Loving God, you call us this day to remember and to love.  Teach us never to forget your love for us or for the people around us, empowering us by your Spirit to love and to serve; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    Have you ever noticed how people have really long memories when it comes to negative things?  Sometimes we replay in our minds, over and over again, negative events that have happened.  Sometimes we carry grudges for years because, “I remember that time when you weren’t there for me and I needed you.”  We remember hurtful things that people said or did.  We remember comments that we don’t like, but rarely the ones that we did.

    Of course, then there is the flip side of this, where we remember the “good old days” which were surely far better than things are now.  Quite often, the “good old days” have become better and better as the years have passed, leading us to focus on everything that is negative in the present.  Sometimes, our memories change things so that they become quite a bit better than they were in reality.  Yet, once again, this seems to lead us into focusing on the negative.

    Some of you might have heard the story of the little girl who suddenly has a brand new baby brother at home.  One day, her mother overhears the girl talking to her baby brother.  She is saying very softly, “Can you tell me about heaven?  I’m starting to forget.”

    Do we, too, start to forget the goodness of God?  Do we forget all about the blessings we have seen and focus instead on our prayers that we feel were not answered properly?  Do we forget all too easily the amazing things that God has done?  The Psalmist today remembers.  He says, “How shall I repay the Lord for all the good things God has done for me?  I will lift the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord” (Ps. 116:12-13).

    There is good reason that every single reading that we heard tonight tells us to remember.  The first reading focuses on remembering the Passover – remembering how God rescues us from death and sets us free.  The second reading focuses on the Lord’s Supper and Jesus’ command to “do this in remembrance of me” (1 Cor. 11:24).  The gospel helps us to remember Jesus’ example of loving service, his call to us to do the same, and his command to love one another just as he has loved us.

    We are told to remember because we seem to forget so easily – especially the great things that God has done.  As you might recall, the Israelites in the wilderness were a prime example of how easily we forget.  They had been rescued from Egypt with miracles and signs and wonders – brought from death to life and from slavery to freedom.  Yet, throughout the whole wilderness journey, it is complain, complain, complain.  They even forget how difficult their burdens were in Egypt and long to go back there again.  How quickly we forget!

    It seems likely that Jesus would have known this about us, and was quite intentional in sharing the bread and the wine and saying, “Do this in remembrance of me.”  The Lord’s Supper is like a constant reminder for us, made all the more powerful by the fact that we actually participate in it and see it and taste it.

    And so, when we come to the Lord’s Table, we remember how Jesus gave himself for us.  We remember that Jesus is the source of forgiveness and new life.  We remember Jesus’ death and resurrection.  We remember God’s gifts of forgiveness and salvation.  We remember that Jesus did not share this meal with those who were worthy, but with those who needed it.  We remember that we are a part of the whole church, wherever it is found in heaven and on earth.  We remember these things as often as possible, because we need to.

    It is once a year, however, that we remember Jesus’ command “to wash one another’s feet” (Jn. 13:14).  It is one of those things where people tend to go “Eew!  Why would you wash somebody’s feet?”  Yet, perhaps that is the point.  It truly gives you the sense of being a servant when you kneel down to wash somebody’s feet.  In the same way, it is a rare experience of somebody else serving you when you allow your feet to be washed.

    The disciples certainly were not comfortable with it when Jesus knelt to wash their feet.  They instinctively knew that they should be the ones serving him.  It was unlike any rabbi or teacher to lower himself in this way.  Yet, Jesus was teaching by example.  He was saying, “I’m all about loving service, and if you’re going to follow me, you’d better get used to loving and serving one another – even if it means washing one another’s feet.”

    And so, tonight, we remember – and we wash feet – and we gather at the table.  As we do so, may we be able to say with the Psalmist, “How shall I repay the Lord for all the good things God has done for me?”  Amen.

Maundy Thursday                            Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19
April 1, 2010                                Exodus 12:1-14
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church                    1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Pastor Lynne Hutchison                        John 13:1-17, 31b-35

© 2010 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved