If you take a close look at the altar, you can’t help but notice the words emblazoned across the top: “This do in remembrance of me.” Whoever constructed this altar, or whoever commissioned it to be made, wanted to communicate an indelible reminder that the altar is forever linked to the last supper that Jesus shared with his closest followers before his arrest and execution. At that Passover meal, Jesus instructed his followers to continue the practice of breaking bread, in remembrance of him, and we continue the same practice in our time whenever we gather to celebrate the Eucharist. This altar stands as a reminder that we are a eucharistic people.  

But the altar is not the only reminder. Focus your attention on the large window at the back of the chancel. If you can put together the words spread out near the bottom, they read: “He was known of them in the breaking of the bread.” This is a reference to the post-Easter story in the Gospel of Luke of two followers of Jesus walking to the town of Emmaus. Along the way, Jesus joins the two, but they don’t recognize him in his resurrected state until he breaks bread with them and their eyes are opened. The point is that we encounter Christ in the celebration of the Eucharist. So, together with the words on the altar, this window points to the importance of the Eucharist here at St. Aidan’s. We’re reminded that shared bread and wine is central to who we are because that is how we meet the risen Christ.  

Maundy Thursday, however, is an invitation to contemplate a different perspective on the Eucharist. Did you know that, of the four Gospels, John—which we just heard read—is the only Gospel that does not contain any reference to the last meal that Jesus ate with his closest followers? Matthew, Mark and Luke each recount Jesus breaking bread and sharing the cup—but not John. Instead, John stresses something else that happened on that night: the washing of feet and Jesus’ new commandment. The term “maundy” comes from the Latin word mandatum, which is where we get our English word “mandate.” Mandatum was used as a translation of the Greek work for “commandment.” At the conclusion of tonight’s Gospel, we heard Jesus’ words: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” The focus of Maundy Thursday, therefore, is on this new commandment. I’d like to suggest that our eucharistic celebrations—which we practice regularly, multiple times each week, including tonight—must be undertaken each time as though we are gathering to wash each other’s feet. In coming forward to receive bread, we are commiting ourselves to care for each other—to love each other—to the extent that we are willing to stoop low and attend to the feet of those next to us—to the ingrown toenails, fungus, calluses, and everything else that we might cover up with our socks.  

Maundy Thursday goes beyond how we participate in the Eucharist. It informs the entirety of Christian existence. If we’re going to be known as followers of Jesus, then we must love each other—not as we love ourselves, but as Jesus has loved us. His is the kind of love that gets down low and scrubs off all the dirt we’ve accumulated. We must be willing to get down low, too, to clean the dirtiest feet and care for the sorest heals and toes. But we also need to allow others to show us love, to clean our feet. That means we must become vulnerable, allowing others to wash our feet clean, gently treating the rough spots, so that we can get back on the journey of following Jesus.  

Jesus’ entire public life is metaphorically summed up in the action of washing feet. He invites us to continue this work. We do it literally here tonight, but washing feet can take many different forms. Maybe it’s attending to a sick neighbor who doesn’t have the energy to make dinner. Maybe it’s driving someone to an appointment. It might be helping out at an Out of the Cold event, getting to know those who depend on the meals we provide. Maybe it’s just spending time with anyone who needs it, listening and offering a prayer of intercession and hope. And sometimes the tables are turned, as we are on the receiving end of all of these works of mercy.  

The words on the altar say, “This do in remembrance of me.” If we hear this as a reminder to continue the celebration of the Eucharist, that would be right. But there’s more in these words of Jesus. He asks us to remember his new commandment: “Love one another, as I have loved you.” If we are a eucharistic people, we must first be a people of love—not in the abstract but in concrete reality as we meet each other in the messiness of our lives. The window says, “He was known of them in the breaking of the bread.” But it was first his love for them that prepared them to recognize him for who he really is—the risen Christ.  

So, on this Maundy Thursday, may we be inspired to love. May we risk love, especially in times and places where there can be no expectation that love will reciprocate. And may our love overflow in this congregation and into the Beach community and beyond, so that no one goes untouched by the presence of the risen Christ.