Sermon - 2015-04-02 - Maundy Thursday

Just a few days ago, Jesus entered into Jerusalem.  Many crowds were gathered together hoping that Jesus would be the answers to their prayers.  That Jesus would save them from the troubles of this world.  The crowd was shouting with all their hopes and dreams of what Jesus could be for them.  Now the crowds have disbanded.  They have left.  They did not receive an answer fast enough.  They did not receive an answer that they liked.  The people wanted to know what would elevate them in their glory.  They wanted to have an easier life.

Tonight, Jesus gathers together those who are still with him.  Those are willing to work and realize that the gift he is bringing is something in which all of us can share.  At long last, we hear precisely from our Savior and Lord the answer that we have been hoping for and asking over and over again.  “Jesus, what can I do for you since you gave your life to save me?” Jesus says, “you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”  Jesus also calls us to be servants to others. This simple phrase that Jesus gives seems so simple that we can easily overlook it.  However, it is in this simplicity and ongoing calling to continually love one another that Jesus is calling us as disciples.

However, hearing this phrase is not enough.  Even the disciples there did not understand what it was Jesus was doing for them and teaching them.  Peter, the very foundation on which the church will stand is the first to declare that he wants more.  This declaration shows he does not understand.  But then again do we?  Each year, we come back to the same story.  We do this to be reminded of the truth, to hear it clearly for each and every one of us and to be renewed in our relationship with God.  We bear witness to it.

Tonight, we hear quite plainly and clearly that it is not always how you live your life but rather how you love in your life.  Luther wrote about it this way in “The Freedom of a Christian”: “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.  A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”

Now truly think about those statements.  They speak of what Jesus Christ has done for you and the calling that Jesus Christ has given to you as disciples.  This world and for some Christians, they stop at the first line.  They want to be set free, to feel good and to know that nothing more is expected of them.  Truly nothing is expected of you because the gift of Jesus Christ is a free gift.  But to truly receive this gift, means that your spirit is stirred and you could not help but to care for those around you and share this gift with them as well.  So you, in your freedom that Christ has given to you, go and serve those around you.

Tonight, we receive the new commandment and covenant that is found in Jesus Christ.  Through his body and blood, we are made free and beloved Children of God. It is here in this covenant that we find healing from our brokenness. We find forgiveness from all the hate in this world. We find true happiness and not the false finish lines of this world.  We find Christ, our Creator, our Sustainer, and now our Redeemer.