Exodus 12:1-14a

1 Corinthians 11:23-32

John 13: 1-15

Psalm 78:14-20, 23-25

                                                “A very special night”

Maundy Thursday is a very special day (and night) in the Christian year.  It is set in the midst of the turmoil of Holy week.  One of these very special times is Maundy Thursday.  In many respects, it is one of the holiest nights of the Christian year.  It is as magical as Christmas and as mysterious as the Great Vigil.  It is a time when the essence of our Christian faith and practice is articulated by Jesus himself and offered to us as the continuation of our connection to Him through the sacraments of the church.  It is one of his greatest gifts to us, the gift of his body and blood, and the fulfillment of the old prophecy.

Above all else, Maundy Thursday is a Passover seder.  It is the night that Jesus spends his last Passover meal with his friends.  He knows that his time is running out.  So it is the night that he makes himself into the Passover lamb, the sacrifice to a vengeful god in order to protect his chosen from the wrath upon the Egyptians.  He is explicit.  The bread becomes his body, the wine becomes his blood.  He gave us the sacramental gift of the Holy Eucharist, that endlessly repeatable act of worship and adoration that connects us both physically and spiritually with the Incarnate Lord.  To this day, the Eucharist is, for Episcopalians, the central act of corporate worship in community.  We say it in our Eucharistic liturgy – “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.  Therefore let us keep the feast.”  Christ is the lamb of God, without blemish or spot.  The perfect sacrifice for the whole world.  For those who don’t like the sacrificial language of the Eucharist, I’m sorry.  It is right there in Holy Scripture.  He is our sacrifice and atonement.  He died so that we might not.  And he asked us to remember this in our worship, which we do.  If I could, I would celebrate the Eucharist every day.  Weekly is sufficient.  Often is appropriate.  Daily is ideal. 

But there is another element to the events of the Upper Room.  John’s Gospel makes this clear.  Something else took place that night, and it was as profound as the institution of the Lord’s Supper.  Jesus washed the feet of his disciples.  This was shocking to the disciples, as it probably would be to you.  It is undignified and degrading.  But so is being nailed naked to a cross to die.  Jesus came to be human as one of us.  That meant that he was willing to humble himself to wash the feet of his disciples, so that they would be able to do that for others.  He said “if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.”  Nobody is too big or important to minister to another.  It is not undignified or degrading to wash a person’s feet any more than it is demeaning to feed them, listen to them, forgive them, or to honor them.  In our tradition, we say that a sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.  It should have a Scriptural or apostolic origin, and is usually associated with a material element like bread, wine, oil or water.  I don’t know why the church never placed footwashing into that sacramental category. The word “Maundy” is actually an anglicized version of the Latin mandatum novum, the new commandment.  “The Maundy” has now come to mean footwashing.   It is an expression of grace.  It is instituted by Christ himself in the Gospel of John.  It has a material element, water, and is associated with an action on the part of clergy and laity.  I believe that footwashing should be regarded as the eighth sacrament.  We should not be too proud or dignified to do it.  Like the eucharist, it is an act of love.   

Tonight, following this homily, I will wash the feet of the altar party, just as Jesus washed the feet of his disciples.  If you would like to participate, just come forward as you would for eucharist or imposition of ashes.   It is a sacramental act and unique to Maundy Thursday.  We will then celebrate eucharist and reserve the sacrament at an altar of repose for the Gethsemane vigil.  I hope some of you will be able to take the time to “spend just one hour with me” as Jesus endures the agony in the garden. 

Tonight is the most sacramentally rich night of the entire Christian year.  There is so much to it that it is almost impossible to comprehend.  But, if you need to focus on just one thing in this night of riches, think about Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.  It was a profoundly loving thing to do.  And it was given as an example to all of us that we are supposed to emulate.  Amen.