Jesus stayed at the table. Even though those gathered around that table were diverse in background, gifts, perspectives, and passions, he stayed at the table. The disciples were not a uniform lot, even after several years of following Jesus. He remained at the table even though the very one who would betray him unto death was seated alongside him. In fact, that one was the only one who would walk away from the table of community, of communion, early and quickly.
Maundy Thursday commemorates the night Jesus was with his disciples in the upper room breaking bread together. During the meal the gospel of John reports that Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35, NRSV). The word Maundy comes from the Latin word mandatum, which means “command,” “order,” or closer still, “mandate.” We are mandated by Jesus to love one another.
Part of loving one another as Jesus loved us… part of letting the world know that we are Jesus’ disciples… is staying at the table. Even when there are differences of opinions, a diversity of perspectives, even when our core beliefs are challenged, we show the love of Jesus when we stay at the table and treat one another with respect, seeking to learn and grow from those different from ourselves just as we are divergent from them. Does Jesus ask us to put up with abuse, shame, or hatred in order to stay at the table? Of course not, and we should walk away when any such evil is served.
The subtitle of the most recent book titled Staying at the Table by the Rev. Terri Hord Owens, our Disciples General Minister and President, is Being the Church We Say We Are. Tonight, as we gather at tables around the world for Maundy Thursday, let us look around to those gathered with us and ask ourselves if we have gathered with the same rich diversity of humanity as Jesus did, or have our congregations been whittled down to be only a community of “yes people?” To be the church we say we are, to be the disciples Jesus called us to be, we must stay at the table and risk being challenged to deeper discipleship.