2020.04.09 | Maundy Thursday: Love One Another
“Love One Another”
Rev. Pepper Swanson
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Welcome to my kitchen. When you come to visit us, this is almost always your first stop. It’s where we offer you something to drink or something to eat before we head out to the living room or the patio. For us, this is the heart of our home and where all the hospitality begins.
Tonight’s scripture reading got me thinking about hospitality. In fact, it reminded me of my father, who came from a very large family with five brothers and three sisters. From the oldest to the youngest there was a 20 year age gap. As different as they were from one another in age, they shared some common ways of offering hospitality and showing love to one another, customs that they had either learned from their parents or from their travels across the West as farm workers trying to survive the Dust Bowl.
When you went to visit any of their homes, you could expect that as soon as you pulled into their driveway, they (and I mean everyone) would come out to greet you as you got out of your car, eager to see you and to help carry your things in. If you spent the night at their house, someone was likely to bring a mug of coffee into your bedroom and hold it while you sat up, adjusted your pillows, and reached for your glasses. And when it was time for you to go, they would all walk you to your car and stand by your window as you started your engine and rolled down your window, sometimes telling you one more joke or asking you to watch the traffic or yelling y’all come, which was their way of saying what they didn’t often actually say, which was: We love you and hurry back.
Now, the years have passed and my father and all his siblings saving one have long ago passed away but today’s scripture reading about Jesus washing the feet of his disciples took me back to my childhood and reminded me that in every time and in every place, people do small things for one another that communicate the large and priceless idea that we are welcome and we are loved.
For example, it was customary in the time of Jesus for a host to offer foot-washing to a guest upon their arrival at their home. The roads that travelers walked were dusty, the city streets were dirty, and sandals were popular and affordable, meaning that dirty feet were very common. Hosts would either put out water for visitors to use or they would wash their guests’ feet themselves or, if they had household servants, they would ask the servants to wash the feet of their guests. Regardless of how the feet got washed, the guest was refreshed, welcomed, and more able to relax and enjoy himself. It was a small act of kindness that spoke volumes.
What’s unusual about the Bible story as we have received it from the Gospel of John is two things: 1) Jesus arises from the supper table where the meal is in progress to wash his disciples’ feet and 2) Simon Peter, perhaps speaking for all the disciples, puts up a fuss, at first refusing to let Jesus wash his feet, and then arguing that perhaps Jesus could also wash his hands and head as well, as if adding these body parts would be more appropriate for Jesus to clean. But Jesus insists, to the point of threatening to kick Simon Peter off the team if he doesn’t comply.
After he finishes washing their feet, Jesus explains what he has done for them: though he is their Lord and Teacher, he has washed their feet to show that all of them, regardless of how great they are or they become, are called to perform those small acts that communicate large and priceless ideas about hospitality, love, and service.
Bible scholars place Jesus’ explanation of why he washed the feet of the disciples in the greater story of his ministry and the meaning of his final Hour. In the Gospel of John, we have known from the beginning that Jesus from God, and now as his ministry ends and his death approaches, Jesus tells his disciples that he will return to God. By insisting on washing his disciples’ feet amidst their final meal, Jesus is giving them this four-fold lesson about God and God’s love.
First, Love is hospitable: Jesus is welcoming his followers into his home with God, showing that they are his own, people he loves like God loves him. Second, Love offers itself to them; as God offered his son, his son offers himself. Third, Love asks nothing of them except that to accept its ca. And, fourth, if they accept, Love will guide them to do the same for others. This is Christ’s four-fold lesson.
This Holy Week, as we explore what Jesus’ death means to us, we face one of the most challenging facets of being progressive Christians. We practice a service-oriented faith, but we often shy away from talking about why we put service at the heart of our practice. We often jump to serving others because we’re good people who want to help. Sometimes our emotional connection back to Jesus is tenuous. You might find it interesting that every Gospel offers its own perspective on service and discipleship. In the Gospel of John, discipleship is a loving relationship with Jesus first, then from that love, action springs forth that demonstrates love for one another.
Tonight is a good night to strengthen your connection to Jesus. Is he your role model? A good man with good ideas? A teacher who showed the way? Or, do you believe, as the Gospel of John teaches, that Jesus was the living, breathing embodiment of God -- God who so loves the world, that he sent his Son to love and save us all? How do you experience that love?
Homebound as we are this Holy Week, you might try to reconnect with God’s love for you and for all of humanity by imagining a visit to God’s home. How would God greet you? Would she walk out to meet you as you arrived? Would Jesus wash your dirty feet? Would they bring you coffee as you woke? Would she tell you jokes? Would they walk you to your car and find it hard to say goodbye?
And, if you can reconnect in this trying time with God’s abundant love for you, I invite you to share it with those you love and with the world around you. May you, as you shelter in place, find a million virtual ways to communicate the large and priceless idea that God loves us and is with us this Holy Week. Amen.