March 29, Maundy Thursday (John 13:1-17, 31b-35)
When I was a youth pastor, I was familiar with John 13—but the idea of footwashing freaked me out.
Growing up in eastern North Carolina as a Missionary Baptist preacher’s kid, it seemed like I was always in church. Though we observed many of the important events on the liturgical calendar, there were some we did not. We did not commemorate Pentecost (recognition of the Holy Spirit was a regular part of worship every week). Nor did we formally celebrate the Epiphany (testimony services were our way of acknowledging that Jesus was real and an active part of our daily lives). And we did not observe Maundy Thursday.
The first time I ever heard of Maundy Thursday was when I was a seminary student and a youth pastor at an American Baptist church in Berkeley, California. At the beginning of the year, the pastoral team at the church got together to plan the calendar for the year. When we came to Maundy Thursday, I asked, “What is Maundy Thursday?”
While there was no audible gasp from others on staff, there was a brief silence and an uncomfortable exchange of incredulous glances. I imagine that they might have been thinking, Where did we get her from again?
