A Maundy Thursday Homily for 2006
“He Humbled Himself”
Philippians 2:1-11
Listen
to some words taken from a secular song: “I
was there when they crucified my Lord. I
held the scabbard while the soldier drew his sword. I tossed the dice while they pierced his
side. But I’ve seen love conquer the
great divide.”
What great divide? The one
between God and humanity. God demands
holiness and righteousness from us, his highest creations. On our own we cannot be holy or
righteous. We are alienated from our
God, doomed to an eternity without him by our own proud sinfulness.
But
God won’t have that. Out of his great love
for us he has provided a way for us to be reconciled with him. We can’t conquer the great divide, but he can
– and he did. He came to us in the
person of Jesus as Emmanuel, God- With-Us.
He came as the Word made flesh and dwelt among us. He conquered that great divide by becoming
one of us. He modeled humility in his
incarnation, birth, life, and ministry.
And then as Paul wrote to the Philippians, “…he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even
death on a cross.”
In tonight’s service we are remembering and reflecting on that
humility, that willingness to conquer the great divide. We are remembering the final hours of our
Lord’s earthly ministry. We are reflecting
on the final Passover feast Jesus shared with his disciples: his washing of
their feet; his lonely moments of agony in the garden; his betrayal by Judas
and denial by Peter; his sham of a trial; the beatings and mockery by the
soldiers; his cruel walk to Golgotha; his crucifixion and experience of
absolute forsakeness; his suffering, death, and burial.
And thus God’s love, that wondrous love about which we sing, conquered
once and for all time the great divide. “What wondrous love is this that caused the
Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul. When I was sinking down beneath God’s
righteous frown, Christ laid aside his crown for my soul.” His was a humility that was willing to
endure humiliation and degradation – for our souls. His was a love that led him to a cross – for
our souls.
When Paul wrote the words of tonight’s text to the Christians in
Before he quoted that great hymn of the early church found in verses
5-11, he wrote these words, taken this time from The Message: “If you’ve gotten anything at all out of
following Jesus; if his love has made any difference in your life; if being in
a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care – then do me a
favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way up to the front; don’t
sweet-talk your way to the top. Put
yourself aside, and help others get ahead.
Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a
helping hand.”
I wish that tonight’s service included foot washing. I firmly believe that it ought to be the Church’s
third Sacrament. I wish that each of us
could not only be tangibly reminded of our Lord’s humility, but also have an
opportunity to practice it. What better
way to be reminded of the depths to which our Lord was willing to go – for our
souls? What better way is there to
reinforce the attitude of servanthood that discipleship demands?
Getting down on our knees and washing the feet of a fellow Christian is
an exercise in humility. It is also an
exercise in vulnerability. When our Lord
emptied himself he made himself vulnerable.
He opened himself up to the human experiences of grief, pain, sadness,
and even death – for our souls.
We’re not washing one another’s feet tonight. We are, however, singing, saying, and hearing
words that remind us how much it cost our Lord to conquer that great
divide. At our Lord’s Table, as we take
Communion, we will be reminded of our Lord’s broken body and spilled
blood. As we hear the sorrowful words of
Scripture and experience the increasing darkness of the Tenebrae Service we
will have opportunities to reflect once more on the wondrous love of God made
real in Christ Jesus. We will have
opportunities to reflect on our unworthiness of that love. At the same time, we will have opportunities
give thanks to God for his amazing grace.
And as we leave in silence, we will carry with us the painful knowledge
of our Lord’s suffering and death – for our souls. But let’s not leave it at that. Let us also carry within our deepest selves an
inner promise to better model the humility and vulnerability of Jesus. Let us remember how God, in the person of
Jesus, humbled himself for us, and then go forth to more faithfully serve Christ
and one another. Let us be willing to
show the world what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, to be a servant
of that Suffering Servant who conquered the great divide – for our souls. Amen.