17

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

John 13: 1-17, 31b-35

In Remembrance of Me

            Every Sunday when we come to church we do lots of different things: we pray, we sing, we listen to a couple of passages of Scripture, and I preach.

            We exchange the peace and then our focus shifts to the altar and we prepare for communion.

            Each Sunday we pray the words of the Eucharistic Prayer – remembering and reminding us all of that night in Jerusalem some two thousand years ago around the time of the Passover when Jesus gathered with his closest friends in the Upper Room.

            A few weeks ago some of us had the powerful experience of an instructed Passover Seder, taught by our friend Rabbi Debby Hachen of Temple Beth-El. I bet that meal reminded many of us of what we do each Sunday when we bless the bread and the wine and eat and drink, just like Jesus and first disciples.

            Maybe we can imagine the scene in Jerusalem long ago, when Jesus gathered with his closest friends and disciples.

            It’s dark with just a few candles giving a shadowy light. The room is fragrant with the smell of food. We can hear the breathing of the disciples gathered around. Maybe we make eye contact and then quickly look away.

            What is happening? What’s going to happen next?

            Jesus knew that his time was growing short. And with sinking stomachs the disciples were beginning to realize that the One they called teacher and Lord – the One who they believed was the Messiah was going to be taken from them.

            In these last hours together, Jesus tried to get across to his friends what’s most important.

            This bread is my body.

            This wine is my blood.

            Do this in memory of me.

            I will always be with you. No matter how bad things seem, no matter how lost you are, I will always be with you. No matter what, I will always be with you when you come together to pray, to bless, to eat the bread and drink the wine.            

            This is my body.

            This is my blood.

            Do this in memory of me.

            And we know that Jesus’ first followers didn’t forget.

            This evening we heard a short passage from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. As far as we know, Paul never met Jesus during his earthly lifetime. But, he tells us in his letter that he has heard about the Last Supper from the Resurrected Christ. Or maybe he just heard about it from people who had known Jesus – from Peter and James and others.

            Thanks to Paul we know that right from the start the followers of Jesus continued to get together, to pray, to bless, to eat the bread and drink the wine. They continued to do all of this in memory of Jesus.

            Writing just a couple of decades after the Last Supper, Paul teaches this tradition to the Corinthians and just about everybody he meets as he travels around the Mediterranean world, sharing the Good News of Jesus.

            But, the Last Supper wasn’t only about the bread and the wine.

            Actually, the Evangelist John doesn’t even include that tradition in his telling of the Last Supper.

            Instead, he offers the powerful image of Jesus getting up from the table, taking off his outer robe, tying a towel around himself, pouring water into a basin and washing the disciples’ feet.

            If we were there, I suspect that we’d react like Peter, “Lord, you are going to wash my feet?!”

            But, through this menial and servile act, through this symbolic act but more than symbolic act, Jesus offers one of his most powerful teachings.

            We Christians who take the Body and Blood of Christ into our bodies and into our hearts – we are meant to go out into the world and offer love. We are meant to – actually we are commanded to – offer loving service to everyone, but especially to the poorest and most vulnerable.

            Not just talk. Not just symbolism. But, really roll up our sleeves and get to work serving each other and serving those in need.

            To be honest, the Church, we Christians, have done a better job remembering the bread and wine than we have remembering and washing the feet.

            We don’t always obey Jesus’ command to love one another the way he has loved us.

            But, there’s still time.

            Look, listen, in the flickering candlelight, Jesus is still teaching.

            Jesus is still teaching us how to live and how to love.

            This is my body.

            This is my blood.

            Wash the feet. Serve one another. Love one another.

            Do this in remembrance of me. Amen.