Image Credit: By Senado The Commons - Acervo Museu do Senado, No restrictions,
Wikimedia Commons
Each
year as I come to Holy Week, and especially the last three days, I find
that I have less and less ability or interest in trying to explain and
make sense of this week. That's true not only about this week but also
about life. I don't want explanations, mine or anyone else's. I want to
experience this week. I want to experience the truth of this week in my
life.
I have no explanations of what happened on that first Maundy Thursday.
And I am not going to tell you what it means or should mean in your
life. I simply want us to reflect on our experience of this holy night.
Think
about a time when you gathered around the table in remembrance. Where
was the table? Who was there? Who wasn't there? What was the
conversation about? What was your remembrance as you gathered around
that table?
It
seems to me that we are always gathering around the table in
remembrance. It's just something we do. It's feels right and natural,
holy, and important.
My
wife and I spent the last two days with family and friends for the
funeral of her brother-in-law. The only thing we did those two days was
gather around the table in remembrance. We gathered around the table at
the home of a family member and we ate and we talked. We re-membered.
And then we went to the church and we gathered around the table in
remembrance. We ate and drank in remembrance. And then we went into the
parish hall and you know what we did? We again gathered around the table
in remembrance, and we ate some more and talked some more. And when we
got home, you know what we did. We gathered around the table to eat and
drink in remembrance.
It's
always about the table and remembrance. Every time there is a death or a
loss we gather around the table to eat and drink in remembrance. But
it's not limited to deaths. What do we do at a wedding? We gather around
the table to eat and drink in remembrance - first at the church and
then again at the reception. We gather around the table in remembrance
for anniversaries, birthdays, graduations. We do it with friends and
family. We gather around the table in remembrance to mark our losses,
celebrations, and transitions in life.
That's
exactly what this night is about. Every one of our readings has two
common themes: the table and remembrance. In the first reading (
Exodus 12:1-14)
we hear instructions about gathering around the table for the passover
meal. It ends with the injunction: "This day shall be a day of
remembrance for you." In the second reading (
1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
we hear how, on the night he was betrayed, Jesus gathered his disciples
around the table offered his body and blood and said, "Do this in
remembrance of me." In
tonight's gospel (
John 13:1-17, 31-35) Jesus washes feet and commands love in remembrance. "You also should do as I have done to you."
I
want to be clear that remembrance is not simply about recalling the
past, returning to the past, or recreating the past. Remembrance has the
ability to take the past and bring it into the present moment and let
it have a continuing effect and impact on our lives. It's the aperture
into a new and larger life. We move forward through remembrance of the
past.
There's
something within us that hungers for remembrance and knows that
remembrance has the ability to feed and nourish life. That's why we
gather around the table to eat and drink in remembrance. We did last
Sunday. We will tonight. And we will again next Sunday. Whether within or outside of the church we are always eating and drinking in remembrance.
We
carry these remembrances within us. Let me tell you a few of mine. One
of my remembrances is my grandmother's perfume. We called her Bum Bum. I
can still smell her perfume. And when I do, I re-member Bum Bum. Her
presence is real and tangible. I know she is with me and I can feel her
hands rubbing my little back. After she would visit our house my sister
and I would argue over who got to sleep on her pillow because we wanted
to smell and re-member her.
One
of my remembrances is Orion's Belt. Every time I look at those stars I
re-member my little boy. I fell him laying on top of me as I lay on the
ground and we gazed up into the night sky. His weight, his warmth, his
life, his love are real and present in that remembrance.
Another
one of my remembrances is a place called Kiotari Beach. It's a place in
Greece Cyndy and I visited on our sabbatical. When I re-member Kiotari I
feel Cyndy's hand in my hand. I feel the breeze and the sun's warmth. I
relive that time with her. I feel the connection and the fit. And it
changes the present moment.
Remembrance
has a way of putting us back together again. The opposite of
re-membering is not forgetting but dis-membering. Remembrance is a
condition of the heart. It's a way of being in the world and relating to
one another.
What
are your remembrances? Who are the people? Where are the places? What
are the circumstances? What do you experience in those remembrances? How
do they affect you and put your life back together again? When was the
last time you gathered around a table in remembrance? What happened?
The
reason we re-member so much and so often is because as we re-member our
faith is strengthened and fortified. We create a reserve. Our
remembrances are the experience of faith renewed, emboldened, and made
real. That's why on those hard days of loss and sadness we gather around
the table to re-member. That remembrance carries us through the
sorrows. And it's why on those happy days we gather around the table to
re-member. That remembrance fills us with gratitude and opens our eyes
to the beauty of the world, the wonder of life, and the mystery of love.
So
I invite you on this Maundy Thursday night to re-remember, to gather
your remembrances and bring them to this place and reflect on them tonight. We'll need those remembrances when we come to Good Friday.
When have you gathered around the table in remembrance? What are your remembrances tonight?
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