A ChatGPT summary and discussion questions for the car ride home:
Sermon Summary:
This sermon reflects on the meaning of Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday when Jesus gave his disciples a “new commandment”: love one another as I have loved you. The preacher humorously dubs the day “Monday Thursday Sunday,” using wordplay to emphasize how holy days blend with regular days in modern life.
The sermon highlights how Christian identity should be marked not by symbols, labels, or traditions, but by love—active, sacrificial love modeled after Jesus. It critiques the tendency of Christians to divide and judge rather than love across denominational lines. Importantly, the sermon acknowledges that love isn’t unique to Christianity—it’s a value shared by many faiths and people. What sets Jesus’ command apart is loving even when it makes us vulnerable, weak, or hurt—just as he did.
The message ends with a challenge: love is a daily decision, and every day can be a holy day if we live out the Maundy—the commandment to love.
Discussion Questions for the Car Ride Home:
-
What does it really mean to “love one another” like Jesus did—and how is that different from just being nice or kind?
-
Can you think of a time when loving someone felt more like weakness than strength? What did you learn from it?
-
If every day can be a “holy day,” what is one small way we can make tomorrow more holy through love?
Scripture John 13:31-35
When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' 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."
Mundy, Thursdy, Sundy, and All the Other Ones Too
Today’s scripture’s a Throwback.
To a Thursday.
Today’s a Throwback Thursday Sunday.
It’s the same scripture from the Thursday before Easter.
Maundy Thursday.
Which kinda makes this Maundy Thursday Sunday.
Some dear souls who aren’t fluent speakers of Church mispronounce the name.
They call it MONDAY Thursday.
And if you do, you are forgiven.
It sounds like Monday.
Close enough.
Monday Thursday.
So, welcome to Monday Thursday Sunday.
Or, as we say in the South: “Mundy Thursdy Sundy.”
But is it really all that different from Tuesdy Winsdy Saturdy?
When these new holidays come around so often, it’s easy to lose track.
The holidays.
The Holy Days.
When they all blur together are any days holy?
Or are they all weekdays?
Are they all just weak?
Weak as in “not strong”?
Weak as in “indistinguishable?”
Back on the original Maundy Day-Day, Jesus gave his disciples a way to make their days stand out.
But more, he gave them a way to make Every day a Holy Day.
He gave them a commandment to make themselves stand out.
On all days.
He gave them a way to be special.
So everyone could know that they were his followers.
What if every day was a throwback to that Thursday?
---
Do you remember when Sundays were special?
When all the stores were closed?
Back in the throwback day when if you mowed your lawn on a Sunday the neighbors thought you were a heretic?
My grandmother used to get so mad when my mom did laundry – i.e., ran the washing machine – on Sunday.
Do you remember those days?
If so, you might be an -- AARP member.
These days, there’s barely anything special about Sundays.
Sportsball games start at sunrise.
People go to work just like any other day.
Oh, I mean, some of us don’t go to work.
But we don’t mind going to restaurants and letting other people do the work for us.
And when your work is time-synced to your home office in Saudi Arabia, or China – I mean, who knows what day it is?
No wonder we’re all celebrating made-up markers of days, like Taco Tuesday, and Meatloaf Monday.
And yes, I have discovered Meatloaf Monday at Five Sisters.
I love this place.
--
Throwing back – way, way back – way back to Jesus’s time, he had these disciples.
And when they all came from the same country, it was easy to recognize them.
Well, it was easy to recognize the men, after a small bit of surgery.
But that’s a whole different sermon.
That was the problem.
The church started getting followers from all over the place.
Countries you couldn’t even pronounce.
Followers of Jesus needed to pump up their brand.
Needed to set themselves apart from all the other flavors.
Yes, they had their icon, the cross.
But anybody could wear one of those.
Christians needed to BE different.
They needed a way to stand out without it looking like they thought they were better than everybody else.
Thank the Lord – I guess, the Lord.
The Gospel According to John, threwback their memories to that Thursday.
Jesus had had the concept of an idea all along.
--
“Maundy,” is a casual nickname for the Latin word, mondatum.
Slight problem there is nobody speaks Latin except for scientists and a few lawyers who like to throw around “habeas corpus” like they’re all fancy.
Hey.
You pay that much for a degree, you get to say the secret words.
But normal people had no idea what “mondatum” meant, so it got shortened, like all good nicknames, to Maundy.
Meaning command or commandment.
It comes from our scripture today.
The Thursday before Easter, at the Last Supper, and in our rerun of the scripture today, Jesus gives his disciples a “new” commandment.
“I give you a new commandment,” he says.
And what is this (quote) 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.”
So, love. Y’all.
Love one another.
And they’ll know we are Christians… by our love.
By our love.
Excellent idea, Jesus.
Someone should write a song about that.
About the Maundy.
Maundy, maundy.
So good to me.
Nah.
Isn’t that just like the church?
To be known by a word that nobody uses anymore?
Like, Presbyterian?
A word that’s not really a word in that autocorrect always changes it to Pescaterian? Or Pedestrian?
Dadgummit, Siri.
I don’t want to belong to any Pedestrian Pescaterian Church.
Them folks is weird.
Jesus didn’t say to identify ourselves by our T-shirts.
Didn’t say to make clear which version of the Bible we read by our bumper stickers.
Or by a flag.
Or by the music we play through our subwoofers that makes the whole neighborhood shake like the Blue Angels are overhead.
He 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.”
Love one another? That’s so simple!
Great idea, Jesus.
Because now the whole world will look at us Christians and they’ll see us loving on each other.
The United Methodists and, rot roh.
The Global Methodists.
The Evangelical Lutherans and the Missouri Synod Lutherans.
Oh, oh.
The Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox.
Oh, oh.
The Irish and the Irish.
The Presbyterians (USA) and the Presbyterians (of A)
And the Orthodox Presbyterians, and the Free Presbyterians, and the Bible Presbyterians.
Ew. Who are those people?
My daughters best not be bringing home any of those boys.
Those heterodoxical non-conformist apostates.
Might as well be from the Big 10.
Wait, this is church.
We’re supposed to be talking about religious things.
I lived in Alabama.
These ARE religious things.
Where were we? Oh yeah:
Love one another? That’s so simple!
Great idea, Jesus.
Because now the whole world will look at us Christians and they’ll see us loving on each other.
And loving on the whole world.
In perfect harmony.
Allegedly.
--
OK, so based on the “Maundate” from “Maundy Thursdy” our brand-new “brand” is love.
That’s easy.
Except one little thing.
And begging the Lord’s pardon, here.
But there’s nothing new about this “new” commandment.
Loving God and loving your neighbor with your heart and soul is the heart and soul of Jesus’s Jewish faith.
Deuteronomy 6, Leviticus 19 and many other places in the Bible Jesus read say to love God and love your neighbor.
This so-called “new” commandment’s not new at all.
It wasn’t new to the disciples.
It’s not unique now.
Pretty much every religion tells its followers to be loving.
To each other.
To the world. Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism – they all say: love.
Be loving.
Atheists, agnostics, humanists, Flying Spaghetti Pastafarians –
They all say, be kind.
Be loving.
To everybody.
Top it all off, even nasty people love.
And Jesus knew it, too.
In Luke 6:32, he says, “Even sinners love those who love them.”
Even if we get so fired up with this loving thing that we go overboard and start loving our enemies.
How’s that supposed to distinguish us from, like, Swifties, and furries, and overly affectionate Unitarians?
Well, try this:
It doesn’t.
Loving each other, loving God, loving the world, loving our enemies –
The only people it distinguishes us from are people who aren’t loving, people who are mean, people who are hateful, hurtful – unloving, uncaring, unconcerned.
And you know what?
Jesus tells us to love those jerks, too.
Loving in the spirit of Christ doesn’t make us unique.
Loving as Christ loved doesn’t make us better.
It makes us weak.
Loving as Christ loved doesn’t make us better.
It makes us weak.
Just like Jesus.
Just like Jesus, the man who got crucified, the next day after giving his disciples this new commandment.
Now, how’s that supposed to work?
--
Throwback to the scripture today.
When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.
Judas has gone out, and by his doing so, Jesus says,
"Now the Son of Man has been glorified….”
Judas has made his mind up to betray Jesus.
And this?
This is what glorifies Jesus?
This is what glorifies God?
Judas is going out to do the most un-loving thing in history.
And THIS glorifies the Son of Man?
--
How do you think Judas felt at that moment, when he went out, and – as the Bible says – “it was dark”?
Did Judas feel sad?
Regretful?
Angry?
Ashamed?
Whatever he felt, beneath it all, in the darkest corners of his heart, I’ll bet Judas felt strong.
Defiant.
Right.
I’ll bet Judas felt strong for following through on his plans.
You’ve gotta feel like a big man (or woman) if you set your heart on betraying a friend.
A beloved friend.
That’s what doing evil does to us.
Even if we don’t like doing it, it makes us feel strong.
Stronger than the other.
Stronger than the voices saying, “Don’t.”
Stronger than the Lord, saying, “Love.”
You don’t need nails for a crucifixion.
You just need a decision.
Crucifixion happens by degrees.
You don’t need a Maundy Thursday.
Any old day will do.
--
Loving one another.
Loving one another – more than we love those other weirdoes over there.
That’s not strength.
That’s the fear of weakness pretending to be strong.
But loving – even in our weakness –
Loving – even though we know it’s going to hurt –
That’s loving in spite of the weakness.
That’s loving like Jesus did.
We get to choose.
And we get to choose every single day of the week.
We’ve got the Maundy.
We just have to put it to a day.
