Maundy Thursday (John 13:1-17, 31b-35)  4/21/2011

Many years ago, as I was preparing to become confirmed, I was required to complete a certain number of service hours as part of the program. After participating in many different activities, I had two hours of service remaining to complete my goal. As I considered how I might fulfill these final two hours, the thought occurred to me (as I looked at the snow outside) that I might offer to shovel snow for a few of my neighbors. I grabbed a snow shovel and started down the street. I soon approached the house of a neighbor who had not shoveled the front walk. I had occasionally talked with the folks that lived there (they were friends of my grandparents) but I did not know them very well. I knocked on the door and the man soon opened the door. “I would like to shovel your front walk this morning,” I said to him. “No thank you, I always shovel my own walkway,” he replied. “But I am providing community service for my Confirmation class and there will be no charge; can I shovel your walk for free?” I protested. “For free? I suppose you can shovel the walk for free,” the man agreed. I quickly began shoveling, hoping to quickly finish the very long walkway so I could find another walk to clear. One hour later, I had finally finished and I was so tired I decided to go home. I did not go back and tell the man I was leaving because the job was free and I didn’t think there was anything to say. A few days later we had another snowstorm (you know the feeling, right?) and I returned to the same house – one more time and all my service hours would be done. I knocked on the man’s door and asked if I could shovel one more time. He agreed, but asked if I would come back to the house when I was done shoveling the walkway. One hour later, I was done and knocked on the door. The man answered the door and asked me if I would like to come inside and join him and his wife for something warm to drink. We had a wonderful conversation and they showed me many pictures and souvenirs that they had collected during the past 50 years of their life together. My time with them was an unexpected opportunity to share some of their most important memories.

This evening, our Scripture lessons provide us with an opportunity to hear important memories of God’s story with his children, and we have an important share in these family stories. Our first reading from Exodus tells of the first Passover: a time of great suffering as God’s people were held in slavery in a foreign land. God heard their cry for help and acted against those who would hold his children in captivity. The Lord then spoke to Moses and Aaron and told them to forever mark the memory of the day in the the calendar: “This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.” (Exodus 12:14) The power and generosity of God toward his people shall be forever remembered as a sacred memory.

We also hear of the story of Jesus and his friends, gathered together as they prepare to celebrate the memory of the Passover meal. Jesus understood that this meal would be the last meal he would share with his friends and he decided to teach them one last lesson and provide them with memories that they would never forget. The lesson was a vivid example of how to humbly serve others: “Jesus…got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.” (John 13:4-5) Jesus humbled himself in service to others and asked his disciples to do likewise. The image of Jesus washing the feet of his friends was so dramatic that Peter was hesitant to participate. Yet Jesus understood that his friends needed to understand how to serve others; they needed to remember that humble service is not always an easy thing to do; and in the days to follow, the death and resurrection of Jesus would dramatically change how his disciples understood the world in which they lived.

We all have memories, both good and bad. We remember events in our lives for different reasons. But as Jesus teaches us this evening, our humble service to others creates memories that fill us with compassion and understanding and strengthens our desire to follow Christ’s example. I must admit, on that cold snowy morning more than 30 years ago I was only thinking about completing my service hours so I could become confirmed. I understood that I was helping people, but I had no intention of making a friend or learning about the important memories of someone’s life…and I certainly had no intention of making any of my own memories that I could share many years later. When we open ourselves up to God’s Grace and follow the example that Jesus has given us, (even if we do so unintentionally) we discover the joy of being together and serving each other in community. As Jesus told his friends, and so he tells us today: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)  AMEN.