Holy Week is upon us! A week to reflect. A week to remember. A week to give thanks. In my old denomination, we did not celebrate Holy Week. It was not that important. The only thing that was important was to evangelize the town I lived in to make sure we saved as many souls as we could. What a joke! As if we do the saving!!!
Now, I stand in awe of this sacred seven days that run the gamut of emotions. A parade to begin, an empty tomb to end, and victory for humanity! But today is Maundy Thursday. A day when Jesus washes feet, eats supper with his closest friends, and then is betrayed into the reigning government's hands.
On this day, Jesus gave humanity a new calling, a new path, a new way to be God's people in the world. The new mandate Jesus instills in his followers is to love. Not a phony love that says we can love the sinner but hate the sin. That is just a conservative way of keeping the age old boundaries in place! A true love is one of active engagement with and for the beloved. This kind of love beckons us to wash the feet of those people who we think are not worthy of the service. This kind of love asks us to work for peace in places of the world that does not know peace regardless of the political implications. This kind of love compels us to the boarder of countries to give aid to those who have been discarded as undesirable. This kind of love changes the world so that God will desire to live right here with us, through us, and in us.
That is what Jesus showed us, and that is what Jesus calls us to do. The way that we love others is the way that we love God.
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