Sermons are better when you listen to them:
Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from the Holy Trinity. Amen.
I remember going into the grocery store with my mom when I was a little kid, thinking each time I passed through the doors, that the sign “No shoes, no service” was a bit odd...I mean, who would walk into the grocery barefoot. And who cares? It’s not like they are going to rifle through the broccoli heads with their feet.
Turns out, it’s a health code.
But ultimately, it’s not very hospitable. And that’s sort of the clencher of Maundy Thursday. You see, today is a day when we hear the story of Jesus washing the disciple’s feet and giving them a new commandment, to love one another just as Jesus had loved them. Which is kind of a tall order, considering there are a lot of people I would like to not have to love. I can maybe get over my doubts about loving others and get behind it if loving one another means being welcoming and hospitable, but I still have my doubts about the whole foot washing bit. But as I was researching the origins of footwashing (because it’s sort of a weird tradition for us), I discovered it was about hospitality.
Washing people’s feet before they came into your house was done by servants as a sign that you wanted them in your house (and back in the first century, feet were pretty gross, so they had to be clean to walk around houses.) If you didn’t want to invite someone into your house, you could just refuse to wash their feet and then they’d be out of luck. It’s sort of the first century equivalent to not sending a facebook event invite to people you don’t like. Or refusing a friend request from the person who you know only posts memes and rumi quotes.
And tonight, we will hear about Jesus washing every single one of the disciples' feet. We will hear about Jesus saying to each disciple 'you are welcome here, come join in this life with me.' And not just the disciples whom Jesus loved most. Not just the ones who flew under the radar. Jesus serves and loves even Judas, the one who will betray him. And even Peter, the one who protests. Peter thinks it's humiliating for Jesus and would never want to put himself in the position of being served by the one he follows so he tells Jesus "you will never wash my feet."
I resonate with Peter. The writer of the Gospel doesn’t tell us why Peter reacts so strongly to Jesus’ offering of love. But I know how hard it is to accept love. It’s easy to resent those who don’t know how to love us well, and maybe we should. But I also need to remember that it is just as big of a shame when I cannot let myself experience love from the people who do know how to love me well. I need to remember it is just as big of a shame when I don’t want to let myself experience the love of God from those around me.
Because, when I don’t let myself be loved well, by God or others…I end up isolating myself.
Feeling isolated is not God’s desire for us. Instead, God’s desire for us is to experience Grace. And sometimes that means receiving grace, or being loved or served by those whom we’d just as soon not be loved by Which makes hearing the words of Christ…the words he told Peter pretty uncomfortable . Unless I wash you…unless I show you grace, Jesus says,…Unless you let yourself be loved…you have no part of me.
It’s pretty easy to see why Peter then gets super greedy. If the only way he can share in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is to have his feet washed…then why not wash everything…you know, just to make sure. And this is where Peter just doesn’t quite get it. He doesn’t get that the point isn’t to go have a celestial spa day. He doesn’t get that the point of Jesus washing his feet is that it’s a visible symbol of Christ’s love for him. And that he should just shut up and experience Christ’s love because then Peter will be living into what God wants for his life...to know, viscerally, the love God has for him.
And so, we will wash each other’s feet. We will show love for each other in washing each other’s feet. But we will also experience love in letting our feet be washed. We are called to love and serve others in response to the death and resurrection where God served all of creation with eternal life. And as much joy as that should bring to us, it brings God even more joy. Our God is not a God that wants people separated into heaven and hell (if that even exists). Our God is a God that wants all people joined with God. So God’s joy, brought on through the resurrection of Christ, reminds us that it’s not always just the people who get served who experience love or joy or peace. And I know, it can be awkward and clunky to participate in this ancient ritual. The point isn’t about washing feet. The point is about letting ourselves live into Jesus’ command…love and serve others.
Remember though, you are an ‘other’ to everyone else in this room. So the unspoken commandment of Jesus is to let ourselves be loved and be served by others. Let yourself be cared for by friends while you are mourning difficult illnesses. Let yourself hear words of encouragement when you want to quit school. Let yourself come to the table that is open not just to those who are pious, and perfect, and ‘religious’ but is open to all. This table you are sitting at is open to all of you who, like Peter, won’t let yourself feel the love of God or your neighbors. This table is open to all of you, like Judas, who betray God for far less than 30 pieces of silver. This table is open to all of you who are somewhere in between, or feel like you are nowhere.
This table, this feast of love is open to you.
As we enter this great Three Days of paschal mystery, let yourself wash. Let yourself be washed. Let yourself love. Let yourself be loved. Let yourself be joined to Christ in this Holy Week, for when we are joined to Christ through service and being served, through love and being loved, we are joined to Christ’s kingdom and the freedom that comes through the depth of the cross and the joy of the resurrection.
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