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SERVING HANDS
The Hands of Jesus, Part 6
March 16, 2008 – Palm Sunday
Pastor Graig Flach
INTRODUCTION
One hundred ten years ago today, March 16, 1898, a first generation American was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to German immigrant parents. His name was Victor Hugo Flach, my grandfather. When Victor’s dad died a few years later, leaving his wife Louise a single mom with 5 sons, she decided to take the boys cross-country by train to the only close family she had, a sister in Portland, Oregon, a pastor’s wife. So Victor grew up in Portland. He fought in World War 1, married, and ultimately became the head of the mapping division for the state forest service. He and his wife Eva had two sons, one of whom is my dad. Grandpa Flach died when I was in college, and since then has achieved a kind of “saint” status in the family lore. He was a godly man who successfully embodied and passed along his commitment to Christ. May that be true of all of us parents and grandparents.
But the reason I am mentioning him today is not just because it’s his birthday and he was a religious guy, but because of my Grandpa’s hands. Professionally Grandpa was a mapmaker, but at home he was a carpenter, and he was also a magician. These were skills he used to serve others. I remember his hands pretty clearly: strong hands, but also delicate. I can see them in my mind’s eye and I can feel them with my mind’s tactile memory. I see the Masonic ring on one finger. They were hands that served others. They responded to needs, fixing things and producing furniture for family and friends. They also shared joy, performing magic tricks before the wondering eyes of kids and adults alike. My Grandpa had serving hands, which are probably at work now serving and praising God in the heavenly kingdom.
“Serving Hands” is the title of our latest installment in the current sermon series that takes us through Easter, focusing on the Hands of Jesus and the way they represent God’s character as it is still relevant for us today: He is still willing and able to bless, still strong, still saving and healing us. Thanks be to God! And today we see how the hands of Jesus serve, through a foundational passage from John’s Gospel.
John 13:1-17 (NRSV)
1 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him.
And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table,1 took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" 7 Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." 8 Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." 9 Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" 10 Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet,1 but is entirely clean. And you2 are clean, though not all of you." 11 For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean." 12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord -- and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16 Very truly, I tell you, servants1 are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”
The crux of the passage is clear. Our sermon title, “Serving Hands” points to it, the words of Jesus stress it: We are to “wash one another’s feet” – we are to SERVE each other.
CONTEXT – WHERE ARE WE IN JOHN’S STORY?
The context of the passage is the last week of our Lord’s earthly walk. Here in John’s account of things, I’m sure it is no coincidence that just before He comes to Jerusalem, we experience the story of the death of Jesus’ friend Lazarus, and Jesus calling him back to life, prefiguring Jesus’ own death and resurrection.
Then, right before the triumphal entry into the city, John tells us the story of Jesus having His own feet cleaned with expensive perfumed ointment. And in the verses immediately prior to ch. 13, during his first days in Jerusalem, He foretells His own death.
And now it is just before that death. We are in that upper room where they are having the Last Supper. John barely mentions the supper. Instead, he tells the story we just heard.
Imagine for a moment we’re spending our regular time in the Word, reading this passage. Look at it with me. We cruise along in verses 1 and 2: OK, it’s the Passover… Jesus knows the end is near and that He will leave the earth and head back to Heaven… He loves His disciples to the utmost… Uh-oh – treachery, Satan and Judas. And then I read verses 3-5, and I get curious. Listen: During supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had entrusted all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, Jesus got up from the table and… – What comes next? I expect Jesus, in full awareness of His divinity and power, to do say or do something spectacular. Things are building to a climax. He’s just experienced His greatest adulation, entering Jerusalem to the cheers of an excited crowd. He has arrived and now it is time to lay out His victory program.
But what really happens? He gets up from the table, takes off his outer garment, ties a towel around himself, kneels before His subordinates and washes their feet. Yuck! According to Jewish custom, this was a demeaning task, so much so that Jews – even slaves – were not to do it. It was left to Gentile slaves, or perhaps to one’s family members. Jesus underscores the humiliating picture by tying a towel around Himself, the symbol for a slave servant. And then he confirms His intention with words that are as direct and clear as anything else he ever said. He tells His apprentices, “I’m the top guy here and I have lowered myself to serve and pamper you as if I were your slave. So you certainly ought to be willing to serve one another.” I get that. And so, if I trust Jesus as my master I’d better do what He says so clearly; I can’t let this one slide.
But how do I make sense of this foot washing example? What does it mean for me, for us, really? In an effort to understand what’s going on here, I have considered foot washing from three perspectives: literally, sacramentally, and communally. Hang with me, if you can, and let’s see where we come out.
Literal Foot Washing – Graig in Israel
My own first experience of a literal foot washing came over thirty years ago when I traveled with a couple hundred Portland Presbyterians to Israel. On a gentle hillside at the Sea of Galilee we had a beautiful time of worship. There were two pastors shepherding us on that trip, my own pastor Arlin Nave from Mt. Tabor Church, and a retired pastor from Valley Community Church named William Gamble. Now my pastor Arlin, bless his heart, is one of my mentors but not a real hip guy. Still, on this trip he was the young pastor, in his 40s, and Bill Gamble was over 70, I think. To me, Pastor Bill seemed a little over the hill compared to my own, cool, youngish pastor. But Pastor Bill led a time of worship that day that I’ll never forget. He may have preached on this very passage, I don’t remember. But what I do remember is how he got down on his knees to wash the feet of a couple travelers. There was our oldest team member, who was almost ninety, and a young traveler not yet a teenager. They were sitting in chairs. I remember that it was physically painful for Pastor Bill to get down on his knees, and I remember thinking that this respectably retired pastor ought not to have to do this. And I remember being deeply moved to tears by his demonstration of loving humility. Pastor Bill understood, as Jesus did, that though his listeners might not get all His teaching, the memory of Him washing their feet would stay with them and help anchor their understanding as their discipleship deepened.
Bill Gamble has long since gone to be with the Lord. But his daughter attends this church, and occasionally when I hear her speak, I hear the voice of Bill Gamble from that day on the Galilean hillside long ago. And I appreciate his modern day example of transcending expectations and breaking free of protocol – like Jesus did - to humble himself before others and demonstrate divine love in a ritualistic but very meaningful fashion. Literal foot washings can be very powerful.
Sacramental Foot Washing
Some people think that washing feet is so powerful that it should be a sacrament like Baptism or Communion. And the washing of the disciples’ feet feels a lot like a sacrament to me. How about you?
- It happens during that momentous evening in the upper room during the first Lord’s Supper. Jesus does it with careful deliberation. It feels like a ceremony.
- When he refers to being “washed clean” in v. 10, it feels like the foot washing is a sacrament of forgiveness, a picture of spiritual cleansing from evil. A sub-text of salvation and forgiveness of sin is clearly in this story.
- Jesus uses command-like language the way He did for the other sacraments. (Baptism: “Go make disciples and baptize them…”; Eucharist (“Do this in remembrance of me”). Here He says, in verses 14 and 15, “you ought to do this”, “you should do this.”
It feels sacramental. And some churches treat foot washing as a sacrament, doing it regularly. Not all of them are “primitive, rural, and unsophisticated,” as the quote from Philip Yancey on the front of your worship guide suggests, a quote that may say more about Yancey than about Appalachian churches. Still, most churches do not do much foot washing. Ours does not. Why?
Because Jesus was being figurative with His example. It is a metaphor for humble service in many forms , service to others. It not about our own nourishment, as in Communion. It’s outwardly focused. When we humble ourselves with willingness to serve like Jesus did, we are giving ourselves away rather than receiving strength for ourselves. In fact, at its best, foot washing lets us give God’s love away, not just our own. Jesus tells them to take care of one another.
And that leads us to the final perspective: foot washing happens in community. The humble, willing service represented by foot washing is mostly for our circles of family and friends: our natural family, our church family, our community groups. It is communal.
Communal Foot Washing
Notice where Jesus did the foot washing. He was with those that were closest to him. He was in His own community group. Let’s linger for a moment between verses 5 and 12. John records a personal exchange between Jesus and Peter. We won’t examine the exchange now. We just want to notice that Jesus was talking during this ceremony, connecting with each disciple personally. Probably there was a lot more said than what we read here. John only shares the exchange with Peter. What about the rest of the disciples? Washing a dozen or more pairs of feet had to take some time. How did Jesus connect with these special followers? I believe Jesus was relishing this time, lavishing His meaningful love on each person present. This was no hollow ceremony, it was a blessing. Sure, it was a picture demonstration of humble service. But the Lord Who created us and knows us by name would not just go through the motions with his inner circle. He connected with each of them. It was His last opportunity to touch them, lay His hands on them, before the horror of the cross. Wouldn’t you love to have been a fly on one of those walls that night? What do you suppose He said to Judas? To the “apostle He loved”? Do you suppose when He washed the feet of Thomas, that He demonstratively made sure Thomas saw His unpierced palms, knowing what would come later? If you had been there, what would He have said to you?
And afterward Jesus nails down the action with words. After he had washed their feet, put on his robe, and returned to the table, Jesus said something like, ‘Do you get it? Let me make it painfully clear for you. I am your Teacher and Lord, just as you call me. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, none of you is above washing each other's feet. Servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sends them. As your master, I’ve given you an example. You should do unto each other not just as you would have done unto you but as I have done unto you. If you understand this, prove it by doing it… and you will be blessed.’ Let‘s notice that the text focuses most directly on the disciples taking care of each other. It is a mandate that complements the next mandate - the “new commandment” - coming just a few verses later, that they “love one another” as Jesus has loved them. That’s how people recognize that we belong to Jesus – by the way we love one another. Here Jesus is talking more about “taking care of those within the family of faith” than about reaching out with acts of compassion to those who do not know Him. It has a little more of a deacon focus than a missionary focus.
But who we serve is not the main thing, our attitude of service is.
Jesus is articulating the kind of attitude His true followers will have, a loving attitude of humility and willingness to serve. The Apostle Paul grasped the essence of Christ’s willingness to serve. He says it best in his letter to Philippi: “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ… then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient—even to death on a cross (2:1-9). Jesus knew He had authority and power. He knew He was one with God, so He got down on His knees to serve. In the world, we tend to think of this as a lowering of ourselves. But in heaven, it raises us up. What happened when Jesus lowered Himself in obedience to death on the cross? “Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name” (Phil 2:9).
Humble, thankless, undesirable service. Are you willing? Is that where you want to go… is it how you want to grow? It’s a big question. But assuming you really desire to become like Him, how do you do it? How does one develop the mind and attitude of Christ? By good choices and trying really hard? These are necessary, but they will not make you holy. Only the healing, renewing power of the Holy Spirit can make you like Jesus. But you also have to be willing. You’ve got to see the opportunities to serve and you’ve got to respond. One step at a time. You don’t become like Jesus over night. Faithful responding, day by day, is the key. Practice thinking and acting like Him, trusting God to empower you by His Spirit, and you will gradually be transformed.
And some of you have a good start. We pastors are privileged to catch glimpses of selfless servanthood from time to time among you. Spouses caring for ailing spouses, parents caring for children. Children caring for their aging parents. A team of congregational caregivers visiting those who are ill, alone, grieving, hurting… just plain worn out and unable to do things on their own. Grandparents sacrificing their well-earned retirement to give parenting care to grandchildren who have lost parents in one way or another. Sometimes these servant relationships require literal foot or body washing. They require these saints to ignore what they deserve and lower themselves to serve. Many of you are doing it. You are already washing feet. You serve beyond the call of duty. And we see Jesus in you. You demonstrate the mind of Christ. You don’t just know these things, you also do them. That’s where our passage ends: “If you know these things, BLESSED are you if you DO them.” Careful, now. This is not salvation by works; it is faithfully obeying the One Who has already saved you. We are obeying our servant Savior in gratitude. Some of you are very blessed because you are doing it. I want to be like you, because I want to be like Jesus.
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