Becca and I have been preparing for
the birth of our first child. Something that takes much preparation
and our daughter will only get a glimpse of what we are preparing
her for. We are building cribs, collecting toys and clothes. We even
painted canvases to liven up the drab white walls of our rented
duplex. So now with the room painted, Care bears and flowers, we are
ready to place the baby in the room. But then what? I mean, I am not
to sure about what to do once the baby gets here. Luckily my wife
reads non-stop and is already beginning to prepare herself for the
first year of our baby's life. She prepares me daily with all kinds
of advice. Since she has worked with small children, and I usually
act like one, she has forewarned me about dirty diapers, non-stop
crying, and the fact that it will be a while before I can actually
play with her. This addition to our family is but one thing that I
am preparing for.
I find myself daily reading and
studying theology to honor the call I believe God has beckoned to
me, that God is preparing me for. It's hard though, you know, to
open yourself up for this calling. It isn't like God said with a
booming voice through the clouds, "This is my beloved Steven, and he
is a pastor!" No, it started through my family, church, friends,
faith; and the list can go on and on. [Each one of you has been
preparing for something through out your life.
Each job, each experience, each
day has somehow shaped you preparing you for the road ahead. Each
day has brought you closer to the call God has shared with you. Each
day we are chosen and called just like the disciples.]
(Each one of you is preparing for something
outside the walls of Texas Lutheran. Oh yes, the time will come when
you have to buy more things than cheese spread and beer. Or at least
that was one lesson I learned outside of these walls. Each of you
has been on your own journey with the Holy Spirit breathing wind
into your sails. Each is preparing for something great ... a
teacher, philosopher, doctor, or maybe even the luxurious role of
pastor. We have been called for something great, just like the
disciples.)
In today's Gospel lesson we listen to
Jesus call his disciples. They drop whatever they are doing and
follow. Each one has a role, a purpose, a reason they are chosen and
a reason for their preparation. As you move through the book of
John, you will find that the disciples are, for the most part, truly
unaware of what it is they are being prepared for and yet they never
leave. There are times when I feel like the early disciples. Blind
as to the direction God is leading, but nevertheless I follow. I
feel unworthy to follow, and yet, Jesus still leads and takes me in.
Jesus has chosen me. Jesus has chosen you. What is he preparing us
for'? I think a closer look at the final act of preparation in the
book of John might shed some light on this.
He gets up from the meal and
places a towel around his body. He takes your foot, dusty and
tired from the two year journey. He places it on the raised
middle of the basin and pours water over it. The water trickles
through your toes. He looks up at you and says, "You are clean."
He is preparing you for many great things.
This is the Gospel lesson which is
usually read on Maundy Thursday. It is a lesson that brings
about great preparation. We and the disciples are being prepared
for the death of our leader. We are being prepared with the
simple washing of the foot. While the synoptic Gospels have the
Last Supper, the author of John opts for the footwashing as the
final act before Jesus is handed over to the authorities.
Historically, footwashing was used
in Cultic acts. The Priest was required to wash his hands and
feet before entering the Holy place of the tabernacle.
Footwashing was a symbol of being cleansed spiritually, without
which no one could draw near to God. It prepared one for a
variety of things and was so common that the lack of preparation
was expressed by the phrase "with unwashed feet" (Thomas 42).
In the home
footwashing was portrayed as preparation for a meal. It was
considered not only hygienic or for comfort, but was a form of
hospitality. A host or hostess would offer footwashing to a guest
before a meal. However, this host
or hostess would not be the one
washing. This was the role of the servant, this was the role the
slave took on. Those that receive the footwashing were considered to
be of higher status than the person who would actually do the
washing.
In this particular Gospel lesson,
footwashing is seen as preparation for a specific task, an
experience, or even a relationship. In fact the entire book of John
has preparation sprinkled throughout like a light rain. Here
footwashing is devoted to Jesus preparing the disciples for his
departure. They have a role, a function, a task that they are
preparing for. Jesus does this in the form of servitude. He takes on
the role of servant and just so his actions are not misunderstood,
he becomes the slave, the one that washes. He interrupts the meal,
removes his clothes and places a towel around his waist, this, the
attire that evokes the image of slave, the dress of a servant. He
takes a basin and draws water, an action for the role of the slave
in the time Jesus was alive. Jesus is preparing the disciples for
the same act, an example to follow. He is showing them love. Jesus
freely takes on the role of slave as an act of love. This action is
unmatched in ancient evidence; no person of a superior status is
described as voluntarily washing the feet of a subordinate. Speaking
of a subordinate, through love Jesus even washes the feet of Judas.
You know the guy with money problems, a bad name and evil thoughts.
Every time the author of
John mentions the name of Judas he is designated as
betrayer. He is shown with character flaws. Judas is a
thief. Judas does not care for the poor. Judas succumbs
to satanic influences. Basically Judas can't catch as
break. Judas protests to the waste of money that Mary
uses to anoint the feet of Jesus just prior to this
reading. The devil has put in the heart of Judas
thoughts of betrayal. But, Judas is part of the
preparation. His feet are washed and in the following
verses he is fed. Judas, like each of us is chosen by
Jesus. Judas is chosen; he is the fulfillment of
scripture. This is shown as Judas is going to eat the
bread and raise a heel against the Son of Man ... this
same heel that has just been washed.
I feel that each one of us
has a little bit of Judas inside. We are called; but
somehow, someway find a way to muck it up. Yes, Judas
was being prepared to fulfill the scripture, and Jesus
was going to die, but it was Jesus that got under the
skin of the authorities, not Judas. No, Judas, tempted
by money, was used as a tool by the authorities to find
Jesus. I sometimes think that Judas could have been
called for something greater. Or maybe that was what God
was preparing him for, but isn't that a crumby way to
have people remember your name?
So what are you preparing
for? Are you the next blockbuster novelist? Are you the
example a child will learn love from? Are you the next
Judas? Are you open to listen to what it is God is
calling you to be, to do? Will you take off your shoes
and socks and allow God to serve you? Will you wash the
feet of those around you in the glory of God? The simple
act of footwashing is preparation of one kind or
another. It serves as a preparation for a meal or a
cultic act or even for the farewell materials in the
Gospel of John. It prepares the disciples and each of us
for Jesus' departure. It prepares Judas for betrayal. It
prepares us for the call God has shared with all. To
love, to serve, to glorify others. So what are you
preparing for or better yet what are you being prepared
for?
Amen
Steven Cox, SIR
Bibliography:
Thomas, John C.,
Footwashing in John 13 and
the Johannine Community, New York: T&T Clark
International, 2004.
