“If I Do Not Wash You”

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Peter said to Him, 'You shall never wash my feet.' Jesus answered him, 'If I do not wash you, you have no share with Me.'” If you will not let Jesus serve you, then you will not receive the benefit of His service. It is that simple.

God comes to mankind to serve us. It has always been that way. Speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus instructs her to ask Him for the living water that will well up in her unto salvation. She believes, albeit after some trepidation and some questioning. Therefore she receives the living water of salvation. The crowds come Jesus to be healed and cured and cleansed and taught. They believe, and their afflictions are taken away. The weary crowds come to Jesus for food, and He feeds them. “Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life.” Our Lord serves His people not only with the bread and wine of the earth, the perishable stuff that preserves our perishable bodies for a time, but also His own true physical Body and Blood to preserve us now and unto life everlasting.

All His Benefits

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Tonight we have gathered to mark the beginning of the Triduum, the last three days of our Lord's Passion. Tonight you have heard the account of the institution of the Lord's Supper, the inauguration of the new covenant in the blood of Christ. And tonight you have sung the offertory Psalm. And it is to this psalm we turn our meditations.

“What shall I render to the Lord?” you have sung. What shall you render to the Lord? What will you give back to God? How will you give anything back to God? Is there anything which you might have that God wants?

Of course, you want to. It is human nature to want to give back. In this life, nothing is free. There is always some string attached. Even if you do not see the price tag now, somewhere along the line it will cost you. Better to deal with the obligations up front than be surprised later.

This Bittersweet Supper

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We are gathered here to commemorate Our Lord's giving of the Lord's Supper on the night when He was betrayed. Our gathering for this Meal is bittersweet, for this is a matter of great joy, but also great sorrow.

The Supper of our Lord brings to us great and immeasurable joy because here our Lord comes to us and feeds us with the food of life. With this bread and wine, we receive the very, true, physical Body and Blood of our Lord for our forgiveness, life, and salvation. Under this sign, the Church is constituted. From this Chalice flows the life-blood of the Church. With this Body and Blood, we live and move and have our being. This Supper defines the Church, because apart from it, there is no Church.