Maundy Thursday

1 Corinthians 11.23-26; John 13.1-17, 31b-35

When we began the season of Lent six weeks ago, we called to mind the first words of Jesus, according to St. Mark's gospel, that he spoke after coming out of the wilderness and after being baptised. They were these; 'The kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the gospel.' Those words called people to change their point of view, to change their minds and hearts so that they could begin to see the kingdom of God and to take hold of the gospel, that is, the good news that Jesus was preaching and teaching and living. Those were the first words of his ministry. And tonight we come to hear some of his last words and to see him living those out. We hear him talking about eating and drinking his body and his blood and living by a new commandment to love one another as he himself has loved his disciples.

To the world outside the Church and to many people still, in the Church, all of these are strange words and remain for ever strange. Jesus' actions are sometimes strange to us inasmuch as we find it difficult to understand and comprehend his healings and what we call 'miracles'. But the strangeness of Jesus' words and actions only point out how much we need repentance, that change of heart and mind, that change of perspective on creation and life and of its origin and continuance. Because it's only as we make that change do we begin to see and understand and begin to make sense of all of it. And it's not necessarily a logical or rational sense, of the mind, but a logic of the heart, if there can be said to be such a thing.

The Church is different. We must first and foremost understand and accept that simple fact. The Church is different from any other organisation because it is formed of God, not of humankind. That's why we call it the Body of Christ. And that's why so many people don't understand it and can't cope with it. It's so very different from any other organisation. It may look similar on the outside and on the outside exhibit all the signs of other organisations. We run the business of the Church as we run a political party or the NHS or the banks or the local authority or the golf club. All of these are not too dissimilar in their day to day operation. We all have rules and regulations and standing orders, working parties, committees, mission and vision statements. And yet, the Church is so very very different. And we get so caught up in the way we run it as we do any other organisation that we most often miss the difference.

What other of those organisations I've mentioned and thousands and millions more besides can say that when they gather together, they are the Body of Christ and 'The Lord is here'? None. And that's what makes the Church different, that's what makes the Church for ever different, and it's what makes us different too. This is what St. Peter says in his second letter, that gives us the clue and much more than a clue, it's the fact of our difference. He says this; 'God's divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature', we are 'partakers of the divine nature'. And it's that part that goes either forgotten, or ignored or maligned, abused, tortured and persecuted by those outside the Church. Because that's what happened to Jesus Christ himself as we shall be remembering especially tomorrow.

What makes the Church different and so what makes us different, together with being partakers of the nature of God, is precisely the fact that when we get together, we do what Jesus commanded us to do in those mystical actions of sharing his body and his blood, in which we receive his life and then going on to live that mystical and divine way, of loving one another as he has loved us; not simply loving in a human way but in God's way. And all that we are and do both as individuals and together, spring entirely from those last words of Jesus to his disciples which we take to ourself and make our own, that we believe in heart, mind, body, soul and strength.

And it's this way of living and loving, this gospel, that brings the fulfilment of God's purposes for the world. It's this gospel way of living that raises the human condition above the tawdry level we see so much of in our villages and towns and cities. Purely humanly devised social programmes will always in the end fail unless they are based upon the gospel which is divine and not human, simply because the purely human will always has its limitations; just as God has said, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away.

In what we hear in the readings tonight, in what we act out in this worship, Jesus is telling us and showing us what makes us different, he's showing us what is everlasting and not only that he's making us fit and able to be the difference that makes the real difference in the world. And that is such a precious gift to us, to be part of the Church, to be part of the Body of Christ. And only those that see that stay. They see it in heart, not in mind, because their heart has turned to God. And being in the heart, it becomes inexpressible, impossible to reason, which again makes it impossible for those outside the Church to understand. And tomorrow, Good Friday shows us the consequence of that inability to understand. But those who stay come through that, as we learn on Sunday.

Jesus tells us to eat and drink, abide in him as he abides in us; love one another as he has loved us. Only in that way can we come to the fullness of life which is the intention of God for us his children.