John 13:1-17, 31b-35
In the services earlier in Holy Week I’ve been drawing upon the words of William Temple to illustrate practices of holiness. I want to quote Temple again:
When [Jesus’] visible Presence was withdrawn from peoples’ sight, what was left as the fruit of His Ministry? Not a formulated creed, not a body of writings in which a new philosophy of life was expounded, but a group of men and women who found themselves knit together in a fellowship closer than any that they had known, and who became the nucleus of the whole Christian Church.Sometimes I think that’s all we need to know. That being a fellowship is the primary thing to being a Christian. That following Christ is really all about how we related to one another. Creed, theology, philosophy are all secondary. Focusing on fellowship is particularly apt this evening. All of the things that are particularly associated with Maundy Thursday have to do with fellowship… how we interact with and relate to one another.
It’s probably important right at the beginning to step back and remember that to relate to others, there have to be others. You can’t be a fellowship by yourself. So following Christ means being with others.
The fruit of Jesus’ ministry was a fellowship. The events which we remember on this day were the last time Jesus and his disciples gathered in fellowship. And he did give instruction on how to be that fellowship.
First, as you may know, the name Maundy Thursday is about fellowship. The word Maundy is a shortened, anglicized version of mandatum, the first word in the Latin version of John 13:34.
I give you a new commandment, 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.
We heard that verse in today’s Gospel. In John’s Gospel Jesus says these words shortly after the footwashing at the Last Supper.
It bears repeating over and over again that the sort of love Jesus is talking about is not affection. It is expressed in action. It is expressed in how we act towards one another in fellowship.
And there are two particular actions that are also associated with this day. That Jesus did to express love within the fellowship of his disciples.
They shared a meal. I don’t know if Jesus meant to institute Communion as we now practice it, or not. Surely Communion is a gift of the church to us today. But in fellowship with his disciples, Jesus shared a meal. To share a meal is an act of love (with or without affection). It nurtures and sustains relationships. And the more we share meals, the better. The more Christian fellowship will be strengthened and grow.
The other action that Jesus did to express love within the fellowship of the disciples was to wash their feet. It was an act of service. Not one they asked for, but one they probably needed. It was a tangible, not a symbolic act. It seems a bit odd and awkward to us today, but I wonder if it wasn’t the most universal, obvious need of the disciples. Their feet were dirty from traveling. To wash them was an act of hospitality, but it was also met a genuine need.
When we reenact the footwashing in today’s liturgy a lot of people choose not to participate. Some for better reasons than others. And that’s OK. For us, it is just an optional ritual.
But I think it’s extremely important that we are all reminded that acts of giving and receiving service are how we relate, how we interact within this fellowship of Christ. Service that meets genuine needs is not optional; it’s what we do. We serve the needs of people we like and people we don’t like. We accept service when we need it. That part’s even harder for most of us. But we accept service when we need it. It’s not optional. It’s part of Jesus’ command to be a fellowship that expresses love through service. And the more our interactions are characterized by service, the better.
Maundy Thursday reminds us that the word disciple should not exist in the singular. There is no such thing as “a” disciple. There is “the fellowship” of disciples, bound together by acts of love: shared meals and shared service. Let us pray that we may be such a fellowship.
