Maundy Thursday, April 6th
Then Jesus took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying “This is my body, which is given for you.”
-Luke 22:19a
I love the Eucharist. One of the most powerful ways God reaches out to us. I have a friend, who told me, in her second year of ministry that she still teared up everytime she officiated at the table. With all that being said though, I thought that I would actually share with you the sermon I preached tonight at Immanuel Baptist, it’s based on the lectionary text, John 13:1-17, 31b-35. Anyway, here it is:
Where Are You Going?
A sermon for Immanuel Baptist and First Presbyterian, Greenville, NC
By Rev. Carrie M. Finch, April 5, 2012
A few years ago, I was on a mission trip in Belize with the youth group that I was serving. And like most youth mission trips, towards the end of our time together during our nightly group devotion time, we, the leadership, decided that we should re-enact part of the scripture we just read here tonight and do a foot washing. Now, even though Jesus himself performed this act of kindness and humility- for some reason- the kids were not crazy about the idea. The idea of touching another person’s smelly, dirty foot after a day of working in the burial grounds freaked them out.
But, being the accommodating non-complaining willing to follow along teenagers that all teenagers are, the group formed a circle on the porch of the pastor’s house, and one by one we washed the person next to us’ feet. There was some giggling, some awkward comments and fidgetiness. While the person who washing the other’s feet they were supposed to also say something about that the person that stood out to him or her that was an example of Christ to others. Interestingly enough, throughout the course of the exercise, the giggling stopped and people started listening. They started paying attention, sharing stories and in the end, though not entirely comfortable with the experience, we were able to see each other in a new light.
The power of Jesus is astounding to me. The ability to transform a bunch of awkward, giggling, grossed out teenagers into being faithful disciples invested in one another is truly a gift from God alone. Simply by re-enacting what Jesus did, Jesus draws us closer to him and to one another. Like I said, the power of Jesus is astounding. It’s part of the reason we rehearse this week of passion again and again, year in and year out. Because despite the fact that Jesus lived some 2,000 years ago, Jesus is still teaching us, Jesus is still Lord and Jesus is still showing us the way to treat one another.
And so we begin the story of the Last Supper with Jesus showing his disciples what it means to be a leader- what it means to be a servant, by humbling himself and taking the time to wash each of his disciples’ feet; even the one who will betray him. That’s what Jesus does- he loves deeply- enough to overcome pain, torture, hurt, and death. And he begins his last meal with his friends, showering them with this deep love so that they might still learn how to be his disciples. Despite their flaws and the pain they are soon to cause him.
On that night in that upper room, Jesus knew what was coming in just a few hours, he knows that after their meal, when he heads to the garden to pray, that he will be arrested. He knows that Judas will betray, that Peter will deny and the others will scatter. He knows that with what is coming his disciples will not follow him- that he alone can heal the world with letting himself be broken and bruised, beaten and hung on a cross to die. He knows all of this and yet, there he sat, with a towel wrapped around his waist as he kneeled down and took the dusty, dirty, smelly foot of his follower and with the care and gentleness a mother has for her newborn, washed away the things that makes the one unclean.
Today, we say in the church, and admittedly much more so in the Baptist tradition than the Presbyterian one, that Jesus washes away our sins, that Jesus makes us clean. We acknowledge through Christ’ blood we are made whole and new. And yet, too often, we can’t seem to keep the dirt off. We can’t seem to follow Jesus to the cross, to follow the new commandment that Jesus gave to the disciples that night and to us today as well, when Jesus said these words, that we should “love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Did you catch that? It’s like that good ole camp hymn says, they will know we are Christians by our love, by our love. I mean, we love those whom we love and we love them well, we treat our family and our friends, hopefully, in the way that Jesus taught us to love one another; but to those who are different, those whom we fear, those whom we judge as unworthy of our love, those whom we see as enemy, those whose economic or political or social standing is different than our own, well, that’s where we fail to love as Jesus taught us to love. There are days when the best we can do is tolerate the other- there are days when all we can do is simply co-exist. Those are the days when we would find ourselves in the crowds with the others who were shouting to Pontius Pilate “crucify” “crucify.”
You see, whether or not we are actively causing pain and suffering to the least of these or to those who are our enemy or political adversary, whether or not we are speaking words of hatred and judging the other- in our silence, even in our silence- we are hurting one another. When we fail to stand up for one another- when we fail to practice forgiveness or hospitality, when we fail to see the humanity in our fellow man, when we simply do nothing, we are gathering up dirt on our feet and we are needing to be made clean- to be forgiven for our sins, our inability to find our voice, our rationalization for simply looking the other direction. Yes, our silence and our in-action can be just as painful to the one in need.
I have been reading this book called “the Tipping Point.” It’s a social study on what causes epidemics, for things to take off and spread- both positively and negatively, and the author gives examples through colorful yet true stories to push a particular point home. One of those he told was about a woman who was chased and stabbed repeatedly over the course of a half hour through her neighborhood and was eventually killed by her pursuer. Her drawn out death was witnessed by 38 people, yet not one of those witnesses called the police or tried to help her. 38 people looked the other way. Maybe they thought someone else would call and so they didn’t, maybe they were scared for their own safety if they got involved and so they didn’t, maybe they were calloused and just didn’t care or thought the woman deserved it. Who knows? When the police interviewed the witnesses no one could articulate why they didn’t respond. Did these 38 people actively kill this woman? No, but could they have saved her? Possibly. Did they follow Jesus that day- did they love enough to care or were they standing in the crowds, averting their eyes as Jesus was being condemned?
Jesus said to his disciples that night some 2,000 years ago that where he was going they could not follow. They didn’t know the end of the story- they did not yet know what the cross meant- they simply could not follow him. Yet, 2,000 years later we are called to follow him to the cross. We know the power of Jesus- we know that beyond the cross comes the resurrection, that beyond the suffering and pain there is glory. That through Christ, we too are glorified. And yet, and yet, and yet, we keep turning away, we fail, we fall, we stumble, we doubt, we question, we rationalize, we get too busy, we simply don’t care. After all, we have to be right, we have to show no mercy, we have to hold on to the hurt, the pain, the grudges, we have to protect ourselves, we have to put up walls, we have to not let others in, because, if we do, well then we may be mocked, beaten, crucified. We may lose everything. We may be rejected, denied, our closest friends may turn their back on us, sell us out, walk away. We may be left all alone… Wait a minute, this is starting to sound a little too familiar. Where have we heard this story before???
The question that we must face in light of what’s coming- as we sit in the upper room with Jesus tonight- when we know that tomorrow- the skies will turn grey and Jesus will be nailed to a piece of wood, and left to die- we must face where we are in the story- what role we play or who we would be if we were a part of the story unfolding that night. So the question is this: Where are you going? Are you in the crowd shouting “crucify”? Are you hiding from the inevitable, thinking inaction is better than wrong action? Are you afraid to wash the other’s feet, are you adverting your eyes to those in need, OR are you picking up your cross, are you following Jesus- even to places that make you uncomfortable or scared? Are you willing to live your life for the One who gave his life for you? Are you willing to follow the new commandment to love one another as God loves you? Do you trust in the power of Jesus to heal the world? Where are you going?
Something to think about as you head into the holiest of weekends… Amen.
-C
tomorrow’s verse:
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
-Psalm 130:3
