A Shocking Thing to Do

John 13:1-17, 31b-35           

            Here we are, gathered together as Jesus and the disciples were that night. It is the night in which Jesus was handed over to die. He knows what’s coming. He knows he will be leaving his disciples, going to his passion and death.

            There is so much that he must have wanted to say to them. There must have been so much he still wanted to pass on. We know about the feeling that there is never enough time in our lives, that there is always more that we want to do, more that we want to say, more wisdom, or experience, or instruction that we want to leave behind..

            If you knew that you were about to go on a journey, or about to die, leaving “your people” – whoever constitutes that group for you – what is it that you would want to say? What is the final message that you would want to give? And what would you do, if you could, to make your final commands, directives, instructions – whatever you might want to call them, memorable?

            I can imagine Jesus thinking about this. After all, his disciples have at times proved themselves to be pretty dense – misunderstanding his actions, missing the point of his teachings, a little too self-centered at times, a little too distracted. Just like us.

            But then comes this night, and Jesus knows that he is going to leave them. In a few hours he will be arrested; in less than 24 hours, he will be crucified. And his disciples will be left to carry on, to carry forth the message of God’s incredible mercy and love, to proclaim the greatness of God, embodied in Jesus and experienced through him. What would you say or do?

            Despite all their fear and confusion and blundering, these disciples will have an enormous mission before them. While there will be some who embrace their mission and the message of forgiveness, new life and salvation through Jesus, there will be many others who will feel threatened by it, who will want to destroy this fledgling community and the message they carry just as they will have killed Jesus himself. The subversive, counter-cultural message of strength and power demonstrated through love will receive mixed reactions after Jesus’ death and resurrection just as during his lifetime.

            Jesus knows that the stress on this community will be enormous.  They must learn to live and work together, loving and supporting and serving each other, so that they will be united in the work they do as they love and support and serve those whom Jesus places in their path.

            And so, Jesus chooses a way to convey the message in such a way that it will be memorable, that it might survive and thrive among them when he is gone.

            As the supper ended, Jesus got down on his knees in the middle of his disciples. Jesus knelt at their feet and, one by one, he washed them.  Jesus washed the feet of his disciples! It was a shocking thing to do. Shocking, and memorable.

            As middle-class American Lutherans, we get pretty squeamish about people washing our feet, or touching our feet, or even, in some cases, just looking too closely at them. Just imagine if we lived in first century Palestine where most of the time simple sandals are the only footwear worn, as we walked everywhere along the dirt roads and fields. Miles of walking done each day along dirt streets and pathways, creating dirty, calloused, gnarled feet. You can imagine why, then, when you entered someone’s home, your feet would be washed by a servant if the household had any, or you would wash your own feet.

            But tonight their leader, their teacher and, as at least some of these disciples were beginning to understand Jesus, the Messiah, the Anointed One, their Lord knelt in a position of servitude and washed the feet of every disciple there that night. Jesus demonstrated humble service. And as he did so, he gave them a new commandment. That they love one another just as he had done.

            For the kind of love that Jesus came to share is love in action. It is love that is expressed in so many ways, often ways that challenge us and call us out of our comfort zones. It is extreme love. It is the Jesus brand of love, the way Jesus loves us and now calls for us to love one another.

            It is love without regard for class, or gender or age. It is a fierce love that is blind to difference. It is love that embraces the marginalized, serves the poor, feeds the hungry, comforts the stranger, cleanses the body and the soul, provides life-giving water, and welcomes the outcast.

            Jesus’ kind of love is love that knows no boundaries and is delivered in memorable acts that are heroic, as well as everyday acts of kindness, acceptance, forgiveness, love and mercy.            

            The message is still counter cultural. It exactly the message we need to hear. We, who are gathered together in this sanctuary tonight as the disciples were gathered around Jesus; we who will receive the Body and Blood of Christ in a meal that was instituted that night and fed to those disciples first; we who will gather again tomorrow to contemplate the life-giving cross of Christ, on which was hung the Savior of the world; we need this message.

            Love one another: by this you are known. Love one another: by this everyone will know that you are my disciples. Love one another, and do not despair. For the Lord is with you.

            You do not understand now, but later, you will understand.

            Tonight, so that everyone can participate, we will deviate slightly from the traditional foot washing of which we read and in which we have engaged in the past. Tonight, we will each come forward to have our hands washed, and cleansed for service – for loving action in Jesus’ name. And then, two of the leaders of our congregation will anoint each hand, marking it with the cross of Christ in whose name and by whose love we serve.

            As Jesus has given us a new commandment, may his Spirit guide, empower, and bless the hands, feet and tongues that show forth his love.

Amen.