On the Heart of the Matter

My mind is on the heart today.

May is a month for confirmation and graduation. Many young people wonder what they will do with their lives. For me several decades after such graduation moments, it makes me think of what I have done with my life, and what I will do with the rest of it. These are weighty questions, and I hope among those we ask our young people.

May is also the month for Mother’s Day, a day when our thoughts to family. Too often, we take family granted. We know we have been selfish. We complain about our roles and tasks in the family while we have been ungrateful for how it has benefitted our lives. All families need some reconciliation and forgiveness. We can understand how Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948) gave everyone at the memorial service of her moth a carnation to honor the mother she loved. We can also understand how her suggestion to the nation that we honor mothers so quickly gained in popularity that Woodrow Wilson and Congress agreed in 1914 to set aside this day in May. In fact, we have a whole week of celebrating the family. When we think of family, I hope we think of matters of the heart and the people who matter to us. We do not want supermom. We do want the presence and love moms can give. Some people need healing in the relationship with mom. At this stage of my life, I reflect not only upon my mother, but also on the women who today have been wonderful examples of Christian life and faith.

We need to get to the heart of the matter, which is something like what the Bible means when it refers to the heart.  What are the things that matter to you? What ought to be the core beliefs and values that guide my life? What will I do with my life in terms of a vocation? Most of us want our work to be something we genuinely enjoy and toward which have some passion. What is that for me, at this stage in my life? Such questions deal with the heart spiritually, and a good response will have a positive influence upon your whole life.

            Such spiritual questions are weighty.

Many people today are quite health conscious today. I became somewhat that way in college, and have listened to what I thought was good advice over the years. Eat well. Exercise regularly. Your heart is an important muscle. I guess the point of all this is to care for the heart, and you will care for your whole body.[1]

All of this stimulated some thinking on my part about preachers and teachers within the Christian tradition referring to the “heart.”

Just as we can do things that endanger the heart physically, we can do things that endanger the heart spiritually. It will threaten your ability to be a follower of Christ. Medicine has been helpful in saying that proper diet and exercise will be the type of self-care you need for a healthy physical heart. Being a follower of Jesus addresses the heart of the matter spiritually.

What I want us to focus upon is what we can do to heed this command of Jesus: Do not let your hearts be troubled.

Let us be honest: Is it even possible, as follower of Jesus in an extremely screwed-up world, to heed his command and have an untroubled heart? Really?

I have come across a few bits of wisdom about worry. 

I have developed a new philosophy. I only dread one day at a time. -Charlie Brown.

As printed in a church bulletin: Don't let worry kill you - let the church help. 

Some suggestions on how to keep from worrying:

Drag your thoughts away from your troubles ... by the ears, by the heels or any other way you can manage it. -Mark Twain.
For peace of mind, resign as general manager of the universe.
-Author unknown. 

These words are some wise counsel for gaining perspective on what worries us.

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[1] The basis of my concern today is a few articles I came across recently. The Mayo Clinic has some simple advice regarding a healthy heart: eat well and exercise regularly. You need both. You cannot compensate for a bad diet by exercising more. I have jokingly said that I like to run in order to eat the desserts I like. Well, a health person on television this week said the body does not work that way. The point is, you really need both.

I have come across many statistics. I will not bore you with them. Here are a few. In 2006, 631,636 people died of heart disease. Heart disease caused 26% of deaths—more than one in every four—in the United States.¹ White people die of heart disease at a greater rate than either African-Americans, Asians, or Native Americans. Death rates due to the heart are highest in Mississippi and lowest in Minnesota. Lowering cholesterol and blood pressure levels can reduce all forms of heart issues. The greatest risk factors involve inactivity, obesity, and high blood pressure, while smoking and high cholesterol are lower on the list. Finally, you put yourself at more risk when you do not eat breakfast. I have never been one regularly to skip breakfast. A bowl of cereal or something simple is usually enough. Sometimes, I get a treat with bacon or sausage and egg. Sometimes, I make my own buttermilk pancakes. Who knows, I may have gotten it from my mother. The first thing Mom would do early in the morning is have her coffee, cereal, and her cigarette.

 

3 Signs of a Miserable Job

I am thankful that God has blessed me with a job, a calling, and a vocation that I genuinely enjoy. If you have had such a job, I hope you are thankful as well. Many people have jobs they do not like.

In fact, have you ever had a miserable job? You know the one I mean. A soul-sucking employment situation that makes you feel like an empty suit.  

If so, you are not alone. A recent Gallup poll revealed that 77 percent of American employees hate their jobs. Gallup also contends that this ailing workforce is costing employers more than $350 billion dollars in lost productivity. Americans are increasingly unhappy with their jobs.

These figures intrigued author Patrick Lencioni because they reminded him of his own experience. Says Lencioni,  

“I became interested in this topic because, as a kid, I watched my dad trudge off to work each day and became somewhat obsessed with the notion of job misery. Somewhere along the line, I came to the frightening realization that people spend so much time at work, yet so many of them were unfulfilled and frustrated in their jobs. As I got older, I came to another realization — that job misery was having a devastating impact on individuals, and on society at large. It seemed to me that understanding the cause of the problem, and finding a solution for it, was a worthy focus for my career.”  

His latest book, The Three Signs of a Miserable Job, is his attempt to meet the problem head-on.

One may feel particularly bad about the job when you pay taxes. I can imagine that many people in churches are in that situation as well. They do not like their life. They certainly would not call it an “abundant life,” as Jesus would put it.

You would think that the barometers of job satisfaction would depend on things like salary, job responsibilities and the possibility for advancement. Those are significant factors, but they are not the key values that determine whether you have a miserable job or not.  

“It’s important to understand that being miserable has nothing to do with the actual work a job involves. A professional basketball player can be miserable in his job while the janitor cleaning the locker room behind him finds fulfillment in his work. A marketing executive can be miserable making a quarter of a million dollars a year while the waitress who serves her lunch derives meaning and satisfaction from her job.”  

What makes the difference between a miserable job and a satisfying one? According to Lencioni, it is the relationships formed on the job, particularly the relationship between manager and employees, which determine whether your job is a dream or a soul-sucking nightmare.

Lencioni points to three critical signs that, when put together, form the perfect storm of vocational hell.

The first and most telling indicator of job misery is anonymity. “People cannot be fulfilled in their work if they are not known,” says Lencioni. People need to have a sense of being understood and appreciated for their unique personality and gifts, and that feedback needs to come from someone in a position of authority. If people feel invisible or anonymous in the workplace, particularly to their supervisor, they cannot love their job no matter what it is or what it pays. We are not talking about the need for constant praise here, just a sense that someone in authority cares about the people in their charge.

The second sign is irrelevance — not knowing that your job matters to someone, to anyone. “Without seeing a connection between the work and the satisfaction of another person or group of people, an, employee simply will not find lasting improvement,” remarks Lencioni. A job must have some kind of purpose and impact on others, even if it’s just flipping hamburgers. We all want to feel that what we do matters and that someone will miss us if we’re gone.

Lencioni invented the word “immeasurement” to describe the third sign. Immeasurement illuminates the fact that employees “need to be able to gauge their progress and level of contribution for themselves.” Employees do not want their jobs to be merely judged subjectively by the opinions of others, which can lead to politics and posturing in the workplace. They want to know how they measure up based on a set of agreed-upon criteria. Measurements do not necessarily have to be numerical, but they do have to be tangible. Take a bagger at a grocery store, for example. How many bags he fills on an hourly basis is one measurement, but there are others, such as how many times he makes a customer smile or the time it takes for the bagger to move customers through the line. Humans like to feel a healthy sense of competition, seeing it as an opportunity not only to measure performance but also to improve it.

The signs that Lencioni talks about all seem like elementary stuff that anybody who works with people should understand. It should be a given that leaders know their people well and care about them, help them see how their place on the team matters and give them markers to assess their progress. Unfortunately, it does not seem to work that way. It is little wonder, then, that job misery more often than not spills over into the other aspects of a person’s life. Health problems, addictions, broken relationships at home — these are just some of the byproducts of a miserable job.

God did not create us to work or live this way, for that matter. God made us to enjoy a fulfilling and life-giving relationship with God and with others. God created us to live with purpose and to measure our lives not in terms of the dollars we earn or the amount of stuff we own or produce but by the amount of love we give and receive.

Pondering Ulee's Gold

Ulee’s Gold is a 1997 movie, one easily overlooked. Peter Fonda portrays Ulee. The movie is deceptively old-fashioned. The film is about family. In a time when many people forsake the family so easily, this film stands up and declares that salvation of the family lies in our ability to support and love each other, through the good times and the bad. The film does not pretend that the bad times do not wear you down. Nevertheless, it shows that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, and if there is even one spark of hope in the darkness, not all is lost. This is a realistic look at a family in need of a second chance on life.

            Since Ulee is a beekeeper, we find out something about bees and beekeepers. Ulee’s gold is, after all, the honey from the bees. The relationship between bee and beekeeper is simple: You take care of them, and they will take care of you. In one scene (1:06:48 to 1:07:52), Penny, his granddaughter, has drawn a picture of Ulee going to the swamp to get the bees. With Ulee listening in, she tells her mother, who has had problems with addiction to drugs,  

“See, sometimes the bees get confused, and run away — that’s them there on the tree. But they don’t really want to be gone, and they’re happy when someone helps them back into their home. But you got to keep calm and don’t panic when they sting, ’cause they don’t mean nothing by it.” 

I have a question for you. Have some people in your family lost their way? Have some people in your neighborhood or at work lost their way? They might even lash out at you. I confess I have not always responded well in that situation. I keep trying to respond as a disciple, by which I mean, with forgiveness and love.

First Sermon

Many preachers remember their first sermon.[1] Some people remember it as being particularly bad or cringe-worthy. My first sermon occurred when I was about 19. I was part of a team from my college that went out to share in different congregations. The first sermon was in front of a Native American congregation. I do not remember what I said. We were in South Dakota at Pine Ridge Reservation. I remember most that parents allowed children to run around the congregation. I had a warning that this might happen. I had no objection, but it was distracting. I was nervous, of course. Soon after that, I delivered a sermon at Austin, MN, at the congregation in which I had grown up. I do not remember the sermon, but it was such a privilege to be in that pulpit. In both cases, of course, I wanted to do well. I tried to determine if I was relating.

It is like that old story about a preacher who was leaving a congregation on his last Sunday. At the end of the service, he stood at the door while the people filed out and said their last goodbyes. One woman came to the preacher weeping, full of emotion. The preacher attempted to comfort her. "There, there, sister. Even though I'm leaving, I'm sure the bishop will send you a wonderful preacher." Through her tears she replied, "That's what they've been telling us for 20 years and it ain't happened yet!"

Will Willimon says that a first sermon in a congregation is a lot like a first date -- you want to do well, be impressive, put your best foot forward and not say anything dumb that might endanger the future relationship.

 

It can be a struggle, however, because we know our own struggles and weaknesses very well. We know that, at base, we are not any more qualified than anyone else to speak for God, regardless of that newly framed seminary degree. Therefore, we shake a little, wondering how we came to be standing there with the Word of God on our lips. In fact, the most important thing about every sermon is that the focus is the Word of God and its application to our lives today. We need to trust that the Word of God still speaks, even after this many centuries. We need to preacher naturally, rather than with a preachy voice. We need to keep it relatively short.[2]

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[1] Perhaps it is like a doctor performing her first hernia operation – it is not pretty, and it is probably a bloody mess, but she gets it all stitched up and the patient is good as new, better than ever. Maybe preaching that first sermon is like a pilot going solo for the first time or a lawyer giving his first summation to the jury.

[2] https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/7-tips-for-my-younger-preacher-self offers some good advice for new preachers.

Descansos

I have come across an article that has made me think a little differently about what might have gone through the minds of the women who came to the place Jesus received burial.

I invite you to imagine a tragic scene today. We seem them in many places as we drive. We see a roadside cross, bouquets of flowers, perhaps some candles, a stuffed animal or a jersey from the local high school. Sometimes there is a hand-painted placard with a name and a date.  You drive by and get a mere glance, but you know there was a moment on this highway when something horrific happened and a person or persons lost their lives.

Unfortunately, highway deaths and roadside memorials (sometimes called descansos from a Spanish word meaning "to rest") have become so common that some states are seeking alternatives.

Joyce Keeler knows the pain of losing a loved one in a tragic automobile accident. Nearly 30 years ago, her son lost his life on a rural road in Delaware. For Joyce, driving by the site of the accident is still too painful. She avoids it, even all these years later. Instead, Joyce goes to the Delaware Highway Memorial Garden at the Smyrna Rest Area near her home. Among the trees, shrubs and flowering plants, is a pathway lined with memorial bricks that bear the names of those who have lost their lives on the roads of Delaware. In the center of the garden is a pond with goldfish, frogs, water lilies and a gurgling waterfall. Tucked amid the busyness of nearby highways U.S. 13 and Delaware 1, it is a peaceful place to remember and reflect. To honor the memory of her son, Joyce sits quietly near the brick that bears his name.

Patrick Bowers, whose 21-year-old son died in a crash in 2008, also frequents the Delaware Highway Memorial Garden. "It's not morbid or gloomy, not like a feeling you can get at a cemetery," he says. "It's a garden like someone would do in their backyard." Delaware is one of several states providing alternatives to roadside memorials because traffic safety officers worry they are a dangerous distraction to drivers, and put those who maintain them in harm's way. In most states, descansos are illegal, but officials rarely enforce those laws. Several states have implemented sign programs that offer a safer option to mark the site of a crash. Others have adopted laws limiting the time a memorial they will allow it to remain on the side of the road. Still others offer to plant memorial trees at the sites of fatal accidents. Joyce Keeler much prefers the garden to the roadside memorial. "Things like that get old, and the flowers fade," she says. "But this will never go away."

 

The women who went to the tomb to memorialize a tragic event, the crucifixion of the innocent man, Jesus of Nazareth, are part of a feeling we have not to forget the person who experienced the tragedy. To memorialize Jesus, one might go to the tomb. One might go to the place of his crucifixion. You might go to Nazareth or Bethlehem. You might go to Galilee and the place of great sermons, healings, or exorcisms. After all, the Jewish people had a long tradition of offering such memorials. Jacob erected a memorial in Genesis 28. Joshua memorialized the crossing of the Jordan in Joshua 3-4.

Of course, with the death of Jesus, we may need to re-think what it means to memorialize his life.

 

John 13:1-15

Year A

Holy (Maundy) Thursday

April 13, 2017

Cross~Wind

April 9, 2009

Cross~Wind Ministries

Title: Maundy Thursday Theology

Introducing the passage

John 13:1-20 is the account, found only in John’s gospel, of Jesus’ washing of his disciples’ feet. Chapter 13 begins the second section of the Gospel of John, a shift from the public ministry of Jesus to his farewell discourse to the disciples and the passion narrative. John identifies this event as occurring on Thursday night of the Jewish observance of the eating of the Passover sacrificial meal is an important one for us. Judas has a disturbing and threatening presence, in many ways more so than Jewish leaders or Pilate. Think of it this way. Judas was part of the inner circle of Jesus. Jesus had chosen him. He basked in the light. Yet, he preferred and chose darkness. It makes us wonder that of which we are capable. Further, Jesus knows humanity well enough that events are in motion that will lead to his death for others. He knows of Judas. He knows his disciples will desert him. He knows Romans and Jewish leaders will conspire to kill him. Yet, this knowledge does not dissuade him from his mission. Instead, Jesus offers his life as an expression of his love. His love is total in these hours. Yet, his immediate act is one of hospitality and the role of a servant. The one called Lord, Master, and Teacher is the one who washes the feet of his disciples. In that sense, this passage is about foot-washing. It was the job of the first-century household slave. It was a practical task, given that people walked to most places on dusty roads. Yet, in another sense, the passage is about something far deeper. Our lives do not require the hospitality of feet-washing when guests come to our homes. Yet, the example Jesus provides remains powerful for us today, who seek to follow Jesus.

 

Introduction

          We come together this evening to recall in our hearts and minds the events that occurred on Thursday of what the church calls Holy Week, the last week in the life of our Lord. The disciples have gathered in a home, whose we are not sure, but we do know that it had a furnished second floor. As they gather, they participate in a Seder meal, one of the highlights of the Passover week. The Passover festival commemorated that time when the Jews were in bondage in Egypt. Moses warned Pharaoh to let his people go, but Pharaoh hardened his heart. God sent a death over the land of Egypt, but miraculously this death passed over the homes of the Jews.  Thus, the season of Passover had its birth.

          The meal itself was a symbolic one reminding the Jews of the sufferings of their ancestors and the power of God's deliverance. The foods they ate were symbols to remind the Jews of their captivity in Egypt.

          Thirteen men have dinner to celebrate their shared Jewish history. One of them washes the others’ feet.

 

John 13:1-15 (NRSV)

 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. ² The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper ³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, ⁴ got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. ⁵ Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. ⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷ Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” ⁸ Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” ⁹ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

 

Application

I have entitled this reflection “Maundy Thursday Theology.” I think a rich theology underpins Maundy Theology. It seems to me, however, that Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Easter overshadow it. One pastor in what some might call a “low church tradition” recently asked, “There’s church on Thursday? That is a long workweek. You had better take some comp days.” Yes — there is church on Thursday. If you are serious, some churches a Vigil on Saturday as well.

          I want us to explore John 13:1-15. The passage is about foot washing, and it is not about foot washing at the same time.

          First, in what ways is this passage about foot washing? “He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.”

          The humility of Christ is what stuns us. The King of Kings chose the servant’s role as an object lesson. Remember that in those days, foot washing was no more a symbolic ceremony than was breaking the bread and pouring the wine. It was practical. Dusty, muddy and manure-strewn roads made sandaled feet a mealtime killer. The first-century household slave would always get the foot-washing task as it was one of the most demeaning and filthy tasks in their culture. I do not know if it was dirty enough to make Mike Rowe of Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs, but it was a dirty task. Since Jesus and the disciples held the meeting in secret, there was no slave to do the work. To further the irony of the Messiah washing feet, our minds lay onto this story Luke tells us that the Upper Room discourse included the favorite spat of the apostles — “Which of us is the greatest?” (Luke 22:24).

          Second, in what way is this passage not about foot washing?

The point of the story is the example Jesus set of giving his life for others and serving others.[1]

          The fact is, the Imitation of Christ is toward downward mobility. Therefore, at a deeper level, John 13 does not have much to do with foot washing at all. The whole passage is about incarnating into a world of pain and brokenness on behalf of those in need. Into a world of darkness and death, followers of Jesus are to offer light and life. Jesus was commissioning the disciples to do this based on the command to imitate him (v. 15). He invited them to serve, but in ways that were unexpected by the person served.

          I invite you to reflect upon John tells here. It was Passover, a holy time of sacrifice. His hour had come, his time for glorification through death, resurrection, and ascension. He had loved his own end to the end. One of his closest friends was at the table, ready to betray him. He knew that the Father had given all things into his hands, that he had come from God and was going to God. In our humanity, if we knew all this about ourselves, we might have delivered a great message lasting hours, led army to victory, or done something else that people might consider grand. However, Jesus got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciple’s feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.

          This foot washing has little to do with dirty feet and everything to do with the life of the Christ. He left heaven, stripped himself of glory and divine rights, took on human flesh, and entered into suffering and pain — applying his very humanity to the redemption of the dirty humanity of others.

          Confused about what is going on, Jesus tells Peter that even he will not understand the whole scene until later (v. 7). Over his protests, Jesus washes his feet anyway.

          What theology emerges from this discourse?

One, the feet are the part of us that stay in contact with the earth. Jesus cleanses us by purifying us from that part of our humanity that the world taints.  Granted, sin does not destroy the imago dei in each person; it is marred in its expression within and to the world. Jesus cleanses the part of us that will continue to remain in contact with a soiled world, and that cleansing is enough for us to remain standing in the world, without corrupting the whole of us.

          Two, Peter’s protest draws attention to the servant/master tension in the passage. What is Christ doing?! The command of verse 15 is staggering. It is not just about feet. It is about life. Bring the kingdom down to the places of brokenness. “For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you” (13:15). Jesus is calling us to leave higher safety for a lower, broken, dark, death-like world, asking us to enter into the sorrow that is the incarnation of Maundy Thursday.

 

Conclusion

          I invite you to reflect upon a person who has shown you how to wear a towel of a servant, someone who has set an example of service or love each other. Consider that person quietly, so that you might experience the instructions of Jesus to serve and love others through your thoughts, words, or actions.

          [Pray the following slowly].

Prayer of Commitment

Servant Lord, in Scripture you teach us how to love and serve, not just through words, but also through your life of servanthood. In the lives of other servants, you show us how to stand in a servant’s posture and live with love as our call. Thank you for all who live out your instruction, and in their actions show your teaching.

Lord and Teacher, may we also follow your example, serving you and others by sharing your love. Show us how to wear a servant’s towel. Use us to meet the deep needs of those near and far. Help us not to be afraid of getting messy, but to risk our own time and energy for the sake of following your call. When others serve us, may we accept their gifts with grace.

We commit ourselves to your service, and ask all of these things in your name. Amen.

 

Going deeper

Now before the festival of the Passover, [which would be Thursday. This would differ from Mark 14:12, 14, 16, which refer to the first evening of Passover. The symbolism of the sacrificial death of Jesus coinciding with the Passover is one the reader ought not to miss.] Jesus knew [(humanity well enough that) (in 7:30 and 8:20 his hour had not come) Jesus was fully aware that the way events around him were unfolding would lead to his sacrificial death, and that this knowledge did not dissuade him from his mission] that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father [(even as he had come from the Father).] Having loved his own [(a group larger than the disciples)] who were in the world, he loved them to the end. [The Greek word here is normally a temporal reference, referring to the end of an action. However, it could also refer to the goal or purpose of an action. In that case, the translation in the New English Bible as “the full extent of his love” becomes possible. For the first time, the life and death of Jesus are the expression of love. That love is total.] ² The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. [Judas is a far more threatening figure than Pilate or the Jewish leaders. Think of it this way. One of Jesus’ own circle, one whom he had chosen, preferred the darkness. He not only saw the light; he basked in the light, and still he chose the darkness. ] And during supper ³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, ⁴ got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. ⁵ Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. [This was a sign of hospitality in the ancient world, and was usually the role of the servant of the house.] ⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷ Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later [referring to the post-resurrection insight from the Holy Spirit] you will understand.” ⁸ Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” ⁹ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”[ likely reflecting the practice of ritual washing in Judaism.] ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

He stresses that servants are not greater than the master. Messengers are not greater than the one who sent them. If they know these things, God will bless them. However, he is not speaking of all of them. He knows whom he has chosen. He refers to scripture in Psalm 41:9 that said that the one who ate my bread has lifts his heel against me. He concludes by affirming that whoever receives one whom Jesus sends receives Jesus, while whoever receives Jesus receives the one who sent him.

This passage is the biblical basis for the sacramental practice of foot washing. Jesus washed the feet of the disciples as a sign of cleansing and of servanthood. Appar­ently, in the churches of Asia Minor, present—day Turkey, the practice continued as a sacrament. Some churches through the centuries washed the feet of persons who were newly baptized. However, it was most common in the monasteries, where the head of the monastery would wash the feet of the newly admitted monks. Normally, this was done on Maundy Thursday as part of the Lenten observance. No less of a theologian than Bernard of Clairvaux (1091—1153) urged the acceptance of this practice as a sacrament. It be­came part of the practice of royalty, who would invite the poor to a banquet, and then the king would bow before them and wash their feet. Through some of this kind of practice, there would often be great public display of the action. This misuse caused Martin Luther to reject the practice, and Protestant churches have generally followed him. However, the Church of Brethren has continued the practice as a sign of clean­sing and servanthood. The practice is seeing a comeback in Protestant churches as part of the Maundy Thursday service.

This passage gives us an opportunity to reflect upon the theological meaning of Judas. Johannine scholar Adele Reinhartz interprets the gospel of John as three intertwining “tales,” and one can fruitfully interpret Judas through her framework.  The “historical tale” is the plain reading of the gospel, as an account of Jesus of Nazareth in his particular time, place and circumstances. In this tale, Judas is a real person, a close friend of Jesus, who betrays him into the hands of their political rulers, the Romans. The “cosmological tale” is more subtle, and extends beyond the historical setting of the gospel to the entire cosmos and an eternal time frame. The hero of this tale is the Word who enters the world, defeats the cosmic ruler of this world (the devil), and returns home to the Father. In this tale, Judas is the agent of the “devil” (6:70) or “Satan” (13:27). The “ecclesiological tale” is even more subtle: It tells the story of the Johannine community at the time of the gospel’s composition. Scholars interpret the first-century community of John’s gospel as one in conflict with the synagogue of its day. Judas represents those Jews who have rejected the message of Jesus.

One challenge many readers, scholarly as well as laity, is a theological one. Simply stated, if Jesus foresees his betrayal by Judas (John 6:70-71; 13:26-27), then did Judas have free will in his betrayal? If the crucifixion was necessary for the salvation of humanity, was the betrayal by Judas betrayal a part of the plan of God? Is not Judas a participant in God’s plan of salvation? When one ponders Judas, one wrestles with weighty theological topics.

Furthermore, Judas manifests a practical challenge before all readers of John’s gospel. David Bartlett has preached on this practical challenge of Judas’ character.  According to Bartlett,

“Judas is a far more threatening figure than Pilate or the Jewish leaders to those of us Christians who read John’s gospel. ... What frightens us as we watch Judas go out into the night, what should terrify us had the story not grown so familiar, is that one of Jesus’ own circle, one whom he had chosen, preferred the darkness. What frightens us is this portrayal of one who was so close to Jesus as flesh to bone. He not only saw the light; he basked in the light, and still he chose the darkness.”

Barth will stress that Judas shares the same unclean feet as do the disciples. Judas simply embodies the uncleanness of all the disciples. The disciples embody obstinate Israel and therefore the obstinate world. When Jesus announced that one of them would betray him, all said, “Is it I?” He stresses that the special cleansing mentioned in verse 18 is a condition of fellowship with Jesus. To understand this, we need to go back to verse 1, which stresses the love that embraced them as disciples. Jesus also knew the authority he had from the Father. At that moment, his loving disposition toward them led him to an action that was in response to the satanic indwelling of Judas. In this critical moment, Jesus washes the feet of the disciples.^[2]

 

 

 

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[1] It seems to me that the repetition of this Christ-act does not need to be foot washing. That was the best first-century model, but what would happen if we think about the 21st-century equivalent?

                What would happen if we were to talk together?

• What characteristics of Christ most stand out to you based on his washing of the disciples’ feet?

• What is the foot-washing equivalent in our culture that would communicate these qualities?

• Jesus washed their feet, and they were to do as he had done. To whom? Each other? Their disciples? The outside world?

• And what were they supposed to do? Go wash feet, or was there something else?

• Who is one person whose “feet” God wants you to “wash”? How should you do this?

 

[2] Church Dogmatics II.2 [35.4] 472-3

Learning New Words

The devotional Draw the Circle on Day 29 has the title “A New Prayer.” As we discussed that day in our small group, I put up some words I found interesting because we do not use them very often. He said we have a “heuristic” bias. It comes from the Greek language. People started using it in the 1800s in English. It increased greatly in use after the war. It means that we tend to develop rules or patterns of thought and practice. As the devotional also suggests, we might call it ritual, habituation, or routinization. I put all of these words on the board. I shared that my wife gave me an opportunity to use the word that day.

“Heuristic” is a good example of the flexibility of the English language. I have a little experience with foreign languages. I took courses in New Testament Greek and biblical Hebrew. One of the issues that emerge is the principle one chooses to use. One can take a wooden, word-for-word approach. Yet, the problem with this is that words are not that static. They carry different meanings when considered in the light of a sentence, a paragraph, or even other writings of the author. In that sense, no word is translatable from one language to another. Yet, we still do it. Languages still have the basic sentence structure most of us learned early in life and have since forgotten. Amour in French still means love in English. Yet, translators insist that we lose something precious in making the translation. Some words, of course, seem translatable only by a few words. They do not have exact equivalents in English. They at least hint at the possibility that another culture has experienced something for which it found a word to describe while those in English-speaking cultures lack a similar experience. It reminds us of the power of words. Words allow us to represent the natural, social, and private world we experience to others. They allow us to engage others and learn. The value of English at this point is that it can adopt words from another language. We call them loan words. The language becomes richer and increases its complexity. Heuristic is a word usually primarily in philosophy, psychology, and theology. Other good examples from the fields of religion and philosophy would be Nirvana and Tao. We may not precisely know what they mean, but we have a set of words in our minds that helps most of us make sense of a sentence that uses them. In Christian worship, the Hebrew word Hallelujah or even Shalom evoke certain images and experiences for us. Our language of worship has expanded because of this ability to absorb loan words.

In Scientific American, Tim Lomas writes about the magic of untranslatable words. He started by listing 216 of these words, but found that the list kept growing. It now stands at 601. He has discovered that exploring these foreign terms can make our own lives richer.[1]

One weighty word for Christians is the Greek word Kenosis. We find the word in Philippians 2:5-11

⁵ Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

⁶ who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

as something to be exploited,

⁷ but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

⁸      he humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death—

even death on a cross.

⁹ Therefore God also highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

¹¹ and every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.  

We find the word in Philippians 2:7, but the context in verses 5-11 is vital. Working with untranslatable words, says Lomas, is like diving into "a deep and mystifying ocean." So let us take the plunge!

Kenosis means "emptiness," but has deeper significance in that it communicates the self-emptying that Christ voluntarily offered on the cross. It begins with the Son, in living and eternal relationship with the Father and Spirit, who set aside his divinity in order to become human. Kenosis at this level reveals the distinction of the Son from the Father and subordination of the Son to the Father. The divine Son completely identifies with sinful humanity. This act of divine self-emptying was the path for the divine to enter into the world of humanity without becoming unlike the divine. In fact, to say it philosophically, the self-emptying of the Son becomes the path for the self-actualizing of the deity of the Trinitarian God in relation to the world. To say it personally and devotionally, the Trinitarian God shows humanity what God is like by showing up in the one who lived his life as a servant, Jesus of Nazareth. The Son sets aside the equality of divine life with Father and Spirit, but through his obedience in the course of his earthly life remains the Son. The fullness and completeness of his obedience reveals Jesus as the pre-existent Son. Yet, we also see the course of the earthly life of the Son as one of self-emptying as he lives in obedience to God. The human life of Jesus is in contrast to Adam, who disobeyed God and hid from God. He forfeited his fellowship with God, while Jesus in the course of his life remained in fellowship with the Father and the Spirit. Adam wanted to be like God by turning from God and choosing a path for himself. Jesus emptied himself in his obedience and thus remained in the likeness of God as the Son. The course of the life of Jesus is one of self-emptying and humbling that led to the cross. Thus, the hymn embraces both the path of the pre-existent Son and the path of the earthly life of Jesus. The result is that such self-emptying, such kenosis, is a genuine expression of divinity. If you want to see what God is like, look here, at the kenotic life of the Son. Kenosis becomes the free expression of the will to love. It reveals the core of divine reality, that God is love. The form of a servant concealed divine glory. Kenosis fulfills Isaiah 52-53 as the servant willingly undergoes suffering and humiliation for the sake of others. The divine essence offers itself freely for the reconciliation and redemption of the world. His death “for us” is in solidarity with the Father and in solidarity with humanity. We can see divine majesty in the cross. Jesus was Lord most meaningfully in the depth of his life as a servant of the Lord and in serving others.

I do not pretend that kenosis will become a loan word from the Greek in our ordinary speech. Today, however, I hope such reflections raise a number of important questions for us as we enter Holy Week. Holy Week forces us to confront kenosis, a word that is difficult, captivating and full of significance for anyone who is trying to follow Jesus Christ.  The point Paul is making is not just a statement about who God is. Rather, his point is that if God is like that, then you are to be of the same mind and attitude in your life. If the Son had this kind of kenotic love, then we are to be of the same mind and have the same love, namely, a kenotic mind and love. That is the discipleship challenge Paul offers us. What might such a life look like? It will invite us to look at life differently.

To receive blessing, be a blessing to others.

+ To receive love, give love.

+ To receive honor, first be humble.

+ To live truly, die to yourself.
+ To gain the unseen, let go of the seen.
+ To receive, first give.
+ To save your life, lose it.
+ To lead, be a servant.
+ To be first, be last.

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[1] Lomas, Tim. "The magic of 'untranslatable' words." Scientific American, July 12, 2016, scientificamerican.com.