Sermon prepared for
By Gregory S. Kaurin, pastor
Maundy Thursday, 2003
Text: John 13:1-17, 33-35,
(& also 1st Corinthians
Sermon:
Taking Communion with Your Feet
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Tonight’s
sermon finishes a series we started over six weeks ago on understanding of some
Christian basics. We began with Baptism,
“Understanding Baptism,” and tonight, I hope you will walk away with a deeper
understanding of Holy Communion.
Holy
Communion is the centerpiece of Maundy Thursday. However, isn’t it interesting that—of all
days in the church year, on the day that most focuses on Communion—the
traditional gospel text is on footwashing? Matthew, Mark and Luke all wrote how, on the
night of his betrayal, Jesus used bread and wine and instituted the Lord’s
Supper. John didn’t mention bread or
wine. Instead, he wrote about something
else that Jesus did during that last meal.
We’re
going to study that passage in detail tonight because, if you can understand
this passage about the footwashing, you will understand all you will ever need
to know about Holy Communion and its three major messages: 1) how Holy Communion connects to our
Baptism, 2) how Holy Communion refreshes the Christian walk, and 3) how Holy
Communion sends us into world to do the Lord’s work.
Let’s
start with a brief Confirmation class.
You were probably taught that most mainline churches lift up several
rituals as our central “Sacraments.” In
mainline protestant churches, like ours, how many Sacraments do we
celebrate? [Two.] And they are?
[Baptism and Holy Communion.]
There
are three things that we Lutherans use to explain why these two are our
Sacraments, with a capital “S”. First, a
Sacrament is commanded by Jesus in the scripture. That’s an important thing to realize. If Jesus, our Captain, commanded us to do it,
we’d better do it! Did Jesus command us
to Baptize in the scripture? You bet:
“Go forth into all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit.” How about Holy
Communion? Sure: “Jesus took bread,
blessed, broke it and gave it to them saying, ‘Take and eat.’ …He gave them the
cup and said, ‘Drink this, all of you.’”
That’s a command; almost sounds like your mother, “Eat your supper!”
So
a Sacrament is commanded by Jesus in scripture, but second, we also look for
physical elements. We call them “Means
of Grace,” physical things that God has given us through which he has promised
grace, means of grace. In Baptism what
physical element does God work through?
[Water.] Right, you can see it,
feel it, even taste and smell water. We
are physical creature and God has blessed us with physical signs of his
grace! And Holy Communion? [Bread and wine.]
So,
Baptism and Holy Communion are commanded by Jesus in the scripture, they have
physical elements, but the third thing we look for is an attached promise. Does Baptism carry any promises? [Yes.]
What are the promises?
[Salvation, adoption, belonging, the Holy Spirit, forgiveness,
cleansing, etc.] Scripture is loaded
with promises attached to Baptism. How
about Holy Communion; what promises go with it?
[Forgiveness of sins, presence of Christ, unity with Christ.]
Okay,
you’ve got the three things we use to define our central Sacraments, but now
I’d like you to see if you can apply those principles to this passage we just
read from John about footwashing. Is
footwashing commanded by Jesus in scripture?
[Yes.] Pretty specifically, Jesus
said in verse 14, “As I have washed your feet, so you ought to also wash each
other’s feet.” That’s a pretty clear
command.
How
about physical elements? [Water.] Yes, and maybe a towel, too.
So
there is a specific command from Jesus to wash each other’s feet; there are
physical elements, or means of grace; but is there a promise? Look carefully at verse 8: Jesus said to Peter, “If I don’t do this,
then you can have no part with me.” What
is the reverse? “When I do wash your
feet, then you will have a part with me.”
In the washing of the feet Jesus promises unity, and on top of that,
Jesus finished in verse 17 by saying that when you do and understand these things,
then you will be blessed.
So
footwashing is commanded by Jesus in scripture, it has physical elements, and
it carries a promise. So, why don’t we
lift it up as one of our Sacraments? The
footwashing service is done in many churches, but I don’t know of any church
that calls it a Sacrament.
Honestly,
it could be a Sacrament, by our own definition—if footwashing could stand on
its own. However, Biblically speaking, I
think it’s important to recognize that it doesn’t stand on its own. Footwashing says incredibly deep and
important things about Holy Communion; Holy Communion is what footwashing is
really talking about.
To
see this, you need to look at its context.
To start with, when did it happen?
It happened, not when they entered the house, not before the meal, but
it happened during middle of Jesus’ Last Supper with the disciples. It was a part of, and described, that Holy
Meal.
But,
back up even a little further, before this meal started. The synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke,
all tell us that this Meal took place shortly after an ongoing argument they
were having. Just a couple days before
they sat down at this table, James and John, or their mother, came elbowing
their way up to Jesus saying, “Lord, when you come into your kingdom and power,
grant that one of us can be at your right hand and the other at your
left.” That bold request ticked off the
rest of the disciples, and set them to arguing over which one of them was
really greater than the other, and how dare James and John act so high and
mighty. St. Luke wrote that they were
still arguing, right up to the time of the Meal: “Who is the greatest disciple;
who’s most important?”
So
this argument was still simmering in the background, before and even during
this Last Supper with Jesus. In fact, I
will put it to you that (especially for this important Jewish meal, the
Passover meal) the footwashing should have already happened as soon as they came
into the house, but because of this argument none of the disciples was willing
to do it. None of them were willing to
take on a lowly servant’s role of footwasher so long as they were still fussing
over which of them was on top.
So
this was simmering, simmering, when suddenly Jesus got up—not before, but
during the meal—and called attention to the fact that it hadn’t been done—and
he began to wash their feet. Now do you
understand Peter’s first reaction? On
behalf of all the disciples, Peter was embarrassed that their bickering had led
to this, to have the one that Peter had recently declared was the Messiah, the
Son of God, washing his feet. Jesus was
shaming them all and their pettiness, their refusal to back down and serve each
other, or him, with this simple, decent act.
“No,
Lord, not you, you will never bow to my feet.”
“But
Peter, if I don’t, you can have no part in me.”
And
then marvelous, reactive, impulsive Peter said, “Well then, don’t stop
there! Wash my feet, my hands and my
head! Give me a bath!” Do you see how quickly Peter turned it around
to try and come out on top again?
But
Jesus’ next answer was the key verse.
The fact that it sounds a bit strange should tell you that some kind of
moral or metaphor is being taught here.
It needs some thought.
Jesus
said, “One who has already bathed…”
Immediately, people will say that Jesus was talking about Baptism. That is true, but listen close to what he
says next; there’s much more going on here.
It’s telling about Baptism, but also how Baptism connects to Holy
Communion.
“One
who has already bathed does not need to bathe again because that person is
already clean.” That says something
really important about Baptism, doesn’t it?
Having been washed in Baptism, you never need to be “re-done.” You are washed entirely. To have some churches try to tell you that
“Our Baptism is the only one that counts,” or that, “Your first baptism didn’t
really take,” reveals incredible human and Pharisaic arrogance. It is God’s Baptism, his washing and his
claim on us, not ours.
But
Jesus went on from there: “Having bathed, you don’t need to re-bathe …except
for the feet.” Bathing starts the day;
Baptism starts your Christian life.
However, after life’s journeys, after walking about on the dusty paths
of life, you don’t need to re-bathe, but you will need to refresh your
feet. That’s Holy Communion! That is what Holy Communion is for!
Holy
Communion refreshes the promises, the forgiveness, and the relationship that
God established with you at your Baptism.
We say Baptism is once-for-all promise and claim from God to you. That is absolutely true, but we forgiven,
sinful, human beings need to hear it again and again. So, we gather here at the altar, we hear it again
and again. We hear Christ’s words and
promises. We know he’s present, because
he said he would be. We are refreshed
and nourished and held together by Jesus Christ.
Holy
Communion is a meal in which we literally ingest God’s Word of love and
acceptance, and the living presence of Christ into our bodies. Holy Communion is our weekly altar call. We have an altar call, not where we elbow our
way forward with our claims and promises to God, but where—having heard Jesus’
word, and believing that he is alive and claims us—we take this meal, from him,
and ingest his promises into our
bodies, and we physically receive his living presence into our lives …through
this bread and wine.
This
is the meal that refreshes our Baptism and nourishes us during the Christian
walk. And it goes on from there. The movement of Holy Communion is like the
movement of our whole worship service, like the movement of the water on the
ocean shore: ebb and flow.
It’s
like the movement of the disciples.
Jesus called them in, nourished and taught them. Then, he sent them out. He called them in with all their differences,
petty arguments, shady backgrounds, and ambitions. He nourished them, refreshed them, and sent
them out. Ebb and flow.
We
are called in, to receive, to learn, grow, nurture, and equip each other. And then we are sent from this Table… to go,
and do likewise. Ebb and flow.
Jesus
said, “As I have washed your feet, as I have nourished, cleaned, refreshed
you—so also you ought to nourish, clean, and refresh one another, each other,
and the world.” God so loved the world. Christ embraced the world …and he told us,
“As I have loved, so you should, too.”
In
his first letter to the churches in
If
you study the 11th chapter of 1st Corinthians, Paul was
very clear and precise in telling them exactly what was wrong with their
Communion. What clouded and condemned
their act of Communion was not a lack
of theological understanding in individuals.
It was a lack of generosity. They had become greedy and exclusive in their
meal, so that some of them hoarded too much for themselves, and others walked
away without any. He wasn’t condemning
individual piety, but the community’s practice of exclusion. They were entirely contradicting the way
Jesus shared his meals, and for whom Jesus gave this Holy Meal. “Be careful” Paul warned them, “make sure
your Communion practices express the real presence of Christ.”
And
what was that presence of Christ like?
Listen to some of the things Christ said: “Let the children come unto
me; don’t prevent them. For unto such as
these belongs the
What
clouds the purpose and effectiveness of Holy Communion is a careful exclusion
of certain people, certain ages or mental abilities. What purifies the meaning and intent of Holy
Communion is a welcome invitation to all his children …an invitation from
Christ. It’s not an invitation from me,
the pastor, and not from the church.
This is Christ’s meal, it’s his body and blood, and so he is the One who
gets to draw up the invitation list. And
this is what Jesus said when he lifted the cup, he said, “This is the blood of
my covenant, shed for you and for all
people, for the forgiveness of their sins.”
Any one of us, who needs forgiveness, needs this meal. Any one of us who needs to hear Jesus say,
“For you,” needs this meal.
Finally,
Holy Communion is not a gas
station. As with all gifts of God, it is
not just a gift to each of us. It is
meant to be a gift to the world through
us. We benefit from it; that is
profoundly true. We are refreshed. We are nourished. But if it is hoarded up—if all we do is ebb
and ebb—then all we do is get saltier; we start to stagnate; and then, we die.
Like
living water, we need to flow. We need
to flow in generosity, in thanksgiving, in time given to each other, to family,
to co-workers, to nature, art, song, dance, compassion …love. Love is a giant command.
And
it needs expression. We express it by
letting others know we have been fed from the table of God, washed in his bath,
constantly refreshed by his promises, and then doing the same for others. Express by giving. We have been provided for, and
nourished. So we feed others. We have been refreshed; we have adequate
water and housing—so we commit our church to seeing to it that others around
the world have the same. We have clothes
and bed covers and soap—so, we see to it that others receive clothes and quilts
and care packets.
And
it is all expressed here: in Christ’s Holy Communion. Now, you see how all of Christian living is expressed
through and sustained by these two Sacraments and gifts from God. Baptism flows into Holy Communion. Holy Communion draws us back into our
Baptism; it refreshes and nourishes us in our life’s work; and then it sends us
into the world with that same generosity and desire to love, as we have been
loved. “I give to you a new
commandment,” Jesus said, “Love one another; love others, as I… have loved…
you.” Amen.
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