WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:05.059 You've got to theme me all wrong. He's not avoiding 00:00:05.059 --> 00:00:10.560 anything. He is laying it down, his life. That's 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:19.660 the point. You can feel it in the room tonight, 00:00:19.820 --> 00:00:23.160 the weight of a table where hands still smell 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:25.660 like bread and wine, where the sound of water 00:00:25.660 --> 00:00:29.589 in a basin echoes louder than any sermon. He's 00:00:29.589 --> 00:00:31.769 already told them what's coming and they don't 00:00:31.769 --> 00:00:35.770 understand it. Not yet. One will betray, one 00:00:35.770 --> 00:00:40.850 will deny, all will scatter. And still he kneels. 00:00:41.549 --> 00:00:46.210 Still he breaks the bread. Still he says, this 00:00:46.210 --> 00:00:50.289 is for you. Now, before we step any further into 00:00:50.289 --> 00:00:52.549 that night, let me say this. We didn't have Wednesday 00:00:52.549 --> 00:00:55.789 night Bible study in... dinner this week. Gigi 00:00:55.789 --> 00:00:58.049 and Jan and Joyce and Marsha held it down in 00:00:58.049 --> 00:01:00.770 the kitchen and reminded us that one fellowship 00:01:00.770 --> 00:01:03.630 meal a week, especially with Easter coming and 00:01:03.630 --> 00:01:06.810 hams waiting, is plenty. And truth be told, they're 00:01:06.810 --> 00:01:10.170 right. But we did gather for dinner before Maundy 00:01:10.170 --> 00:01:12.069 Thursday service, and now we've come upstairs 00:01:12.069 --> 00:01:15.370 into the sanctuary to remember. Hey, join us 00:01:15.370 --> 00:01:18.390 in the pews, and I'll see you on the other side. 00:01:24.489 --> 00:01:29.670 As we begin, let's pause for a moment. Let's 00:01:29.670 --> 00:01:33.609 enter into an attitude prayer as we begin this 00:01:33.609 --> 00:01:37.670 Maundy Thursday observation. So if you would, 00:01:37.689 --> 00:01:42.150 please join me in prayer. Almighty and everlasting 00:01:42.150 --> 00:01:46.629 God, who in the humility of your Son, stop to 00:01:46.629 --> 00:01:49.939 wash the feet of those who scatter. and gave 00:01:49.939 --> 00:01:52.519 his body and blood for the life of a world that 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:57.560 did not yet understand. Grant us grace to receive 00:01:57.560 --> 00:02:01.359 what we did not deserve and to give what we'd 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:05.760 rather withhold. Bend our pride low enough to 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:09.560 kneel, our hearts soft enough to love one another, 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:13.500 our lives open enough to be poured out in remembrance 00:02:13.500 --> 00:02:17.620 of him who loved us to the end. Jesus Christ, 00:02:17.780 --> 00:02:20.599 our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the 00:02:20.599 --> 00:02:25.280 Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. 00:02:27.419 --> 00:02:30.639 Well, here we find ourselves once again, church, 00:02:30.840 --> 00:02:36.159 gathered here for our Maundy Thursday observance. 00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:41.580 And the room that we're going to in our minds, 00:02:41.639 --> 00:02:48.500 it smells like lamb. and sweat, and the last 00:02:48.500 --> 00:02:54.259 normal meal they will ever share. It's Thursday. 00:02:54.939 --> 00:02:59.580 The sun is setting over Jerusalem. The streets 00:02:59.580 --> 00:03:03.900 are thick with Passover pilgrims who have no 00:03:03.900 --> 00:03:08.620 idea what they're walking through. And somewhere 00:03:08.620 --> 00:03:14.699 in this city, arrangements are being made. A 00:03:14.699 --> 00:03:20.180 detail of temple guards, bag of silver, kiss 00:03:20.180 --> 00:03:23.900 rehearsed in the back of someone's throat. But 00:03:23.900 --> 00:03:32.539 in this room right now, it's just supper. Bread 00:03:32.539 --> 00:03:37.500 on the table, wine poured, 13 men, climbing the 00:03:37.500 --> 00:03:39.879 way you do when the day has been long and dinner 00:03:39.879 --> 00:03:43.629 is finally ready. And the man at the center of 00:03:43.629 --> 00:03:47.750 the table stands up. John tells it with a precision 00:03:47.750 --> 00:03:52.789 that should slow us down. Jesus, knowing that 00:03:52.789 --> 00:03:55.569 the Father had given all things into his hands 00:03:55.569 --> 00:04:00.969 and that he came from God and was going to God, 00:04:01.150 --> 00:04:06.590 arose from supper, laid aside his outer garments, 00:04:06.629 --> 00:04:09.669 took a towel and wrapped it around his waist. 00:04:10.360 --> 00:04:12.259 that he poured water into the basin and began 00:04:12.259 --> 00:04:15.219 to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them 00:04:15.219 --> 00:04:19.980 with the towel wrapped around him. And church, 00:04:20.160 --> 00:04:25.000 we have been walking this entire Lenten season. 00:04:26.439 --> 00:04:29.759 We stood at a burning bush and took our sandals 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:32.980 off because the ground was holy and we needed 00:04:32.980 --> 00:04:36.920 to stop long enough to hear God call our name. 00:04:38.379 --> 00:04:42.100 We ate. that we could not store up and learned 00:04:42.100 --> 00:04:46.300 to name it with a question mark. We looked up 00:04:46.300 --> 00:04:50.860 at a bronze serpent and discovered the remedy 00:04:50.860 --> 00:04:55.720 looks just like the wound. And we watched a man 00:04:55.720 --> 00:05:01.079 with his face like a flint edge turn towards 00:05:01.079 --> 00:05:05.240 a city that he knew was going to kill him. And 00:05:05.240 --> 00:05:08.180 not because he was fearless. but because there 00:05:08.180 --> 00:05:13.720 was nowhere else, smelled like life. And we stood 00:05:13.720 --> 00:05:17.980 the tomb in Bethany and heard him say, roll away 00:05:17.980 --> 00:05:22.100 the stone. We laid our cloaks on a road outside 00:05:22.100 --> 00:05:25.139 Jerusalem and made a prediction that we did not 00:05:25.139 --> 00:05:30.980 yet understand. Sandals off to hear, sandals 00:05:30.980 --> 00:05:38.129 on to obey. That rhythm has ungirded. Every step 00:05:38.129 --> 00:05:44.149 of this Lenten road. And now it's Thursday. And 00:05:44.149 --> 00:05:47.509 the sandals, they're coming off one last time. 00:05:48.490 --> 00:05:52.110 Friends, tune your ears to the reading of Holy 00:05:52.110 --> 00:05:55.269 Scripture. Tonight our passage comes to us from 00:05:55.269 --> 00:05:58.350 the Gospel account according to John the Revelator. 00:05:58.990 --> 00:06:03.089 John chapter 13, beginning verse 6. Then he came 00:06:03.089 --> 00:06:07.339 to Simon Peter, and he said to him, Lord, do 00:06:07.339 --> 00:06:12.860 you wash my feet? Jesus answered him, You don't 00:06:12.860 --> 00:06:15.899 know what I am doing now, but you will understand 00:06:15.899 --> 00:06:20.620 later. And Peter said to him, You will never 00:06:20.620 --> 00:06:26.620 wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I don't 00:06:26.620 --> 00:06:31.970 wash your feet, you have no part in me. Simon 00:06:31.970 --> 00:06:34.509 Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but 00:06:34.509 --> 00:06:38.350 also my hands and my head. Thus ends reading 00:06:38.350 --> 00:06:42.569 of the Holy Word this evening. Peter resists. 00:06:43.790 --> 00:06:46.730 The man who jumped out of a boat and began walking 00:06:46.730 --> 00:06:51.189 on the water. The one who will draw a sword in 00:06:51.189 --> 00:06:54.709 a garden before this night is over. Looks at 00:06:54.709 --> 00:06:58.449 God kneeling on a floor with a basin and says, 00:06:58.670 --> 00:07:06.970 never. Not, not yet. Not, I'm not ready. Never. 00:07:08.209 --> 00:07:14.170 A man telling God, you will not see that part 00:07:14.170 --> 00:07:19.350 of me. And I need to be honest with you tonight. 00:07:20.889 --> 00:07:25.230 I have preached from this pulpit for 12 years. 00:07:26.350 --> 00:07:29.350 I have preached bread and cup more times than 00:07:29.350 --> 00:07:31.610 I could even possibly count. Which is right. 00:07:32.529 --> 00:07:36.870 Because we are disciples and the table is where 00:07:36.870 --> 00:07:43.470 we live. But I have never once preached foot 00:07:43.470 --> 00:07:47.829 washing. And the reason is not why you would 00:07:47.829 --> 00:07:54.329 expect. It's not theology. It's vanity. Because 00:07:54.329 --> 00:07:58.310 I have, and I say this, with all the pastoral 00:07:58.310 --> 00:08:02.769 dignity I can muster, the ugliest feet God has 00:08:02.769 --> 00:08:07.689 ever put on a man. These are not feet that belong 00:08:07.689 --> 00:08:11.709 in public. These are feet that have earned their 00:08:11.709 --> 00:08:16.629 privacy. If someone knelt with a basin and said, 00:08:16.649 --> 00:08:19.589 let me wash those, my first instinct would not 00:08:19.589 --> 00:08:23.300 be Peter's theological objection. It would be 00:08:23.300 --> 00:08:29.639 pure, unholy embarrassment. And I tell you this 00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:34.960 because I think it's closer to what's actually 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:37.539 happening in that room than we would rather admit. 00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:44.259 We read Peter's refusal as theology, and it is. 00:08:45.259 --> 00:08:50.519 But it's also something far more human. The refusal 00:08:50.519 --> 00:08:55.980 to be seen. Not your best self. Not your Sunday 00:08:55.980 --> 00:09:00.519 self. Part of you that has been walking dusty 00:09:00.519 --> 00:09:05.340 roads for three years. Bears the calluses, the 00:09:05.340 --> 00:09:09.679 cracks, ground in dirt to prove it. Toenails 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:13.480 that require a grinding wheel. At the burning 00:09:13.480 --> 00:09:19.620 bush, Moses removed his own sandals. He controlled 00:09:19.620 --> 00:09:26.059 the moment. He. Chose to approach. He chose to 00:09:26.059 --> 00:09:32.899 remove them. This is different. This is someone 00:09:32.899 --> 00:09:38.240 else removing your sandals. Someone else seeing 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:44.000 what lies beneath. Someone else touching that 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:46.179 part of you that you would rather just keep hidden. 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:52.830 And it's not just anyone. One John says knew 00:09:52.830 --> 00:09:55.230 that the Father had given all things into his 00:09:55.230 --> 00:09:59.950 hands. The one who came from God and is going 00:09:59.950 --> 00:10:03.690 to God. The one who kneels on the floor with 00:10:03.690 --> 00:10:07.269 a towel over his arm, reaching for your feet. 00:10:09.330 --> 00:10:12.269 God of the burning bush declared the ground holy. 00:10:13.649 --> 00:10:17.549 God of the upper room makes the ground holy by 00:10:17.549 --> 00:10:24.269 kneeling on it. And Peter can't bear it. Not 00:10:24.269 --> 00:10:28.490 because he doesn't love Jesus, but because he 00:10:28.490 --> 00:10:36.970 does. And Jesus rebukes him. If I don't wash 00:10:36.970 --> 00:10:44.950 you, you have no part in me. And that's not a 00:10:44.950 --> 00:10:50.899 threat. It's the terms of the relationship. You 00:10:50.899 --> 00:10:55.919 cannot walk where I'm going unless you let me 00:10:55.919 --> 00:11:00.139 touch the thing you're hiding. And the feet he 00:11:00.139 --> 00:11:03.820 washes tonight will not stand with him in the 00:11:03.820 --> 00:11:08.519 garden. And the word for what Jesus does, the 00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:12.500 word behind laid down his garments, the theme, 00:11:12.659 --> 00:11:17.000 the theme, it's Greek. It's the same word Jesus 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:20.919 uses in. John chapter 10 and 15 when he says, 00:11:21.080 --> 00:11:26.460 I lay down my life for the sheep. John is not 00:11:26.460 --> 00:11:30.559 being subtle. He wants you to see the cross before 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:36.500 anyone names it. The garments Jesus removes at 00:11:36.500 --> 00:11:40.399 the table is the same life he will lay down on 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:44.620 the cross. In John's world, Thursday night is 00:11:44.620 --> 00:11:48.769 just Friday in miniature. Look at the imagery 00:11:48.769 --> 00:11:55.509 John uses. The basin is the tomb. The towel is 00:11:55.509 --> 00:12:01.269 the burial cloth. And the posture on his knees 00:12:01.269 --> 00:12:05.009 beneath the people he loves is the posture of 00:12:05.009 --> 00:12:07.529 the cross before they've ever put the wood together. 00:12:09.029 --> 00:12:12.789 And then he tells them why in John 13 and 15. 00:12:14.250 --> 00:12:17.330 For I have given you an example that you also 00:12:17.330 --> 00:12:23.590 should do as I have done to you. He's saying, 00:12:23.690 --> 00:12:30.669 sandals back on. Now it's your turn. Not to die 00:12:30.669 --> 00:12:35.370 on a cross, but to kneel. To reach for what others 00:12:35.370 --> 00:12:40.129 keep hidden. To handle another person's dirt 00:12:40.129 --> 00:12:45.879 as if it were holy ground. Because it is. Because 00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:50.559 every cracked heel, every calloused toe belongs 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:55.620 to someone, the God of the universe, knelt to 00:12:55.620 --> 00:13:01.120 touch. A new commandment I give you, that you 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:04.960 love one another just as I loved you, you also 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:10.080 are to love one another. And in a few minutes, 00:13:11.080 --> 00:13:14.799 will come to this table, bread and cup, the meal 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:17.299 he gave us in that same room on the same night, 00:13:17.460 --> 00:13:20.139 after the water had dried and the towel had been 00:13:20.139 --> 00:13:26.019 folded. And the manna finally has a name. It's 00:13:26.019 --> 00:13:32.659 not what is it. It was always him. And after 00:13:32.659 --> 00:13:37.500 we eat, after the bread is broken, the cup is 00:13:37.500 --> 00:13:40.529 shared and the prayer is spoken, the story, The 00:13:40.529 --> 00:13:46.629 story does not end. He walks out the door. Jesus 00:13:46.629 --> 00:13:51.269 sings a hymn with his friends and steps into 00:13:51.269 --> 00:13:56.129 the dark, down the hill, across the Kidron Valley, 00:13:56.370 --> 00:14:00.789 into a garden of olive trees where the olive 00:14:00.789 --> 00:14:06.690 press does what presses do. Sandals back on for 00:14:06.690 --> 00:14:12.409 one last time. Not to serve a neighbor, but to 00:14:12.409 --> 00:14:17.190 teach a lesson. To sweat blood in the dark while 00:14:17.190 --> 00:14:22.370 his friends fall asleep ten yards away. And I'm 00:14:22.370 --> 00:14:24.710 not going to take you to the cross tonight. That's 00:14:24.710 --> 00:14:29.429 tomorrow's work. But I leave you here tonight. 00:14:30.990 --> 00:14:35.610 In the garden. In the dark. The smell of crushed 00:14:35.610 --> 00:14:39.419 olives in the air. Sound of your own breathing. 00:14:39.620 --> 00:14:43.639 The faint glow of torches you can start to see 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:49.679 through the trees. He's still kneeling. He knelt 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:54.519 at that basin an hour ago. Now he kneels in the 00:14:54.519 --> 00:15:00.820 dirt. Same posture. Same love. Same man who touched 00:15:00.820 --> 00:15:04.279 your feet and called them were watching. Friends. 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:10.200 Torches. Those torches are getting closer. So 00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:14.240 come to the table. Let the bread do what the 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:18.480 bread does break, so that you may be fed. Let 00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:22.620 the cup do what the cup does pour, so that you 00:15:22.620 --> 00:15:27.200 may be filled. And when you leave this room tonight, 00:15:27.379 --> 00:15:33.360 leave as they did, with your sandals on, taste 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:36.700 the bread still on your tongue. the echo of Him 00:15:36.700 --> 00:15:40.259 behind you, and the darkness opening up ahead. 00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:45.320 May the God who knelt to wash your feet walk 00:15:45.320 --> 00:15:49.419 you into whatever the garden awaits, despite 00:15:49.419 --> 00:15:56.980 what may be coming. Amen. Amen. Friends, open 00:15:56.980 --> 00:15:59.879 your hearts to the gospel according to 1 Corinthians, 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:02.580 where I receive from the Lord what I also deliver 00:16:02.580 --> 00:16:06.210 to you. that the Lord Jesus on the night in which 00:16:06.210 --> 00:16:09.250 he was betrayed took bread. When he had given 00:16:09.250 --> 00:16:11.610 thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, 00:16:11.629 --> 00:16:15.029 which is broken for you. Do this in memory of 00:16:15.029 --> 00:16:19.230 me. In the same way, he also took the cup after 00:16:19.230 --> 00:16:22.269 supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant 00:16:22.269 --> 00:16:25.330 in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it 00:16:25.330 --> 00:16:28.509 in memory of me. For as long as you eat of this 00:16:28.509 --> 00:16:31.289 bread and you drink of this cup, you proclaim 00:16:31.289 --> 00:16:35.159 the Lord's death till he comes. On the night 00:16:35.159 --> 00:16:37.779 he was betrayed, not after they got it right, 00:16:37.879 --> 00:16:40.580 not after they proved themselves, but on that 00:16:40.580 --> 00:16:44.759 night he took bread. And after giving thanks, 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:47.759 he broke it and he gave it to them, saying, Take, 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:52.600 eat, this is my body given for you. And after 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:55.360 that supper he took the cup. The cup is the new 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:57.779 covenant in my blood poured out for you for the 00:16:57.779 --> 00:17:00.899 forgiveness of sins. As often as you eat of this 00:17:00.899 --> 00:17:03.000 bread and you drink of this cup, you are not. 00:17:03.419 --> 00:17:07.180 Friends, remembering some distant story you are 00:17:07.180 --> 00:17:12.440 stepping directly into. Table is set. Gifts of 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:16.759 God for the people of God. Friends, all are welcome 00:17:16.759 --> 00:17:26.319 and all will be fed. Hey, maybe tonight didn't 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:29.579 resolve anything for you. And maybe that's the 00:17:29.579 --> 00:17:33.490 point. This is the night where love kneels lower 00:17:33.490 --> 00:17:36.529 than it should have to. Where grace is given 00:17:36.529 --> 00:17:39.890 before it's understood. Where the table is set 00:17:39.890 --> 00:17:43.269 for people who are about to get it wrong. And 00:17:43.269 --> 00:17:46.710 if something in you felt both comforted and exposed, 00:17:47.150 --> 00:17:51.529 you are not off track. Because that's what it 00:17:51.529 --> 00:17:54.250 feels like to sit close to Jesus on a night just 00:17:54.250 --> 00:17:57.289 like this. He doesn't wait for your clarity. 00:17:57.849 --> 00:18:00.289 He gives himself right in the middle of your 00:18:00.289 --> 00:18:04.069 confusion. Now listen, if something tonight caught 00:18:04.069 --> 00:18:06.750 you off guard, if you heard something you'd never 00:18:06.750 --> 00:18:09.490 considered before or something you've heard a 00:18:09.490 --> 00:18:11.829 hundred times but it finally settled in different, 00:18:11.930 --> 00:18:14.529 go ahead. Throw that old like in the offering 00:18:14.529 --> 00:18:16.730 plate just like we did down at church. No pressure. 00:18:17.170 --> 00:18:19.670 It's just a quiet way of saying I was here and 00:18:19.670 --> 00:18:22.289 it mattered. And if you want to keep walking 00:18:22.289 --> 00:18:24.430 with us all the way to Easter Sunday, go ahead 00:18:24.430 --> 00:18:27.660 and tithe your subscribe. That way you'll know 00:18:27.660 --> 00:18:30.700 when we are meeting again. And until then, friend, 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:32.140 be blessed.