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the Lord be with you
we stand for the invocation and reading
in the name of the Father
and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit
the gospel according to Saint John the thirteenth chapter
"now before the feast of the passover
when Jesus knew that his hour had come
to depart out of this world to the Father
having loved his own who were in the world
he'd loved them to the end
during supper when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Escariot
Simon's son to betray him
Jesus knowing that his Father had given all things into his hands
and that he had come from God and was going back to God
rose from supper
he laid aside his outer garments and taking a towel
tied around his waist
then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet
and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him
he came to simon peter who said to him
Lord you watch my feet
Jesus answered him
what I am doing you do not understand now but afterward you will understand
peter said to him
you shall never wash my feet
Jesus answered him
if I do not want you
you have no share with me
simon peter said to him Lord
not my feet only but also my hands and my head
Jesus said to him
the one who has bathed does not need to wash except for his feet
but is completely clean
and you are clean but not everyone of you
for he knew who it was to betray him
that was why he said not all of you are clean
when he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his
place he said to them
do you understand what I have done to you
you call me teacher and Lord and you are right for so I am
if I then
your Lord and teacher have washed your feet
you also ought to wash one anothers feet
for I have given you an example that you should do just as I have done to you
truly truly I say to you a servant is not greater than his master
nor a messenger greater than the one who sent him
if you know these things blessed are you if you do them
now is the son of man glorified and God is glorified in him
if God is glorified in him God will also glorify him in himself
and glorify him at once
little children
yet a little while I am with you
you will seek me and just as I said to the jews so now also I say to you
where I am going you cannot come
a new commandment I give to you that you love one another just as I have
loved you
you also or to love one another
by this all people will know that you are my disciples
if you have a loved one another
this is the word of the Lord
in the name of the Father and of the Son in the Holy Spirit
since God is most high
he only looks down
nothing is above him
no one more exalted than he
so his eyes have no need to look up
only down
his eyes bend downward
toward the earth
to behold those who are in the depths
those such as you
and what is going to see when he looks down on us
he sees those who only want to look up
above themselves
but the things above to which we look
are not the things of God
but the things of this world
everyone strives after that which is above him
after honor
power wealth knowledge a life of ease
a life of whatever makes me happy
at the same time
no one is willing to look down into the depths of their own poverty
disgrace squalor misery
anguish
or the needs
of their neighbor
we are like mad men
who make believe that they live on a mountain top paradise
while they drag their feet through a city slum
the reality of our selfishness
and nothingness
is too painful to confess
so we pretend
we are someone we are not
and to give muscle to the lie we keep our eyes pointed upward
away from whatever might remind us that we are dust
and that we are to return to dust
if dust you are
and to dust you shall return
then dust confess yourself to be
drop the a make believe
and confess reality
don't look up
look down
for in looking down
you are ironically like God
who only has eyes for the lowly
for in looking down
you'll not only see who you really are
you will also behold who God really is
for who he really is is not the distant deity who merely gazes on us from above
as we wallow
in the mud in the pit
he is the God who joins us
and who joins himself to us
he not only has eyes for the lowly
he shares the flesh and blood
of the lowly
the most high
becomes incarnate as the most low
and he washes our feet
the very fingers that crafted the universe scrub the *** from between
man's toes
the hands that brilliantly painted the cosmos
wash feat
painted with the filth of dirt and sweat
the one before whom the angels bow
gets on his knees
to labor as a servant
but peter refuses
you shall never wash my feet Lord
pride gets in the way
of peter's being served by the master
the old sinful adam doesn't like being given to
he doesn't like losing control or being dependent
but Jesus
ever patient
ever lowly
gently persists in his giving
unless I wash you
you have no part with me
Peter learns the way of receiving
the way of faith
the way of gift
the way of baptism
before you give of yourself in service you receive
the Lord's service
for we love
because he first loved us
Jesus did not institute a ritual or cerimonial foot washing
rather he taught his disciples to love each other in the same way
in which he loved them
with his very own love
love one another just as I have loved you
that love expresses itself in the little things
the lowly things
in bending down to wash the feet
of another
service means bending down
getting off your high horse setting aside your pride and ego
it's not the way the disciple to say
that's beneath me
or that's below my pay grade
nor is it the way the disciple of Jesus to say
I've done my turn
now it's someone else's turn
the focus is not on us and what we have done
or rather on Jesus
on his service
and he washes his disciples feet
and in so doing he gives us a humble epiphany a revelation
of who he is
he is the God
who makes his glory visible
in loneliness and servitude
he is the God who is poor
who borrows a donkey to ride into Jerusalem
he is a God who slaves away at washing the disciples feet
he is a God who gives his cheek
to the betraying lips of Judas
the slapping hand of the high priest
and spit
of the sanhedrin
he is the God who gives his head to the thorns
his feet to the spikes
his side to the spear
he is the God who embraces rejection
shame
torture
and death
all for you
and here's why
because that's who he is
that's simply who God is
the God who is love
and therefore loves you by giving to you
for God so loved the world that he gave
and what he gives you is nothing less than himself
he not only washes your feet
he washes you clean
body and soul
through the holy bath in his name
and he fills the font with water from inside and kneels was there to wash the dirt
and sweat of your sin
he not only gives his body to the executioners
and his blood to the dust beneath him
he gives his body into your mouth
and his blood
in the dust of your flesh
thereby you were transformed
changed from a lowly son of the dust
to an adopted son
of God most high
he gives his all to you
to save the all of you
nothing stands outside of his forgiveness
for there is no greater love
than that the servant
gave his life for you
in the name of Jesus Amen