A NEW COMMANDMENT. Lessons. Prayer of the Day. Sermon. Maundy Thursday April 1, Pastor David J. Risendal. Saint Peter Lutheran Church

Transcript

1 A NEW COMMANDMENT Maundy Thursday April 1, 2010 Lessons Exodus 12:1-4 [5-10] Psalm 116:1-2, (13) 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 St. John 13:1-17, 31b-3 Pastor David J. Risendal drisendal@stplc.org Saint Peter Lutheran Church 9300 East Belleview Avenue Greenwood Village, Colorado voice: 303/ fax: 303/ Prayer of the Day Holy God, source of all love, on the night of his betrayal, Jesus gave us a new commandment, to love one another as he loves us. Write this commandment in our hearts, and give us the will to serve others as he was the servant of all, your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Sermon I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. St. John 13:34 Grace to you and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. It is Maundy Thursday, and that means we have come to the end of our Lenten journey. It began five weeks ago, when we gathered here at the altar and heard the words, Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. It was a journey of self-examination: a time of exploring our brokenness, and our need for God s forgiveness and grace. It was a journey of discipleship: a more intentional approach at including God in the day-to-day living of our lives. It was a journey of preparation and anticipation: a chance to make our hearts ready for this week, and the approaching celebration on Easter Sunday. It is Maundy Thursday, and that means we have come to the end of our Lenten journey. It is Maundy Thursday, and that also means we have arrived at the beginning of Holy Week. Today s liturgy begins what our church calls The Three Days our final approach to the celebration of Easter. It is a week of honoring Jesus, as we remember his last supper, his suffering and death and the time of waiting between his death and resurrection. It is a week of drawing near to his promise, as we identify with his disciples and others whose hearts have been transformed by his good news. And as tonight s service will emphasize, it is a week of joining our Lord in the cruciform life in the life that

2 Maundy Thursday (April 1, 2010)! 2 takes the form of his cross, and becomes a fragrant offering of service to those who surround us. It is Maundy Thursday, and that means we have arrived at the beginning of Holy Week. So let s begin. Tonight s liturgy is organized in a different manner than is our usual custom. The sermon, which usually follows the Gospel, and is an attempt to explore the message of the Gospel, comes at the beginning of the service. It is, this night, more of an invitation more of an explanation than a proclamation. The sermon is followed by one of the unique elements of this liturgy: an individual declaration of forgiveness. In a few moments, we ll invite you to come forward and receive a personal word of absolution. If the ashes we received five weeks ago, and the admonition to remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return, is the bookend that begins the journey of Lent, this is the bookend that completes it. It is the answer to our Lenten confession it is the reminder that the purpose of this season is not self-improvement: it is self-awareness. We have become aware of our need for God s grace our need for Christ s forgiveness. And in this part of the liturgy, each of us has the opportunity to receive that. Hands will be laid on our heads, and we will hear these words: In obedience to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sin. These words define our relationship with God. These words empower our lives and our faithfulness. All of life all that we experience flows from these words. It is the gift of God s forgiveness that frees us from the vain attempt to earn God s love. It is the gift of God s forgiveness that touches our hearts and transforms us from the inside-out. It is the gift of God s forgiveness that inspires us, and causes us to want to live the rest of our lives for God. It all begins with God s forgiveness. And it doesn t end there. Forgiveness is what begins our lives with God, and it is the beginning of our desire to live for God in this world. And so, once we ve received this word tonight, we will turn our attention to the reading of God s word, and focus on this evening s Gospel lesson to see what it has to say to us about faithfulness. It is set, as you might anticipate, on Thursday, the last week of our Lord s life. He gathers for Passover with his disciples. He washes their feet, showing them his desire to live among them as a servant. He reveals, at least to the reader, that Judas will soon turn against him. Then he gives them an extraordinary challenge the Gospel writers call it a new commandment in the Latin, a mandatum novum. The new commandment is this: he directs them to love one another as he has loved them. What it the appropriate response to forgiveness? What is the appropriate response to grace? How does one thank God for what has been so freely given? It is as simple as it is mysterious as engaging as it is impossible. One is to study the life of Christ, and in particular how Christ reached out to others in love. And then, one is to develop Christ-like relationships with others. As he offers himself in self-giving love, so do his followers. As he is committed to sacrificial love, so are his followers. As he seeks to re-present God in everything he says and everything he does, so do his followers. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. (verses 15 & 34) We read this lesson tonight, and we honor this day each year, because we believe that Jesus challenges us to live in this life as he did. Tonight s liturgy turns to the reading of the word, in order that we might explore what it means to love one another as he loves us. And so we consider these words of Jesus, and the call to live in this world as servants of one another. Then we are fed by his presence in the meal, and sent on our way, to love others as Jesus first loved us. That is the shape that this evening s liturgy will take, and so the questions that today s worship presents to us are these: 1. How will this evening s liturgy change us?

3 Maundy Thursday (April 1, 2010)! 3 2. Through us, how will it change the world? 3. How will our service to others become like yeast in bread dough, that touches and transforms everything that surrounds us? Those are Mandatum Novum questions. Those are Maundy Thursday questions. They are questions which call us in a new direction: away from self-absorbed living, to sacrificial living; away from being isolated from one another to having a stake in one another s well-being; away form a me-focused world to an us-focused world. Away from fearing God s judgment, to delighting in and practicing God s grace. This new commandment shapes our lives. In this night, when Jesus is about to give his life for the sake of the world, he calls us to do the same. Love one another as I have loved you. Receive my forgiveness; study my word; be fed by my presence in the meal; and then go. Go into this world as a sign of what happens when God s forgiveness takes hold of a heart and turns it in a new direction. By this, Jesus says, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (verse 35) In this Lenten season, we have heard our Lord s call to intensify our struggle against sin, death, and the devil all that keeps us from loving God and each other. This is the struggle to which we were committed at Baptism; God s forgiveness and the power of the Spirit to amend our lives continue with us because of God s love for us in Jesus, our Savior. Within the community of the Church, God never wearies of giving peace and new life. In the words of absolution we receive forgiveness as if directly from God. This absolution we should not doubt, but firmly believe that thereby our sins are forgiven before God in heaven, for it comes to us in the name and by the command of our Lord. We who receive God s love in Jesus Christ are called to love one another, to be servants to each other as Jesus became our servant. It is, however, in the Holy Communion that the members of Christ s body participate most intimately in his love. Remembering our Lord s last supper with the disciples, we eat the bread and share the cup of this meal. Together we receive the Lord s gift of himself and participate in that new covenant which makes us one with him. The Eucharist is the promise of the great banquet we will share with all the faithful when our Lord returns, our reconciliation with God and each other. 1 David J. Risendal, Pastor Gospel Lesson; English Text: 2 13:1 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 put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. 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 the table, 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 The last three paragraphs of this sermon are from the Maundy Thursday Liturgy in the Lutheran Book of Worship, Ministers Desk Edition (copyright 1978, by the LCA, ALC, ELCiC and LCMS). Pages A list of Bible lessons for the coming weeks is available at

4 Maundy Thursday (April 1, 2010)! 4 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 returned to the table, 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, servants 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. 31 Jesus said, 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. 3 Gospel Lesson; Greek Text: 13:1 Προ δε τη ς εὁρτη ς του πάσχα ει δω ς ο Ιἠσου ς ο τι η λθεν αυ του η ω ρα ι να µεταβη ε κ του κόσµου τούτου προ ς το ν πατέρα, α γαπήσας του ς ι δίους του ς ε ν τω κόσµω ει ς τέλος η γάπησεν αυ τούς. 2 και δείπνου γινοµένου, του διαβόλου η δη βεβληκότος ει ς τη ν καρδίαν ι να παραδοι αυ το ν Ιὀύδας Σίµωνος Ι σκαριώτου, 3 ει δω ς ο τι πάντα ε δωκεν αυ τω ο πατη ρ ει ς τα ς χει ρας και ο τι α πο θεου ε ξη λθεν και προ ς το ν θεο ν υ πάγει, 4 ε γείρεται ε κ του δείπνου και τίθησιν τα ι µάτια και λαβω ν λέντιον διέζωσεν εἁυτόν 5 ει τα βάλλει υ δωρ ει ς το ν νιπτη ρα και η ρξατο νίπτειν του ς πόδας τω ν µαθητω ν και ε κµάσσειν τω λεντίω ω η ν διεζωσµένος. 6 ε ρχεται ου ν προ ς Σίµωνα Πέτρον λέγει αυ τω κύριε, σύ µου νίπτεις του ς πόδας; 7 α πεκρίθη Ιἠσου ς και ει πεν αυ τω ο ε γω ποιω συ ου κ οι δας α ρτι, γνώση δε µετα ταυ τα. 8 λέγει αυ τω Πέτρος ου µη νίψη ς µου του ς πόδας ει ς το ν αιὠ να. α πεκρίθη Ιἠσου ς αυ τω εἀ ν µη νίψω σε, ου κ ε χεις µέρος µετ ε µου. 9 λέγει αυ τω Σίµων Πέτρος κύριε, µη του ς πόδας µου µόνον α λλα και τα ς χει ρας και τη ν κεφαλήν. 10 λέγει αυ τω ο Ιἠσου ς ο λελουµένος ου κ ε χει χρείαν ει µη του ς πόδας νίψασθαι, α λλ ε στιν καθαρο ς ο λος και υ µει ς καθαροί ε στε, α λλ ου χι πάντες. 11 η δει γα ρ το ν παραδιδόντα αυ τόν δια του το ει πεν ο τι ου χι πάντες καθαροί ε στε. 12 Ό τε ου ν ε νιψεν του ς πόδας αυ τω ν [και ] ε λαβεν τα ι µάτια αυ του και α νέπεσεν πάλιν, ει πεν αυ τοι ς γινώσκετε τί πεποίηκα υ µι ν; 13 υ µει ς φωνει τε µε ο διδάσκαλος, καί ο κύριος, και καλω ς λέγετε ει µι γάρ. 14 ει ου ν ε γω ε νιψα υ µω ν του ς πόδας ο κύριος και ο διδάσκαλος, και υ µει ς ο φείλετε α λλήλων νίπτειν του ς πόδας 15 υ πόδειγµα γα ρ ε δωκα υ µι ν ι να καθω ς ε γω ε ποίησα υ µι ν και υ µει ς ποιη τε. 16 α µη ν α µη ν λέγω υ µι ν, ου κ ε στιν δου λος µείζων του κυρίου αυ του ου δε α πόστολος µείζων του πέµψαντος αυ τόν. 17 ει ταυ τα οι δατε, µακάριοι ε στε εἀ ν ποιη τε αυ τά. 31 λέγει Ιἠσου ς νυ ν ε δοξάσθη ο υιὁ ς του α νθρώπου και ο θεο ς ε δοξάσθη ε ν αυ τω 32 [ει ο θεο ς ε δοξάσθη ε ν αυ τω ], και ο θεο ς δοξάσει αυ το ν ε ν αυ τω, και ευ θυ ς δοξάσει αυ τόν. 33 τεκνία, ε τι µικρο ν µεθ υ µω ν ει µι ζητήσετε µε, και καθω ς ει πον τοι ς Ιὀυδαίοις ο τι ο που ε γω υ πάγω υ µει ς ου δύνασθε ε λθει ν, και υ µι ν λέγω α ρτι. 34 Ε ντολη ν καινη ν δίδωµι υ µι ν, ι να α γαπα τε α λλήλους, καθω ς η γάπησα υ µα ς ι να και υ µει ς α γαπα τε α λλήλους. 35 ε ν τούτω γνώσονται πάντες ο τι ε µοι µαθηταί ε στε, εἀ ν α γάπην ε χητε ε ν α λλήλοις. 4 3 St. John 13:1-17, 31b-3, New Revised Standard Version Bible ( 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America). 4 St. John 13:1-17, 31b-3, The Greek New Testament, Aland, Kurt, Black, Matthew, Martini, Carlo M., Metzger, Bruce M., and Wikgren, Allen, ( 1983, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft Stuttgart). To display the Greek text correctly, choose Palatino Linotype font.

5 Maundy Thursday (April 1, 2010)! 5