Love and Remembrance
This night is about love and remembrance. We remember how the Angel of Death spared the Israelites from extinction by passing over their houses marked with blood on the doorposts and saving their children from death. We remember how Jesus sat at the table with his disciples and broke the bread and drank the wine just as they did any other night – only tonight it was for the last time. And we know the love that Jesus showed his disciples through the simple and humble care he gave them by washing their feet which were dirty with sewage and dust from the street. In these stories we hear an end to a way of life and the beginning of a life yet unknown. God made a covenant with the Hebrew people – he promised that they would be the people to bring all the nations of the world to know and love the one true God. God gave Moses the Ten Commandments to show the people how to live God’s will for them. God provided a way for Moses to lead the people out of slavery in Egypt and to the Promised Land. So they followed Moses into the wilderness even though they didn’t know what would happen to them; how long the journey would be; how much it would cost them in hunger and death, loss and fear, to reach the other side. They didn’t know what their new life would be like, but they trusted Moses and they loved God and so they believed and followed. This is the Old Covenant of the Hebrew Scriptures, God’s love and intention for the Israelites: the Israelites love and fear of God.
There came a time when God, in God’s great wisdom, saw that the people fell away from Moses’ teachings and did not remember God’s covenant and commandments anymore. The law of the Hebrew Scriptures had become rules used to control the people and maintain power by a priestly class. That was not God’s intention for the people.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God”.
So God sent Jesus, the word, into the world to bring a New Covenant, a new relationship with God, to all who believe in Him. In the New Covenant we are offered a new life in Christ, the Messiah, our Savior. Christ promised to bring us into the Kingdom of God and give us life in all its fullness. Jesus Christ gave us a new commandment as our part of the New Covenant: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love God, love your neighbor. In worship we show our love for God by making a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for everything God has done for us and given us: much more than we can ever know. We are part of the mystical circle of love between the God our Mother and Father and Jesus our sibling, and our brother. We show our faithfulness by worshiping God and loving our human sisters and brothers.
When I am reminded of this humble circle of service and love I think of my sister Deacon, Diana, who was just installed as the deacon to the Night Ministry in SF. She goes out in the dark and finds the lost souls living on the street and brings the light of Christ to them through her loving acceptance and cheerful soul. I think of my brother Deacon Anthony, who is now the Archdeacon for the West Bay, whose faithful service to folks with AIDS has been his call and life’s work. I think of my brother, Deacon Dave, who ministers to anyone in the Port of Oakland who is traveling far away from home and needs a kind word and a peaceful break from the rough life of the sea. These deacons do incredible work in the name of Christ, but I bet that each one of them would say that they receive so much more love and care than they give. That is the miracle of a life lived in the Way of Jesus Christ – that in washing the feet of the dirty, hungry, cold, lonely, dying, sad or needy people who walk the path with us – the love we give is multiplied back to us, sometimes in surprising and miraculous ways. We are not all called to the ministerial drama of the street or the ocean or the hospital – but we all meet people every day who could use the humble service of attention and love that we each share in our relationship with God and Jesus. In our modern fast-paced world we don’t literally need our feet washed but we all could use some loving attention and moments of genuine closeness and care.
Jesus gives his example of humble service of washing the feet of his students, his disciples, as the way for us to love each other - humble service. Like the Israelites in the wilderness, there are so many barriers to our living a humble life of service as Christ did. Our human frailties and needs, our excuses and desire to put ourselves at the center of life, the busyness and demands of modern life make it so easy to focus inward. So tonight we are reminded and we remember what Jesus asked us to do by washing each other’s feet and looking into our own hearts to hear God’s special call to service that is given to each of us. This night is the end of our old way of life and the beginning of a new life, a New Way of Being in Jesus by following his loving example to the world. We may be unsure of the difficulties ahead, we may wonder where the path will lead us, but we go with the strength and courage of Jesus walking with us into the light of this New Life.
Amen.
This night is about love and remembrance. We remember how the Angel of Death spared the Israelites from extinction by passing over their houses marked with blood on the doorposts and saving their children from death. We remember how Jesus sat at the table with his disciples and broke the bread and drank the wine just as they did any other night – only tonight it was for the last time. And we know the love that Jesus showed his disciples through the simple and humble care he gave them by washing their feet which were dirty with sewage and dust from the street. In these stories we hear an end to a way of life and the beginning of a life yet unknown. God made a covenant with the Hebrew people – he promised that they would be the people to bring all the nations of the world to know and love the one true God. God gave Moses the Ten Commandments to show the people how to live God’s will for them. God provided a way for Moses to lead the people out of slavery in Egypt and to the Promised Land. So they followed Moses into the wilderness even though they didn’t know what would happen to them; how long the journey would be; how much it would cost them in hunger and death, loss and fear, to reach the other side. They didn’t know what their new life would be like, but they trusted Moses and they loved God and so they believed and followed. This is the Old Covenant of the Hebrew Scriptures, God’s love and intention for the Israelites: the Israelites love and fear of God.
There came a time when God, in God’s great wisdom, saw that the people fell away from Moses’ teachings and did not remember God’s covenant and commandments anymore. The law of the Hebrew Scriptures had become rules used to control the people and maintain power by a priestly class. That was not God’s intention for the people.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God”.
So God sent Jesus, the word, into the world to bring a New Covenant, a new relationship with God, to all who believe in Him. In the New Covenant we are offered a new life in Christ, the Messiah, our Savior. Christ promised to bring us into the Kingdom of God and give us life in all its fullness. Jesus Christ gave us a new commandment as our part of the New Covenant: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love God, love your neighbor. In worship we show our love for God by making a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for everything God has done for us and given us: much more than we can ever know. We are part of the mystical circle of love between the God our Mother and Father and Jesus our sibling, and our brother. We show our faithfulness by worshiping God and loving our human sisters and brothers.
When I am reminded of this humble circle of service and love I think of my sister Deacon, Diana, who was just installed as the deacon to the Night Ministry in SF. She goes out in the dark and finds the lost souls living on the street and brings the light of Christ to them through her loving acceptance and cheerful soul. I think of my brother Deacon Anthony, who is now the Archdeacon for the West Bay, whose faithful service to folks with AIDS has been his call and life’s work. I think of my brother, Deacon Dave, who ministers to anyone in the Port of Oakland who is traveling far away from home and needs a kind word and a peaceful break from the rough life of the sea. These deacons do incredible work in the name of Christ, but I bet that each one of them would say that they receive so much more love and care than they give. That is the miracle of a life lived in the Way of Jesus Christ – that in washing the feet of the dirty, hungry, cold, lonely, dying, sad or needy people who walk the path with us – the love we give is multiplied back to us, sometimes in surprising and miraculous ways. We are not all called to the ministerial drama of the street or the ocean or the hospital – but we all meet people every day who could use the humble service of attention and love that we each share in our relationship with God and Jesus. In our modern fast-paced world we don’t literally need our feet washed but we all could use some loving attention and moments of genuine closeness and care.
Jesus gives his example of humble service of washing the feet of his students, his disciples, as the way for us to love each other - humble service. Like the Israelites in the wilderness, there are so many barriers to our living a humble life of service as Christ did. Our human frailties and needs, our excuses and desire to put ourselves at the center of life, the busyness and demands of modern life make it so easy to focus inward. So tonight we are reminded and we remember what Jesus asked us to do by washing each other’s feet and looking into our own hearts to hear God’s special call to service that is given to each of us. This night is the end of our old way of life and the beginning of a new life, a New Way of Being in Jesus by following his loving example to the world. We may be unsure of the difficulties ahead, we may wonder where the path will lead us, but we go with the strength and courage of Jesus walking with us into the light of this New Life.
Amen.
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