Holy Thursday Sermon

John 13:1-17, 31b-35, Maundy Thursday, 4-1-10

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

When my kids were young, I would sign up at the Lutheran Church Camp, Bear Creek Camp, to serve as a camp chaplain for a week each summer (usually the week that me kids were there camping). I’ve never been a special treatment kind of guy, so whatever the staff had to do, I put myself out there as being willing to help out. I climbed the rock wall, I did the high ropes, I played field games, I went on overnight trips, sleeping out with groups under the stars, on the ground, and I even took my place among those who were going on compost runs. This meant dumping garbage into the compost enclosure and then getting down off the truck into the enclosure and turning over the muck and crud so that the garbage was basically covered. A good hosing down after this job did little to take away the smell. In fact, my sneaks did not come home with me from camp.

Why am I telling you this? Well, for me, other people’s feet, seem to me a lot like a compost heap. To be fair a lot of people’s feet don’t smell (real bad) and they are often clean, but I’ve smelled my feet after playing football, tennis and even bowling and if other people’s feet smell anything like that I don’t want to get close enough to them to find out.

Our Gospel tells us the story of Jesus’ Last Supper, the evening of his arrest, the evening when he celebrated the Passover with his disciples; the story tells us that Jesus went to his disciples to wash their feet. That skives me, even though I’ve been told that the reason why many people’s feet smell has to do primarily with their being cooped up inside their shoes; the disciples wore sandals or no shoes at all, so Jesus washing their feet may not have been all that bad.

In fact Jesus washing their feet had nothing to do with smell. Jesus washing the disciple’s feet was an expression of hospitality, of respect and love.

In the day of Jesus the dusty roads would coat the feet, of even a clean individual, with dirt. It was refreshing for a person coming in off the rough, hot and dusty roads to have his/her feet rinsed off in cool, clean water. And, it was expected of a host to do one of three things: arrange for servants to wash the feet of the guests, wash the feet him or herself or at the very least put out the water and towels so that it could be done by the guests themselves.

A good host cared for the comfort and needs of his/her guests and so would see to this act. Jesus was a good host; and Jesus cared so much about his guests that he performed the task himself. Some hosts might have thought that it was beneath them; Jesus could very well have assigned one his group to perform the task, but he didn’t. Jesus did it himself and so set up this task as a standard by which his followers, even as they became the leaders, should treat others. Jesus tied this act to the new commandment that he gave to his disciples.

Jesus said to his disciples: “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 shall know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” On the night when Jesus would be betrayed, arrested, denied, abandoned and unjustly tried, the night before he would be handed over to Pilate, scourged and crucified, Jesus, made a point of demonstrating his love for his followers, humbling himself before them and then giving them a commandment to follow (a commandment that was much harder than those given previously by God the Father), a commandment to love one another.

It may not sound to you like much of a commandment, but it is a lot easier to treat people honestly and with respect than it is to love them. I can treat my worst enemy with respect; likewise I can treat my worst enemy with fairness; on the other hand, it is not so easy to accept and love those whom you dislike or those who have wronged you; it is not so easy to look past your own anger or hurt and forgive, and love.

This commandment, having come from Jesus on this night, has all the more meaning; Jesus who knew what was in the heart of Judas, none the less washed Judas’ feet along with all of the others; Jesus loved Judas as much as he loved all of the others.

Jesus who knew the impulsiveness and the weakness of Peter’s spirit, aware that Peter would soon deny him, washed Peter’s feet along with all of the others; Jesus loved Peter as much as he loved all of the others.

And Jesus aware that all of the other disciples would abandon him still washed all of their feet; Jesus loved them all. That, after all, is the point. Everything that Jesus had done, everything that Jesus was doing, and everything that Jesus was about to do, was planned to demonstrate the extent to which Jesus loved his followers, the extent to which Jesus’ loved all humankind. He was a living example of, what it means to fulfill the new commandment that he had given them.

It could be argued that he had good reason to withhold his love; Jesus disciples did not deserve it; we do not deserve it, but still he showered his disciples and the world with his love!

We often feel that no one could ever understand our pain; we cannot, not any of us, in all honesty, look at Jesus and say that he has not experienced as much pain as we have; Jesus understands better than we ourselves our reasons for refusing to forgive and love.

Jesus had more than enough reason to turn his back on his disciples and on the world; he had and has more than enough reason not to forgive, not to love, but he does. Jesus forgives us our sins and showers us with his love.

Can we do any less? Can we? Unfortunately yes, but hopefully we will not.

With this in mind I might even be willing to wash another’s feet; I’m not going to, but I might be willing. With all that Jesus has done for us, in spite of our sin, because of our sin, shouldn’t we all, likewise, want to take this new commandment to heart, if not because it is right, because of the forgiveness and love we have received from Jesus and from other Christians?

A new commandment, Jesus has given us, that we love one another, just as Jesus has loved us. Go out tonight with the spirit of Jesus’ love to offer care, forgiveness and love to your neighbor.

Easter Sunday Sermon

Luke 24:1-12, Easter, 4-4-10

He is risen! Christ the Lord is risen today!

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Today may be the only day of the church year, about which there are not a lot of theological issues. It is a simple matter of faith; either you believe that Jesus was raised from the dead or you do not, and if you believe, this is truly a special day; this is truly a day to celebrate.

Our Easter story is not really a single story but a story made up of individual stories, stories of disbelief and belief, of confusion and enlightenment, of fear and courage and of sadness and unbridled joy.

Luke tells us that on the first day of the week (Sunday), at early dawn Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and some of the other women went to the tomb where Jesus’ body had been laid; they brought with them the spices that they had prepared, in order to properly prepare Jesus’ body for burial. (But) Upon arrival they found the stone that had been used to seal the tomb rolled away; and when they went inside the tomb they found that Jesus’ body was gone.

We can only wonder what thoughts were going through their minds; was his body stolen; had it been taken away by animals, had they gone to the wrong tomb?

But, as the story is told to us, they were not given a very long time to think. Suddenly, we are told, two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them; terrified the women bowed their faces to the ground.

Cemeteries can be a bit unnerving, especially at night and in the early morning hours as the sun is just beginning to shine its light on the world, but these ladies were not only in a cemetery, they were standing inside the tomb where they had seen the men lay Jesus’ body the Friday before and now this appearance. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women had good reason to be afraid.

But, as it turned out, these two men in dazzling apparel meant them no harm and in fact had come in order to tell them some exceptionally good news. “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” the men asked the women; Jesus was not there; Jesus was risen! The men went on to remind the women of Jesus words to them, how he had told them that he would be handed over to sinners, be crucified and on the third day rise again (from the dead).

As the women remembered Jesus words the fear that overcame them, left them and they believed; they no longer suffered confusion and they now shared the most wonderful joy. Jesus their master, the Messiah of God and now their Savior had conquered the powers of sin and death and would soon return to be with them.

I seriously doubt that the women walked casually back to tell their good news to the disciples. I imagine that the women raced back, running so that their feet appeared that they never touched the ground. I imagine none of them felt even a little short of breath. I imagine that they ran as fast as they could, leaving behind them in the tomb the spices that they had brought for Jesus’ burial; they ran to tell the disciples all that they had seen and heard.

Jesus was risen!

How frustrated they must have felt as the disciples brushed them aside. They had been given the honor of carrying the greatest of news possible and the disciples deemed their words nothing more than an idle tale; they must have been infuriated; the disciples refused to believe the wonderful news that they brought to them; just one disciple considered the truth of their words, Peter. It may have been that their words ignited a spark of belief in his spirit; Peter got up and ran to the tomb.

He, as did the women, went into the tomb and found it as the women had said; the tomb was empty and he found the linen cloths that had been used to wrap Jesus’ body off to the side, by themselves. Peter it seems believed! We are told that Peter went home amazed at what had happened.

Easter is all about believing. The women believed when the men in dazzling clothes told them that Jesus was risen. The disciples, as a group, did not believe the news as told them by the women. Peter wanted so much to believe that he ran immediately to the tomb and seeing it as it was told to him, believed. The other disciples, all except for Thomas would believe that Jesus had been raised from the dead, as well, by nightfall.

Following our story of Easter in Luke is the story of two of Jesus’ followers on the road to Emmaus; Jesus appeared and talked with them and while they did not at first recognize him, Jesus revealed himself to them in the breaking of the bread and they believed.

These followers ecstatic by this revelation ran back to the disciples to tell them the good news of the resurrection of their Lord.

The disciples now had heard this news three times, by the women, Peter and now by these two followers; finally the news was beginning to take hold, but whether they believed is not certain. But belief would soon come to them all. As the disciples were talking about the reports of Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus (himself) appeared to them through a locked door, he talked with them, taught them and he even sat down and ate with them.

Easter is a day of celebration for all those who believe. The disciples, the women and other close followers of Jesus, turned their frowns upside down, thanked God and celebrated the good news of Jesus’ resurrection.

We are among those who believe; maybe there was a time when we didn’t; maybe we are still struggling with our doubts, but we believe. The reports of the witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus that are recorded in Scripture, have been passed down to us so that we may believe.

So today we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, many dress up, we decorate our church with flowers, we share the sacrament of Holy Communion, and we sing festive songs and enjoy the music of our choirs.

Even after we leave we continue the celebration with special meals and relaxation often with our families.

Jesus Christ is risen today, celebrate the good news!