“…during supper Jesus…got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and wipe them with the towel tied around him… (John 13)

“This is my body that is for you…This cup is the new covenant in my blood…” (I Corinthians 11)

Feet and water, bread and wine…ordinary, earthy things…rooted in the world…tonight become extraordinary…vehicles of unqualified, abundant love. They manifest the vulnerability, humility, community and intimacy that Jesus modeled, calling the disciples and us to do the same. The name “Maundy Thursday” comes from the Latin, mandate nova, meaning “a new commandment.” That commandment was to love one another as Jesus has and does love us... That loving is to permeate all of our lives, and the challenge appears sometimes in unexpected ways.

“Dr. Fred Craddock tells a story about driving cross-country many years ago. He stopped in the South for an early breakfast and coffee, as he had driven through the night. As he waited for his order to come, he spied a black man who had just come in and had sat down at the lunch counter. The diner’s manager then began to treat this man with a contempt that was clearly a reflection of his deep-seeded racism. The manager was rude, insulting, and demeaning to his black guest. As he sat in his booth near the counter, Craddock wrestled whether to say something to the manager, to name his shameful, racist conduct. Meanwhile, the black man quickly downed his coffee and fled into the darkness. Craddock remained silent. “I didn’t say anything, “he confessed. “I quietly paid my bill, left the diner and headed back to my car. But as I walked through the parking lot, somewhere in the distance, I heard a rooster crow.”

One Sunday Fred Craddock was a guest preacher at a church, and he preached a sermon using that story. After the service, a man came up to him in the narthex, shook Craddock’s hand vigorously, and said, “Thanks you, pastor, for that powerful sermon. That really hit home! Oh, but by the way, what was that business with the rooster?”

(Sunday Sermons, Scott Hoezee, httpA://www.calvincrc.org/sermons/2002/mark13Advent02.html, copied)

Clearly Dr. Craddock was ashamed of his inability to stand up at that moment, yet he had the courage to preach about it. Hopefully, because of his humility others would act otherwise.

The disciples, like the Israelites in the Hebrew Scriptures who were unable to fathom or maintain a covenant with God, were seemingly incapable of understanding who Jesus was and what God, in human flesh, was showing them. Again, Jesus had to give them a concrete example. In the foot-washing and the supper that night and this night, Jesus manifests a love that is unconditional. It is an act of will, not an emotion, a love that is lived in profound humility. This love is found in silence, seen in vulnerability, lived in self-giving, and continually renewed and nourished in community.

This love is found in silence…just imagine the awe and the discomfort the disciples must have felt as Jesus washed the feet of each. Also imagine Jesus looking directly into their eyes as they felt a love and tenderness that were beyond their wildest imaginings. Most of us have known times like this in our lives…when we have looked at another and communicated silently; when words were not only unnecessary but would be an intrusion. We also know this as we sit in silent meditation, communicating with God through our hearts and souls, not our mouths. A friend has said: “Love is the place where your silence and my silence meet.”

Love is seen in vulnerability. Jesus removed his clothing, dressed as the most menial of slaves, and, in washing the feet of the disciples, made them vulnerable as well. Vulnerability can be understood to be the heart of intimacy – the state that requires mutuality and trust. It can be frightening because it carries the risk of being hurt. It is shown in weakness, not in strength. Intimacy requires that we surrender our vanity, embarrassment and pride and take on humility and openness.

Martin Smith has said that accepting this unconditional love “…gives us victory over shame, heals alienation, and requires total surrender to Jesus Christ.” (Copied) Love is seen in vulnerability and intimacy.

Love is lived in self-giving. Christ washing fee shows that there is no length beyond which God will not go to show love for us. God’s love continues…in the pouring out of Christ’s tears in Gethsemane and the shedding of his life’s blood on the cross. In the picture of Jesus washing feet we can see images of a parent caring for a child, a nurse for a patient oar one lover for another. It is an image of total dependence and trust. Love is lived in self-giving.

Love is renewed and nourished in community. It wasn’t enough that Jesus abased himself by washing feet. He then shared bread and the host’s cup with them. To share the host’s cup was to receive a blessing – even the betrayer, Judas, received that blessing. In the ancient Near East to share a meal meant that persons were friends for life. It was the place where community was formed.

Bread is made of many ears or sheaves that take about nine months to grow. Wine is made from the juice of many grapes and takes at least nine months to age. Community is made of many people, people who were created by God and each knit together perfectly after a nine month gestation in the womb. This altar, like the ancient u-shaped one in the upper room is inclusive, calling us to come together as a community over and over again. It is here that we are shaped and molded into the community God desires for us. Love is renewed and nourished in the community of the Eucharist.

Finally, lest there be no confusion as to his intent for the future, Jesus gave a new mandate, a new commandment. They and we are to love one another as he loved us – with the kind of love manifested this night in bread and wine, feet and water.

We have begun to walk through the Triduum Sacrum, the sacred three days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Tonight we shall walk with Jesus to Gethsemane, there to watch with him through the night. We’ll strip the altar in preparation for the walk to Golgotha, where we shall stand in agony with his mother, Mary, and the others who loved him at the foot of the shameful cross. There we shall wait until the time of his death. There can be no more heart-wrenching time as we stand watching and waiting. Yet we have been given all that we need. We have been given abundant, unqualified, and totally accepting love. That love is found in silence, seen in vulnerability, lived in self-giving, and continually renewed and nourished in community with one another.

AMEN