This is Maundy Thursday. Did you ever wonder why it’s called that? Maundy Thursday. I mean, we probably all get the Thursday part, but how about “maundy”? What does “maundy” mean? Anybody know?
Well, I did not know. It’s not a word you hear very much. In fact, the only time you ever hear it at all is in connection with this day, Maundy Thursday. The spell-check on my computer won’t even recognize it as a word unless I capitalize it and use it in connection with this day. When I was a kid, I used to think it was “Monday Thursday”. That did not make sense, of course, but it was the only thing I could think of that it could mean. I’d never heard that word “maundy” before.
Well, it turns out that “maundy” is an old English word. It has the same root as the word “mandate”. It means a command of some sort. When we talk about Maundy Thursday, then, we’re talking about the command Jesus gave his disciples on that night when he was arrested.
What was that command, that “maundy”? You heard it. Here it is again:
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
We’ve talked before about how Jesus said the two greatest commandments are that we love God and love others. We’ve talked about how we really cannot love God if we don’t love the people that God created and we cannot really love the people God created if we don’t love the God who created them. The idea that Jesus told us to love each other is probably not a new concept for most of us.
So listen to that last sentence again: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Think about that. Jesus said that love, love of others, is supposed to be the distinguishing characteristic of Christians. That’s the one thing that we’re supposed to be known for. The way people who don’t know us are supposed to be able to tell we’re Christians is that we love other people.
Now, what I want you to do is imagine someone who goes does not go to church regularly. Imagine someone who does not know much about what Christians believe. Instead, all they know about people who call themselves Christians is by observing what Christians do. Then, suppose someone asked them what the main character trait of a Christian is, what the one thing is that distinguishes Christians from non-Christians.
What would they say? Would they say that the thing about Christians that makes them different is how much and how well they love other people?
I don’t know. I really don’t. I want the answer to be yes, and probably sometimes the answer is yes. I’m afraid, though, that too many times the answer is no.
If you turn on the news, what do you see about Christians? Sure, once in a while you’ll see a story about a Christian group that does something nice for someone. More often, though, you’ll see Christians arguing. A lot of times, you’ll see Christians arguing with other Christians. You’ll see Christians involved in scandals. You’ll see Christians engaged in name-calling. You’ll see Christians doing all sorts of things that do not seem to have anything to do with love at all.
Well, that’s how the news business works. They always emphasize the bad news. Is it really that much different, though, when we look around our community? Well, sometimes it is. I’m not trying to say that none of us ever acts in loving ways to others, because I know better than that. I know there are a lot of people here who treat others in loving ways. I’m sure there are people here tonight who do a lot better job of that than I do. Please don’t think I’m up here trying to point fingers at anyone.
Let’s look at it another way. Suppose you went up to someone and asked them what they knew about our church. What do you think they’d say?
There are a lot of things they could say, of course. Some of them would be complimentary. Maybe all of them would be. Some of them would be good things. How many people, though, would say that the thing they knew most about us is how much and how well we love others? How many do you think would say of our church, “That’s the church that loves people”?
Again, I don’t know the answer to that question. Maybe some people would say exactly that. Maybe a lot of people would say it, I don’t know. If you think that not very many people would say that, though, then it’s a problem for our church.
See, Jesus did not just say that loving others would be a nice thing to do. This is not something that we’re supposed to do just once in a while, when we feel like it. Loving others is not optional for us, not if we truly want to be recognized as Jesus’ followers. Jesus said that if we loved other people, then everyone would know that we’re Jesus’ disciples. If they don’t know that, it means we’re not living up to the maundy, the mandate, the new commandment that Jesus gave us.
Jesus did not just tell us to do this, though. Jesus showed us how. Before he gave us this maundy, this commandment, Jesus did something, something that caught the disciples by surprise. He poured some water into a basin and washed the disciples’ feet.
That’s something that’s probably lost some of its meaning in today’s society. After all, these days people’s feet generally don’t look that bad. We wear comfortable shoes, we wear socks, we trim our toenails, and we take baths or showers regularly. Our feet today are usually in pretty good shape.
That’s not the way it was in Jesus’ time. There was no such thing as socks back then. There really were not shoes, either. There were sandals, which sometimes people wore and sometimes they did not. Sometimes they went barefoot. They went barefoot on dirt, and not very smooth dirt, either. They got big calluses on their feet. Their toenails were not usually trimmed; they usually either wore off or were torn off. Feet looked pretty bad. Washing someone else’s feet was something only a servant or a slave would do.
That’s what Jesus was showing his disciples. He was showing them that to love someone, we need to serve them. He was also showing them that when we serve someone out of love, there’s no job too small or too low for us to do. We need to be willing to do the smallest, dirtiest, unpleasant jobs, even if it means washing someone’s feet.
That’s how our church can be known as a church that loves people. If we want to be known as a church that loves people, we need to be known as a church that serves people. We need to do whatever it takes to serve people out of love, even if it means doing the smallest, dirtiest, most unpleasant jobs.
Does the thought of doing that excite you? It should, but it might not. Frankly, I’m not sure how much it excites me.
But Jesus did. So that means I need to work on this. Maybe you do, too. It also means that, as a church, we need to work on this. Again, I’m not saying we never do it, but we can always do better. Any time we fail to serve people the way Jesus served them, we fail to love people the way Jesus loved them. That means we’re not fulfilling the maundy, the new commandment Jesus gave us.
Our church can be known as a servant church. Our church can be known as a church that loves people, all people. Our church can live up to the maundy Jesus gave us. That’ll only happen, though, if we all decide to make it happen.
Maundy Thursday. New Commandment Thursday. Loving Thursday. Servant Thursday. Except it’s not just something we’re supposed to do on this Thursday. It’s something we’re supposed to do every day. It’s something we’re supposed to do so often and so well that everyone can tell we’re followers of Jesus, just by how well we love others.
Jesus told us what to do. Jesus showed us what to do. It’s up to us to do it.
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