Jesus kneels at our feet, inviting us to be part of the fierce and incredible love of God. All we have to do is receive it and pass it on.
Vicar Lauren Mildahl
Maundy Thursday, year B
Texts: Exodus 12:1-14; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-17, 31b-35
God’s beloved, grace to you and peace in the name of the Father, and of the ☩ Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Jesus knew that his hour had come…”
He knew this was the Last Supper. His last hours with his disciples. And, though also he knew that God had “given all things into his hands,” Jesus still had so much to give. So much he wanted to pass on.
And what better time to do it than at Passover? When he and his disciples were themselves participating in a tradition that had been passed on through generation after generation – that is still observed faithfully by our Jewish siblings. The specific rituals of Passover, the foods that are eaten, the words that are spoken, even the way it’s eaten – loins girded, staff in hand, sandals on feet, all of these rituals were given by God as remembrances. And as long as they are passed down, the people remember. They remember the fierceness of the love that God showed God’s people, doing whatever it took to rescue them from slavery in Egypt.
And Jesus wanted his followers to remember.
And so, at this very supper, already laden with memories passed down, he passed the bread and the cup and said: “Do this in remembrance of me.” Remember the fierceness of my love for you. Remember that I did what it took to rescue you from sin and death. Remember this love. And pass it on.
Ten years ago, at a Starbucks in Florida, someone, I don’t know who, started a pay-it-forward chain.
The idea is pretty simple – as you pay for your item, you tell the barista that you’d also like to pay for the next person in line. A small, thoughtful gesture to put a little kindness in the world. And sometimes, the next person decides to do the same thing, passing it on, adding a link in the chain. And that day in 2014, not only did the next person decide to pass it on, but so did the next. And the next and the next and the next and the next and next – and this went on, incredibly, for 10 hours. 457 people passed it on!
They did it without knowing. Without knowing how much the person behind them was ordering. Without knowing whether the next person in line deserved it. Without knowing whether the next person would also pass it on. But 457 people accepted a random act of love from a stranger and chose to pass love on to another stranger. And it’s kind of beautiful.
Now, I should say that there are a lot of people who don’t like pay-it-forward chains, including many baristas and food service workers because it does make their job more difficult and confusing and the generosity is often only directed at other customers and not at the employees who are actually doing a lot of the work to keep the chain going and who are often underpaid in first place. So the point of this message is not to encourage you to start more pay-it-forward chains at coffee shops.
The point is to invite you to ponder – what do you do with the fierce and incredible love of God when it is given to you?
Do you accept it? And do you pass it on?
As Simon Peter could tell you, it’s not as easy as it sounds.
Jesus had barely begun to show them how deeply he loved his own who were in the world, loving them to “the very end” and had barely begun passing on this love by tenderly washing their feet – and the chain nearly ended right there and then.
“Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Peter asked. He didn’t get it, couldn’t understand, and he tried to stop it.
“You will never wash my feet!” he said. You could also translate that “never” idiomatically as “not in a million years!” He really didn’t want to accept the love that Jesus was offering. Why? Well, maybe because he thought it was all wrong–Jesus was the most important person in the room, he shouldn’t be kneeling at anyone’s feet–Peter should be kneeling at Jesus’ feet! Or maybe Peter thought the whole thing was just unnecessary and a waste of time–Peter could clean his own feet well enough, thank you. Or maybe he said it because Peter didn’t want to take off his sandals, didn’t want Jesus to come close enough to see how dirty his feet were, didn’t want him to have to bear the stench.
You know, funnily enough, the 458th customer at that Florida Starbucks that day was also named Peter.1 He had driven there because he had heard about the pay-it-forward chain. He had come there specifically to end it. To be fair to him, he did leave a very big tip for the baristas, $100! But still, he came there on purpose and when asked to pass it on, he refused. In an interview after the fact he gave lots of reasons: “it was unfair” and “it’s just a marketing ploy” and “they should have given money to people that needed it, like the homeless” and “I just don’t want to be forced into doing something.”
We always have our reasons, don’t we?
There are always reasons to break the chain, to refuse to accept love or to pass it on. Especially when we are afraid that love will never win, never in a million years.
But at the Last Supper, love does win.
Because whatever the reason was that Simon Peter didn’t want to have his feet washed, Jesus isn’t having it. “Peter, unless I wash you, you have no share with me,” he says. His response seems harsh – almost like Jesus is threatening to leave Peter out of the will, to take away his share.
And that seems to be how Peter takes it, because immediately, he goes full Peter: “Oh then, of course Lord, if that’s the way it is, don’t stop at just my feet, wash my hands, wash my head – wash all of me!” It sounds to me like desperation. Like Peter was so afraid that he was out, so afraid that he could lose it, that he started begging: “Whatever it takes to clean me, Jesus, please do it. Just don’t leave me with no share!”
But Jesus wasn’t cutting Peter out, he was inviting Peter in.
That word “share” in Greek, also means a “part.” Jesus was saying: “Peter, unless I wash you, you won’t be part of what I’m doing. I want you to be a part of it. And don’t worry, Peter, you are clean. It’s not about the water–it’s about the relationship. Let me wash those beautiful feet so I can pass my love to you. All you have to do is receive it. And pass it on.”
And finally, Peter accepts. Jesus washed his feet, and washed the next, and washed each and every one of them. Even though he did know. He knew exactly what was about to happen. He knew that they didn’t deserve it. And he knew that one of them would never pass it on. Even though he knew, he washed them all, even Judas, because he wanted them to be part of it. To be part of his love.
Jesus wants us all to be part of this love.
“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 for you.” These words are for you. Your invitation today, and every day, to get your feet wet! Maybe literally in just a few minutes, but more importantly, figuratively, as you dip your toe in or take a running leap, feet first, to be part of the chain of love and kindness and service that our Lord and Teacher started for us.
The first step is to remember and receive the fierce love of God that kneels at your feet and gently tends to the parts of you you’d rather keep hidden.
All you have to do is receive it. And pass it on.
In the name of the Father, and of the ☩ Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
1. “Meet the man who stopped the 11-hour Starbucks pay-it-forward: ‘I had to put an end to it,'” ABC News, Aug 22, 2104. https://wjla.com/news/nation-world/meet-the-man-who-ended-the-10-hour-starbucks-pay-it-forward-i-had-to-put-an-end-to-it–106360