On this Holy Thursday, we recall two commands Jesus gave us. One was to remember him in the bread and wine of the Passover feast. The other was to love others by serving them, not as master but as slave, symbolized in the washing of feet. The church chose the Eucharist as the central act of our liturgy, which we bless, break, and share each week. The church in her wisdom knew we must focus ourselves in order to understand what is most important to our life in faith.
But a professor in seminary one day asked his students, “What if the washing of feet had become the central act of liturgical Christianity instead of the Eucharist?” What would that shift in focus mean? What if, in our focusing, we said no to the Eucharistic act altogether? What would we look like?
Some say that the Eucharist, with its dining room elegance of beautiful vessels and linens makes us one kind of people. But if washing feet was the liturgy every week, how would we be a different people? Would we be more or less committed to the inclusion of all at the basin of the Lord? Would we be more vulnerable with one another?
On this night we will have both liturgies, both acts of being fed and of serving. Where does Jesus resonate the strongest with you in these acts tonight?
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