After The Party Is Over

April 1:
In my life Thanksgiving was one of the few times when the entire extended family gathered in the same room at the same time and I was always excited about that particular meal because it meant that the cousins and aunts and uncles were all coming from exotic places like Nebraska and Iowa. We called it “Thanksgiving” but we really spent our time celebrating family, good food, football and Canasta (in that order.)

We’ve all heard (or preached) messages before that suggest that sincere “thanksgiving” has to be something that happens inside our lives before it has a chance of being something we express on the outside of our lives. We’ve all learned that a big turkey dinner doesn’t make us automatically thankful for God’s blessings.

I started with American Thanksgiving because the Passover meal that Jesus and his disciples gathered to celebrate (on the day we call Maundy Thursday) was similar to our November holiday. It was also meant to be a time when God’s people paused to remember and celebrate God’s faithful love. It was a day to be thankful.

In Jesus’ day the meal would have been lamb, bitter herbs and unleavened bread. These menu items were a reminder of the lamb that was sacrificed and whose blood was spread over the doorposts of the houses, the bitterness of Israel’s slavery in Egypt and fact that they were leaving in a hurry (no time for the bread to rise.) Everything they ate or drank in their Passover gathering was meant to remind them to be thankful for what God had done. But, like our thanksgiving gatherings just gathering to eat the meal was not the same as being thankful. What they did after the party was over was far more meaningful.

Judas stayed for dinner with Jesus and he even hung around while Jesus washed the disciple’s feet. But after that was over he left and arranged to betray Jesus to his enemies. The other disciples stayed for dinner and the foot washing and even some teaching time after that but then all they wanted was a nap. So when Jesus asked them to stay awake with him and pray they all went to sleep. Then when the soldiers finally came to arrest Jesus they protested for a few moments but eventually they all ran off to hide.

For those of us who gather to celebrate Maundy Thursday, the question shouldn’t be, “How many times did I come to dinner?” The question should be, “What will I do after the dinner is over?”

I would suggest that (rather than emulate Judas) we must never act like everything we do in the congregation is meaningless and empty and (unlike the other disciples) we should never fall asleep to the opportunities and challenges that come with being a follower of Jesus. The world is watching!

So, the question remains, “What will you do now that the dinner is over?” Hopefully we will all go out and help Jesus change the world.