Maundy Thursday-What is our incentive in following Christ? A Sermon
“Whoever despises another human being
will never be able to make anything of him.
Nothing of what we despise in another
is itself foreign to us
(pause)
The only fruitful relation to human beings
— particularly to the weak among them
— is love,
that is,
the will to enter into
and to keep community with them.
God did not hold human beings in contempt
but became human for their sake.”
(pause)
Wisdom
From
Bonhoeffer,
Teaching us,
To guard ourselves
Against cynicism that crops up
In our relationships
Threatening to divide
Even the closest bonds
Instead keeping our focus
Towards the One
Who transformed our lives
With a selfless act
Of Love.
(pause)
Many of us
Who identify as
Christians
Professing to follow
Jesus
Strive
And
Pray
That we would be like Jesus Christ.
But we fail to understand
What uttering those words
In prayers
Truly means
It means then we must be willing to exist
In sacred spaces
Where Jesus sat
Where Jesus would touch lives
And yes,
Physically touch those,
Who were thought to be dead,
Dead to society
Or even
Dead to their loved ones
(pause)
It means stripping ourselves
Of all the trappings
That society bestows upon us
Because of our education
Or social location
Or soci-economic status
And context
Until all we have left with us is,
The incentive
To follow
Jesus Christ
(pause)
What is our incentive,
In following Christ?
It is when we experience
A selfless act towards us
Or
We have found ourselves
Moved mysteriously
Towards engagement in a selfless act
For someone else
Or even,
Witnessing someone else
Acting selflessly
Advocating selflessly
Living out the Gospel
Through their actions
Where Jesus Christ,
Has given His disciples
And us,
As His followers
This new commandment,
To love one another.
Where have you seen
Experience
Selfless a
Actions
Of
Love?
(pause)
We expect people such as
Pope Francis
To live out selfless acts of love
When he washes the feet
Of those incarcerated
Anointing with oil,
Those suffering with HIV,
Without the expectation
That these people
Were even Christian
Or would even convert.
We hear about other communities of faith,
Whether they be Muslim,
Buddhist
Hindu,
Step outside of their comfort zone,
Donating water to a broken place like Flint, Michigan
Or donating financial resources to Churches of Color
In the South,
When they suffer under the weight of arson,
Giving of themselves to others,
Without the expectation
Of anything in return
(pause)
What is our incentive then, beloved
In following Jesus Christ,
Right where we are?
Even when this means
We are called to bear one another’s burdens
That can be painful,
As shielding them from blows
From an oppressive regime
Or uncomfortable,
Kneeling to care for them,
When they are too weak to care for themselves
Such as washing,
Showing compassion,
For someone’s feet?
(pause)
Someone,
Whose feet
Needs
Attention
Because they know no rest,
Wandering as the homeless,
Over concrete for miles,
Or
Someone who is undocumented
Walking from location
To location
To find work
To find safety
Or even,
Washing the feet
Of our enemies,
Of those we don’t
Or refuse
To see the reflection of Jesus Christ
In their faces,
Because washing someone’s feet
Is a pastoral act
Is a loving act
Is a humbling act
Cementing ourselves
With an unbreakable bond,
Flipping the script
On our station
Or status
In this life
(Pause)
This
Act
Encompasses
What
Jesus,
Is teaching us,
To love one another,
Not only through words,
But
Through
Our
Actions.
(pause)
Jesus,
In our Gospel tonight,
Takes on the guise of a slave,
Washing everyone’s feet,
Including
Judas.
(pause)
Jesus,
Loved
Those
Who He had embraced as His own,
Regardless.
We miss that Jesus washes Judas’s feet,
Even knowing
What the outcome will be,
Because
Jesus didn’t die
Simply as a sacrifice
For our lives,
But Jesus would die,
To
TRANSFORM our lives,
TRANSFORM the world,
TRANSFORM the narrative
That death was the end,
That humanity could crush humanity,
And nothing be left.
(pause)
Through Jesus’s commandment,
Of loving one another,
WE are transformed
WE see the reflection,
Of this,
Son of God,
Upon each other’s faces,
WE see
How this gift of Life,
Through Jesus
How this gift at the Table,
Because of Jesus,
Transforms
Heals
Empowers
US!
(pause)
What is our incentive,
In following Jesus Christ
In caring for one another
In washing each other’s feet
And hands
That do so much of the work,
We have been called
The purpose for our lives
The answer is,
LOVE!
