Sunday  11 March2018                                 FeetWashing                                     MartinBaker

Introduction

The first 11 chapters of John have sometimes being called‘The book of signs.’

Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding.  Abundance, celebration, new meaning in oldcustoms.

Overturning the tables and upsetting those involved in theTemple Worship.  A sign that Jesus bringsa new living relationship with God - a different way of worshipping.

A visit by Nicodemus at night.  Talk of God’ enormous love for the world, andthe Spirit which blows where it wills.

Stories of Jesus bringing healing, of calming of waters.

And today, in this story we hear about the culmination ofthese signs.  Life out of death. Lazaruscoming out of the tomb.

All speaking about this word of God which has become fleshcoming into the world.  All speakingabout the light that shines in the darkness.  All speaking about a faith that leads us intoa new understanding of ourselves as God’s children.

And we have come to this moment – this hour that has comedefining  the nature of Jesus and the Godwhom he reveals

John 13:1-17

1 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew thathis hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having lovedhis own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The devil hadalready put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. Andduring supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into hishands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from thetable, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then hepoured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipethem with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, whosaid 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 tohim, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" 10 Jesussaid to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for thefeet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." 11For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all ofyou are clean."

12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, andhad returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have doneto you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what Iam. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought towash one another's feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also shoulddo as I have done to you. 16 Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greaterthan their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 lfyou know these things, you are blessed if you do them."

One of the things I discover and enjoy when talking topeople is that everyone has a story.

You get into a conversation and people tell you storiesabout things that happened to them in their lives. And sometimes the storiespeople tell you are about what happened last week, and sometimes they are thingsthat happened many years ago.

I was writing this week to a friend of mine who farms inSouth Africa. I was wondering how he was getting on.  Over the years he and his wife have helpedbuild schools and hospital in their community.

They are very conscious of historical injustices and havemade it a life time commitment to serve in their community. But in writing toJohn I realise that I have not seen him for 35 years. We met on a kibbutz inNorthern Israel.  

But even though that time has passed I find it very easy torecall the memory of those times. Very intense, being there, but one of thepleasures was getting to know John.

 I think we all probablyhave stories that come to mind. Recent stories, distant ones, that in many waysdefine us.    And sometimes these stories are about sadthings or tragic things and sometimes about wonderful moments. But we can keepgoing back to them. 

And that’s good if the stories we go back to are encouragingand positive and uplifting.  But if theyare stories of loss and pain and failure and missed opportunities hurt, orgrief. A challenge in our reading today is one of setting aside and taking up.  Of hearing another story which in the end, andunusually, Jesus commands that we make as a central story in our lives.

Today we hear of one of the defining stories in all ofscripture.

13 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew thathis hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having lovedhis own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

So we have travelled from months to weeks and days and nowan hour.  His hour.  This defining moment that is going to defineall the other moments. The lens through which all the other  days and months and years are going to belooked through. What does that hour look like?

2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas sonof Simon Iscariot to betray him.

And then at that moment, at that hour that defining moment,the devil turns up. Diablo. Satan the Accuser. Beelzebub. The Lord of theflies. Or the Lord of the dung heap. All those words we find in scripture thatshift around to describe the presence of evil in the world.

The challenge that has perplexed scholars, theologians andalmost everyone who wondered about these things, since the beginning.

If God is indeed sovereign, creator of all things, then whatis Satan doing turning up at dinner time?

Let alone have influence over Judas son of Simon Iscariot?

For the first thousand years of Jewish faith and historySatan wasn’t an evil figure really. Read about Satan in the book of Job.  Satan was more the one who said so God, youreally want to find out what Bob or Sally is really like, lets test them, let’s put some trouble in their way, letstempt them, and see what they are really like. Faith in you God, might be easier enough in the good times, but whatabout when warts and boils and pestilence and poverty turn up? 

Too many b grade movies, too much fantasy or imagination.The devil doesn’t promise us destruction, but promises greatest.  Promises us fame, fortune, or, at the veryleast, the end to our problems. That big Loot sign by the Tip Top factory.  Just imagine. It’s a powerful thing.  

The devil entering Judas heart. He didn’t turn into somestrange head twisting gurgling creature. He betrays Jesus for money, for fame,maybe to be appreciated and valued by others. The pain, suffering and destruction is always in the small print when itcomes to the devil.

2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas sonof Simon Iscariot to betray him.

So let’s put aside our fantasies, and our imaginations, andthink of the subtleties. You deserve this Judas. You’ve earned this. It’s timeyou got a bit more of the credit.

And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had givenall things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God,4 got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel aroundhimself.

What is Jesus doing?  Judas over there with Satan in his heart.  Jesus over here, What’s he doing with that towel?

Celsus  who was aRoman scholar from the 2nd century researched what Jesus lookedlike.  He was looking for reasons todisparage Christianity.  He interviewedpeople.  From Jews and others hequestioned, he heard, according to witnesses, that Jesus “wandered about mostshamefully in the sight of all”. He “obtained his means of livelihood in adisgraceful and importunate way” – by begging or receiving donations. He wore abasic tunic, the clothing of a poor man, and looked rough. Swarthy dark hairthat almost certainly was not long.

So again, we need to put aside all those romantic images,maybe even those images that Satan has put in our heads and our hearts. Not theimage of prosperity and success, but a poor man, probably small in ourstandards, dark. 

There’s Jesus taking off his outer robe, a most likely asimple undyed shawl that would have probably reached to his knees and  tying a towel around himself.

Remember this is the same Jesus who we are told knew thatthe Father had given all things  into hishands and that he had come from God and was going to God.

 5 Then he pouredwater into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them withthe towel that was tied around him.

It goes against everything. Even the stories we’ve enjoyedhearing so much in scripture. The ancient stories in the Old Testament. Goddefeating the armies of Egypt and delivering the Hebrew people to the PromisedLand.  The great conquests of Saul and David.The defeat of the Babylonians by Cyrus the great.

All these stories of might and triumph awe and wonder.  The bad guys finally getting what was comingto them. Jesus washing the disciples feet, including the feet of Judas with theSatan infested heart.

Such a different understanding of love, such a differentunderstanding of power and authority. "The Father had given all thingsinto his hands" .

When we read that first we might expect this to mean thatJesus would have "dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples,nations, and languages should serve him" We can read those descriptions inthe Old resettlement . In Daniel.  That’swhat the expectation was .

But with Peter, we can’t believe it’s that radical and that simple.6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash myfeet?" 7 Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, butlater you will understand." 8 Peter said to him, "You will never washmy feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share withme." 9 Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also myhands and my head!"

All the things we bring with us today. Our sense of successand failure. The things that intimidate us or we fear. Our own sense ofinadequacy or the burdens we have carried for as long as we can remember.    To lay these things down and to follow Jesus.  With Peter today. To put aside ourassumptions and our theories.  To discoversomething so hard to believe and so simple to do.

 To follow Jesus andto find our purpose and the meaning of our lives in service to another.  To make this our moment,  our defining hour.  A story at the centre of our lives .   A new commandment.  Not a request or a question or a suggestion.  A new commandment.  You’ve got to do this. To love one another. Bythis everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for oneanother."

AMEN