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St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD
March 28, 2024
Maundy Thursday
Exodus 12:1-14
Psalm 116:1, 10-17
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Pouring Out Lessons
This past Sunday was the most unsettling day of the Christian Year.
In fact, it’s such an unsettling day that we can’t even decide on one name for it.
It’s officially called “The Sunday of the Passion – Palm Sunday.”
At 10:00, we began out in the parking lot with the Palm Procession, remembering and, sort of, reenacting King Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, when he was greeted with palms and shouts of “Hosanna,” which means, “Lord, save us.”
Lord, save us.
But once we got into the church, the mood turned fast, as we quickly, jarringly, jumped ahead from the palms to the Passion.
It turned out that Jesus wasn’t the kind of King that anyone expected or seemed to want.
Since he wasn’t a mighty warrior like King David, since he wasn’t going to expel the Roman occupiers and restore Israel’s earthly glory, the people turned against him and the Romans brutally killed him as they killed so many other rebels and would-be kings.
On Sunday, before we knew it, we were shouting along with the ancient crowd, “Crucify him!”
Before we knew it, we were at the foot of the Cross, as Jesus poured out himself: his blood, his love, his life, even his hope.
Emptiness.
Or so it seemed.
And now here, this evening, we back up a day.
We’re still in Jerusalem and the “Hosannas” from the Palm Parade must have still been echoing in Jesus’ ears and in the ears of his disciples, his friends.
It’s hard to know if the disciples really got swept up in all the excitement.
Did they remember that Jesus had been predicting for some time that he would be rejected and killed – and that he would rise again on the third day?
How much of that could the notoriously clueless disciples really grasp and truly accept?
I don’t know.
I do know that it’s hard – so very hard – to face that someone we love is going to suffer and die.
But now, during that long ago evening in Jerusalem, as Jesus and his friends gathered around the table for one last meal, the hard truth must have been sinking in.
And so, with time running out, Jesus the Great Teacher offers some final, most important lessons.
Pouring out lessons.
Jesus blesses the bread and the wine and shares it with his friends, saying this is his Body and Blood, poured out for them – poured out for us - his Body and Blood poured into our hearts, each time we gather around the Table and remember him.
And to the shock and dismay of Peter and probably the others, too, Jesus gets up from the table, pours water into a basin and begins washing his disciples’ feet, yes, including even Judas, who is about to betray him.
Jesus, pouring out himself in loving and lowly service.
And Jesus commands his friends – it’s the “mandate” that gives Maundy Thursday its name – Jesus commands us that if we wish to follow Jesus we must wash feet, too.
We must pour out our lives in loving and lowly service.
We must love one another as Jesus has loved us.
Pouring out lessons.
In a few minutes, we will gather at the Table with Jesus and with one another for the final time until Easter morning.
And at the conclusion of tonight’s service, we will clear away all of the holy objects.
“Stripping the altar” it’s called, preparing for the humiliation and suffering and death that Jesus will face tomorrow, on Good Friday.
And we will bring the Body and Blood of Christ to our beautiful little “Altar of Repose,” echoing Jesus’ night in the Garden of Gethsemane, a night of agonizing prayer and preparation.
By then, there really won’t be anything left to say, so we’ll depart in silence, prepared as best we can be for tomorrow, for the hardest day of the Church Year.
Tomorrow, Jesus will give away himself on the Cross: pouring out his blood, his love, his life, even his hope.
Poured out until nothing was left, nothing but emptiness.
Or so it will seem.
Because, even on the hard days,
Especially on the hardest days:
God is never empty.
God is always full of life and love.
Life and love, poured out, in and through Jesus.
Life and love, shared with us.
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