Maundy (Holy) Thursday 2011

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: John 13:31
Theme: Glorified In Blood

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

Not every moment of history is of equal consequence. That certain events in the earthy life of God’s Son are of much greater import than others does not trivialize the events of our lives. It should serve to put them into perspective. When Judas departed the Upper Room in which Jesus instituted the Sacrament of the Altar, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in Him.”1 It’s a hallowed and weighty statement. What are we to make of it? How can glory be added to God? God exists in self-sustaining majesty. It is far beyond us to understand how glory could be given to the heavenly Father.

Here Christ speaks of His pending crucifixion. The sacrifice of the Son brings glory to the Father because through it human beings have access to the divine blessings. God is glorified in those things which allow rascals to participate in His magnificence. Yes God is glorified when scoundrels are led on the narrow way to life. The Scripture says, “When we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son.”2 God is glorified when we poor sinners are rescued from disobedience, ignorance, and death and are gifted with light, servanthood, and life.

Only Jesus fully understood the tension in the Upper Room. Judas would soon betray Him; Peter deny Him, and the others forsake Him. Now was the prelude to the events of His passion. God chose this point in time- and these people- to be written into the history of the sacrifice of the Messiah. Most interesting theatrical dramas have villains and heroes. The struggle between good and evil captivates something deep in our psyche. It’s a tussle human beings inherently know they are part of. The contest between good and evil has consequences.

How do we understand what was going on here with Christ and His disciples, Satan and Judas. It’s a war not of physical struggle or brute force but of words and wills. It’s a contest of truth and falsehood, of deception and honesty. The greatest battle was not a physical feat, per se, but a triumph of sacrifice over selfishness, of compassion over coldness, of fidelity over rebelliousness.

How great is that love that patiently endures humiliation, shame, and derision without cause! How great is the love that bears the divine wrath and tastes bitter death! How great is that love which passionately desires to be with its beloved for all eternity. Christ’s love is a love that stoops to wash our feet. It is a love that suffers the loss of its own dignity to raise sinners to nobility. His love is the only unfailing, unconditional love. He tells His disciples, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”3 He expects them to do this not by their own strength, seeking their own praises, or boosting their own pride. He prepares them for what the Holy Spirit will do through them as they distribute Christ’s love throughout the world.

The last Passover the disciples celebrated with Jesus was also the first Holy Communion. It serves for us a as a continual fountain of grace. The baptized who gather at the altar gather to have their faith nourished by the deepest mystery offered to human beings in this dimension. The magnitude of what is offered demands integrity of intention. It’s nothing ever to take for granted. If you scarcely give a passing thought to your participation in Holy Communion than hear the words of the Holy Spirit. They are written to jolt your conscience out of apathy or arrogance. “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.”4 Unrepentant souls are condemned in their callous reception.

But the test is not self-worthiness, but faith. Otherwise none could rightly partake. If you feel too unworthy to partake then that’s exactly when you should come. The contrite soul is ripe for forgiveness. The weak in faith and frail in heart come to be strengthened, fortified and comforted. If you leave feeling a burden has been lifted, then rejoice that God has allowed you such a privilege? But if you leave with misgiving and worry still lingering in your heart do not doubt that His promise to you is still valid. The Sacrament may change your disposition and outlook in the midst of struggle, but it does not promise to change your personality, it does not promise to dissolve all of your struggles.

Yet what the heart cannot always comprehend or appreciate the Spirit guarantees. The unworthiness that still troubles you is nevertheless pardoned by God. Christ said to the paralytic “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”5 He said to the woman subject to bleeding, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”6 He said to the woman caught in adultery, “Neither do I condemn you...Go now and leave your life of sin.”7 All were repentant. All sought His mercy. None were turned back. He sent them away freed from guilt; free to live in grace.

He sends the humble soul from His altar nourished with the food of immortality. He sends you with identity and purpose. You go from the sacred presence of God to the mundane and often profane atmosphere of the world. You are armed with the weapons of righteousness to do battle with falsehood. You are an agent of peace in a world of conflict. You are an ordered being in a climate of chaos. Maundy Thursday invites us to see with clarity how God orders our lives.

Our Scripture says that when Judas left the Upper Room it was night.8 He had fallen into darkness. The others remained with Jesus, the Light of the World. And so let us also remain with Him. Amen.



+ in nomine Jesu +

Maundy Thursday
21 April, 2011
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 John 13:31 2 Romans 5:10
3 John 13:34 4 1 Corinthians 11:27-28
5 Matthew 9:2 6 Luke 8:48
7 John 8:11 8 See John 13:30