This year, as we journey through the season of Lent, we are spending each week focused on one of the many events, or situations, that occurred during Jesus’ final week on earth. Last week, we looked at Lazarus’ death – Jesus traveled to Bethany to console Lazarus’ sisters and then invited Lazarus to rise from the dead. Although we don’t always recognize this when we celebrate Holy Week, the rising of Lazarus occurs just before Palm Sunday.
This morning, we are going to skip over the Palm Sunday story and save it to focus-on on March 29 – during our remembrance of Holy Week. Today, we turn to one of the occurrences that happened as part of the Last Supper. Listen now to the story unfolds as we turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 13, verses one through seventeen:
The Scripture John 13:1-17
13 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.
3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;
4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.
5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”
11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them.
13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.
14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
Amen.
Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
LEt us pray…
The Message Jesus Serves
When I was in seminary, every year during one of the Holy Week worship services, the professors would wash the feet of the students. The professors were typically very formal – the men wore suits and the women were also usually dressed up – wearing high-heals and make-up. But, when the time came for the foot washing, the teachers would take off their jackets, beckon the students forward, have us sit down, and then the professors would kneel down before us and wash our feet. It was very moving, and also very weird.
In my mind, it didn’t seem right for our professors–who were brilliant theologians and leaders of the church–to debase themselves by washing our feet.
But that is what they did. They were demonstrating servant-leadership.
As we read through this morning’s passage, I can relate to Peter – it didn’t seem right to him to have Jesus – their leader, their teacher, their pastor, their messiah – it didn’t seem right to have Jesus wash their feet. Washing feet was the job of a servant…washing feet was the job of a slave. The students were supposed to care for their rabbi – not the other way around. This was a topsy-turvy event for the disciples – the one they served was serving them.
It was probably deeply uncomfortable for the disciples, and weird, to have Jesus wash their feet.
But, as was true with many of his choices, Jesus was teaching his disciples – even as the pressure was on and Jesus knew his lifetime was coming to an end and his betrayer was in the room with them – even then, Jesus was teaching his disciples.
Jesus told them: “ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”
Do you think Jesus was telling his followers that we need to wash each others’ feet? A third sacrament to go along with Baptism and Communion??
Some churches and denominations embrace foot washing….they believe it is important to literally do as Jesus said, and wash each other’s feet. But, churches like ours are not jumping in “feet first.” We are more focused on the lesson behind Jesus’ words.
Jesus wanted his followers to humble themselves and serve other people. He was egalitarian – everyone needed to be treated equally and kindly. No one was better than anyone else, and Jesus mandated that we call love our neighbors as we loved ourselves. No one was to think of themselves as superior compared to other people. No servant is greater than his master – and no master is greater than his servant.
In our regular-lives, we are used to hierarchies. Little Aida is in preschool – the teachers are in charge of the students. They have to be in charge, since 2-year olds are risk takers who don’t understand cause-and-effect.
This carries through our lives – in school the teachers are in charge of the students and the principals are in charge of the teachers and the superintendent is in charge of the principals. Most of our work-places are set up where there are bosses in charge of employees – corporate structures have the owners and Chief Executive Officers at the top of the hierarchy and various levels of employees down to the entry level folks….layer upon layer of hierarchies.
In our work lives, we are encouraged to strive for the top – to work towards moving up in the chain-of-command until we have higher salaries and possibly supervise other people and have more and more responsibilities. Even when I worked in bookstores and fast food restaurants, the promise of a managerial position in the future and the possibility of supervising the other workers was the goal we all strived towards.
But, Jesus wanted his people, Christians, to look at each other and their fellow-men (and women) with compassion, grace, love and equality. The Christian world and our work as the faithful must operate differently than the rest of the world. And, our work as Christians must take priority over all of our other work. We cannot think of ourselves as “above” helping others. We can’t think of ourselves as “too-good” to do the work of compassion Jesus inspires us to embody – in our faith, there is no hierarchy – we are all called to clean the bathrooms or sweep the floors or wipe the snot off of a kid’s runny nose or heat up a frozen meal so that a homeless person has a bite to eat. We are all called to be workers for God, worker-bees for Christianity.
Sometimes, we have trouble seeing the needs of other people. We are busy and are caught up in doing what is right in front of us. But, part of our work is to have our eyes open and work to see the needs others have. Sometimes, other people are too afraid to ask for help. Sometimes, other people are too embarrassed to ask for help. So, we must pay attention…and keep our ears and eyes open…so that we can recognize what others may be afraid to say or ask for.
And, when we discover what people are struggling with, we must do our part to help them find solutions…solutions that support them with dignity and grace.
Even at the end of Jesus’ life, he was still teaching his disciples lessons. He wanted them to remember they served him by serving other people. He wanted them to remember that there is no job that is beneath us. And, we are called to work for the good of other people every chance we get.
So let us work to live out our faith by recognizing the needs of other people and doing all we can to help them..
Amen.
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