Maundy Thursday sermon

It is Holy Week 2016 and for this blog I am pasting a full-text written copy of my sermon, delivered for Maundy Thursday (March 24, 2016).  As always, my written sermons do not reflect the differences that come when a sermon is spoken; so the version preached will be a little different.

For centuries now the church around the world has typically observed Maundy Thursday, which commemorates the final day Jesus lived as a free man prior to being turned into the Roman authorities by Judas Iscariot.  The term “Maundy” comes from a Latin word that refers to the great commandment that Jesus gives in our Scripture, that we would love one another.  It’s interesting how this day, which is filled with such sorrow and torment, would be named after some of the greatest words to ever come out of Jesus’ mouth.

        In fact, this whole story from Scripture is anything but ordinary.  It seems that the closer Jesus gets to the end of his earthly life, the stranger he acts and the more mystifying his actions become.  Our Scripture from John 13 tells us about these final hours, which apparently were filled with activity and drama.  In this chapter, we learn about Jesus washing the disciples’ feet; we hear how Jesus predicts his betrayal; and we are given this, the great commandment, which I will quote now from 13:34: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”  This part of Jesus’ story is not new to us sitting here today; we’ve all heard about foot washing, and some people have even experienced it in other churches.  But one thing sticks out to me as very unusual: what do foot washing, the great commandment, and betrayal have in common?  It appears rather obvious to us that Jesus was fully aware of his future, and therefore it makes sense that he would have been very intentional in those final hours with his disciples, teaching and leading them in a profound way.  But what is this connection between foot washing, betrayal, and the great commandment?

        So Simon Peter is the disciple who first gets his feet washed, under protest of course.  Why should his Lord do something so dirty, so gross, so demeaning, as wash his feet?!  To which Jesus provides a cryptic response, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.”  So then Simon Peter, thoroughly rebuked, asked for a full scrub down!  But then Jesus gives another difficult response: “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean.  And you are clean, though not all of you.”  And of course Jesus is referring to his betrayer as not being clean, and the Scripture goes into greater detail of how Judas is identified by dipping bread into wine. 

        What I find interesting is the careful choice of words that refer to removing dirt: wash; bathe; and clean.  Jesus uses the term “wash” with the task at hand with the disciples’ feet; Jesus uses the term “bathe” as a past action; and “clean” is a term used to describe a state of being.  And even more cryptically, Jesus claims that having bathed leaves you entirely clean, but you still need to wash your feet.  If this isn’t confusing at all, then you’re way ahead of me on this one!  Because this situation with foot washing is really complicated, and the language is being used very subtly to describe several different pieces of the puzzle.

        Most commentators agree on what’s going on here.  Jesus is using the term “bathe” to refer to baptism and repentance, a one-time action which cleanses us of our sins.  Jesus is then using the term “clean” to refer to salvation and membership in the kingdom.  Finally, the term “wash” is used to refer to dirty feet, a body part which, before the days of fancy closed shoes, would become dirty in a very short period of time after leaving the house even if you had just bathed a few moments ago.  If you had bathed in the river, for example, you would have been entirely clean, but you’d still be tracking mud everywhere.  And if you’ve spent time at the beach before, you still experience this.  When I lived in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, I lived three blocks from the beach, and even though I hadn’t even gotten in the (highly polluted) water, I would track sand into the apartment, regardless of whether I was wearing flip-flops or tennis shoes. 

        As we look deeper into the narrative, we see that the task of washing feet is not limited to Jesus.  Jesus is first to wash feet in this scenario, but then he commands the disciples to wash each other’s feet as well.  And not only are the disciples called to wash one another’s feet, but Jesus reminds them that they are already entirely clean.  It sounds contradictory, that you could both be “entirely clean” and need washing at the same time; but of course, Jesus is speaking in parables, and isn’t talking about tracking sand and mud into the house.

        But when applied to the spiritual realm, this parable makes sense and presents a great challenge to us, who are Jesus’ disciples.  Even though we have already been bathed by repentance and baptism, even though we are entirely cleansed from our sins, we continue to commit sins in our daily lives.  Due to having bathed in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are eternally cleansed and no longer bear the burden of sin, the heavy weight of brokenness.  Like the donkey in the procession into Jerusalem, which we discussed on Sunday, we have been permanently and unabashedly declared clean by our Lord, which is good because only God himself could declare us clean and follow through with it.  And while we continue to commit sins in this life, these sins do not erase God’s declaration upon our souls, that we have been bathed and cleansed for eternity.  No amount of stumbling around in this soiled world is ever going to jeopardize our status.

        But we still track mud wherever we go.  We still pick up bad habits, we treat others poorly, and we turn a blind eye to persecution.  We are no longer in need of bathing, but we continue to require washing of our feet, that our sins from day to day would be washed away so that we don’t track our dirtiness everywhere we go.  This is why we ask for God to forgive us our trespasses in the Lord’s Prayer, because we continue to trespass on others, soiling our feet.

        But don’t forget, that Jesus called upon the disciples to wash one another’s feet as well.  Foot washing, apparently, is not a job left solely up to God.  Bathing and being declared clean is God’s job alone—only through calling upon Father, Son and Holy Spirit are we baptized, and only through God’s grace are we eternally forgiven.  But it appears that we have also been granted the authority—no, a command—to forgive one another as well for the daily sins we continue to track.  This is why the Lord’s Prayer also says, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us”.  Interestingly, Jesus doesn’t command us to wash our own feet—that is something we must do for one another out of love and a spirit of sacrifice.

       

        Jesus’ final hours tells us about what kind of God this is we’re dealing with.  Despite the fact that Judas Iscariot is about to trespass rather gravely against Jesus, Jesus is teaching his disciples to forgive one another their sins.  Presumably, some people are going to have feet that are dirty, but not too badly so.  And presumably, other people are going to have cracked, sore, and blistered feet which will take much more time, attention, dedication and care to wash.  We are dealing with a God who is both willing and capable of bathing and cleansing us head to toe—but still, when we stumble and get dirty out there, he enlists his disciples to help one another to overcome these earthly obstacles.  No matter how gruesome the sin, God has cleansed us once and for all, and we are called to forgive one another.

        And then Jesus gives us his final advice, his great commandment, which again I read, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  This is the thread which binds together the whole story: that love and forgiveness are two sides of the same coin.  If you have love, you can forgive; and if you can truly forgive, it is due to God’s love.  As Jesus’ disciples, we are commanded to love and forgive one another, washing each other’s feet as we go along the way. 

        Isn’t this fascinating?  Jesus knows that he’s about to be betrayed by one of his own flock, yet he spends his last moments urging us to forgive one another as we have been forgiven?  Even though he faces certain torture and death, the only thing on Jesus’ mind is to get his message of forgiveness across in a radical way by getting on his hands and knees to wash the feet of his closest friends.  And all of this he does during supper, according to verse 2, his final meal which he shares with his disciples, where he invites them to partake of the bread and cup, to accept the forgiveness of sins by the covenant of his blood.  And it is to this very same table that Jesus invites us all tonight, to partake of this bread and cup, that we would be forgiven, and that we would be empowered to forgive one another.