In This Room

There was a lot going on in the upper room that evening as Jesus and his disciples gathered. There was a lot going on. Even looking back as we do from the future, it is hard to sort out all of the plots and subplots and to focus on particular themes. We generally refer to the historical event that took place in the upper room as the Last Supper. And yet to focus on just the supper, or the fact that it was the last supper, misses so much else of what was going on. It was the last supper, but it was also the first communion. Talk about making your first communion! On that night the disciples made their first communion. Offered by Jesus himself. This is my Body, Jesus says, as he passes the bread.

But it wasn’t just the supper. We call this day Maundy Thursday not because of any action that took place in the upper room, but because of Jesus’ teaching, what Jesus said there. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. A new commandment. The Latin is mandatum… Maundy Thursday. The focus of this subplot is Jesus’ teaching. If remembering that part of the event is to be our focus, then maybe we should all start carrying placards to football games that say John 13:34. "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another."

With our historical perspective, looking back we can also see in this event a highlight on the importance of community. Jesus, before his death, deliberately spent time… intimate, focused time with his disciples. They shared a holiday meal together. They talked. Except perhaps for Judas, there was no rush to move on. As we remember the night in the upper room, we are reminded that fellowship is precious. And the importance of maintaining the continuity of corporate religious traditions—the Passover observances—is another theme.

And then there’s the foot washing. Another storyline with its own focus and themes. Whatever Jesus’ original intention may have been that evening, John’s gospel gives us an interpretation for today of Jesus’ actions in the foot washing. "You also should do as I have done to you," John has Jesus say to the disciples. Jesus’ actions are enacted teaching; Jesus models servanthood. We look back on what Jesus did as an example of what we are to do.

In our coming together in worship on this day, we attempt to remember and illuminate all of these themes. We listen to the account of what happened in the upper room. We gather as a community in fellowship. Our worship is in continuity with the apostles’ teaching and the historical practices of the Christian church. We celebrate communion. We reenact the footwashing. All that we do points to… draws our attention to… that complex and multivalent event in the upper room some two thousand years ago. We remind ourselves of as many of the themes, meanings and sub-stories as we can. We re-present them symbolically. We remember.

And that is all good. It is good to remember and reflect. But, in the end, if our common worship does not bring the living Christ into our lives today, then it has fallen short.

Take the foot washing, for example. A lot of congregations do not include it in their Maundy Thursday services. Others include it, but even more highly symbolized than we do. Evidently in some places the custom is to wash hands instead of feet. Before you roll your eyes too much, remember that much of what we do in our liturgy is "just" symbolic. All symbols are partial, incomplete representations of some greater reality. In other parishes only the liturgical ministers participate in the foot washing, or only the vestry… a few individuals acting on behalf of others. These rituals are tools to help draw our imagination back to that upper room. All of these symbolic re-presentations help us remember and reflect.

I have never been a part of those sorts of rites, so I cannot speak to how effective they are in bringing the historical event to life. I do know that for individuals who actually participate in the ritualized foot washing in the way, for example, that we practice here, it is a powerful experience. Most often people comment on how it affects their perceptions of being in community, of how it deepens the Christian relationships we share as individual members in the Body of Christ. It brings us into deeper communion with one another. Through the act of humbly serving one another, as Jesus served others, people find their own sense of Christian vocation strengthened. This is a step beyond remembering. Participating in the rituals of the liturgy leads to spiritual growth.

And that’s a very good outcome. The blessing of it is captured in the Servant Song we sing. And the foot washing is worth doing if just one or two or three individuals find their own awareness of Christian community broadened or enriched or their commitment to Christian service renewed.

But there could be even more. There are these several levels on which our experiences this evening’s worship may occur. We may remember the historical event and reflect on its meaning. Through its re-presentation in the liturgy, we are reminded of the lessons it teaches and come to recognition of the powerful implications of what Jesus did. On a second level, through our participation in the liturgy… the whole liturgy, not just the foot washing… through our participation in the liturgy, our participation in the Body of Christ today is strengthened and deepened.

But there is at least one more level still. To meet the living Christ here, now. Another phrase that John has Jesus say in this story is spoken when Peter objects to having his feet washed. Jesus says, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." Another translator offers, "If I do not wash you, you will have no heritage with me." Jesus speaks to Peter then. Jesus speaks to us today. This is about Jesus serving us. And our recognition and acceptance of the gift that is offered. Jesus offers to cleanse away the grime of life’s journeying. With a basin and towel, with his death upon the cross. To put a few more words in Jesus’ mouth, what he says to Peter and to us is: "If you do not let me do this for you… If you do not accept my death upon the cross as my gift to you, then you will not truly receive the heritage that is yours… the inheritance of new and eternal life lived in joy in the very presence of God."

We are challenged right now, right here in this room. Will we accept Christ’s service, the gift of his death?

Each of us undoubtedly has many reasons not to. Pride. I do not need anyone’s service. False humility. I am not worthy of such a sacrifice. A profound discomfort with being beholden. Very beholden. No thank you, Jesus. Just imagine that the person who washes your feet this night in this room offers to die for your sins tomorrow. Would you accept such a sacrifice? Such action is not a part of our relationships with one another as individuals within the Body of Christ, but it is a part of our relationship with the living Christ. It is what brings us into relationship with the living Christ. Here. This evening.

There was a lot going on in the upper room the evening of the Last Supper. It is good to remember those events and reflect upon their meaning for us. But the living Christ is present in this room this evening. Will you let Jesus be your servant? Will you let him give his life for yours?