Maundy Thursday

Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10) 11-14; Psalm 116: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-17, 31b-35

“Walk while you have the light.” “Become children of light.”  Jesus speaks these words even as the darkness gathers around him.  This week, light and dark play together in the dance of mystery.  As the darkness grows, the light and its source become clearer and stronger.  And as the light shines more strongly, the darkness strives harder to extinguish it.

But there are other lights and other darknesses in this week.  There is the softer, gentler light of a Passover meal taken in a private room.  There is the gentle light of one who washes feet and teaches love.  And there is the softer darkness in which Jesus is safe to spend some last quiet minutes with his friends, and with the God he names as Father.  

Tonight many of us will gather to share a meal and hear these words told again.  We will wash and be washed.  We will gather in the semi-darkness of corner chapels or in stripped churches and sit in vigil.  We will dwell in the space between light and dark.

In that space, perhaps you will know the peace that comes in the twilight.  Jesus shows us how to dwell in that twilight place.  He doesn’t force anything, he neither runs nor provokes.  He keeps on loving in whatever way he can, and he teaches us to do the same.  

Being a child of light this week can’t mean pretending that all is well.  It can’t mean denying evil or injustice or pain in the world.  But it also can’t mean simply rejecting, denying the “darkness” in ourselves.  When we do, the welcoming darkness becomes the dangerous darkness.  It overcomes us precisely when we are most sure we are “children of light.”

Spend some time today welcoming the gathering darkness.  Befriend that part of you that would betray Jesus, or that part that would refuse to be washed or show your need.  Ask your soul what you need to face in yourself to stand with Jesus tomorrow.  Let your soul be washed, knowing that God’s love is greater than our sins or failures.  Let yourself be fed.  Let yourself sink into the story of gathering darkness.  Darkness is where new seeds begin.

“Darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day; darkness and light to you are both alike” (Psalm 139:11).