Scripture: John 13:12-17 (NRSVUE)
12 After Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet, had put on his robe, and had reclined again, 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, slaves are not greater than their master, nor are messengers[a] greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+13%3A12-17&version=NRSVUE
Matthew 20:28
28 just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+20%3A28&version=NRSVUE
It’s summertime, and the livin’ is easy—or at least, that’s the dream of summer. And one of the quintessential symbols of that dream is the flip-flop sandal. You see pictures of these sandals everywhere—from advertisements on the internet to stickers in the back of car windows. I’ve even seen people wearing flip flop earrings. (Let me clarify—I’ve seen people with small silver earrings shaped like flip flops—not actual rubber shoes hanging off the side of people’s heads…but I digress…)
Sandals are comfortable shoes to wear in hot weather, aren’t they? They are comfortable because so much of our feet are exposed to the outside air and cooling breezes. But, sometimes that foot exposure can be a mixed blessing, particularly in Jesus’ day, where people either wore sandals or went barefoot in that hot, dry climate. The BLESS book gives a compelling—and somewhat amusing-- description of what exposed feet were like back then:
In the first century, the feet were two of the dirtiest areas of the body. Just imagine no nail clippers, no pedicures, no socks, and a culture where shoes were seldom worn. [and] In this agrarian culture, it was almost impossible to avoid stepping into “stuff” that would make feet truly disgusting! (BLESS, p. 98)
I think I’ll stop there. You get the picture (probably too clearly J.) It’s no wonder that before mealtime, members of the household and their guests always had their feet washed before sitting down to eat. It was doubly important to do because they didn’t sit in chairs to eat back in Jesus’ time, they reclined on the floor or on cushions around tables. So feet would have been even closer to the food-- and to the faces of those eating it than we might imagine.
Back in that day and age, the lowest ranking person--aka servant-- in the household had the unwelcome job of being the foot-washer. So, taking today’s reading at face value, imagine the disciples’ surprise when Jesus, in today’s scripture passage, got up from the table and started washing the disciples’ feet. Now, since the meal was already in progress, we can probably assume that some foot-washing had already been done. But, still, the symbolism was clear—Jesus was voluntarily taking on the position of the lowest ranking servant in the household. And not only that, he was actually coming in close contact with people’s bunions and other unpleasant grossness! If your reaction is revulsion, you are not alone. Earlier in chapter 13, immediately preceding our reading, Peter—representing the rest of the disciples-- felt the same. “No way, Lord!” he said. “You are NEVER going to wash my feet!”
Jesus’ response? “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” Commentators are quick to point out that Jesus is speaking metaphorically here. Some say that this passage—written around 70 years after Jesus’ death-- is primarily about the meaning of baptism—of washing away sins, and that may certainly be one implication of this passage, but it is not the only implication. The larger meaning is about relationship. The word “part”—in Greek, meros—sometimes translated “share” actually meant “fellowship.” (New Interpreter’s Bible Comentary, Vol. IX, p. 223) So, Jesus is saying, “Unless I wash you, you have no fellowship with me.” In other words, to be in fellowship with Jesus, to be in good relationship with him, involves sharing with him not just the parts of ourselves that we are proud of, not just our best selves, but also bringing to him our dirty feet. The places in our lives that we struggle with. The things we’ve messed up. Our sins, if you will. Our bad habits. Our regrets. In this passage, Jesus is calling his followers to bring to him the things we are ashamed of-- and wish we could change, but haven’t been able to.
And here’s the amazing part of it all—the good news of the Gospel--Jesus says, “I want all of you. I accept-- and love-- ALL of you. All parts of you—the good, the bad, and the ugly, as it were.” In this foot-washing passage, Jesus is teaching his followers what relationship is all about. He is modeling what intimacy is: the sharing of our whole selves with the God we see revealed in Jesus—even the parts that we are ashamed of and want to change. Intimacy is taking a risk and being vulnerable; it’s trusting that God will not reject us—but, rather, will still embrace us with open arms-- and offer us grace and forgiveness and the opportunity for a fresh start. It’s a powerful message, isn’t it?!
But Jesus doesn’t leave it there. The acceptance, love, grace and forgiveness that we receive in Jesus is exactly the blessing we are to offer to our fellow human beings. And one way we do that--an entry point to building relationships and blessing others—is through service.
Our second scripture, from Matthew, chapter 20, verse 28, says that “The Son of Man”—another name for Jesus—came NOT to BE served, but to serve…” This BLESS book calls that emphasis on service a “seismic paradigm shift.” (BLESS, p. 99)
In Jesus’ day—and it’s still the same in ours, the “higher you rise [in society] and the more power and wealth you accumulate, the more leverage you have to get others to serve you.” (BLESS, p. 100) As people move into the middle—or upper middle—class, often we begin to pay people to do stuff we’d rather not do, like clean our homes, mow our lawns, give us pedicures. And I’m not saying there is anything wrong with paying for those things—or receiving payment for doing them--who doesn’t like a good pedicure or to come home to a clean house after a long day at work-- or to get paid for a task we do for someone else?! But these are business transactions, not relationships. Jesus’ main point here is that we are called to be in relationship with God and with one another. And relationships, unlike the business transactions we all engage in, relationships require MUTUAL give and take, mutual service, mutual vulnerability.
Over the past few weeks we’ve been talking about how people get to know each other—how they build relationships. One of the ways is through eating, sharing meals together, like we talked about last week. And listening, like we talked about the week before. Today’s first scripture reading makes clear that building relationships also involves sharing the uncomfortable, difficult, painful parts of our lives—not sharing ONLY the celebrations. We need to cry with each other, grieve with each other and pray with each other. We need to apologize when we step on each other’s toes—and accept those apologies. In a word, we need to serve each other—bring each other casseroles, send encouraging notes—metaphorically wash each other’s ugly, bare feet like Jesus has washed ours. It’s in those times of mutual service that we truly deepen our relationships.
And let me emphasize here, it’s mutual service. Jesus said in our first reading from John chapter 13, verse 14, “…you ought to wash one another’s feet.” This implies that sometimes we are the foot-washer and other times we are the foot-washee.
As I said earlier, the way our world works is that people, in general, prefer to be the foot-washee—that is, when we move up the social ladder, we prefer to pay others to serve us by doing the stuff we don’t like to do. (Think toilet-cleaning, lawn-mowing, etc.)
In the Christian community, however, sometimes that preference can be reversed. Sometimes we follow Matthew 20:28 to the extreme and we ALWAYS take the role of the servant, never letting ourselves BE served, because we think that’s what Jesus wants. Except that it isn’t. We need to hear John 13:14 as much as we hear Matthew 20:28. Sometimes we need to let others serve us, to let others see our vulnerabilities, to embrace us in our pain, to forgive us when we mess up—because, otherwise, our relationships will not deepen much beyond the level of a business transaction.
So, my friends, as we move into this new week, may we continue to pray for people, listen to them, eat with them. And, as we listen, may God reveal ways we can serve others and be a blessing to them. AND may God help us recognize and accept service from others. May God help us practice saying, “yes,” graciously, when someone offers to do something for us. We are probably all used to saying, “No, that’s okay, really, I’m all set.” But sometimes Jesus wants us to say, “Okay. Thank you.” “Yes, it has been a hard week. A meal would be nice.” Or, “You’re right. I could use that gift card-- or that cup of coffee or that prayer.”
As we engage in this mutual give and take of service, may our relationships deepen, grow, and flourish in Jesus’ name. And may we hear the words of Jesus from John 13:17: “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”