"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another." John 13:34 (NRSV)
Today is Maunday Thursday and I thought it appropriate to take a moment to pray. Well actually I am always praying as I believe that everything I think, say, and do is a prayer. Because where can I be that God is not, or where can God be that I am not, that He cannot hear or see what I am doing? It’s only in my moments of conscious dysfunctionality that I think I can do something or say something God can’t see or hear.
I am praying now. Reading is also praying. You are praying now too. We are praying together. Such a beautiful thought. A sweet moment. In the fantasy of it all we would hear a chorus of Nigerian angel singers gently “ahhhh-ing”. But it’s today and we are here and the Nigerian Angels are singing somewhere else. I think on a tour of the middle east or something. We’ll just have to be grateful for the idea.
Anyway, it wasn’t until a couple of years ago, back in 2018, that I heard the term “Maundy Thursday” while at Greenwood Baptist Church in Park Slope for the first time. I didn’t know it was a thing to celebrate either. But now I do and so once a year I get to think about it and/or participate in a celebration worship service. Which is sort of what I am doing today while I contemplate God and what’s going to happen to Mr. Trump and what does this day have to do with Jesus and will I go to hell if I don’t go to a worship service.
So just as a superficial run through, this is the day, the beginning of Passover, when Jewish people get together and share a meal in remembrance of the time when God delivered them out of that bondage from Egypt. The way that God was able to make that happen was to get the Pharoah of the day to release his grubby hands off the people so they could pack their shit and get out of Dodge. And one of the ways God did that was to have Mr. Angel of Death pay a visit to the Egyptian households and kill their first born children.
Mr. Angel of Death, being known to be a bit too indescriminate at times, taking out who and what ever was in his path, was instructed to “pass over” the houses that had the blood of the lamb smeared on their door posts. In this way the children of the children of G_d were spared and the children of the Egyptians were not. And if you feel a need to weep a bit for the children of these slavers, remember Pharoah had tried to snuff out the Isrealites first borns first - so they brought that on themselves. So put your feelings away and count your blessings. I know this is a tough, triggering subject. Language matters. Sometimes sitting in the tragic, traumatic terror of the situation helps one grasp, even more than hanging from a cross till dead would, why it was such a big deal what this man was about to do for me and you and a dog named boo… Ok that’s a line from Lobo - but I hope you get the gist.
Ok - all that being said, it was not a surprise to find our lord and savior at the dinner table with his most trusted homies about to partake in the same remembrance meal, lamb and matzos, as did their ancestors many bible book-years ago. But this particular passover celebration would be their last meal together and the menu was organized a bit different - this time the lamb sacrificed would not be a lamb lamb but the lamb of God lamb. Yes, Jesus was to take the place of the sacrificial lamb and go through the roman slaughter gauntlet on behalf of a humanity, freeing them by his sacrifice - most of the thems were those them that had no idea that what was taking place would break the bondage of sin and give them a shot at salvation.
So it’s Maundy Thursday. A time to, to sit and contemplate, remember the trials and tribulations, the fact that you survived - in spite of you, feel gratitude, give thanks to God. We can all find ourselves in that story - in bondage to something, hitting that point where we just get to our knees, believers or not, and cry out, in a state of utter humility, to that Divine something.
Which brings me to other thing about this day I find interesting. I did get distracted by a few things so it is considerable later in the day. I’m not sipping coffee and musing. I did read through an email from the Bishop T.D. Jakes about a leadership conference. How the church is in such need of leaders. Such a magnetic way to get attention. Be a leader. Develop your leadership skills. Man, I want to lead somethig too. I’ve been trying. I remember some years ago I got overwhelmingly elected to a Brooklyn county Chairperson position and I thought “finally I can show what a leader I was born to be”. In my mind overwhelming meant mandate to rule.
I would find out the hard way that those who overwhelmingly elected me were the kind of people who don’t like being ruled over, and not afraid to tell me about it. Reluctantly I traded my crown for a ladle and got back to the business of being of service service.
Which lets you know that had I been Jesus at the passover table, I would have first off, arranged the seating so I was at the head of it. Not the middle head, but the far to one end head. You know, ust to be sure they knew. I would have waited for an opportune moment, when everyone was at the height of wine filled chatter, to pick up my fork and tinkled my glass to catch everyone’s attention. I would have then said something like “I am so humble at being chosen to drink from this cup and step into the shoes as your king”. I know most of them would have really loved that because they so wanted a king king. One who would ride in on a proper horse, instead of one of those little wheezing burden carrying things.
But that isn’t what Jesus did. Rather, in a shocking turn of events, he got down and washed their feet. Like an ultimate act of service before taking on an even bigger ultimate act of service.
So maybe today as we worship, celebrate, pray and contemplate, we can let go of the need to be “leaders” and look for ways we can serve our fellow human brothers and sisters. Whose feet can we take a moment and wash. The world does need leaders, so we can pick up that cross tomorrow.
Or not - there really are a shit ton of people on the leadership track already.
May you be blessed to continue to be a blessing.
"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another." John 13:34 (NRSV)