April 18, 2019, is Maundy Thursday. This year, we tried something new (as far as I’m aware) at St. Peter, and actually had foot (and hand) washing as part of the service. The primary text for this service is John 13:1-17, 31b-35, and I’m grateful for Melinda Quivik’s commentary on WorkingPreacher and this article from Jonathan Merritt at Christianity Today. I also adapted a line from Emily McQuillen’s God Pause devotion on April 11, 2019.
The entire season of Lent is about being honest with ourselves before God. Ash Wednesday confronts us with the reality that we are dust and to dust we shall return.
Ash Wednesday destroys our insistence that we can make it on our own, we can take care of ourselves, if we just try hard enough, we can save ourselves.
Tonight, at the end of Lent, on Maundy Thursday, we see Peter making that same argument.
“Lord, what are you doing? You will never wash my feet.”
For Peter to allow Jesus to wash his feet means admitting that his feet our dirty. Being washed requires letting our dirt be seen. To allow Jesus to forgive our sins means admitting we have sins.
“You will never wash my feet. It’s too uncomfortable. My feet are too dirty. If only you knew what I’ve walked through, Jesus. If only you knew the places I’ve been, the things I’ve done, the thoughts I’ve had.” Being honest is hard!
Yet Jesus responds to Peter, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Jesus humbles himself to wash his followers’ feet, and his followers humble ourselves to receive what he offers.
Will you allow Christ to wash you?
Will you allow Christ to forgive you?
Will you allow Christ to give himself for you, in bread, in wine, on the cross?
If we are to follow Jesus’ new commandment to love one another, we need to experience God’s love for us.
Later in the service, we will have a time of foot washing. It’s a powerful thing to experience, humbling ourselves to allow another person to wash us. It’s a tangible way to experience the love of God. No wonder Peter gets excited. “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” But it’s not the water that has the power. Jesus’ point is bigger than feet.
For us who wear socks and shoes instead of sandals and who drive instead of walking everywhere, perhaps having our hands washed makes more sense. That’ll be an option for you tonight as well.
The point is honest humility and service. The point is receiving and sharing God’s love. It’s a powerful symbol, but it’s ok if you don’t physically want any part of you touching water tonight.
As people who have experienced God’s love, we are called to share that love. Washing feet is a dirty, gross job. It’s a chore for the youngest in the room, the servant, the one with the least status. It’s the opposite of honorable.
And yet, “If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet,” Jesus says, “You also ought to wash one another’s feet.”
The point is not only to be washed, to be forgiven, to be set free ourselves; but to wash others, to share God’s forgiveness, to work until all are set free. The point is to love as we have been loved. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Jesus commands us to love one another not with dramatic acts, not by getting credit for giving huge sums of money, or by traveling to far away lands, but by humbly doing the work of a servant, by washing each others’ feet and by humbling ourselves to be washed.
Of course, we can do bigger things to serve God, but our most dramatic actions are at the same time too much and not enough. The best we can do is not enough compared to God, and yet far greater than the humble daily service Christ calls us to.
This is our identity as Christians. This is who we are. We are servants who have been served by our Lord. We are sinners in need of washing, who have been cleansed and set free to wash others; God’s beloved commanded to love. This is our call.
And let’s be honest: This is a hard call. Loving one another with the love of Christ is hard.
Loving one another can be uncomfortable. Loving like Jesus means bearing each other’s burdens and feeling each others’ pains.
If you love like Jesus, people will take advantage of you. You’ll get burned.
God’s love will mess up your life. It’ll make you care about others, make you put other people before yourself, even people you don’t like. Loving like Jesus does not lead to fame, or wealth, or power. Loving like Jesus means giving yourself away. God’s love has a cost. Look where it leads Jesus.
Make no mistake, there is power in the name of Jesus, but not the kind of power we often expect, certainly not the kind of power the world expects.
Go back a few days to Palm Sunday. The crowds were right – Jesus is a king, but not the kind they wanted. We serve a king who lets himself be betrayed, whose glory is revealed in defeat, a king who will go against the laws and powers of this world to love the least of these, a king who will serve rather than be served.
God’s grace is revealed in suffering. We know what happens tomorrow.
Is this a God you’re willing to worship?
Is this a command you’re willing to obey?
Is this a love you’re willing to experience?
As we continue in these holy days, as we draw closer to the cross, may you witness the extent of God’s love for you. May the Holy Spirit empower you more and more to love like Jesus. And may you reflect Jesus’ love to the world.
Amen