Family,
Today is one of those special days for us. It is Maundy Thursday, the day we celebrate the Love Feast, honoring the final Passover celebration Jesus shared with his disciples. It is a day i look forward to all year. It is a day, i hope, that each of you will begin to mark on your calendars as a can't miss opportunity. Today is a special day for us.
I have often wondered why our Maundy Thursday worship means so much to me. Is it because of my history degree and passion for our beginnings? Could be. Is it because Jesus did it? Might be. All of these are legitimate answers to why Maundy Thursday is so meaningful to me, but i think it goes much deeper. Sisters and brothers, this worship means so much to me, because it embodies all that worship should be.
We get a deep sense of community through our fellowship around the table. We learn about the power of serving and being served through washing each other's feet. We take of the bread and cup and renew our promise to follow Jesus as best we can, and in so doing, we also refresh our memories on the power of Jesus' sacrfice. We sing songs, raising our voices in praise. We read Scripture, allowing God's word to illumine our hearts, minds, and souls. And we pray, we pray as though God were in that sacred space, ready to heal our woundedness. Maundy Thursday is what worship could be, if we all came with the same expectations: to meet God.
But all too often, during our Sunday worship gatherings, we have too many things on our minds and we don't come to worship. Or. More disturbing. We refuse to worship, remaining silent during songs we don't know, doing our shopping lists during sermons, or getting up and doing whatever, simply because we would rather be some other place. If that is the case, if we come without the expectation and discipline to worship our Creator, why do we expect to meet Him on Sundays? If we come on Sundays, and we give only a half-hearted worship, because we are so self-absorbed, and we leave, complaining that we didn't feel God here, i wonder if that is God's fault? Or is it ours?
Who is to blame for worship that feels mundane and lifeless and spirit dry? God? Or us? Is it the fault of the worship team because the music isn't contemporary? Is the worship team at fault if the music isn't from standard "Brethren" list of songs? Is it the pastor's fault because he/she wants to have a message that is participatory? If we do not experience God, as believers, when we gather on a Sunday morning, who is to blame?
That's why Maundy Thursday is so special, because God is there and people feel God's presence. Why? Because they come to worship. Does everyone? No. But most people come to worship God and to participate in the worship of God. On Sunday, however, so many people just show up, without preparing for worship, and then worship has no influence or impact on their lives. And in some cases, we show up and protest all together. And somehow God is supposed to feel close to us?
And folks here is the truth of worship. If we come, willing to give ourselves, participate, and worship God: honestly and spiritually, it won't matter what music we have or if we have music. We WILL experience God's presence. More than that, just as our focus for this week deals with Jesus promising abundant living for those that call on His Name, when we come to worship, honestly and zealously, we will find life, real life, abundant life. It begins by moving from selfish consumers to spiritual worshippers of God. That's where abundant life begins.
We have to change the focus from self to the Creator. We have to spend all week preparing for worship, excited and ready to meet the Divine. And we have to quit coming to be entertained on Sunday and come ready to worship our God and Father. True life only begins when we leave selfish desires at the door and come ready to offer ourselves to the Creator of life.
Here is another secret. When we do. When we quit worrying about music and sermons and prayers, and we simply come and offer ourselves, Jesus moves in and surrounds us and heals us and directs us. We will finally be free to live as Jesus intended us to live. But it will never happen if we continue to want to be served on Sunday instead of coming to serve.
Maundy Thursday means a lot, because in all the years i have been a part of this powerful worship, people come to offer themselves and not complain about this, that, or the other. That same experience can happen every Sunday, if we only came with the same expectation, and when we do, we will finally find that life which is truly life. Amen.
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