Maundy Thursday Exodus
12: 1-14a
April 1, 2010 1Cor. 11:23-26,27-32
St. John's, Guilford John 13:1-15
Tonight we gather as spiritual
traveling companions. Such was the gathering described in the
Gospel reading. Jesus is the host at a quiet evening meal with
his friends. We can imagine them reclining around the low table.
John is seated next to Jesus. Without any fanfare, Jesus rises
from the place where he is reclining, takes off his outer robe,
ties a towel around his waist and sets down a basin of water.
Eyes turn toward him. Conversation stops. Imagine exchanged looks
of surprise. Most likely they had their feet washed when they
entered only a short time before. What was he doing?
Foot washing was normally
done upon entering a person's home. A servant or the wife of
the householder washed feet. And here, breaking all of the rules
of propriety, Jesus, their host is crawling around on the floor,
washing feet. He approaches each in turn. The only sound is
the splash of water cleansing the tired, callused feet of his
friends: Matthew the well- to- do tax collector, always the best
dressed of the lot; James, the ambitious one, called "Son
of Thunder" by some; Thomas, the practical one who needs
things to be concrete and visible; Judas the one who resorts
to betrayal and despair. These and the others allow the strange
ritual to progress.
Then Simon Peter speaks out.
"Wait a minute I'm not going to let you do this. What
do you mean, I can't be part of you unless you wash my feet?
If washing my feet is a good thing, then wash my head and my
hands as well.
Jesus continues with a mysterious
explanation about them not needing any other washing, only their
feet. In confused silence the ritual proceeds and Jesus finishes
the foot washing, dries his hands and dresses again. When he
resumes his place at the table, Jesus asks his disciples, "Do
you know what I have done to you?"
Memories of other water come
to mind: another washing, another cleansing, the baptism of Jesus
in the Jordan, where water was splashing and rushing.
Memories of 40-gallon jars of water turned into wine: dippers
of wine splashing the perfect liquid into cups to be shared.
Memories of a blind man washing in a pool, water splashing across
his face as he sees the world for the first time.
Jesus having his feet washed with the tears of Mary Magdalene
and once with costly perfumed ointment that she gratefully poured
over him while the disciples protested.
We have been cleansed heart
and soul in the waters of baptism, but our travels into the world
often add a film of dust that separates us from God. The ways
of the world are not the ways of God. It is so easy to pick up
a film of contamination out in the world each day and track that
dust of the world into our spiritual lives.
The words of Jesus must have
interrupted their thoughts, "Do you know what I have done
to you?" What indeed did he do? In the silence broken only
by the splash of water, Jesus washed away whatever separated
them from God and what ever would hinder the way of servant hood.
In the silence broken only
by the splash of water, Jesus did not cling to his status as
teacher or his position as host or remind them that he was the
Son of God. With towel in hand and on his knees, one person
at a time, he showed them a better way.
Jesus was not afraid to get
on his knees and wash real feet. Jesus ministered to real people.
He did not refuse to suffer real pain or to die a real death.
Our God is a God who is with us - in the dust and dirt, in the
suffering and weariness.
In the silence broken by the
splash of water, we are given an image of love. In this image
of foot washing, God gets as close to us, as we will allow.
There is no depth to which God will not stoop in order to remove
even a thin layer that might separate us from divine Love.
Tonight we recall that evening
when Jesus washed the feet of his friends, even the one who betrayed
him. As you hear the splash of the water, ask yourself, "What
is that thin, hardly noticeable film that might separate you
from God? What hinders your servant-hood in the name of Christ?
Listen to the words of Jesus speaking to you in your heart of
hearts, asking you, "Do you know what I am doing for you?"
Receive the cleansing water. Amen
