thursday maundy thursday

When I first learned about Maundy Thursday, I think I had the same reaction many uninformed Baptists do: "Monday Thursday? That doesn't make any sense." I have since learned the proper spelling and pronunciation, and have learned more about the holiday (or, rather, holy-day). Now Maundy Thursday has become one of my favorite days in the liturgical calendar.

Two years ago, my church decided to celebrate this day by hosting a scaled-back Christian version of a Seder meal. I was an intern at the church and was tasked with putting together the event, along with some members of my small group. The only problem was that, while I had heard of the Seder and had conversations with people who had participated in one, I myself had never taken part in one. We ending up piecing together a meal passed on several different versions we found online. In the end, it wasn't so much a historically or culturally accurate approximation of the Jewish festival, but a patchwork ritual event somewhere between Passover, Communion, and just hanging out. In other words, I think it turned out pretty well.

I remember putting together the script and being kind of scandalized by what these different churches had done to the original Jewish version. In a traditional Seder meal, a wine cup is left for Elijah. In the Seder we practiced, there comes this part, where the presider (in this case, myself) takes Elijah's cup and says these words:

"I have taken Elijah’s cup because we no longer wait for Elijah. We celebrate in joy today not only because Elijah has come, but because Messiah has also come!"

This part of our Christian ceremony honestly bugged me. I try to be sensitive to other religious traditions, and there is a long history of Jews having their culture and history manipulated by Christians. I didn't want to contribute.

However, this brought home to me some of the scandal of Jesus's message. It's easy to forget that Jesus wouldn't have been executed if he had been this nice, cheery guy that everybody liked. He was a provocative, polarizing figure that made people (especially people with power) uncomfortable. His disciples must've gotten pretty antsy when he started telling them to eat his body and drink his blood. I never appreciated that until I went through a Christian Seder.

At the end of the day, though, Maundy Thursday teaches me about community. We gathered together that Thursday night around a couple of tables in our pastor's home and joined in eating and drinking as we remembered the story of our faith. One couple brought their child, and as we passed around a basin to wash our hands, the little boy (maybe two years at the time) reached in and rubbed his hands in the water. His mother later commented that she started crying as she watched her son, since this was one of the first times her child actively participated in a church ritual.

I am thankful for the remembrance of Maundy Thursday and the heart of communion. My prayer is for believers to find unity in the scandalous story of Jesus.