+In tonight’s Gospel Jesus is tired. He’s scared. He’s had his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, things have been set in motion…it’s all happening so fast. And His friends aren’t getting it.
He needs them to get it.
So, after sharing a meal with his friends, after realizing that one of them will betray him, another will deny him and still others will just try to forget him, Jesus tries ONE MORE TIME to get his message across. The message of interdependence, the message of the last shall be first, the first shall be last. The message of “we’re all in this together” and if one of the least of us is struggling then we all stop, go back and bring the least along with us.
The only way we—meaning CIVILIZATION—can move forward, the only way we can get close to the image God has for us is to serve each other…in all things and at all times.
You see until we see each other—REALLY see each other, we won’t make much progress with this peace on earth thing—-this God loves everyone everywhere no exceptions thing—-this “as I have served you you must serve others in my name” thing.
To really see the other we must be vulnerable with them.
Which is why, traditionally, we have washed each other’s feet on this holy night.
But somewhere along the way, our cultural norms made taking off our socks and our shoes far too intimate, far too personal. It made us feel far too exposed. And so folks stopped attending Maundy Thursday services.
Now there are all sorts of theological arguments as to why not washing feet is a problem. But I don’t think tonight is a night to make some theological point. I think tonight is the night for us to —-in the way that is accessible to most of us—-to take Jesus’ message that we can only be a part of Him is we serve others—-to heart.
So, tonight we’ll wash hands, not feet. For only in being willing to serve one another will we bring God’s dream to reality for only by “being in this together” will we be able to move our world from dog eat dog, one upmanship, mistrust and anger to a world of companionship, collaboration, trust and love.
Tomorrow you’ll hear Jesus exclaim, It is Finished, but the truth of the matter is that while Jesus’ time on earth was finished, the work he came to do, the work he started and the work he left for us to do is not finished.
So tonight we wash each other’s hands saying, “love others as you yourself are loved” in an effort to start such a chain reaction of love and light that the darkness and hate so dominant in this world will once and for all, be defeated.
By washing each other’s hands we’re making an outward and visible sign of an internal and invisible fact: we are God’s beloved and our job, as long as we take breath, is to make sure that all whom we encounter, in all we do and wherever we go, know that they too are cherished, beloved, and redeemed children of God. For when we do that? Well when we do that we will change this world. Amen.
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