Thursday, April 18, 2019
Today is called Maundy Thursday and is the Christian holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter. It commemorates the foot washing and Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. It is the fifth day of Holy Week, preceded by Holy Wednesday and followed by Good Friday.
I love the first sentence by our author, Juan Huertas, “So many of us are certified control freaks.” I literally laughed out loud after reading it because I definitely relate to it. For anyone who knows me or has read some of my earlier blog posts, you know that I have openly shared my thoughts and feelings about control and concern. I’ve learned over time that I have many things I have concerns for but in reality I have few things that are under my control. Juan goes onto tell a story about a lay person in her congregation that said this in response to Juan stating he’s not competitive. This person said this, “I don’t think that you are not competitive; I think if you are not going to win, you do not play.” What an insightful statement to make. How many of us are like that? Do we simply say, “Thanks but no thanks” when we see a situation or activity that has a “no win” possibility alignment(?). I am competitive and I like to win, but I’ve also lost at a lot of things and I mentally understand the logical involved in this process. Life is the lessons we learn from experiencing both, winning and losing. I do think we as a society can take wining and losing to extremes. We make the mistake of thinking winning as good and losing as bad, although they are contributing factors especially in sports, the logical of the game even before it starts is that someone will win and someone will lose. Losing is an experience we all absolutely need to experience. The joy of winning can only be filled felt and appreciated if you know what it feels like to lose. For ever action there is an equal reaction. High/low; up/down; left/right; light/dark; sweet/salty; hot/cold. This actual has a name, it’s called Newton’s Third Law of Motion.
There are two forces resulting from this interaction — a force on the chair and a force on your body. These two forces are called action and reaction forces and are the subject of Newton’s third law of motion.” The statement is more commonly stated this way: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Here’s a great song to help explain this better…
As we begin to think about Mandy Thursday and perhaps all a church service, this day is an annual reminder that our way is not God’s way. We live in a time and space where we think about life from a self perspective, self power; Jesus approached life by demonstrating servant hood. We think control and Jesus tells us to let go. We think about ourselves, living life as best as we can and Jesus shows us it is about dearth, death to self and selfishness.
A good question, we should be asking ourselves is, “Are we sure we want a part of in God’s way?” I certainly do, but I also fail every single day, I fall and I must ask Jesus for grace and forgiveness.
An accepted practice on Maundy Thursday also involves the act of washing the feet of other, just as Jesus did with his disciples a long time ago. We do this in remembrance of what Jesus did for his followers, his brothers. Most services of Maundy Thursday also include serving communion and in my church the communion table to open to everyone!
At the end of the day we need to understand that following Jesus means we must “LET GO.” We will also have to accept the fact that we will not win, at least not according to what the world thinks to be true.
Over the next two days we will be moving into, “The Growing Darkness. If you are interested the scripture passages are as follows:
• The Shadow of Betrayal Foretold (John 13:21-30)
• The Shadow of Betrayal (John 18:1-11)
• The Shadow of Denial (John 18:15-18, 25-27)
• The Shadow of Questioning (John 18:12-14, 19-24)
• The Shadow of False Accusation (John 18:28-40)
• The Shadow of Condemnation (John 19:1-16)
• The Shadow of Crucifixion (John 19:17-27)
• The Shadow of Death (John 19:28-30)
• A New Beginning (John 20:1)
Friends, over the couple of days let’s meditate upon the Acts of Humility and Service .
• An Act of Humility and Service (John 13:3-11)
• The Washing of Feet or Hands – An Example for All. (John 13:12-15)
• Witnesses To The “I AM” (John 13:16-20)
Remember God is has a plan, Trust the Plan! Amen.
Breath Prayer: Wash me…in your way, O God.
~Peace~
References:
HOPE SEEKER 
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