Maundy Thursday 2020
Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19
I mentioned on Sunday that I’ve been reading the Psalms a
lot during this time apart, more than any other book of the Bible. And so
tonight, we read the psalm that is assigned to Maundy Thursday, Psalm 116.
Here, the psalmist is trying to figure out how to repay the Lord for all that
God has done for him. The problem is, you can’t put a monetary value on
salvation. Judas may have betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, but the cross
is priceless. Psalm 116 begins by saying, “I love the Lord, for he heard my
voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call
on him as long as I live. The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the
grave came over me; I was overcome by distress and sorrow. Then I called on the
name of the Lord: ‘Lord, save me!’” Moving on to verse 6, “When I was brought
low, he saved me. Return to your rest,
my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. For you, Lord, have delivered me
from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling…” The psalmist has
been in a bad place, one perhaps not too different from the place we find
ourselves in now, and through every difficulty, the psalmist has kept faith
with God and God has also been
faithful and delivered the psalmist. So, in verse 12, the psalmist asks, “What
shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?” and he gives three
answers of what he’s going to do.
First, “I will lift up the cup of salvation.” This is
another name for the chalice we serve at communion. When we serve it at Lisbon,
we say, “The blood of Christ, given for you.” Other traditions say, “The blood
of Christ, the cup of salvation.” Isaiah 53 is one of the readings for Good
Friday and verse 5 says, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed
for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his
wounds we are healed.” By his wounds, by his blood shed for us, we are healed,
we are saved. “The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.” We give thanks to
God for what God has brought us through, for being faithful, for being God. The
best way of giving thanks, or thanksgiving, is the Great Thanksgiving, which is
what we call the communion liturgy. I invite you to join me in The Great
Thanksgiving when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. We lift up the cup of
salvation and we offer it to everyone, just as Jesus died and rose again in
order that everyone who believes might be saved.
Second,
the psalmist says, “I will call on the name of the Lord.” It’s true that often
when we find ourselves in trouble, we call on the name of the Lord. Lord, help
me. Lord, save me. Lord, I don’t know what to do. How often do you call on the
name of the Lord after the trouble is over? After your cancer is in remission,
after the divorce is finalized, after you’re released from the hospital or walk
away from a bad car accident? In giving thanks for salvation, the psalmist
calls on the name of the Lord. This is sharing our testimony of what the Lord
has done for us, what the Lord has brought us through, the miracles we have
seen. This is also not taking the Lord’s name in vain, which is the 3rd
commandment. How often do we mindlessly say, “Oh God”? We cheapen God’s name
when we turn it into a throwaway phrase. See if from now through Easter, just
three days, you can pay attention to your words enough that when you call on
the name of the Lord, you actually mean it. Monitor yourself for three days,
see how what happens if you only say God or Jesus or Christ when you’re
actually calling on him, and not as part of an expression, or a curse.
Finally,
the psalmist of Psalm 116 says, “I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the
presence of all his people.” What vows are you leaving unfulfilled? Are you not
cherishing your spouse? Are you not meeting your work commitments? Or family
commitments? Are you still finding ways to show love to your neighbor and help
those in need? Or maybe it’s your membership vows to the church, that “you will
do all in your power to strengthen the church’s ministries through your
prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, and your witness”? Some of
those things look different when the church building is closed, although really
it’s just a change of location. Your prayers have always happened both in the
church and outside of it. Your presence now means either virtual presence in
these worship services online or by reading this message, prayer requests, and
announcements later. You’re still participating. Many of you are still sending
in your gifts, although now we’re encouraging the electronic option. Finally,
service and witness have always happened both at the church and outside of it.
Closing the church building just means that everything is happening outside of
the building; it means the church is fully deployed out in the world, which is
where we’re supposed to be, anyway. We gather for worship, to sing and pray, to
hear the Word proclaimed, to give thanks, and to be sent out. We’re still doing
that. I’m reminded of the hymn, “We Are the Church.”[1]
The first verse says, “The church is not a building; the church is not a
steeple; the church is not a resting place; the church is a people.” And we are
all part of Christ’s body, the church. When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper,
when we remember the Last Supper, as we will in just a few minutes, it’s a way
of re-membering the body of Christ, as in making us members again, re-member,
of the body of Christ gathered together.
However, first, I have one more question about vows. I’ve
talked about fulfilling vows you’ve already made. Now, what vows do you need to
make? What promises do you need to make to the Lord? You may not have an
immediate answer, and that’s okay. But, I’d like you to think about that, also,
over the next three days, between now and Easter. On Easter Sunday, when the
tomb is empty just like the church, what promises do you need to make to the
Lord?
We are about to remember the promise of Passover, which
our Jewish brothers and sisters are celebrating, and which is what Jesus was
doing at the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed. They were and are
remembering when death passed over the Israelites as they stayed in their homes
that night during the 10th plague before Pharaoh finally let God’s
people go. And, in a way that only God can, we are praying the same prayer. We
are staying in our homes and praying that death will also pass us by and God
will deliver us once again.[2]
Let’s hear the story again.
Exodus 12:1-14
Matthew 26:17-29
[1]
UMH 558
[2]
For more on this theme, read what my Old Testament professor wrote: https://religionnews.com/2020/04/08/this-year-easter-will-feel-more-like-passover/
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