Sermon: Maundy Thursday

Rev. Jennifer Whipple
Congregational Church of Brookfield (UCC)

Maundy Thursday
April 21, 2011

John 13:1-5, 34-35

“Share at the Table”

 Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the reflections of our minds and hearts gathered here this morning be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, you who are our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen.  

I don’t know about you, but I believe that tables are pretty powerful things.  One of our church members has a Ronald Reagan quote attached to her e-mails that says, “All great change in America begins at the dinner table.”  And you totally get it, right?  There have been plenty of studies done that say that the more families have an opportunity to share with one another at the table the more likely they are to know what is going on and be involved in one another’s lives, the more likely they are to talk about “hot button” issues, peer pressure, and making healthy choices. 

And those things are true in my experience.  Growing up, the dinner table, whether it was our own at home (which we unfortunately frequented less and less as mine and my brother’s activities started stacking up in the evenings) or those of our extended family members or friends on a special occasion or sleepover, was the place that things really got talked about.  It was at the dinner table that some of the deepest conversations about our days happened, where some of the biggest disagreements took place and continue to as we have grown older and now talk about things like politics and faith instead of getting tattoos or various body parts pierced…  It was at the dinner table that some of the best advice was given and some of the commandments of our family were laid down.  (Ones like, thou shalt never put thy shoes anywhere near the table, and thou shalt respect everyone and never say the word, “So” when asked a question.)  It was at the dinner table that people showed their true selves – the joking and remembering, serious and future minded selves – that weren’t always able to come out during the rest of our everyday working and going to school lives.  It was at the dinner table that we could be vulnerable and just be. 

So as we enter into the world of scripture tonight we find ourselves with Jesus and his disciples at the dinner table.  Can’t you imagine some of the conversations they must have had?  “So, Jesus, how did you do that thing out there today with the mud and the guy’s eyes?”  Or “What were you thinking eating at that tax collector’s house?  You nearly got us killed!”  Or “Wow!  It sure is hot out there today?  My feet do need a good washing.”  After all, Jesus and his followers were human.  They were people who had good days and bad days.  They were people who experienced life like we do – sometimes feeling like getting up in the morning and taking on the world and other days wishing they could crawl back under the covers.  And, if they really were as busy as they seem from reading the scriptures, they probably looked forward to their meals together – having an opportunity to debrief what had happened during the day, hungry from a hard day’s work, trying to get a grasp on all that Jesus was teaching and sharing with them.  The dinner table for the disciples must have been a loud, busy, and important part of the work they did and, I would hope, provided the place where they could be vulnerable – let their true selves out, complete with their emotions, their exhaustion, their jokes, their concerns and joys of life.

Table fellowship was such a huge part of Jesus’ ministry.  At the table was the place where Jesus found the common denominator among and with people.  Everyone gets hungry and has to eat some time, after all, and there is just something about the table that brings people together – despite their differences.  And so it was at the table that Jesus did some of his best teaching, especially to those closest to him who dined with him on a regular basis.  And that is where we meet Jesus tonight.  We meet him as he extends some parting lessons to his brothers (and possibly sisters – after all it doesn’t specify in John that he was eating with just the original 12 disciples!).  He shares with them and us about true hospitality and service as he washes their feet and offers his own lesson in humility and giving of oneself to others.  He shares with them and us about what will come in the days ahead.  And he shares with them and us his greatest commandment – his mandatum, the origin for the name of Maundy Thursday…”that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”

            And so as we gather tonight to remember that night long ago when Jesus sat at the table with his disciples, we come to realize the other dimension of what takes place here in this Meetinghouse this night and every time we gather in Table Fellowship with one another.  Even though we can’t all fit at one table, perhaps, we still come together at God’s table of grace as Jesus’ disciples to know him better in the breaking of the bread and drinking of the cup.  Depending on where we are coming from or what our spiritual needs are we sometimes are willing to lounge at the table and take our time, while other times we feel the need to rush to the table to get our fill.  But each time we gather we realize that this table that is laid out for us, and the life poured out for us that it represents, allows us to be vulnerable – to share with one another the concerns and the joys of our hearts – sometimes even the ins and outs of our everyday lives.  It is around this table and in sharing together the bread and the cup that many are made one, and that we are bound together with one another to love and serve each other, the church, and the world.  It is here that we find refreshment in body and spirit and comfort for the journey.  And it is here that we are challenged to be true disciples of Jesus – fighting for what is right, following his commandment to love God and our neighbors, showing with our lives that we are his followers and that we are grateful and blessed to be a part of the Body of Christ with one another. 

            So my prayer for us tonight is that we will not look upon this meal as just another meal – but that we will look upon this meal shared together at the table as an opportunity.  It is an opportunity to move closer to one another and to God – an opportunity to be fed and nourished for the journey ahead.  Because much like Jesus and his disciples long ago, it is we, one with another, who share the journey.  Amen.