Today is Maundy Thursday - a reminder in the Christian calendar of the night Jesus served the Passover meal to his rag tag group of disciples, including the great betrayer, Judas, and the great denier, Peter.

He served them the bread, poured them the wine and said -- oh so cryptically -- this is my body which will be broken for you, and this is the wine of a new covenant, my blood poured out for the forgiveness of sin.

Prior to that, the Son of God wrapped a servant's towel around his about-to-be-crucified waist and performed the menial task of washing his closest friends' filthy feet.

Why?

Why does Jesus bless this group of men, many of whom could rightly be called "losers?"

I love how pastor Paul N. Walker puts it:

What Jesus is doing by blessing the losers is forecasting another loss -- his own on the cross. His dinner party advice about descending to the bottom rung telegraphs his descent into hell for your sake. He is the biggest loser of them all. Jesus lost his life on the cross, so that you and I would find ourselves seated at the top of the table. This is the Gospel, the free invitation to the Feast.

The point is that when you find yourself on the losing side of life, you have already found the portal to God's presence. By the way, you are there already. Jesus' stories tell us that everybody already has a seat at the table. And to the scorekeepers among the crowd, we hear that God does not count our record of wrongs against us.

That's because the Gospel is free. The Gospel is easy. The Gospel is yours already. The Gospel has nothing to do with anything you have to do. The Gospel is not about becoming a spiritual, theological, or moral winner. The Gospel does not depend on what you have done, what you are doing, or what you will do tomorrow or the next day.

Frank Sinatra finishes his beatitude ballad with a scene from another dinner party or perhaps wedding feast. He sings, 'Here's the last toast of the evening; Here's to those who still believe/ All the losers will be winners, all the givers shall receive.'

For in Jesus Christ, God has already blessed us all.

May your celebration of the events of Maundy Thursday remind you that Jesus blesses the losers, and because of this, we are all set free.

Stop striving.

Even losers are invited to the table. Maybe, especially losers.

Thanks be to God.