John 13:4-17 (The Message Translation)
So Jesus got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron.
When he got to Simon Peter, Peter said, “Master, you wash my feet?”
7 Jesus answered, “You don’t understand now what I’m doing, but it will be clear enough to you later.”
8 Peter persisted, “You’re not going to wash my feet—ever!”
Jesus said, “If I don’t wash you, you can’t be part of what I’m doing.”
9 “Master!” said Peter. “Not only my feet, then. Wash my hands! Wash my head!”
10-12 Jesus said, “If you’ve had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you’re clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene. So now you’re clean. But not every one of you.” (He knew who was betraying him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you.”)
After he had finished washing their feet, he took his robe, put it back on, and went back to his place at the table.
12-17 Then he said, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. I’m only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn’t give orders to the employer. If you understand what I’m telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life.
So Jesus got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron.
When he got to Simon Peter, Peter said, “Master, you wash my feet?”
7 Jesus answered, “You don’t understand now what I’m doing, but it will be clear enough to you later.”
8 Peter persisted, “You’re not going to wash my feet—ever!”
Jesus said, “If I don’t wash you, you can’t be part of what I’m doing.”
9 “Master!” said Peter. “Not only my feet, then. Wash my hands! Wash my head!”
10-12 Jesus said, “If you’ve had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you’re clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene. So now you’re clean. But not every one of you.” (He knew who was betraying him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you.”)
After he had finished washing their feet, he took his robe, put it back on, and went back to his place at the table.
12-17 Then he said, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. I’m only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn’t give orders to the employer. If you understand what I’m telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life.
Reflection
Let us pray in love and respect and compassion for all our brothers and sisters around the world, even as they pray with us and for us.
That is what church is about isn’t it? Knowing that we are all in this together, you, me and the whole world. We are all in this thing called creation, and we are in it together.
And yet, we live in a strange world. This simple thing of living together just doesn’t seem to be that simple. It’s like no one believes it can happen, it’s like we don’t have a vision of how things should be, it’s like we don’t have any hope.
OK I get it, we always want something and then when we get it, we want more or different but the desire to have, to control, to manipulate seems never to fade. It just changes it’s gaze and gets to work over and over again - wanting to have, to control, to manipulate.
But we, I’d like to say exclusively, we Christians but that would be fudging it a little, - we Christians, Buddhists, Ba’hai’s, well really a whole lot of people - including Islam, Judaism, various Indigenous and Tribal peoples – and more - so a lot of people understand there is another way to be in the world. But, we Christians, we are lucky because we had Jesus, who imparted so much wisdom about how to be in the world, God’s world, God’s creation.
Jesus showed us who we are, who we should be and our relationship to each other. This is it – wash one another feet.
Oh yeck!, you say – not doing that; he only meant it figuratively! Yet here is the story we have Jesus washing the disciples feet, and even when they think it is too demeaning for him to be doing, he insists that not only is he doing this thing but this is exactly what they should be doing. This is how they should see themselves in relation to everyone else – everyone else.
In a tiered society, where emperors where not only next to gods they were gods, then kings and military leaders and rich people of all kinds, then ordinary people, then servants and slaves, then beggars and the destitute. The disciples are instructed to wash feet, to see people as real, as important in their own right because they are God’s own. All of them.
I can just hear us now, oh sorry the disciples then, trying to figure this all out – you mean women?, you mean those radicals who want to try to take over Jerusalem from Rome, you can’t mean tax collectors!, what about shepherds – you don’t mean shepherds do you – they smell? I’m sure the disciples would want to get the list just right and that Jesus would be just as adamant. Everyone – all of them – figuratively, literally who cares, just be sure to include everyone- all are welcome, everyone gets their feet washed.
I think, someone forgot to tell the churches about this scripture passage or maybe most of us just thought “Oh,
that was a really nice gesture on Jesus’ part.”
That’s why I really like World Wide Communion Sunday because we get to remember, we get to look around us and recognize that even though we have dozens of things that make us different: rituals, languages, traditions, theological beliefs and doctrinal statements, our churches may look different and feel different but we have these things in common, that bind us one to other, that hold us together in one body, if we let it.
As I look around our little church today, I am aware that we all come from such different experiences, some of us grew up in different churches, different denominations, some of us grew up with no religion, some of us were immersed since birth, others slipped in and out of churches willy-nilly or when our family moved. I look around and I see such a richness, such a depth of spirituality and say “Let’s embrace it all”, let’s ask questions about one another and listen for the response, I must admit I find your lives interesting.
I find churches in general interesting. Architecture, rituals, bibles, liturgies, sermons, prayers – there is so much depth, so much to learn, so much love and hope and well - there’s vestments not so interesting to me! Except, Jean Calvin, gave such long sermons, two or three hours, that he and everyone else wore fur lined cloaks in the winter because the church in Geneva had, of course, no heating.
I am always interested in the differences in churches, what makes the different churches unique and what that tells us about God.
Yep God! How is God working in our world, shaping lives,
what kind of God are we, as the church, proclaiming at different times in history.
We can see this happening all through the Bible, the story of God, Yahweh, and people. The stories and voices tell us how God moves and works in the world / creation and among the Israelites. Then, Jesus comes along and the disciples, and we get another, better, clearer view of who we are as God’s children. Abba comes into focus and we are embraced by a God who is loving and compassionate and for all, as witnessed to by Paul and all the gospels.
As church history progresses (and at times regresses) the question of “what kind of God is God?” always remains at the forefront while “Who is your God?” remains at the heart. You can guess which question was winning when.
We, as the church and as individuals, really are witnesses for our time, for the church, for what kind of God we see and understand and hope is working in our world. And yes, we get to choose.
We get to embrace a loving God, who cares about and for creation, who understands our imperfect, perfect humanness because of Jesus the Christ.
A God who walks beside us all, loving, guiding, comforting bringing hope in a world where violence, fear and control seem rampant.
We get to build and belong to communities of love and care, which seek to uplift the gifts of everyone, find a place for everyone, give a voice to everyone and we get to call that community: church.
Today, we sing and praise and pray with churches around the world. We listen to the stories in the Bible and share in the wisdom to be found there. We remember Jesus, his life and death, and resurrection as we share in the communion bread and wine. We live in faith. We pray with hope. We are God’s church in the world and our God is a loving, compassionate God who calls us; his faithful servants, who not only would wash our neighbours feet, but allow Jesus to wash our feet, God calls us to be his loving, compassionate people.
May it be so Amen
Let us pray in love and respect and compassion for all our brothers and sisters around the world, even as they pray with us and for us.
That is what church is about isn’t it? Knowing that we are all in this together, you, me and the whole world. We are all in this thing called creation, and we are in it together.
And yet, we live in a strange world. This simple thing of living together just doesn’t seem to be that simple. It’s like no one believes it can happen, it’s like we don’t have a vision of how things should be, it’s like we don’t have any hope.
OK I get it, we always want something and then when we get it, we want more or different but the desire to have, to control, to manipulate seems never to fade. It just changes it’s gaze and gets to work over and over again - wanting to have, to control, to manipulate.
But we, I’d like to say exclusively, we Christians but that would be fudging it a little, - we Christians, Buddhists, Ba’hai’s, well really a whole lot of people - including Islam, Judaism, various Indigenous and Tribal peoples – and more - so a lot of people understand there is another way to be in the world. But, we Christians, we are lucky because we had Jesus, who imparted so much wisdom about how to be in the world, God’s world, God’s creation.
Jesus showed us who we are, who we should be and our relationship to each other. This is it – wash one another feet.
Oh yeck!, you say – not doing that; he only meant it figuratively! Yet here is the story we have Jesus washing the disciples feet, and even when they think it is too demeaning for him to be doing, he insists that not only is he doing this thing but this is exactly what they should be doing. This is how they should see themselves in relation to everyone else – everyone else.
In a tiered society, where emperors where not only next to gods they were gods, then kings and military leaders and rich people of all kinds, then ordinary people, then servants and slaves, then beggars and the destitute. The disciples are instructed to wash feet, to see people as real, as important in their own right because they are God’s own. All of them.
I can just hear us now, oh sorry the disciples then, trying to figure this all out – you mean women?, you mean those radicals who want to try to take over Jerusalem from Rome, you can’t mean tax collectors!, what about shepherds – you don’t mean shepherds do you – they smell? I’m sure the disciples would want to get the list just right and that Jesus would be just as adamant. Everyone – all of them – figuratively, literally who cares, just be sure to include everyone- all are welcome, everyone gets their feet washed.
I think, someone forgot to tell the churches about this scripture passage or maybe most of us just thought “Oh,
that was a really nice gesture on Jesus’ part.”
That’s why I really like World Wide Communion Sunday because we get to remember, we get to look around us and recognize that even though we have dozens of things that make us different: rituals, languages, traditions, theological beliefs and doctrinal statements, our churches may look different and feel different but we have these things in common, that bind us one to other, that hold us together in one body, if we let it.
As I look around our little church today, I am aware that we all come from such different experiences, some of us grew up in different churches, different denominations, some of us grew up with no religion, some of us were immersed since birth, others slipped in and out of churches willy-nilly or when our family moved. I look around and I see such a richness, such a depth of spirituality and say “Let’s embrace it all”, let’s ask questions about one another and listen for the response, I must admit I find your lives interesting.
I find churches in general interesting. Architecture, rituals, bibles, liturgies, sermons, prayers – there is so much depth, so much to learn, so much love and hope and well - there’s vestments not so interesting to me! Except, Jean Calvin, gave such long sermons, two or three hours, that he and everyone else wore fur lined cloaks in the winter because the church in Geneva had, of course, no heating.
I am always interested in the differences in churches, what makes the different churches unique and what that tells us about God.
Yep God! How is God working in our world, shaping lives,
what kind of God are we, as the church, proclaiming at different times in history.
We can see this happening all through the Bible, the story of God, Yahweh, and people. The stories and voices tell us how God moves and works in the world / creation and among the Israelites. Then, Jesus comes along and the disciples, and we get another, better, clearer view of who we are as God’s children. Abba comes into focus and we are embraced by a God who is loving and compassionate and for all, as witnessed to by Paul and all the gospels.
As church history progresses (and at times regresses) the question of “what kind of God is God?” always remains at the forefront while “Who is your God?” remains at the heart. You can guess which question was winning when.
We, as the church and as individuals, really are witnesses for our time, for the church, for what kind of God we see and understand and hope is working in our world. And yes, we get to choose.
We get to embrace a loving God, who cares about and for creation, who understands our imperfect, perfect humanness because of Jesus the Christ.
A God who walks beside us all, loving, guiding, comforting bringing hope in a world where violence, fear and control seem rampant.
We get to build and belong to communities of love and care, which seek to uplift the gifts of everyone, find a place for everyone, give a voice to everyone and we get to call that community: church.
Today, we sing and praise and pray with churches around the world. We listen to the stories in the Bible and share in the wisdom to be found there. We remember Jesus, his life and death, and resurrection as we share in the communion bread and wine. We live in faith. We pray with hope. We are God’s church in the world and our God is a loving, compassionate God who calls us; his faithful servants, who not only would wash our neighbours feet, but allow Jesus to wash our feet, God calls us to be his loving, compassionate people.
May it be so Amen
