"Servants and Masters"

A meditation by the Rev. Dr. Hilary J. Barrett for Maundy Thursday

Preached at Pleasantville United Church of

John 13:1-17

“And 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 to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.”
(John 13:2-5)

The season of Lent is full of many peculiar rituals.  On Ash Wednesday we begin by smudging ashes on our foreheads and reflecting upon our mortality.  During the 40 days of Lent, we remember Christ’s time of trial and temptation in the wilderness, and we keep faith with him by taking on a new discipline, or by giving up something we have come to rely upon – thereby entering our own wilderness time.  On Palm Sunday we re-enact a parade held in the dusty streets of Jerusalem 2000 years ago. We wave palm branches (a tree which is not indigenous to this area), and we sing the words, “Hosanna!” which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word, “Hoshannah” which means, “save now!”

On this night, “Maundy Thursday,” we gather to remember a dinner party; a gathering around a table in an Upper Room; a Passover Seder according to John – though not all the gospels agree on this point.  We gather to remember the night our Lord Jesus was betrayed -- by one so familiar that he dipped his hand in the same bowl.  We gather to remember the night that his life was sold for 30 pieces of silver, the night his closest friends fell asleep when he needed them most.  We remember the night that the Roman soldiers came to the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest him.  We remember that night.  It’s a peculiar ritual.

And joining us this night in peculiar remembrance is our Confirmation Class who blesses us by their presence and ministry among us.  These are young Christians who have been willing to dedicate eight months of their lives to studying their faith.  They have worked to prepare for this night and by their leadership among us they fulfill a long-standing tradition in this congregation that those preparing to join themselves to the Church participate in this important and peculiar ritual, because those who would bind themselves to Jesus must know this part of the journey.

Maundy Thursday is the Church’s language for “Commandment Thursday” – the night that Jesus’ disciples received a new commandment from their Lord.  Gathered at table, twelve disciples shared a common meal, a Passover meal, and Jesus issued a new commandment: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

It was a very important lesson.  It wasn’t called a new teaching; it was called a new commandment – right up there with the other ten:

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁹You shall not bow down to them or worship them…

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God…

Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.  For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you.  Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.

Honor your father and your mother…

You shall not murder.

Neither shall you commit adultery.

Neither shall you steal.

Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor.

Neither shall you covet your neighbor’s wife.

Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

In other words…Love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are Christ’s disciples, if you have love for one another

And to the make the point even more dramatically, Jesus did something that people never forgot. After he did it, they talked about it for almost a hundred years; then they wrote it down because they couldn’t believe that he’d really done it.  And once they wrote it down, people talked about it for 2,000 year more – but they probably didn’t talk about it nearly enough. 

And during supper, when it was the right time, 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 that was tied around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”  Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.”…

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  You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.  Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.  If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.[1]

The side of the communion table has words carved into it that we see every week and we might not even really notice them.  It says: “Do this in remembrance of me.”

Memory is what this night is all about. 

It’s about remembering the night that Jesus was gathered at a table with his disciples.

It’s about remembering how he shared a meal with them, dipping his hand into the same bowl because that’s how close they were.

It’s about remembering that the meal that Jesus shared that night had a history all its own.  It was a Passover meal, a meal that was already about remembering – remembering that God had rescued God’s people from slavery in Egypt.

It’s about remembering that he was betrayed by a close friend.

It’s about remembering how Jesus washed his disciples’ feet.  The one whom they called “Lord” and “Teacher” washed their feet, to teach them what true servant-discipleship looked like.

This is a night about remembering.

We must never get too far from the meaning of these rituals.  We are commanded to remember that we are servants; servant of one another -- and that servant-hood should be a witness to the world that we are followers of Jesus.

While there are plenty of secular people who live lives dedicated to servant hood, we as Christians should expect to receive no encouragement from the world in this matter. Those who seek to follow in the way of our Savior must know that servant hood is the mark of true Christian discipleship. 

This table connects us with pilgrims in every age who have sought to follow the Master.  By it, we are connected to the Twelve who sat with him at supper.  Through it, we are connected to those very ones, who endured the intimacy and the shame of having their Lord and Savior wash their feet.

He has set us an example; and – given the cost – the least we can do, is follow.  Amen.