maundy

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Originally Published in the South Jetty Newspaper

God came to dwell among us: it began at Christmas, and on Maundy Thursday that reality is elevated to the new norm of the church; we are to live with an expectation that God is present among us when we break bread together, and when we serve one another as host-servants. In Maundy Thursday Jesus brings us an invitation, no, a commandment to live a life of love that is laced with eternal encounter with divinity.

Maundy Thursday begins the Holy Triduum (3 days) that ends with the Resurrection of Christ in Easter. These three most-holy days of the church contain the final teachings of Christ paired with the actions he takes to conquer death by death. The word Maundy means commandment, related to our English word mandate. As we reflect on the meaning of this day, we might be attentive to what Jesus is commanding us to do. It is a simple, and challenging command: to Love.

Jesus Loves, in the context of this commandment, by putting things out of their expected order; by re-ordering things as they are to be in his kingdom. As the rabbi among his friends, Jesus transforms a regular, weekly meal into a weekly remembrance of him. He transforms a typical meal into an occasion of taking Christ into our body and soul in the mystical feast of communion. For almost two millennia now his disciples still gather to break bread and share wine to partake of the mystical presence of Christ.

The second thing Jesus does to demonstrate his commandment to love is to wash the feet of everyone at that meal. He does so after they have eaten, which would have been disorienting if not a bit scandalizing.  Foot washing was not the rabbi’s job to do at the end of the meal, it was the servant’s job to do before the meal. Jesus transforms another ordinary action—he is cleansing more than the soles of their feet. The master is subverting the order of things to become servant of his disciples’ souls.

Two ordinary things in the life of his disciples are transformed into opportunities to glimpse the reality of the kingdom of God. In the kingdom of God, the division between host and servant vanish. The division between soul and body is revealed to be an illusion.  Those barriers are conquered by love.  Jesus’ commandment and actions show that the kingdom of God is present in the midst of every day life; when we serve, we show the love of Christ.


The holiest occupation in the kingdom of God, then, is not the priest or pastor. It is the one who serves (we pastors and priests aspire to be servants.) Port Aransas, then, is full of holy people who show love to others through hosting: preparing rooms and roadways for guests’ arrival; providing meals and merchandise so guests might enjoy this gift of life, even when that service is under-appreciated. The active love shown through hosting guests, especially strangers, can be an opportunity to follow Jesus’ command to love one another.

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