Maundy Thursday

Exodus 12:1-14; Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-17, 31b-35

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

¹ Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. ² The devil had already decided that Judas son of Simon Iscariot would betray Jesus. And during supper ³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, ⁴ got up from supper, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. ⁵ Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. ⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷ Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” ⁸ Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” ⁹ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
  ¹² After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had reclined again, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. ¹⁶ Very truly, I tell you, slaves are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. ¹⁷ If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”

  ^31b “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³² If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³ Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ ³⁴ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

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Remembered Differently

Grace to you, beloved of God, and peace from our Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ!

Do you remember the Titans? By now, you probably realize that movie metaphors are taking over my sermon preparations for this Holy Week. 

In Remember the Titans, Denzel Washington plays Herman Boone, an African Descent high school Football Coach who arrives in a newly integrated school district in 1971 under some very steamy, if not violent, circumstances,  typical of the time. To make matters worse in the community, the arrival of Coach Boone means the displacement of the former beloved white head coach, and state football hall of fame coach, Bill Yoast. The director does a majestic job of using humor throughout the movie to alleviate the tensions around the most racially charged scenes. Nonetheless, I am sure some of them are still very stingy to this day. 

Obviously, Boone and Yoats collide, despite Boone’s failed attempts at diplomacy. Both are winning and successful head coaches. Yoats initially refuses to remain in the school as an assistant coach, taking a job elsewhere. The town erupts. His players want to follow him out, which would cause them to miss playing time, severely affecting their attempts at future football careers. Because of this, Yoats decides to eat the nails and stay as Boone’s assistant head coach. 

Yoats players question Boone’s authority despite his resume, simply because he is different from them. An animal, one of them says. Boone asserts himself by proving to be quite old-fashioned and hard-nosed. He runs a tough camp at Gettysburg College, takes the players for a run through the Civil War battleground, and ends up gaining the respect of Yoats and all the players, who themselves manage to get along.

The Titans have a perfect season, despite some behind-the-scenes efforts to sabotage them; they stay together and are going to the state championship game, which costs Coach Yoast’s bid to the Hall of Fame. 

Tragedy happens during the celebrations. Gerry Bartier, Yoats’ former team Captain, gets paralyzed in a car accident. It’s a powerful moment in the Movie as Bartier, after coming out of surgery, asks to see only Julius Campbell, the best African Descent player on the team. Gerry and Julius had grown to love each other as brothers. A linebacker tandem that powered the Titans’ defense and the whole team towards the possibility of a perfect Championship. There, Gerry and Julius promise to remain brothers forever. The tragedy galvanizes the team even further, and the Titans become perfect Champions. 

The movie begins and ends with Bartier’s funeral, who died of cancer 10 years later. During that time, Gerry won a gold medal in the Paralympics, coached by Yoates. We learn it from Yoates ‘ daughter, who narrates the movie. Her final line tells that a decade later, things are not exactly easy in the community, but they still manage to resolve their differences. Gerry’s spirit leaves on, she says. Because of it, before reaching out to hate, the community always, always remembers the Titans. 

Memories can be transformational, in one way or another. What we remember matters, and the creator God knows it best. 

Everyone in this foot-washing scene remembers God’s works of deliverance in a certain way. They remembered God had freed God’s people from suffering and oppression with a strong, mighty hand. Suffering and death came upon anyone who did not mark their households with the blood of the lamb, therefore protecting themselves. God had heard their cries and, out of loving mercy, freed them and kept them. Yet, God demanded things be done in a very specific way and taught the people that the strict observation of those ways would demonstrate love and trust in God. The burden of obedience was completely on them. That was what God wanted the people to remember.

It made sense then, I guess. As their lives went on as freed people, God needed them to trust in what God was doing. If they followed God’s instructions without deviation, they would live, God told them. Disobedience to God’s instructions would bring death. 

Thousands of years later, the situation of God’s people was somewhat different, yet similar in some ways. God and the people had gone through a lot during their relationship. Israel had seen glory and disgrace. God once more had heard their cries and freed them. The covenant was restored, but now they had been conquered and were again sick, hungry, and oppressed, unless they were using power and privilege to remain above the fray. Yet, deep in their hearts, they did not lose hope that God would hear their cries one more time. From God’s perspective, God’s love for them had gone nowhere. God still intended to love God’s people to the end, to completion, to its fullness. However, God wanted us to remember God differently, in hopes we would be transformed in a whole new way.

The disciples did not fully know what God was up to then. They did not fathom a world where Lords and teachers were to wash the feet of their servants and students. If they understood that, they would be blessed. If they remembered and practiced that, they would live. It was no longer about obedience to norms and rituals, but it was still about love, and the measure of such love is what they were willing to give up for the sake of their neighbor. 

They also did not know that the neighbourhood was about to change drastically. Its boundaries were about to expand to people and places they had never heard of. The good news of what was happening in that place was about to spread to every nation, language, and identity; to people who did not necessarily see things in the same way. 

We usually get angry at those who don’t see or do things like we do. It is frustrating, but it is also a natural human reaction. The only way for this new kingdom from heaven to work is for us to remember what God in human form was willing to give up so we would never forget: compassionate and unselfish love, even for those who do not love us back, in place of power and aggression. 

The disciples did not know then, but we do. And this is what God hopes for us to understand: that before reaching out to fear, intolerance, and hate, we always, always, remember the Christ and do things to others in remembrance of what he did for us. Thanks be to God. Amen.