Lent 2009 #38: Maundy Thursday

John 13:5-10,14-15  5 Then [Jesus] poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" 7 Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." 8 Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." 9 Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" 10 Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you. 14 [If] I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you."

THOUGHTS:

Jesus, shortly before his crucifixion, chose to wash the feet of his disciples. Peter doesn't want Jesus to wash his feet. Maybe it seems demeaning to allow his Lord to do something so lowly. This is something Peter could do for himself, or someone of lower stature maybe -- but not a task for his master. It's not Godly work! Right?

Do you identify with Peter here? We like to be self sufficient, and we tend to think of servant's work as being demeaning. We want to be independent! Yet, as disciples, we need to allow God to serve us through others when we can't make it on our own. We also need to be willing to be servants to others, giving of our time to do work we might even consider demeaning. Like Jesus, we may need to lower ourselves to show others how much they are loved.

PRAYER:

Lord God, you have given us the very air we breathe. Teach us when to rely on our communities and guide us to serve the world around us in your abounding love. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.

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REMINDER: Carpool to worship with us during HOLY WEEK (meet at SUB 1 room 207).  Email lutheran@gmu.edu if you have questions.

TODAY (4/9) - MAUNDY THURSDAY:  Meet at 6:50pm and we'll head to services at a local Lutheran congregation.

4/10 - GOOD FRIDAY:  Stations of the Cross in mixed media -- The object of the Stations is to help the faithful to make a spiritual pilgrimage of prayer, through meditating upon the chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and death.  We'll meet at 6:15pm to check out this mixed media experience created through the collaboration of 4 faith communities.

4/12 - EASTER: Meet at 10:25am to carpool to a local Lutheran congregation for Easter worship!

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These devotions are provided by Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University .  Feel free to share them with your friends!  For more information on our ministry and events, see http://gmu.edu/org/lutheran  

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