Are You Being Served? John 13:1-17, 31b-35 - Maundy Thursday

¹Now 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. ²The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper ³Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, ⁴got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. ⁵Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. ⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” ⁸Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” ⁹Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” ¹¹For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
  ¹²After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. ¹⁴So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. ¹⁶Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. ¹⁷If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”

  ^31b“Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³²If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³Little 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.’ ³⁴I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (NRSV)

psk-footwash-small by peterskim on Flickr. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

 

During our internship year, Elizabeth and I received a gift card to what you’d call a four-star restaurant. It was a wonderful gift, and we were really looking forward to sharing a nice dinner. At the same time, we realized it may feel a little awkward dining out so far above our pay grade. 

 

We were taken by surprised when we arrived at the restaurant and saw a sign in the driveway that said: “valet parking only.” At the time, we were driving a car that first hit the road during the first term of the Clinton administration—which we knew would look very out of place amid all the Range Rovers and Mercedes. So, I parallel parked about two blocks away, and we walked through the front door.  Not so much to avoid embarrassing ourselves, but for the fact that I’m perfectly capable of parking a car. I don’t need someone to do that for me. 

 

In the same vein, if I were seated at the Last Supper, I wouldn’t want Jesus washing my feet any more than Peter did. I like doing things on my own. I do not like asking for help with anything—and I envy those who can build houses, repair automobiles, and do their own taxes. 

 

Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as total self-sufficiency—and I believe God made us that way on purpose. When you were a baby, you couldn’t do anything for yourself. Most of us, when we get older, are going to need help doing things we once did with ease.

 

Bob Dylan only had it half right when he sang, “you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” Somebody’s gonna have to serve you, too.

 

That was the lesson Jesus taught his disciples as they washed their feet. 

 

Part of the reason Peter wouldn’t let Jesus wash his feet was because this task was customarily performed by slaves. He probably would not have objected to having his feet washed by a slave, because slaves were socially beneath him. But now, Jesus is taking the playing field as far down as it can go. Jesus is becoming of a slave—and following Jesus’s example becoming a slave, and washing one another’s feet. 

 

But Jesus is no ordinary slave. Jesus does for humanity what no one else can do. Only the Lamb of God can take away the sin of the world. Only God can conquer death.

 

Soon, Peter will realize just how much he needs the servant sacrifice of Jesus. When Jesus returns to the table, Peter once again opens his big mouth, and promises Jesus that he will lay down his life for him. However, when Jesus is on trial, Peter denies deny Jesus three times. 

 

The fact that Jesus washed Peter’s feet may be the only thing that keeps him from succumbing to complete despair by the magnitude of his failure.

 

Can you really appreciate Christ’s forgiveness if you’ve never felt the need it? Is his cross worth anything to you if all you want to do is show the world how strong and successful you are?

 

One of the most difficult truths revealed in the cross is how much we need the redemption of Jesus. 

 

You and I are as guilty of Jesus’s blood as Judas, as Peter, as Pilate, as the soldiers, as the religious leaders, and the mob that shouted, “crucify him.” 

 

All the while, Christ bears upon his body every vicious word, every grudge, every prejudice. His body aches with those who’ve harvested our food and toiled in the sweatshops to manufacture our clothes. He suffers with everyone who’s ever been oppressed, persecuted, and denied justice. 

 

It’s astonishing to think that we’ve put people on the moon; we’ve developed vaccines that have ended thousands of years of misery; we’ve made it possible to connect with anyone in the world with devices we carry in our pockets. It is well within our capacity to eliminate war and hunger. We can do better than we have done. We have the way, but we don’t have the will. 

 

We are just as helpless in our sin as we are in our mortality; all we can do is cry out to Jesus with the criminal crucified right next to him. 

 

Only Jesus can defeat sin and death working within you—by taking it all upon himself. 

 

We go with Jesus to his cross because this is where God’s love changes everything. Regardless of whether you deserve it; regardless of whether you even want it—You are saved because you have been served!

 

We grow into the fullness of this love by following Jesus’s example, not only serving one another but also by receiving the service of others. You are alive, you are here today, you are the Body of Christ—because somebody served you. In the future, you will need the service of others—and Jesus will show up in those servants, just as he did at the cross. 

 

Tonight, as we begin the great three-day journey to the cross and the tomb, I invite you to think of people in your life who have washed your feet, and not just in the literal sense… Whose service helped to make you who you are? Whose service got you through bad days? Whose service do you see making the biggest difference in the world?

 

Greatness in this world cannot compare with the blessings of serving.

 

Because you have the Holy Spirit, you can do even greater works than Jesus. You can make a greater impact doing good than anyone could doing evil. You are saved because you have been served.