Lenten Reflection for Day 38—Maundy Thursday
Date: April 5, 2012
Author: Pastor Pat Harris
Bible Passage: Revelation 21:5 (NRSV)
5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Reflection:
On this Maundy Thursday, we think on Jesus’ new commandment from the Gospel of John: “Love one another as I have loved you.” These words, too, are trustworthy and true, but oh, so very hard to live up to. If we were able to come even close to the gold standard that Jesus sets for loving each other, the world would truly be made new.
We are certainly called upon to strive to love each other as Jesus loves us, but we are weak human beings. The neighbor who always criticizes us because our property maintenance does not meet his standards is really hard to love. The co-worker who doesn’t do his or her share of the work just makes us angry. The teenager down the street who dresses differently and plays loud music continually aggravates us. Try as we might, we just can seem to come up to Jesus’ standard for loving these “difficult” people.
When God fulfills God’s promise to make all things new, will our neighbors be changed so they don’t irritate us, or will we be the ones changed? Perhaps we will be transformed so that our love for other people is not dependent on their “lovability”?
Prayer: All loving God, may you make us new so that we may fulfill Jesus’ command to love one another as we have been loved. Amen
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