We hop out of the lectionary this
morning in order to more appropriately speak to some of the themes that we have
already started to touch upon with the recognition of the Fire Department.
Because here’s the thing, the giving of one’s time and talents (as our volunteer fire fighters are able to do) is not just for the bravest, it is for all of us who are called by the Holy Spirit to a journey of faith.
The words that we are about to hear take place just prior to Jesus’ betrayal and arrest, a betrayal and arrest that he knows is coming. It is in this setting that Jesus assumes the position of the lowest of servants to help to show all those who would believe the sort of life that they are called to live. It doesn’t matter what your age is, what your interests are, or your status in the greater society: this scripture passage is for you. The scripture reads this way.
John 13:1-17
13 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. 2 The devil had already put it into the heart
of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3 Jesus,
knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had
come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table, took
off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then 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. 6 He came to Simon
Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus
answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered,
“Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said
to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus
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.” 11 For
he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are
clean.”
12 After 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? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16 Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
As I started to get a firm grasp on
all of the things that were going to be taking place this morning, I jokingly
said out loud, “I think the sermon’s going to be a little shorter this
week. It will go like this: Jesus loves
me. The Bible tells me so. Let us pray.”
Well, the sermon will be shorter this week…just not that short! Especially because as I started to allow this passage to wrap around me again, I was reminded of how poignant and pointed it really is. Service is not just a product of social need or even appropriateness. Instead, service is the response of all people who are led to say, “I believe in Jesus as Lord”. And what our Lord has modeled for us is someone who is willing to go above and beyond to care for those who are around him.
Because let’s think about what Jesus really did: the master washed the feet of those who followed him. Now mind you, these were not feet that are able to enjoy being cleaned on a daily basis with soap and water; these are not even feet that are protected behind socks and fully encompassing shoes; these feet aren’t even able to utilize the sort of walkways and roads that we know of today (they were walking on dirt and, at best, stone). These are feet that are encrusted with day’s worth of dirt from day’s worth of journeying. The example that Jesus sets forth is one that says to his disciples, and to us here today, to not only not think that certain tasks are beneath them, but to embrace the tasks of service that come before them whatever they may be.
God made flesh is washing the feet of his disciples. How many of you would be comfortable having your spouse wash your feet after they have been sweating inside whatever footwear you’ve worn during a particular day? How about the other way around? How many of you would be comfortable washing the feet of a close friend, …who wears work boots…from 5 AM till 7 PM? How many of you would be comfortable washing the feet of someone whom you only met 10 minutes prior? What if that stranger was to wash your feet?
Now take it one step further and remember that not all of the people whose feet Jesus washes are being honest with him. In fact, one of his closest friends, Judas, is in the process of betraying him. The person who bears so much of the responsibility and the burden for Jesus’ arrest is there in that room with his master and their friends and he too has his feet washed. Jesus is turning the other cheek before the first one has been struck. That is the level of service, the level of sacrifice that Jesus is modeling for us.
Do you see where I’m going here? The level of self-sacrifice that is called for by the Son of God is not something that everyone is going to want to do, let alone be comfortable with. And yet, the call still stands: “For I have set you an example that you also should do as I have done to you.” Jesus is displaying for us a template that we are to take as our own. Again, this life of service is not just for the bravest who are wonderfully assembled here this morning, but for all of us who are led to say, “I believe”.
So how does that ultimately look for us? How does the reality of the message that we have heard this morning change our lives?
Well, the short and sweet answer is that it doesn’t change our lives a lick if we don’t begin to reevaluate our life’s priorities through the lens of faith. We are a fallen and a broken people who are able to acknowledge with our lips and then do anything but through our actions. And it isn’t just us here, assembled in this sanctuary today; it’s all of humanity. That is part of humanity’s broken condition.
We can hear the message proclaimed to us through the Word of God, but if we do not allow it to sink into our hearts and minds through the movement of the Holy Spirit, then it’ll go in one ear and out the other and we’ll walk beyond these doors and the kingdom of God is not built and the name of Jesus Christ is not praised.
But, if we open the door of reevaluation just a crack, that allows the Spirit to seep in so that we are able to look at how we utilize our time, talents, and treasure so that God is glorified and people are served as Jesus showed us how to serve, as Jesus was able to serve each and every one of us through his sacrifice on the cross.
I talked with my grandmother the other night. She’s still struggling mightily with the death of her husband, my grandfather. It’s not that she doesn’t know that he hasn’t been made well, it’s just that she’s not able to be with him in the tangible way that she has become so used to over the last 65+ years.
She was telling me about a memorial service at the nursing home that cared for my grandfather for the past two years for all those residents who had died over the past three months. She talked about how so many of the nurses who cared for him went out of there way to come up to her and say just how sorry they were and how much they miss spending time with ‘Coop’.
As someone who has visited in a variety of nursing facilities over the past ten years, I know that there are many facilities that could care less about the patients under their charge. It’s horrible, but it’s true.
But thankfully, there are a good number of places that genuinely take on the responsibility of serving the clients who happen to be at their nursing home. My grandfather was truly cared for. Physically, they made sure that every need that could be met was met. Emotionally, they treated my grandfather with a respect that made me smile every time I was able to see him. Even spiritually, the chaplain of the nursing home visited with Grandpa and my grandmother on a regular basis, talking with them, praying with them, just being there with them, even to the point of coming to the funeral service.
I would love to say that they didn’t need to do that, but after I met him, I realized that he did, because he, like the nurses who cared for my grandpa, was responding to the call to service that was placed before him. They went that extra step, because they were able to recognize the model of life that was put before them in Jesus Christ.
Now you may be thinking, “yeah, but I can’t be a nurse, or a chaplain, let alone a firefighter.” Maybe not, but whatever you do, whatever God has called for you to do in your life, you can answer the call to service that our Lord has put before us here this morning. The washing of feet is the emblematic action that we need to use so as to reevaluate what our priorities are in our life. If we’re living for ourselves and if we only make available a little bit of extra time sometime next month to help out with this that or the other thing (and you know the sort of mentality I’m talking about), then we are living in a way that is contrary to the Word of God. It’s that simple.
However, if we
are willing to look at our lives and say, “Lord, here I am”, then you will
begin to recognize and respond to those doors opening that allow us to assist
others in whatever their need may be, even in those circumstances where we
wonder if we ever possibly could (remember, Jesus washed Judas feet as
well). This is for all of us, wherever
we may be on our journey of faith. Jesus
has blessed us with a model to live by.
Let us use our time, talent, and treasure to do that very thing, and
through that service allow the name of Jesus to be praised and the
Service: it’s not just for the bravest; it’s for all of us.
After
Sermon Prayer
Lord, we do thank You for the amazing
example of life that Jesus was able to provide.
Help us to respond to his call by serving in whatever ways make sense
for who we are. Do not let us be
satisfied with anything less than allowing Your will to be done and Your love
to be felt in the world. It is in Jesus
name that we pray. Amen.