Sermon (St.
Philip’s) – Year A, Maundy Thursday
Liturgy for Maundy Thursday
For
minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve, we thank you, God. Amen.
“A Simple
Act of Humble Service”
Some of
the most provocative images I have ever experienced in church happened on
Maundy Thursday. Just about twenty years
ago, I remember serving on the worship committee as we began to celebrate the Triduum in our parish.
There was
an openness and excitement to all the possibilities, until we turned our
attention to Maundy Thursday and started talking about foot washing!
At first
people balked at the idea. “Can’t we
just shine shoes?” “Why must we take off
our shoes?” It didn’t
feel right to bare our feet in church. But the gospel made it so clear – there was no way we could
avoid Jesus’ explicit command. Of
course, all of people’s fears about their feet came up! In spite of this, it seemed Jesus was showing
us a way to transformation.
After
many long meetings, filled with heart-wrenching discussion, and of course,
theological reflection,
we started washing feet the next Maundy Thursday. And we were never
the same.
I
remember one person who told me… how they were changed
by the encounter of the foot washing. In
the aftermath of that Maundy Thursday, it seemed there was an afterglow from
our experience. People were in a
softened state, open to God and each other in new ways.
Through
the prayer and ritual that night, I felt that I witnessed the heart of the
gospel revealed in the way people related to each other like never before. I have never forgotten the experience. Ever since that night, the prayers and action
of Maundy Thursday have continued to inspire and compel me.
Our
liturgy on Maundy Thursday is not like any other we celebrate throughout the
year. We strip the altar. We shed our shoes and wash our feet. We are exposed and vulnerable. We are laid bare
before God and each other.
On this
night, we begin our observation of the Triduum, the Sacred
Three Days that commemorate the last phase of Jesus’ life and ministry on
Earth.
In fact,
our service tonight is actually the beginning of an extended period of meditation
and prayer that will take us to the depths of our experience as Christians,
moving through the darkness of Good Friday and culminating in our celebration
of the Great Vigil of Easter two nights from now.
As we
begin our extended meditation tonight, John brings us a radical twist on the
core message of the gospel. Unique in
his approach to the passion narrative, John begins the Great Farewell Discourse
of Jesus in a way his disciples could never have expected.
Jesus
turns everything upside down. The
inspirational leader of this tiny band of faithful followers shows his
disciples what it means to live out in real life what they had been
struggling to understand and express - throughout his preaching and teaching
ministry. He chooses a simple act of love
and care to demonstrate his mission. Jesus
takes off his robe and puts on a towel. Jesus
washes his disciples’ feet.
This is a
radical role reversal. He’s the master and they should be washing his feet, but instead
he washes their feet.
Can you
imagine how radical this must have been?
Consider
this possibility... It’s as if you have decided to go
out to dinner at the fanciest restaurant in town. A four-diamond showplace, where everyone goes
to be seen and the food and ambience are out of this
world.
Your
group arrives at the restaurant, and instead of taking your seat to enjoy a
sumptuous feast, you take off our coat and prepare to serve. Instead of sitting down to eat, you invite
the waiter, waitresses--even the busboys!--to take places of honor at your
table. You bring menus; you do all you can to make
them welcome and serve them a meal they will never forget. They give you their order and in little
while, you bring the feast they will share.
Throughout the evening, you do all you can to make sure they’re having the time of their lives. Your pleasure is the exceptional service you
offer at this meal. The very idea turns
the possibility of going out to dinner upside down!
This
really gets at meaning of the foot washing.
In an act of radical role reversal, Jesus models for his disciples, and
for us, what it means to be a faithful follower of his life
changing message. In this
singular action, he demonstrates what it means to walk the talk.
It all
begins with an act of simple humility: foot washing. Soon our celebrant, the Rev. Blake Hutson, will invite you to join in foot washing
tonight.
It is a
profound experience to join in foot washing.
When we take off our shoes and socks and move to a station for foot
washing, thoughts race through our heads.
Wait a minute, this does not feel right at all. I’m not supposed to
be barefoot in Church. I don’t want to show my feet.
I certainly don’t want anyone to wash my feet! (as Peter also
felt).
In foot
washing, we have to get over any anxiety that might hold us back. We must let go of the image we might like to
present most of the time, and we experience a humbling encounter. We present ourselves as we are.
Whether
we are the one washing feet, or the ones having our own feet washed, we
approach this encounter with humility.
This is
an act of humble service.
We are
awkward and uncomfortable. This is just
the way it is supposed to be. You have
to be gracious enough to allow yourself to be served. You must let go of control, trusting that someone
else will accept your feet, and you. This
is challenging because ordinarily, your feet are safely
tucked inside your shoes. Here
you lay yourself bare.
And the
moment we are served, we witness how it is to receive the love and care of
another person. We may well realize the
ways we are need of healing and renewal.
We also
gain a keen insight about how it feels to be the recipient of the service of
another person. Here we identify with those
people we serve in our community, and imagine how receiving our care must
feel. In this moment, we stand with all
the people we serve, who are in need of very concrete help. We are not just imagining what we might do to
help one another person. We are taking
water and getting wet. We are standing
together on sacred ground.
In our
action, we receive the blessing of Jesus, “If you know these things, you are
blessed if do them.”
This
night, we witness a potential for revelation and transformation. For our act of foot
washing is not the end in itself. For once our feet are washed, we turn and humble ourselves to
serve the next person we meet with love and care. Amen.