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LINKS TO THE SERMONS |
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| “The Sacrament of Service” John 13: 1-35 April 5, 2007 If the Gospel of John was the only record we had of that night, the sacrament would be quite different; more emphasis on the washing of feet than the breaking of bread. I’ve been to some foot washing services and have conducted some and I can tell you from experience, people don’t like the idea; no more than Peter did when Jesus got out the basin and towel. At one of my churches I put the basin and towel on the altar as a symbol of servanthood; wasn’t actually going to do the foot washing. But, several people came in and sat down but when they saw the basin and towel, got up abruptly and left. People don’t like it. Neither do I. It’s too personal, even intimate, especially for someone like me who isn’t even into hugging: unless the other person is a close friend. Paul said we should greet one another with a holy kiss, but I prefer the hand shake. And, maybe that is the difference between what Jesus did and doing it in church; they were close friends, had spent four years living together, not strangers you happened to sit next to in church. Besides, I’m of the opinion that foot washing in the church became impractical with the invention of panty hose. But, all that aside, we can still appreciate the profundity of the act. The message Jesus wanted to convey was put in a nonverbal form the disciples would never forget. Jesus took a page from the Old Testament prophets who often used dramatic symbols to reinforce their message. One put on filthy clothes to show how sin looked to God. One broke a pottery jar to illustrate the brokenness of the nation in relation to their covenant with God. One even married a prostitute to show how God felt about his relationship with his beloved people who had turned to other lovers. We don’t have to repeat the act to hear the message loud and clear; the people who follow Christ are called to be servants. And get this, the people they are commanded to serve are one another. We tend to interpret this as a directive to engage in servant ministries after the order of Mother Teresa, and we are. But, in this instance, Jesus message was to the faithful, the disciple corps. Just as the communion sacrament is for the church and not the outside world, so was the great commandment. That is the essential and important difference between the Great Commandment and the Great Commission at the end of Matthews’s gospel; The Great Commission was to go into all the world, the outside world, the unconverted world. The Great Commandment is to love one another within the community of faith – and serve them. To serve means to assume a subservient position. How many times in the church do we get offended because our expertise or contribution was not properly acknowledged? When you are in a meeting at the church wherein you know more about the subject at hand then anyone else in the room, can you assume a subservient role and listen to those with less experience whose ideas aren’t as good as yours? I think that’s how it must feel to wash one another’s feet. An example: I was once part of a mission team to Kenya. The project was to put in a water system for a remote village, to run a pipe from a collection tank in the hills the four miles to where the people lived. The head of the group was a general contractor and he did the design and assigned jobs to us laborers. But, there was a member of my church who also went along who I knew was an engineer. He had become the CEO of his engineering firm. In short; he knew more about the project at hand than anyone else there. The leader also knew of his engineering background but never consulted him for advice. Instead he put him to work gluing pieces of four inch pipe together, which he did without comment. One day I was headed to the trench with my shovel and pick. (It had been decided that ditch digging suited my qualifications, and they were right) I passed my friend gluing pipe and asked him if he thought to system was going to work as designed. He just smiled and didn’t say a word. When the day came for a trial run; we turned the water on. The system leaked in a dozen places and a section of pipe buckled under the pressure and some of the faucets blew off. So we spent the next two days fixing the problems. My friend never said anything that even sounded like “I could have told you so.” He didn’t even roll his eyes; just went to work as directed by the leader. That’s something like what humility looks like, foot washing; to joyfully take on the role of servant even when you ought to be the master. Jesus asked the disciples,
“Do you know what I have done to you?” To you, not for
you. I’ve set you an example, he said. The longer you work
at this discipleship thing the more you are going hate the example
I have given; even more than the foot washing ceremony. Then he
said, it’s not just an example, it’s a commandment,
a mandate – the word from which the name of this day is drawn.
Then he said, this is how people will know that you are my disciples;
not by the little cross around your neck or a fish bumper sticker
– because you love one another and when I washed your feet
I showed you what that looks like. As always you can get a DVD of this sermon. Contact the church office.
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