Are You Amazed?

March 20th Sermon
Holy Thursday
John 13:1-15

We are here to tonight to remember the one who transformed all of creation through a love that was amazing. A love that was amazing, because it so completely disregarded conventional ways of being in relationship.

The amazing love that Jesus lived ignored the hierarchal relationships that nations and businesses so relied on to keep people subjugated… controlled.

The amazing love that Jesus lived overlooked the patriarchal relationships that would treat women and children as chattel to be used or abused at the discretion of the head of the household.

The amazing love that Jesus lived confronted the notion of a ruler who would take unhealthy advantage of leadership and transformed it into the concept of the servant leader.

Jesus completely disregarded the conventional ways of being in relationship that placed power over another as the ultimate goal and offered a relationship of love that gave up any pretext of power. Are you amazed?

Here is how the story goes:

On a Thursday, less than a day before the harsh sound of nails being pounded into a rude cross were heard around the world, Jesus gathered with his closest followers in a large, borrowed, upstairs room, somewhere in the city of Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. The machinery of murder was already moving toward an isolated garden overlooking Jerusalem. Judas had already committed himself to a path different than his fellow sojourners. Common people, sniffing the winds of rumor with animal accuracy, were not ignorant of the hostilities roused by Jesus of Nazareth. The man was a fugitive and those who followed him put themselves at risk.

Yet they still gathered together during the tenuous security that night offered, to break bread together, to worship, and to continue learning amazing things from this fugitive.

Over their roughly three years together, this irregular group of miscreants had indeed been amazed. Wonders beyond imagination had taken place. The religious elite had been exposed for the hypocrites they were; outcasts had been welcomed into a community that really cared; leprous untouchables were touched in ways that made then whole; even the dead had been brought back to life and everyone was amazed.

So what words would Jesus share with them on this holy night? What insights might be gleaned from this rebel, as together they shared in the paschal feast and remembered how God delivered the Jews from bondage, so long ago. Would they too be delivered from the yoke of persecution and was this indeed "The One" - the Messiah? How would they be amazed in that “upper room?”

The Bible suggests that Jesus knew everything rested on the way he might respond to the disciples on that momentous night. The Bible suggests Jesus knew his hour of humiliation was near, and that he knew his hour of glory was near. Awareness like that can be dangerous and cause a person to be filled with pride. It would have been easy for Jesus to turn the revolution in another direction - a direction that even Judas would have approved of. The officials could still be avoided and the mass of people in Jerusalem, directed to destroy Rome. There was still time to misuse the power of the times in conventional ways: to control.

Power can be a dangerous commodity and Jesus knew that his teaching on this pregnant evening would have its most profound effect. So… filled with the knowledge of the power and glory that were his; aware that he could control and use the anger of the other twelve in that borrowed, upper room; poised with the knowledge that could make him the King of all kings...

...he washed their feet.

That's right; Jesus washed his disciple’s feet! At the moment he might have had supreme pride, he had supreme humility. At the moment he could have used absolute power for absolute gain, he became the absolute servant. The same night in which he was betrayed he cared for the needs of others. Confused? Does it seem like a contradictory action? Are you amazed?

Then you are not unlike the others gathered around the table that night.

The love Jesus expressed is utterly unaccountable - except that he is God and God is love. It has no cause in us. It reacts to, or repays, or rewards nothing in us. It is beyond human measure, beyond human comprehension. It is amazing.

That night, so long ago, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. And they were amazed.

Sometimes we feel that to be a Footwasher is beneath us. The disciples certainly felt that, but not Jesus. Even knowing that he was Lord of all he washed his disciples’ feet. What a lesson for the disciples and for us. It's just not the lesson the disciples were expecting and it's not an easy lesson for us to put to practical use.

You see, it's hard to be a foot washer in this world. It ranks right up there with changing sheets in a nursing home or spending time with aids patients. It is smelly and at times dangerous. It is a job that has low reward, low status, is hard work, and puts you too darn close to the rest of humanity. It is work that no one wants to do because it tends to put people in either a one up or a one down position.

Foot washing is the intentional reaching out to others in service. Not because you want to feel better about yourself, or because you deem yourself to be superior. Not because you have been a victim and don’t know how to change. Foot washing, is only effective when done as modeled by Jesus – when it is done with love that is both intentional and authentic.
More uncomfortable than being a Footwasher, however, is having your feet washed by someone else. Just ask tough ole Simon Peter. He wasn't nicknamed Rock just for the heck of it. Strong, secure in who he was, capable at whatever he set his mind too, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound - you know the type. The Rock was a regular superman. No way was he going to allow Jesus to just wash his feet - that would imply a dependency on someone else; a weakness. He would do more than what was asked which would show his strength.

So, in response to Jesus' saying, "Either this or nothing," Rock had to boast, "Then wash my hands and head too." You see he wasn't going to be outdone; it was like being double-dared. Rock was going to show Jesus just how loyal he was. Rock was going to show Jesus that he regarded him as the Christ and would do anything for the kingdom. Rock was going to show Jesus just how much power Rock possessed.

But Simon Peter was letting his own agenda get in the way. He was letting that old record play over and over. "I need to be the one in control, can't let anyone appear more capable than me." Sound familiar?

Peter just didn't seem to get it. Didn't seem to understand what Jesus was doing. Wouldn't, in fact, understand where the real source of power was until a few days later. Simon Peter, "The Rock," had to experience Jesus washing his feet, had to experience his own denial of Jesus, had to experience the empty tomb, and had to experience the unconditional, accepting love of Jesus the Christ, before he could finally understand true power. Peter was then amazed.

How about you? Are you amazed by the experience of Jesus in your life?

Tonight we re-enact that Foot washing event, as we wash each others hands, and we remember the "Mandatum Novum" or new commandment that Jesus gave to Peter... and us:
"Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

I invite each of you to find a relationship of strength and peace with Jesus Christ. I invite you to be amazed.