“A New Commandment”

Maundy Thursday

Thursday April 9, 2009

Exodus 12: 1-4, 11-14

Psalm 116: 1-2, 12-19

1 Corinthians 11: 23-26

Many of you have probably seen the famous cartoon which depicts Moses coming down Mount Sinai, bearing in his arms the two huge stone tablets on which are etched the famous 10 Commandments.   The weight of the stone tablets is clearly depicted through the grimace on his face. 

But, as he trudges down the mountain, a cloud balloon appears over Moses’ head, and the voice of God is depicted saying, “And please remind them – they’re COMMANDMENTS not SUGGESTIONS”.

There is far more truth in that cartoon than most of us might like to admit.  Often, we read the commandments in the Bible as a handy set of guidelines for life.  We may even actually realize the wisdom that lies behind the biblical commandments, and find ourselves agreeing that killing is bad, that stealing should be avoided, that adultery is an objectionable idea, and even that coveting what other people have does not usually create the conditions for a contented life.  Whether we fully abide by the commandments about keeping the Sabbath day holy or honouring our parents is a matter of some question, but we reassure ourselves that we only break the commandment about not taking the Lord’s name in vain when we are really angry.  

But, we tell ourselves, we are Christians – and grace has set us free from the commands of the law (of course, while this might assuage some sense of a guilty conscience, it does tend to conveniently overlook the part where Jesus said that he had not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it).

But in so doing, we have a tendency to turn these commandments into suggestions, laws into guidelines, and we usually end up choosing convenience over obedience.  We may not fully embrace the Hefnerian philosophy of “if it feels good, do it” but we tend to embrace the related attitude “if it’s not too inconvenient, we might as well obey it”. 

At the heart of tonight’s reading from the Gospel of John is a different commandment which invites us to a different standard by which to live.  At his last supper with his friends, after he had washed their feet and before departed into the Garden of Gethsemane where he was betrayed and abandoned, he spoke these words to his disciples – “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.”

I give you a new commandment.

It is from these words that we actually derive the term ‘Maundy Thursday’, since the word ‘maundy’ is drawn from the Latin term ‘mandatum’, from which we get the English words mandate, command and commandment.    Tonight, therefore, is a service which is intended to draw our attention to the commandment that lies at the heart of our calling as followers, as disciples of Jesus Christ – the commandment to love one another as we have been loved by Jesus himself.

As we ponder this mandate, it is important for us to realize that the words that Jesus spoke, when he issued this mandate, this command, were both intentional and pointed.  He did not phrase it “hey guys, I have a good idea – try loving each other.”  He did not suggest that they embrace an attitude of compassion towards each other.  His words were a command.

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.

It was not a suggestion.  It was not an option for their consideration, or a good idea to try out some time.  Rather, our love for one another, according to Christ, is the direct expression of our obedience to him.  Love for each other is meant to be the identifying, defining characteristic of those within the community of his followers.

But how far we fall from that standard. 

The church in this world can be characterized and described in many different ways – but what does not always spring to mind, at least at first, is that its defining characteristic is the love that we have for one another.

Rather, what is more widely known are the church’s divisions; its conflicts; its perceived and real judgemental attitudes; its sometimes narrow and close-minded approach to the world. 

But as we read this passage – particularly on this night of all nights -- what we, in the church, must realize, is that the integrity of our presence in the world – and, in many ways, the integrity of our proclamation of the Gospel – depends upon our willing obedience to this commandment.  Do we love each other?  Are we known for the love that we extend to one another?  Do people, when they look at us, find themselves marveling at the love that is demonstrated in our words, our actions and our attitudes?

A church may have the best programmes in the world; it may have millions of dollars in the bank; it may have thousands of people in worship and hundreds of children in the Sunday School.  But none of these signs, according to this text, are the defining and distinguishing characteristic of the church.  Rather, the defining and distinguishing characteristic of the church is whether its members have embraced Jesus commandment to love each other as he loved them.  As Jesus himself then said, “by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

It is sad, in the church today, that we have elevated all manner of other criteria above this simple and clear commandment that we are to be known by the love that we have for one another.  Instead, we define the ‘true’ followers of Christ according to some particular form of church order, or according to some prescribed perspective on a social or moral issue, or according to some denominational affiliation, or according to some way of interpreting the Bible.  Having chosen those ‘other’ criteria, we then judge and assess whether or not ‘that’ Christian or ‘that’ group fits within our pre-established criteria for how a true Christian acts, believes and worship. 

Would that we might simply return to the simple criteria established by Christ himself.  “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

As we prepare to celebrate this Sacrament tonight, I would like to invite all of us to spend a few moments in silent reflection.  As we do so, I would like to invite all of us to reflect upon our own attitudes and actions towards others.   Specifically, I would invite us to ponder, and to hold in our minds and in our hearts, those who we find it difficult to love as fully and as completely as Christ has called us to do.  As we lay our attitudes and actions alongside those of Christ – who humbly washed his friends’ feet, who served them both in his life and in his death, who gave up his life for them, even though they betrayed him – what does it mean to love one another as he has loved us? 

And what would the church look like if we truly and fully embraced this calling to be a community in this neighbourhood, this city and this world, whose most remarkable and distinguishing characteristic was the love that we have for one another, and for all people?

What if his new commandment is not a suggestion?