Sermon for Maundy Thursday: "Servant of All"

+ Maundy Thursday – April 9, 2020 +

Series A: 

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

These last few weeks actor John Krasinski, or Jim from The Office, has done a series of short YouTube videos under the title of SGN. Some Good News. In his first episode he highlighted stories of good news from around the world. Police officers in Spain flashing lights and blaring sirens outside local hospitals. People around the world clapping in support of doctors and nurses. Pictures of heroes in scrubs and N95 masks sacrificing their lives to serve others in this pandemic.

As I watched all of this, I couldn’t help but think that, whether he meant to or not, John Krasinski has touched on the heart of what’s happening in Maundy Thursday and Holy Week. And you could sum it all up in a word.

Servant. 

We’ve all seen or experienced someone being a servant during this time of quarantine and stay-home orders. Postal workers and delivery truck drivers. Grocery store employees and police officers. A neighbor. A friend. A brother or sister in Christ. A card. A phone call. A wave across the street from safe social distance. The list could go on. But it all comes back to the Maundy Thursday word.

Servant.

These examples of service and servants point us to a service and a servant who is far greater. Christ Jesus the servant of all who teaches his disciples in Mark 10 that the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

And in Luke 22:27, as Jesus celebrates the Passover with his disciples and prepares to lay down his life on the cross the following day, “I am among you as one who serves”

A servant who is born in human flesh that he might know and bear all our suffering, pain, disease, sin, and death for you. A servant who sacrifices his life to save yours. A servant who rests in our tomb. A servant who will raise us along with him by his resurrection from the dead. A servant, who on that first Maundy Thursday, stopped down to wash his disciples’ dusty, dry, cracked feet. 

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God,  rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.  Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

There’s that word again. Servant.

But our Lord is not done. Not yet. He broke the bread and blessed the cup. He gave his body and his blood. He promises forgiveness. A true divine service from our Divine Servant. A service we will enjoy and rejoice in all the more when we gather again in person soon.

Jesus goes to Gethsemane to pray. To be betrayed. To be the suffering servant for you. To serve you by his trial, by his mockery, by his agony and bloody sweat. By his cross and passion. By death and burial. By his resurrection on the third day. 

Jesus is your servant. This is why he came. To save you. To rescue you. To redeem and restore you. To serve you by giving his life for you.

John the evangelist, who recorded this act of service in John 13 will later write in his epistle, 

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 

And here again, our Lord is not done. Christ the servant of all, calls us to serve others. 

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 

Wherever you find yourself this evening, whether you’re at home serving your family or helping your neighbors, or are out in the community serving nameless strangers, know that you are forever held in the arms of Jesus our true Servant, who continues to deliver his Word and promises to you, who serves you in his holy body and blood, and saves you by being our servant in life and death.

And that is some truly good news. 

A blessed Maundy Thursday to each of you…  

In the name of + Jesus. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard and keep your hearts in Christ Jesus. Amen.