Maundy "Command" Thursday

Maundy comes from the word mandare, which means command, in Hebrew I think. So in English, Maundy Thursday means something like Command Thursday. I just read an interesting piece about the fact the Jesus left us only really with 2 command, one was to do the Eucharist together and the other was to love one another as I have loved you. I would add a third, although some will say it is the same as loving one another, and that is to follow the example he has set for us. We tend to forget that we are celebrating the entire life and death of Jesus, not just his death, and then not just his death on a cross, but the entire life of Christ.

Another piece I read pointed out that though this Thursday service is about service and reaching out to others, why we wash feet, it is first and foremost about Jesus identifying to the disciples WHO he was. As the article said, eschatology before ethics. I liked that, although this week I will focus on the service aspect as I believe it is time for Gethsemane to learn how to serve people, reaching out to the strangers and welcoming guests into our midst.

It comes down to love I guess, truly love and how we care tenderly for one another to do justice in the world. How we live together in a loving community willing to serve, not for our own benefit, and not even to be filled with he spirit, but rather so that others may be filled with the spirit, so that others will experience the example of Christ, how do we seek and serve Christ in all people? I love our baptismal covenant that states just that.

Maundy Thursday has always been an agnostic day for, I never really feel moved one way or another, I believe that this is all going to change now that it is going to be a great opportunity for people to truly change their behavior. We need to grow and we need to grow first and foremost by welcoming guests into our community, well, into this community that gathers to celelbrate God. We need to change our own behavior and our own actions in order to experience Christ like examples that will change the world. Hospitality has become the center of the authority of this place, it is not me the priest, not the Sr or Jr warden or the Bishop's Committee, it is definitely not those who "have put in their time". Hospitality calls all of us to service, Maundy Thursday commands us all to remember our Baptismal covenant, love one another, serve one another, welcome all people.
Be well,
A+

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Beautiful Impartiality. Easter Day Sermon

“Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him. If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.” So spoke Sojourner Truth in December 1851, just 5 years before this parish was founded, at a Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio. She began her brief and eloquent speech with the words, “Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter.” There has been a lot of racket in our world, in our Church in our lives. Something is out of kilter that is for sure. Each year during Holy Week, all the clergy in the Diocese are invited to attend a service of the reaffirmation of our
Read more

A Deeper Crisis for the Episcopal Church in Minnesota???

I am ever the optimist, I always assume that people are operating out of the general good of their hearts, for the betterment of whatever it is they might be working or advocating for. I am also not one to hold a grudge, and will jump on board with the decisions made by a body that they believe are what that particular body needs. So, of course, when I was on the losing end of just about every resolution presented at convention I was able to look forward to what would come next and prepare myself to support the decisions I need to support as we move forward. Tonight I put all my eggs into the basket to try to get a coadjutor process passed as the way we would proceed in calling a new bishop. We missed that by three votes, granted, a majority of the Diocese wanted to have a coadjutor, but because of a motion to have the vote by orders it lost, clergy passed it 86-59 and the laity narrowly missed it by a vote of 114 to 117. Makes for some nail biting prime time entertainment, let me t
Read more

An interesting Observation

I was sitting on the pew out in front of the Church on 4th Avenue waiting for my lovely and beloved wife to pick me up. Our other car was in the shop and due to rushed-ness we had to just drop me off at Church today. Anyway, I was sitting out there for about 15 minutes waiting for Sara to come and pick me up and I noticed something very odd. I didn't keep a number tally in my head, but I bet half of the people walking toward me crossed the street, not in the crosswalk at the corner, but at some other point before arriving at where I was sitting. Now, I was wearing my collar and sitting in the pew reading a book. The pew has been used frequently I have noticed by many passersby, I even saw a young man take off one of the round parts of the pew, it had kind of fallen off, so no longer attached, but just stare at it and look it over as he walked on. So the pew has not been an intimidating thing, it was definitely me and my collar, and no, I didn't smell, because many others w
Read more