Service Over Power
This sermon was preached by Pastor Ted Carnahan for Maundy Thursday, April 17, 2025.
Transcript
Grace, mercy, and peace be with all of you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
It's a special night tonight, the night where we talk about the great commandment. As Taylor was saying with the kids a little earlier, we don't use the word "Maundy" very often now, do we? In fact, the only reason we use that word at all now is in connection with this night. It comes from a Latin word, mandatum, which means commandment. Some churches have taken to calling this, instead of Maundy Thursday, which is the traditional name, Commandment Thursday, because at the core of this night are some commands that Jesus gives to his people.
The Commandment to Wash Feet
Jesus says, first of all, that we are to wash one another's feet. I’ll be reading that out a little later ritually here for all who would like to participate in that, to have the experience of what it would have been like in that moment. I'll be honest with you, I know that this is kind of uncomfortable. People are often worried about their feet or whether their socks have holes in them. I'll tell you the truth, I don't know if my socks have holes in them tonight. My daughter tells me they do, but she didn't check before I put my shoes on. All my socks seem to have holes in them. Thank you, Annalise, for pointing that out.
This action is, frankly, intentionally uncomfortable in order to experience, even in just a small way, what it was like to have Jesus wash his disciples' feet. It's a significant act.
The Commandment to Love One Another
The other commandment Jesus gives is that we are to love one another. We heard that in our lesson from St. John's Gospel tonight. We are to love one another as Jesus has loved us. That's how the world will know that we're his disciples—not because we are such shiny, happy pennies or wonderful people, but because within the community of the church, we take care of each other.
That's what church is about. We gather for worship, care for each other, love one another, and hold forth the light of Jesus into the world.
The Commandment to Take and Eat
Then the third big commandment that Jesus gives his disciples is this: "Take and eat." These are commandment words. He says, "Do this for the remembrance of me. Take and eat. This is my body given for you. This cup is the new covenant in my blood shed for you." He repeats to us over and over, "Do this."
So tonight is properly called Maundy, Mandatum, or Commandment Thursday because it centers on the commandments through which Jesus shows us how he loves us and what that love should look like in our lives.
The World's Power vs. Jesus' Power
That's not the commandment that the world lives by, though. The world we live in seeks power—power for its own sake, the power to control, to dominate, to rise above others and lord it over them. Nowadays, as far as technology is concerned, it's not about the scarcity of devices or money but the scarcity of attention. Whenever you go online, people are competing, vying, bidding for your attention.
They want to see if they can gain your attention to sell something—goods, services, ideas. They aim to gain some control over you and your decisions. They seek power. If you look at free social media sites—take your pick: Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok—all of those sites are free not because they’re actually free. It costs money to run them. They’re free because you're the product, not the customer.
Here’s how it works:
- They want to give you something you value, like social interaction.
- Then they use your attention to make money.
- Influencers sell lifestyles centered on pride, fame, money, and a certain kind of virtue.
- They try to get you to be like them or want to be like them and then buy into their system.
But tonight, Jesus shows us a different kind of power, a different kind of kingdom. His commandments, his mandatum, differ from those of the world. His power is not one that seeks its own elevation; it's a power that first and foremost humbles itself.
The Humility of Christ
The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus came in humility, born to a relative nobody in a backwater of the Roman Empire. Yet his humbleness was his glory. He chose all of that. He chose to be betrayed, knowing it was coming, and he did it anyway.
That’s why he prayed in the garden, saying, "Lord, if it's possible, take this cup of suffering from me. But not my will be done, Father, but your will be done." He chooses to go to the cross, knowing there’s no other way to save his people. He willingly gives all.
I'm here to tell you tonight that no matter what you hear anywhere else, what Jesus teaches us tonight is that true human glory looks like this—glory in the world's rejection, in the angry words and violent actions of men so accustomed to getting their way that a man like Jesus, who stands before them gentle and humble, fills them with rage.
God's Glory in Humility
God's glory is in the humble and the quiet, in the pitiful and the small. God's glory is even in the midst of death—even death on a cross. This is who God is. He is the God who gives. Here’s what he does for you:
- He joins you to himself in baptism.
- He gives you the clean white robe of his righteousness while donning the purple robe of humiliation instead.
- He endures temptation so that when you are tempted by sin, you have an advocate who has conquered sin for you.
- He waits for you on the porch when you've been gone far too long and restores you before you can even get a word out.
- He goes to Jerusalem, knowing that our shouts of "Hosanna" will change all too quickly into cries to "Crucify him."
Now on this, the last night of his life, he still gives. He stoops down and washes his disciples' feet—your feet. He shows you what true glory is as he lowers himself to serve others. He offers his own body and blood for you, for the forgiveness of sins, in Holy Communion.
The Great Reversal
This is the great reversal. This is God's beautiful sense of humor. The ones who fell away from God in a garden, having eaten forbidden fruit, are now filled with heavenly blessing and grace because the bread of heaven and the holy vine, Jesus Christ, are given to us.
The Son of God, the King of the universe, makes himself a slave and washes dirt and dung from the feet of men so that we, who by right should be only his slaves, are made members of the family—sons and daughters—so that we, who only deserve wrath, are instead showered with love.
You are the great treasure of God:
- You are the lost sheep, redeemed by the shepherd who has been looking for you.
- You are the lost coin for whom God has scoured the whole house and rejoices and throws a party when he finds you.
- You are the lost son for whom the Father has waited so long to return home.
Notice the direction of all of that. It’s not you climbing against yourself, striving to attain heaven, but God descending to be with you—to give you his light, his life, his peace, his forgiveness, which you couldn't earn yourself. It’s not you earning your way out of debt and trying to pay off God, but God paying your impossible debt in full and releasing you from your chains.
This is not so you can gain earthly glory but so you can go and do as Jesus did. He says, "I've given you a great gift. I've given you another as I have already loved you." For the living of these days, he now gives you a wonderful sacrament—something tangible for your faith to cling to.
Bread and wine—but more than bread and wine—because it is also his own body and blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. You can receive it and know for certain that God has promised through it. That is the beauty of this night—that our Lord shows us what true love is, that he chose us, that he still chooses us.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
