Outstretched arms
The Gospel of John, unlike the other Gospel stories, does not tell much about the Lord’s Supper, but it does have the only account of the foot washing of the disciples. It is that act of servant hood, in the midst of the drama of Jesus coming crucifixion, that I would like to look at this evening. As Jesus sought to accomplish his mission of reconciling the world with God, which was amazing in itself, his teaching of the ultimate lesson of humble servant hood, an example of the way he wanted his disciples to live, is even more amazing.
I don’t know if you have ever washed anyone else’s feet? Not the kind of washing in a bath tub or washing a baby’s feet in a basin? But washing a stranger’s adult feet in public. I have and it is a very moving experience. There is something about the feet and the way we stand on it that is interesting.
The Hindus have four castes: Brahmin high caste (symbolized by head – for teachers and priests), Ksatriya (the arm – the warriors, rulers), Vaisya (the stomach – the merchants, artisans) and lowest caste Sudra (feet – laborers, the one’s who touched the ground, soiled, dirty, and did demeaning work). There were also the outcastes, who took care of the dead, of animal carcasses in tanneries, of shoemakers, which were the lowest jobs. Our feet represent the lowest part of the body.
I did a first foot washing many years ago at my ordination. Washing an unknown farmer’s feet is very humbling. Touching the the lowest part of the human body that is “down to earth”, so to speak, dusty and soiled, is truly humbling. This was followed by other foot washings as part of the ritual of holy week. In the beginning, I was hesitant at first, but determined. I went down from the pulpit to the aisle looking for someone to wash. The guy I picked out did not protest, but I could see he was very uncomfortable. I took off his shoes, his socks, put his foot in the basin, poured water over it and dried it with a towel. Being on the ground, kneeling before him, washing with water, made me feel like a servant.
After the service, the guy who’s feet I washed, was thankful. He felt humbled, that someone would actually do that for him. It was a moving experience for him and I think both of us could fully appreciate how Jesus might have felt to care for another person, intimately. Think of our humble nurses who do this everyday?
Jesus was trying to show the disciples that he came to serve. He humbled himself to serve those who called him Master. There was to an extent a crushing of his pride in doing this. The Greek word used in chapter ten for this is laying down a life. John was really trying to show that Jesus was a servant who was willing to lay down his life for the sake of his friends. On the cross, Jesus spread out his arms as the true servant of God and welcomed all the sins of humanity.
Spreading out your arms like that makes you feel vulnerable, open, accepting. As a servant on the cross that is what Jesus was, vulnerable, open, accepting. He opened himself to all the sinfulness of humanity.
Tonight Jesus is inviting us to come to him, to rest our sins on him. That is why today is called Maundy Thursday. Maundy, from Latin mandatum, means command. He commands us to eat and drink, he commands us to come, he commands us to love as he loves us. He commands us to serve. He commands us to embrace him at the cross.
The Cross is the place where grace and sin collide like two speeding cars that smash into each other head on. But the wreckage is suffered only by God. We walk away free - free from sin’s penalty, free to walk with God, free to live with God for all eternity. Jesus came as a servant to lay down his life for us. On the cross of Calvary that servanthood was manifested where he stretched out his arms to sinners and we obtained eternal life.
Let me end with an illustration: “A story from Scotland tells of a mother’s dramatic rescue of her child. Workmen were blasting rock in a quarry with tons of dynamite. One day after they had attached the fuse, lit it, and retired to a safe place and gave the alarm they saw a three year old child wandering across the open space where danger threatened. Every passing second meant death was closing in on the child. The workmen called to the child and waved their arms, but he only looked on their strange antics with amusement. No man dared run forward knowing the explosion was only seconds away. The child most certainly would have been killed, had not his mother appeared at this moment of crisis.
Taking in the situation at a glance she did what her mother’s heart dictated. She did not run toward her son or yell to frighten him. Instead, she knelt down, opened wide her arms and smiled for him to come. Instantly the child ran towards her. Shortly later the area shook with the force of the explosion, yet the child was safe in his mother’s arms.
That is the picture of the grace of God on the cross. With outstretched arms on the cross, Jesus gives his gracious invitation to the world. Indicating we are to come to him for eternal safety. (Sermon at Silliman church, April 9, 2009, Maundy Thursday)
