Maundy Thursday

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:1-6)

Today is Maundy Thursday.  It is the day the church remembers the "Maundy" (foot-washing) and Last Supper of Jesus Christ.  On that night, knowing he would die the next day, Jesus gave his disciples these anchors with which to remember him.  He acted out the essence of his teachings -- The two great Laws of Christ crystallized in the most intimate of ways. He washed their feet and commanded them to love each other.  And then he gave them bread and wine and commanded them to love God (do this in remembrance of me).  Jesus wanted them to remember their connection to each other (foot-washing) and their connection to God (Last Supper).  

Jesus had some profound work to do on Friday.  Friday would change the world. Friday was about carving out a space for hope. But I think the disciples were changed on Thursday.  Thursday was about carving out a space for remembering. It's funny how the two so often go together -- hope and remembering.  

In some ways, forgetting is not the opposite of remembering.  The opposite of remembering is despair.  Just spend some prolonged time with someone who is in the advanced stages of alzheimers. If you are with them long enough you will see it in their eyes -- despair.  They can't remember ... and because they can't remember they can't make connections -- they don't (to their knowledge) have a history, and with no history there is nothing to build on -- no hope -- despair.  

I am thankful for my parents.  They have given me so much.  My hair, eyes, and complexion from my Dad.  My nose, lips, and ears from my Mom. But not just the physical.  My tenacity from my Dad. My love for justice from my Mom. My hard work-ethic from my Dad.  My ability to stand in front of a crowd and speak from my Mom.  Most everything we have comes from somewhere else.  It's important to remember. Remembering is a building block for hope. 

Jesus tells his disciples that on Friday he will leave them because he has a different kind of work to do. It is a preparing work.  But he is not leaving them alone ... nor is he leaving them for long.  He'll be back three days later.  And after that he will never leave them again.  In the interim what they can do is remember.  He asks them to trust him.  Trust is built on hope and hope is built on remembering ... remembering Jesus' promise ... remembering his sacrifice ... remembering his love.

Tomorrow is Good Friday. Tomorrow is the hard work of crucifixion.  But today, Jesus offers us a towel and some water ... he extends an invitation to some bread and wine. And in so doing asks us to remember the things that are most important: Love God.  Love each other.  Today we remember.