Image:
"In the Cup of the New Covenant,"
Jan Richardson, 2012.
"In the Cup of the New Covenant,"
Jan Richardson, 2012.
March 24, 2016
In the Passover, we see God passing over us as
a protective angel, preserving us from harm, leading us out of bondage into
freedom.
Jesus then passes beyond being Lord and master
and kneels before us as our humble servant.
If we are to belong to him, we must allow him
to wash our feet. In both of these instances, the saving action is God's.
The initiative is God's; the magnanimity is God's; the self-emptying is God's.
We have nothing to contribute to these amazing
happenings.
All we have to do is accept the salvation that
is offered.
On this day of Eucharist, our only response is
a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
a sacrifice that is really our openness to
receive the sacrifice of God—the sacrifice of the lamb and the sacrifice of
Jesus' self-emptying service.
Who could have imagined that any of this would
happen?
A motley group of runaway laborers escapes from
the clutches of their superpower overlords; bread and wine is changed into the
body and blood of a man who is being hunted down;
the Son who was sent by God into the world
washes the feet of his disciples.
It is no wonder that Peter initially resisted.
God's love for us is beyond comprehension.
This night we are left with the directive:
"As I have done, so you must do."
Our thanksgiving is expressed in our own
self-emptying service of others.
Having received the gifts of God, we give them
away; they flow from God through us to others.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Add