Good morning, Friends! Thank you all so much for coming here this morning!
Last week a friend from Japan and our son and daughter-in-law were visiting us. On Wednesday we all made an all-day visit to the North Carolina Zoo.
If you ever go to the zoo, there are always bus loads of little children running around. The kids go running from one place to another. They yell, “Oh, there’s a bear!” or “Wow, there’s a giraffe!”
Then they go running off to the next exhibit, or the popcorn stand, or the gift shop, and their parents or their teachers have to keep running to keep up with them.
Most people don’t really stop to enjoy the fresh air, or to stop and really look at the animals. It’s zoom! And off to the next.
I sometimes think that church is a lot like that for some people. In some churches, people are always in a rush to get through stuff in a hurry. It’s don’t stop and think too much, it’s on to the next thing, it’s head for the door, instead of taking our time.
We didn’t see every animal at the zoo. But we spent a lot of time with the ones we saw. We read all the signs carefully. We asked our guides a lot of questions. Sometimes the animals were hiding, and we had to wait a little while for them to come out. We brought our binoculars so we could see things at a distance, and sometimes we just stood there for a while.
I think we stood and watched a herd of rhinoceros for 15 minutes, because our Japanese friend had never seen one. We watched the otters zooming around underwater, because otters are my favorite animal.
Churches need to learn about this. We need to take our time more often. Time to breathe, time to think a bit, time to stop and look and listen. And like we did this week, time to enjoy our family. Time to visit with our friends who mean so much to us.
Anyway, that’s what our family did this week. We took our time, with people we love. And thank you, for allowing me to take that time.
This morning, I want us to do something a little like that. I want us to take our time, with a special part of the Easter story.
Easter is such a huge thing. It’s almost too much for us to take in. There’s Jesus entry into Jerusalem, him teaching in the Temple, the confrontation with the money changers.
There’s the Last Supper, Jesus’ prayers in Gethsemane, Jesus being betrayed, his arrest and trial, all those things leading up to Jesus being crucified and buried, and then the empty tomb on Easter morning.
It’s all too much. So, I want us to stop, and look at just one part of the Easter story. It’s such a small part, that only one of the gospel writers remembered it and wrote it down.
It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, Jesus loved them to the end.
The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God.
So he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
Jesus came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place.
“Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
John 13:1-17
People remembered so many different things about the Last Supper.
- Some people remember the bread and wine.
- Some people remember Jesus talking about his body and blood.
- Some people remember Jesus saying that one of his closest friends would betray him, and wondering, “Is it me?”
- Some people remember Judas, hurrying out the door.
- Some people remember Peter, saying he would never deny Jesus or run away.
- Some people simply remember leaning up, close to Jesus, that one last time.
- Some people remember the last hymn they sang together.
Only one person remembered Jesus washing everyone’s feet. Only one writer, the gospel of John.
Has anyone here every had someone rub your feet?
Have any of you ever had feet that were so hot, feet that were chafed by a tight shoe or a sandal strap?
Have any of you ever had a sore spot on your foot that was rubbed raw? Or had a blister?
Have any of you ever stepped on something sharp, and hurt your foot?
Having somebody care for your feet is one of the most personal, intimate, practical, loving things that one person can do for another.
That’s what Jesus did. He washed and cared for the feet of the friends who had walked with him, for so many miles together.
He took off his holiday clothes. And he put on the rags of a servant of the lowest kind. At the end of the Last Supper, Jesus washed and dried their feet.
Jesus is the Savior. He came to save the entire world. We talked about that, last Sunday.
Jesus’ goal wasn’t to save the favored few. He wanted to save everyone, even the greatest sinners, even the lost sheep.
For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him might not die forever, but have eternal life. For God didn’t send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that through Him, the whole world might be saved. . . (John 3:16-17)
Jesus wants to save everybody. He doesn’t want anybody to be left out.
He reaches out to people who everyone else has cast out or forgotten. He reaches out to people who everyone else says are unclean or alien.
He is the Savior.
But Jesus is also something else. He’s the Savior. But he’s also the servant.
Jesus told his friends over and over again, “Whoever wants to be the greatest among you, must be the servant of everyone. Whoever wants to be the greatest of all, must be the least and the last.”
At the Last Supper, in today’s Scripture, Jesus demonstrated that. He didn’t just say it. He showed it, to everyone.
Did you know that for centuries, people who live in monasteries have washed the feet of poor people in the neighborhood, during the week before Easter?
Did you know that for many years, the Pope has gone to one of the prisons in Rome, and washed the feet of the prisoners?
Did you know that in some churches, which are closely related to the Quakers, they wash each others’ feet, before serving communion?
It’s true. They take this Scripture very seriously. I’ve participated in a foot washing ceremony. It’s very humbling, to wash someone else’s feet. It almost as humbling, to let someone else wash your feet.
It’s remembering that Jesus did this. And it’s remembering that Jesus told us, to do the same.
When I read the gospel, one of the things I always wonder is what people said later. What was their testimony?
Many people said, “Jesus healed me.”
One person said, “I don’t understand a lot of things, but one thing I do understand. He opened my eyes. I once was blind, but now I see. . .”
Thousands of people said, “He taught me about God, and he taught me about God’s kingdom, and it was like hearing good news. . .”
Some people remembered a meal Jesus shared with them.
Some people said, “He told me to get up and walk!”
Some people said, “He calmed the storm inside of me,” while other people said, “He saved me, when I was drowning.”
Many people said, “He forgave my sins.”
Other people said, “He welcomed me back, when I was lost, or when I was cast out by everyone else. . .”
And other people simply said, “He washed my feet. . .”
That’s what I’m talking about, when I wonder what people said later. What did they say? What was their testimony?
George Fox, the great Quaker leader, once said, “You know, in the Bible, Jesus says this, and the apostles say that. But what can you say? Christ is the Light of the world, and lights the life of everyone. But what can you say? If you’re a child of the Light, and walk in the Light, what inward truth do you know, and do you share it?” (Margaret Fell, 1652)
That is a lot to cover in one sermon.
Don’t rush through the zoo. Take time to look at all the animals. Stop and look, and enjoy yourself.
And in the same way, don’t rush through church, or rush through the Bible. Take time. Put yourself in the story. Use your imagination. Listen to what Jesus is saying. Watch and feel what Jesus is doing.
Easter is coming soon. Go find some part of the story, and spend time with it this week. I know it’s pretty overwhelming. But take your time with it.
Maybe there’s a part of the story that catches you. Something Jesus did, or something Jesus said. Easter is the very heart of the Christian year. It’s what everything builds toward.
So, take your time, on your own, to visit with Easter.
Today, we talked about Jesus washing people’s feet. Imagine what it would be like, if you were there.
Can you feel His hands, touching you? Can you hear him saying, “You’re clean now?” Can you hear him telling you, “Go and do this for someone else? It’s your turn!”
And think, really hard, about what you have seen for yourself, about Jesus. What has Jesus done for you? What has Jesus spoken in your heart? Where do you feel Jesus calling you?
Don’t keep it to yourself! Tell it to someone you trust! Tell it to the church. Tell it to your family and friends! What is your testimony? Tell it to the world!