In Remembrance of Me!

Maundy Thursday
April 12, 2001

By
The Rev. Ann M. Smith

Based on John 13:1-15

The liturgy tonight asks us to remember several things. First of all we remember this as the day that Jesus gave himself over to be condemned. Secondly we remember that he gathered his disciples in the upper room where he washed their feet. Finally we break bread and share the cup remembering that Christ gave us this holy feast to proclaim his sacrifice.

It is a night filled with symbolic action. It speaks to us of the servant ministry to which we are called. It speaks to us of our need to gather as community, to be in relationship one with another. It speaks to us of our need to forgive and to be forgiven. It speaks to us of the Christian call to be willing to give sacrificially – even life – for others.

It is the actions of Jesus that night that we are called as Christians to emulate in our own lives. It is his actions interpreted from our Easter perspective that speak to us about our call. It is his actions that form a framework for our faith. It is his actions that we commemorate in word and action week by week in our liturgies.

Jesus and the disciples were gathered like a family eating the Passover supper together. During supper, Jesus rose from the table. He removed his outer garment and wrapped a towel around his waist. He took a bowl, a jug of water and a towel. He went down on his hands and knees and washed the feet of his disciples. He washed the feet of each person, one by one, lovingly and thoroughly.

When he had finished he spoke to them about his extraordinary action. "Do you know what I have done?" he asked. You call me Teacher and Lord – and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet."

What are we to take with us from this washing of feet? Although we break bread Sunday by Sunday, we enact the washing of feet only at our service this evening. The priest gets down on hands and knees and washes the feet of those who come forward. It is symbolic of the servant ministry that the priest undertakes at ordination. It is symbolic of our need to do as Jesus did, to be Christlike. Yet often it seems as if it is the participants who find themselves humbled. They worry about the condition of their feet. They don't want to be centred out for attention. They make all sorts of excuses. They find it embarrassing. It is an unusual action; not something we experience anywhere in our daily lives.

If it is not a gesture that is meaningful in our time, it certainly was at the time of Jesus and for very practical reasons. The streets of Jerusalem were filled with human and animal waste. A person walking those streets in sandals inevitably had soiled and smelly feet. Washing of the feet was a courtesy automatically extended to guests. The difference that night was that it was the task, not of the host, but of a slave or a lowly servant. That Jesus would humble himself to perform such a task must have been a shocking revelation to his disciples.

But his action is about more than his intention to serve. In Biblical times the hands and feet were considered to be the parts of the human body which symbolized human activity. To wash the feet of another meant washing away the offensive deeds of that person. Foot washing was about forgiveness. Jesus in urging the disciples to repeat his action is not simply calling them to wash the feet of others; he is asking them to forgive others as he forgives them.

During the tumult of the days ahead they will forget that Jesus has assured them of forgiveness. They will deny him. They will run away in fear and dread at what has come to pass. The small group of loyal followers will find themselves in need of that reassurance again and again.

Sunday by Sunday as we meet we are given the assurance that we are forgiven. We go out into a needy world, forgiven and reconciled. We enter a world that needs to be reassured again and again that God's forgiveness is available. Our call as Christians is to bear that reconciling word to those we meet. We are called to see Christ in them and to help them to see Christ in us.

When Jesus finished washing their feet, they resumed their meal. They broke bread and shared the cup. They talked together far into the night. They talked as members of a family. Community was being built that night. It is something that over the days and weeks that follow they would very much need. It is something we still need. The Church is a community of believers. People come to Church looking for community. We invite them to break bread and share the cup. We invite them into relationship with God and with us. Jesus took a bowl, a jug full of water and a towel. He washed the disciples' feet. Lovingly and thoroughly he washed each one of them. He washed the feet of all of us, believers and unbelievers, old and young saints and sinners, pimps and women of the street, bishops and lay people, rich and poor, filled and hungry, dressed and naked. He gave us a model of what we should do for each other.

Today his loving gestures are extended to each of us. During this liturgy I invite you to come forward and have your feet washed. I invite you to break bread and share the cup of wine. I invite you to stay and talk far into the night. I invite you to forgive and be forgiven.

What kind of a world would we live in if the powerful washed each other's feet; if the wealthy washed the feet of orphans and widows; if the young washed the feet of the elderly; if we were servants as Christ served us and gave himself for our sakes; if we forgave as God forgives?