Maundy Thursday

April 9, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Romans 6:3-11

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. –Romans 6:3-4

I was six when baptized. I remember it very well. A short, skinny, sickly little kid, the congregation could only see the top of my head when I took the last step to the floor of the baptistry in my small hometown church. Dr. Fred Keller did the honors. He was a history professor at Phillips University, located about 50 miles northwest of the church, and an ordained minister in the Christian Church now called the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Our church was too small to afford a fulltime pastor. Many of the small rural communities that surrounded Enid, Phillips’ location, were shepherded by both faculty and seminarians in parttime capacities.

I “went forward” and made my confession of faith the week before my baptism, a surprise to everybody in the sanctuary, I think, including my parents and Dr. Keller. He and I had a friendly chat after church. I guess he was satisfied that I knew what I was doing as he scheduled the baptism.  Dr. Keller and I routinely had chats anyway because I was a history buff at a very early age. I think he enjoyed my curiosity. Before we entered the baptistry, Dr. Keller walked me through the procedure. After he said the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost,” placing his hand gently over my mouth and lowering me backward into the water, he just as gently raised me to a standing position. I felt different as I stood for a moment to get my balance. I cannot describe what that difference was, but I knew that I had made a lifelong commitment. I remember that.

Once again, the scripture above reminds me of my baptism and that commitment. Today we remember Jesus’s last supper when he took the bread and blessed it and gave it to all the disciples saying take and eat of this all of you for this is my body broken for you. In like manner, he took the cup blessed it and gave it to them, saying this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins drink of it all of you.

For the last few weeks, I have shared the reenactment of this supper at home via Facebook and my laptop as my congregation practices safe distances in response to the covid-19 pandemic. While I would prefer to be sharing the Lord’s table in our sanctuary, the fulfillment of Jesus’s instruction to do this in remembrance of him does not require a special place. We are one in Christ wherever we may be as we celebrate how large and how far-reaching the Lord’s Table is.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for being present with us whenever and however we come together One Body with you sharing your love throughout a troubled world. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.