Grace in Humbleness—Psalm 131; John 13: 1-17
[SLIDE 1] There is a guy on YouTube named, The Detail Geek, who films himself cleaning the dirtiest cars imaginable. [SLIDE 2] He lives in Canada and owns his own detailing shop. He films every single aspect of the cleaning from the outside, to floor mats, to the inside parts and provides tips and links to cleaning merchandise. One might think this is boring at best, perhaps? Who’s going to sit and watch 20-minute videos on the details of detailing a car? Well, he has 3.81 million followers on his YouTube channel, so the answer is 3.81 million people enjoy watching half hour videos on car cleaning. He has branded his own product line and secured lucrative sponsorships, all while filming a slow, mind-numbing car wash.
But we have a fascination, as a society, with dirty and undesirable jobs. There are videos of deep-cleaning dirty homes on social media. [SLIDE 3] Hoarders on A&E was an award-winning show about people living in abject filth with condemned homes. It went way beyond just general clutter. There’s 10 seasons of a show called “Dirty Jobs” with Mike Rowe. We are fascinated by these things, but I don’t know anyone much who is clamoring to actually sign up for these jobs. It reminds me of an old saying, “Most people prefer to have their feet washed than to be the one washing feet.”
[SLIDE 4] I think I can understand that. Last year on Maundy Thursday, I remember somehow being voluntold to do the foot washing part of the service. And here I thought I would only play the piano. At the end of it, the water was dirty and there was sock fluff floating in it. It’s gross, but there’s a point. Most folks felt uncomfortable with the whole idea, and no one was willingly going to be the one doing the foot washing. They even had to voluntold a couple of folks to line up to have their feet washed for fear no one would do it. Also, lesson learned that warm water is much better for this than cold-cold water.
[SLIDE 5A] When we think of Jesus, Christ, Prince of Peace, King of Kings, Savior of the World, we think of Christ on the throne. We find it easier to identify with the Jesus of power and strength or the Christ of glory and heavenly hope. [5B] It’s very hard to imagine Jesus, the Son of God, kneeling on the floor, washing the dirt off of feet like the lowest and most humble servant would. I’m sure it was just as uncomfortable for his disciples as it was for us on Maundy Thursday feeling a bit exposed and vulnerable with something that upends the norm we’re accustomed to.
Part of what makes this scene so difficult is truly understanding how different this truly was for all involved. In our society, we would never see the CEO come and do filing for the mail clerk. We would never see the leader of a megachurch wash the feet of the drug addict hiding in the back. We would never see a President picking fruit in a field with a laborer (unless it was a publicity stunt). We expect those who are high and might to be exactly that: high and mighty.
But remember the prophecies even before Jesus was born from Isaiah 40, “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth.” In a world that lived and died according to position and hierarchy, Jesus came to bring grace to all of humanity: the leper, the unclean, the Samaritan, the avoided Gerasene. Though he interacted with the highest officials and most prominent in Ancient Judea, his miracles and his greatest blessings were given to the least of these. His healing, his help, his blessings, his grace is almost always seen in his interaction with those whose others wouldn’t go near.
And if you read the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the Lost Sheep, Pharisee and Tax Collector, and Wedding Feast, you’ll see that Jesus also exalted the least of these, the outcast, and humbled of society in his teachings. The beauty of that is we are included in that same grace. Pretty much all of us would have been the Samaritan or Gerasene, and none of us would have been a person of prominence if we lived in Ancient Judea. That Jesus offered grace to those outside the small circle of the Temple faith is what includes us in this incredible, redeeming love. We would not be the good, upstanding folks. We would also be the outcast, and unclean.
[SLIDE 6] And here, in this lesson, Jesus says, “And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.” Jesus calls on them, and on us by extension, to follow his example. This doesn’t come easy, though, does it? We’ve been taught and trained to work towards perfection and not humility. We’ve been taught that being humble is weak and undesirable.
All of society and life tends to teach us competition: schooling, work and promotions, sports, games with friends, even in some ways eating at a restaurant is a competitive sport. Yet nowhere in life are we taught how to kneel down and wash the feet of someone who is of lesser status than us. But Jesus, our example, both washed the feet of his disciples and suffered on a cross, humbled, serving, and in some ways humiliated.
[SLIDE 7] Pope Francis is a very good example on this. Prior to him, the foot washing ceremony of Maundy Thursday was only a ritualistic act. Most prior pontificates would wash the feet of male priests only within the Vatican itself. Pope Francis changed this. He has held the ceremony in women’s and men’s prisons, elder care homes, with refugees, and with people who are not Christian and have no faith at all. And each and every time, he tells them that God loves and forgives them. Now imagine if the Pope himself can wash the feet of a prisoner, what a microdose of humbleness in the rest of society can do for the world.
Too many people want to be served and never stoop to wash the feet of others. What could we accomplish if everyone decided that they would have just a bit of humbleness instead of feeding into the power grab that fuels a sinful world? Now compare the Pope kissing the feet of prisoners in Rome while washing feet on Maundy Thursday [SLIDE 8] to the images and reports of Bishop Marvin Sapp instructing the deacons to secure the doors of the church and holding the congregation captive till they cough up $40,000 in tithes. I guess the Lord loveth a cheerful giver, but the church can still work with false imprisonment.
[SLIDE 9] The whole of this gospel story is designed for Jesus to show that being his follower means living humbly, in service to others or to God’s house. If you want to be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, then you must make yourself the least. One of my favorite mundane tasks of serving the church is cleaning the silver from time to time at the communion sink. There’s something so satisfying about watching the black tarnish come off and the beautiful, clean silver shine through. I’ve thought about making YouTube videos on it like the car detailing guy, but I don’t think it’s nearly as exciting for the masses.
If you ask what following Jesus looks like, it’s this: polish the silver, talk with someone who is anxious, help someone when they are struggling, use your skills and talents to make life just a little better for someone in some small way. Jesus didn’t change the world by washing the feet of his disciples, but he did give them a new perspective on what it means to be a leader in faith. Jesus said to them, “I have washed your feet, now you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.” May we have the courage and wisdom to hear those words and live them in showing God’s grace. [SLIDE 10]
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