Message in a Basin

                                            Maundy Thursday

                 John 13: 1-9, 12-16

 

 

          It is Thursday and the week of Passover. In fact, Thursday is the evening of the Passover meal. At least, that’s the way it was that night two thousand years ago when Jesus gathered with his disciples to break bread together. Since then, the events of that night have been enshrined by Christians as the Last Supper, or Holy Communion. The night is referred to as Maundy Thursday, derived from the Latin word for “command.” Our Scriptural text for this message is taken from the opening verses of Chapter 13 of John’s gospel. This passage introduces a discourse with Jesus and his disciples that spans five full chapters of John. In chapter 15, we find the words which inspired the name of the day, as Jesus gives his disciples a final commandment: “that you love one another as I have loved you” [12].

          Perhaps the most important word in that command might be that little word “as.” Love as… Why is it so important? Because what Jesus is doing in these five chapters is telling his disciples how to love. Jesus wants them to love in a certain way…his way. Love as I have loved you.

          John tells us that it is before the Feast of the Passover. The group is getting ready to partake of the evening meal. There are almost certainly no chairs. In accordance with the custom of the day, the disciples and Jesus would be reclining on thin mats around a low table, most resting on their left arm in order to reach and eat with their right. John tells us that Jesus rose from supper and took off his outer garments.

          But there is a little more stage to be set. Look at the opening verses. Twice, John tells us that Jesus knows. What is it that Jesus knows? He knows that his hour has come. It is time for him to depart this world to the Father, says John. Secondly, Jesus knows that the Father has given him all things into his hands. There is huge significance here. Jesus is aware that he has all things, all people, the whole of the creation, at his disposal. He does not have to go to the cross. He has complete power to rescue himself. This puts an entirely different light upon the events that are about to transpire.       

          So now, knowing that God has given him the power to do what he will, Jesus rises and takes off his outer garments. He is now dressed like a slave, dressed ready to do menial work. To clarify that, he takes a towel and wraps it around his waist. This is culturally unacceptable. Peers did not wash each others’ feet. This task was left to slaves and servants. Only in an act of great love would one wash the feet of one’s peer, and Jesus was not their peer; he was their teacher, which elevated him to an even higher status.

          And yet, here is Jesus, dressed as a menial servant, washing the feet of his disciples. He does not change. He does lose his divine nature. Rather, he robes himself in the flesh and blood of mankind, and mankind at its most unselfish, and challenges us to find the deity in this dress, in these acts. It is the manifestation of matchless selflessness. He is empty of pride and full of love.

          Peter, as he is prone to do, expresses aloud the thoughts silently pervading the minds of the other disciples. You can’t do this. It’s beneath you.  Jesus responds not just to Peter but also to us. I must do it and you must let me. To deny me this is to deny your entry into my presence. This is the ultimate truth. D.A. Carson puts it this way: “unless the Lamb of God had taken away a person’s sin, has washed that person, he or she can have no part with him.”

          Peter then responds in faith, as do the other disciples. But note that Jesus even washes the feet of Judas. Is this another chance for Judas to redeem himself, or just proof that an overt act of faith is not necessarily proof of that faith?

          Jesus asks the disciples if they understand. Do they understand what he has done to them? The answer is no. They do not understand. But they participate in faith. The understanding will come later.

          The last night of his freedom, Jesus brought the lesson in a basin. It was a simple lesson, but forever profound. In the implements of service, a basin, a towel, are found our faith. In the tools of simple humility, caring for one another, are found our salvation.

          It is Maundy Thursday, Commandment Thursday. And here is his commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than he lay down his life for his friends.”

          How do we love one another? As he loved us. No holding back.

                                         Walking With God

                                                                          Ephesians 4: 1-3

 

 

          Today is the last in a series of messages dealing with the Essential Tenets of ECO, the Presbyterian movement with which we have become affiliated.  Today is also Palm Sunday, the day Christ entered the city of Jerusalem at the beginning of his last week here on earth. We call it Palm Sunday because many of those who met Jesus at the gates of the city were laying down palm leaves in the same way they might have done to a conquering emperor coming home from war. They were showing homage and obedience to their leader. How fitting that the last of our essential tenets should fall on this day, for the last of those tenets has to do with living in obedience to the Word of God.

          In previous messages, we have looked at the other essential tenets. They include:

·       God’s Word, both living and written

·       The Trinity

·       The Incarnation

·       God’s grace in Christ

·       Election for salvation and service

·       Covenant life in the Church

·       Faithful stewardship in life

 

To that list, we now add Living in Obedience to God’s Word. If you want to get an idea of how to live in obedience to God’s Word, you might want to dig in to the first seven of our essential tenets. They offer plenty of illumination as to why that obedience is not only called for, but essential to the Christian life.

          What does it mean to live in obedience? Why, it means to obey. That’s simple enough. But if you’re anything like the millennials of today in America, you want to know why. It’s not enough to say that your parents told you or that your teacher said its right. You want to know why in a way with which you can identify. If that’s the way you look at life, or if that’s the way your children or grandchildren look at it, then perhaps it would help to look to that written word of God we call the Bible and see if it offers up some examples. There are many. Here are a few.

          There are several people in the Old Testament who are described as having walked with God. Can you imagine? I’ve never walked with God. Have you walked with God? I can point to many times when I was aware of God’s presence in my life, but walk with God? I can’t say that has happened to me. But in the Book of Genesis, there are three different instances of people who walked with God.

          Ever hear of Enoch? Enoch is famous for not dying. According to the book of Genesis, Enoch lived for three hundred sixty five years. He was the father of Methuselah, the oldest recorded life in the Bible. Enoch is famous not so much for being the father of Methuselah, but for the fact that he walked with God, and he was not; for God took him [5: 21-24]. So Enoch didn’t die. He just was not. God took him. We are not told why, but one might surmise that God liked Enoch. It was no punishment for Enoch to be taken up by God. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not. We tend to overlook the walking with God part because of our fascination with the departure of Enoch without death. We should not do that. Enoch walked with God.

          Turn now to the story of Noah [Gen. 6: 5-13 in pertinent part]. In this famous story, God notes the wickedness of man. He was grieved and thought to destroy his creation. Then the Bible says this: But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He was a just man and perfect in his generations. And Noah walked with God. How much time has passed between Enoch and Noah, I do not claim to know, but here again is God taking a walk with a man. He is about to destroy the world by flood, leaving only a remnant. Noah’s family is to become that remnant. Noah walked with God. The book of Hebrews says that Noah became heir of the righteousness which is by faith [11: 7].

          Yet another man walked with God. His name was Abram, later to be renamed Abraham. He was the ripe young age of 99 when God appeared to him and said to him: I am the almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect [Gen 17: 1-2]. Again in Hebrews, the writer says that by faith, Abraham obeyed, went out, not knowing where he was to go but going at God’s behest [11:8].

          That’s a lot of faith. Enoch was lifted up without death. Noah built an ark bigger than this church on dry land and populated it with animals. Abraham started a family at 100 and, by the way, left home to go over there, all because God said to. Abraham walked with God.

          Now, I’m looking for common threads in these Genesis stories, and I think I see at least two. First, all these men were obedient. When God asked them to do something, they did what they were asked. They didn’t question; they just acted. They had faith and they acted on that faith. The stories of Noah and Abraham are considerably more detailed than that of Enoch, and all the details show their obedient faith. Secondly, their reward was beyond their wildest imagination. Enoch’s reward was literally out of this world!

          The ECO movement suggests that we that we progress in holiness. We have talked about this before when we covered God’s grace in Christ. Paul called this sanctification, growing closer to God. God draws us, sustains us and fulfills us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is not so much us as it is the presence of God in us that brings us to God. The Bible also calls it walking with God.

        But isn’t Walking with God like prophecy and the miracles of Jesus and his disciples? Isn’t walking with God something reserved for that time of special revelation when God really did come down to earth and walk with people? Wasn’t that just a Genesis thing? He doesn’t do that anymore, does he?

          The truly correct answer to that is that I don’t know. Flash forward several thousand years to first century Israel just before the birth of Christ. Take a look at the family of Zacharias and Elizabeth. Luke tells us that they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord [1:5]. Did this couple walk any less faithfully before the Lord in that spiritual connection than did those patriarchs from Genesis? Was it physical presence in Genesis and spiritual presence in Luke’s gospel?  And if there is that difference, does that matter? Which is less real?

          Walking with God, whether literally or spiritually is a way or manner of life. It’s how we conduct ourselves. It is the spiritual discipline or practice of seeing ourselves as part of God’s kingdom, as participants rather than observers. It’s not checking in or reading your mail. It’s walking with God, making what we do and how we do it interlaced with our creator.

          Although it would be wonderful to be like Noah or Abraham, it is equally wonderful to be like Elizabeth and Zecharias. We too can walk with God. We pray, we meditate; we act out our confession. ECO reminds us that the Ten Commandments are still instructive. So too is the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy will be done, thy kingdom come…forgive us our debts…lead us not into temptation…for thine is the kingdom.” Walking with God is that which we strive for as Christians. Sometimes the walk is peaceful and serene. Sometimes it is uphill and strains our very fiber. But always…always, we are not alone. How does the prophet Micah put it: “What does the Lord require of us, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly before our Lord” [6: 8].

        So let us end this look at the Essential Tenets of ECO with this thought: From God’s Word to the mysteries of Trinity and Incarnation to God’s Grace to Election to Covenant Church Life to Stewardship, we seek to live in obedience to him who will keep us from falling and love us now and forever.  This is our act of worship. This is our love gift to our Heavenly Father. The words of Paul echo our aspirations and direct our path:  “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” [Eph. 4: 1].

Chosen to Proclaim

                                                                          1 Peter 2: 1-10

 

 

         The last few weeks, we have been traveling through a review of the Essential Tenets of ECO, our new denomination. We actually have new signage up around town and on the church campus declaring us as this new Presbyterian entity. But what do we believe? What sets us apart? What do we have in common with other Presbyterians, other Reformed churches? It has been the goal of these messages to acquaint us with the answers to some of those questions. Today, we look at the principle of stewardship. ECO characterizes it as stewardship of all of life.

          ECO asserts that the ministries of the church reflect the threefold office of Christ as prophet, priest and king-reflected in the church’s ordered ministries of teaching elders, deacons and ruling elders. While true, do not attempt to draw straight line connections between the offices of Christ and the offices of the church. Even if you could, you would be omitting something elemental to the church and its mission—its members. That is not ECO’s intention. That is not the Bible’s intention. Quite the contrary.

          ECO literature goes on to add that every member is called to share in all Christ’s offices within the world beyond the church, called to a prophetic life, called to proclaim and enact the good news, called to share in Christ’s priestly work.

          That’s quite a handful for someone just looking to join the church. What if we told all our prospective members that they would have to be involved in duties as prophets, priests and kings? How would that look on a recruiting brochure? And yet, that is exactly what members of the bride of Christ are called upon to do. We don’t use the labels, but we need to be about the work.

          Was Jesus a prophet? He never actually claimed to be a prophet,  though he referred to himself that way indirectly a couple times. For instance, when warned to flee for his life by some friendly Pharisees, Jesus said he had to keep on his way because it couldn’t be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem [Luke 13: 33]. He was referring to himself as a prophet. But what is a prophet? There were many in the Old Testament, sixteen in all. They were speaking for God. That’s part of being a biblical prophet. They spoke of the future, most often in terms of what bad tidings awaited those who would not turn from sinful ways. They also spoke of what good things awaited those who were faithful. The messianic prophecies of Isaiah are like that, pointing to a time when God’s servant would come to save. So Jesus was a prophet by his own admission and by the fact that he spoke for God and warned both of consequence for those who did not follow and of salvation for those who did.

          How do we do that in the church? Jesus calls us to that. Our servant savior, the man who washed his disciples’ feet as an expression of that servanthood, sends us to do the same. The most famous sending is the Great Commission in Matthew 28, to go, teach and baptize all who will hear. Jesus called on his disciples to carry on that mission.  They did. Their effort is what is now known as the church.

          I like the way ECO puts this: “Every Christian is called to a prophetic life, proclaiming the good news to the world and enacting that good news.” You don’t have to go to seminary or climb in a pulpit or teach Sunday school. You just live your life in a Godly manner. This for many is their proclamation. They let their actions speak. They are in good company. Hundreds of years ago, Francis of Assisi is credited with having said: “Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” Assisi never said it. We aren’t sure who did. And some preachers have a hard time with the concept. I don’t. Even the gospel of Matthew spends several chapters on the mighty deeds and acts of Jesus. His actions gave his words credibility. They do so for us today as well.

          Okay, maybe we can live a prophetic life, but we can’t be priests or preachers. That’s for the professionals. I don’t think so. The professionals have their place in the church. They are called to a different form of service. Do not mistake your own calling. It is not a lesser, but a different, calling. ECO says that every Christian is called to participate in the work of Christ, sharing in the world’s suffering and even offering intercession to God on behalf of the world. That too is a tall order.  But nothing is too big for God.  In Acts 2 in the early beginnings of the church, the members ate together, prayed together, devoting themselves to the teaching of the leaders and to their fellowship. They looked after those in need. They praised God…daily. And the church grew.

          Isn’t this the same task we face? We collect cans of food. We fill boxes for Samaritan’s Purse. We donate our blood. We take up offerings and spend part of our tithes on others. We help people in all walks of life. We pray. We even cry. We participate in the work of Christ, sharing in his suffering, offering intercession to God on behalf of the people we encounter.  This is priestly work.

The book of Hebrews tells us that Christ appeared at a high priest of the good things that have come…entering into the holy places by means of his own blood, securing eternal redemption. Listen carefully to the next verse: if the flesh is sanctified by the blood of animals, how much more will Christ’s blood, offered through the eternal Spirit, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God [Heb. 9: 11-14]. That’s how we can become priests. Our consciences are pure through the work of Christ manifested in us through the Holy Spirit, and our works come alive in Christ!

          What about kingship? The ECO literature is not helpful on this score. I like the passage in Mathew [21:5], borrowed from Zechariah {9:9]. Jesus quotes the prophet, who says:

 Behold, your king is coming to you,

 humble and mounted on a donkey,

 and on a colt, on the foal of a beast of burden.

 

I like it because it is our Savior quoting scripture which continues a description of a servant King. Great enough for royalty, humble enough for a donkey. This is royalty fit for the King of Kings, yet wearable enough for the least of his disciples.  If the earthly form of our King is that of a servant, then we too can fulfill that kingly example.

          The text for today’s lesson comes from 1 Peter. The letter is thought to have been written to Gentiles in the dispersion, in other words, to the churches spread all over Asia Minor. These are the church plants, the same types of churches that ECO wants so much to be part of in spreading the gospel. In this very poetic paragraph, Peter compares new Christians to living stones being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood. Peter calls these Christians a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for Christ’s own possession. Peter is talking about the church, about Christianity. It is the high calling of every Christian to become a member of the body of Christ. When we do so, we in turn begin to engage in discipleship. We follow Christ’s example and that example is servanthood.

          That brings us to ECO’s second component of faithful stewardship. It says that Jesus teaches us not only the Great Commission, but also the Great Commandment. That can be found in all the synoptic gospels and it originates in the book of Deuteronomy. We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind.  There is nothing else. We don’t get to hold something back for ourselves. It all belongs to God and we are to give all our love and commitment to that end. The thing is, when we give it up, we get it all back and then some.

          About this time, you might be asking yourself: How in the world can I do such a thing? How can I give up all of me? I just don’t know how to do that. If you’re asking yourself those questions, then come back next week. There is an answer, and it involves us, but a different brand of us, sort of a new and improved version. Here’s a hint. Discipleship cannot be done alone. Think about that.

          In the meantime, focus on the words of Peter. We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, called from the darkness to his light. We are chosen to proclaim the gospel of salvation. It is not just our good news. It is the good news!  It has been said that the church is the only “club” in the world that accepts as members only those who are not qualified to belong to it. But that doesn’t hold God’s grace back from its healing, salvific power to bring us into God’s work. Servanthood is discipleship, and that is our inheritance. It is meant to be given away.