Foot Washing
In our Gospel reading for today Jesus takes on a lowly servant’s role. In his day there were no paved roads or closed-toe shoes to protect one’s feet from the dust and dirt of the streets. A servant was assigned to greet guests with a basin of water and clean towel to refresh their feet and welcome them into the home. This was a particularly distasteful job as there was sewage and other smelly stuff in the streets of that day. The foot washer was faced with a challenging task in cleaning the guests’ feet. It was nothing like our gentle washing of clean feet during our reenactment of the scene from this Gospel later tonight. This meeting of friends was during the festival of Passover, which we heard about in the Old Testament Reading, and Jesus had gathered with his friends to celebrate. But there was no servant to wash the feet of the people gathered, so the feet had gone unwashed. Taking up the role of the servant, Jesus ties a towel around his waist to accentuate the aspect of his actions. He then starts washing the feet of his friends. As we know, Peter protests being serviced in this lowly way by his lord and master… I wonder how we would feel about Jesus washing our feet? How does it feel to have our feet washed by our friends here as we are Jesus for each other?
In our Gospel reading for today Jesus takes on a lowly servant’s role. In his day there were no paved roads or closed-toe shoes to protect one’s feet from the dust and dirt of the streets. A servant was assigned to greet guests with a basin of water and clean towel to refresh their feet and welcome them into the home. This was a particularly distasteful job as there was sewage and other smelly stuff in the streets of that day. The foot washer was faced with a challenging task in cleaning the guests’ feet. It was nothing like our gentle washing of clean feet during our reenactment of the scene from this Gospel later tonight. This meeting of friends was during the festival of Passover, which we heard about in the Old Testament Reading, and Jesus had gathered with his friends to celebrate. But there was no servant to wash the feet of the people gathered, so the feet had gone unwashed. Taking up the role of the servant, Jesus ties a towel around his waist to accentuate the aspect of his actions. He then starts washing the feet of his friends. As we know, Peter protests being serviced in this lowly way by his lord and master… I wonder how we would feel about Jesus washing our feet? How does it feel to have our feet washed by our friends here as we are Jesus for each other?
There are three short passages in this story that stand out for me. The first is right at the beginning “: Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” Jesus knows that the time is short and he is gathered here with his friends whom he loves. He is concerned that they haven’t get quite gotten the idea of what is going to happen, but he tries to prepare them to remember and share the unconditional love he has had for them, which has held them together thru all their experiences, joys and fear. The emphasis this night is on intimate friendship and shared service.
The second phrase that grabs me is when Jesus says, ““Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.” Just to make it really clear that Jesus is putting the disciples in each others’ care he has shown them this example of humble servitude as an example of how they are to approach and care for one another. (Pause) The Icon for the SFD, my alma mater, is an icon written by Lucia Dugliss, the wife of the Dean, Rod Dugliss. It is entitled “The Holy Ablutions” and it depicts the scene of the footwashing. Lucia describes the rich colors of the icon: “the brilliant colors give us a glimpse of the staggering beauty, glory, generosity and depth of the Divine Nature manifest as Jesus humbly establishes God’s kingdom in love and service.” Love and Service. These are Jesus’ expectations for us in our relationships with each other as a small band of his followers.
The last phrase that catches me is the final one, “Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Now Jesus turns his humble actions into a commandment on a level with the 10 commandments that they all knew so well, the commandments that God had given to Moses. This is now the depth of expectation Jesus has for his actions of service and love: that they will become a visual and physical reminder of the new commandment given by God that we should love each other just as Jesus has loved us. And in this way, everyone will know who we follow, if we show love for each other. When we are baptized or renew our baptismal vows, one of the questions asked of the congregation is “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?” And we answer, “I will, with God’s help.” I will, with God’s help, seek and serve all people and love them as much as I love myself. Wow. Can we live like that? Do we know people who live up to this challenge? All baptized Christians are called to serve Christ in those we meets and deacons are particularly called to set an example of love and service, a sacramental representation of the deacon Christ and his diaconal church, as it says in the book, Many Servants, by Ormande Plater. I know several deacons in this diocese who set a mighty example of servant leadership. One has a house in Bay Point which was left to her by her grandmother. She has turned it into a food bank and resource site for the entire community. She and some volunteers gather and distribute food to those in need, entirely without any other kind of support. Another deacon I know runs an afterschool program in a marginal neighborhood in San Francisco. Many children who would go home to an empty apartment and maybe get caught up in gang activities find a welcoming place to spend some hours playing games, listening to stories and getting help with their homework, free to their grateful parents. Still another deacon I know is the minister to the sailors at the Port of Oakland. He travels ups and down the western seaboard bringing comfort and spirituality to many seafarers. These are mighty examples of love and service in our own diocese. However… I think Jesus is taking the reality of love and service to a deeper level here. We are all called – lay people, bishops, priests and deacons, to serve the poor and needy. But in this demonstration of service, the washing of feet, I think Jesus is asking us for something very basic to our faith. I see the commandment to “love one another as I have loved you” as a call to intimacy, the kind of intimacy that true friends share, agape is the Greek word. Jesus calls us to be there for each other in intimate, nurturing, caring relationship, the way he cared for his disciples. This is the love and service of a thousand small gestures of thoughtfulness and support. This is the love and service of a phone call just at the right moment, a hug, a shared laugh, the deep silence of compassion. God calls us to intimate service for one another and then the world will know us. These kinds of relationships lead us out into the world together to serve the needy as Christ’s disciples. The deepest level of loving serving friendship will bring the world to know we are Christians by our love. Amen.
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