A New Commandment
a Holy Thursday Homily based on John 13:1-17, 31b-35
with a suggested "hand-washing" rather than "foot-washing" ceremony
by Rev. Randy Quinn

For years I was confused.

We keep calling this Maundy Thursday, but I didn't have a clue what that meant. Is that true for any of you?

I know that we are here tonight to remember the last supper, the meal Jesus shared with the disciples in the Upper Room, but why is it called Maundy Thursday?

Some time ago, I learned the answer -- and promptly forgot it, so this year I had to look it up again.

Having looked it up before, I wasn't really surprised to learn that maundy comes from the Latin expression, mandatum novum, or in English, "a new commandment". It is from John's story of the last supper where Jesus gives a new commandment to his disciples, and by inference, to each of us.

Let's hear now how John tells it:

(Read John 13:1-17, 31b-35)

Tonight is the night to remember the new commandment of love and service toward one another. It begins with the washing of each other's feet, it ends with a meal shared among peers, fellow servants.

In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, this celebration seems to focus on the bread and the wine. In John, however, the focus is on the attitude of servanthood, an attitude that Jesus models for us in washing the feet of the disciples as well as his sacrificial love that leads him to the cross.

This love is paramount.

We are to love with that attitude, with utter and total disregard for our own needs and concerns. And it is in loving that others recognize in us something new, something different.

In what ways have you or have we washed each other's feet this week, this month, this year? In what ways have we expressed our love for one another?

And what do others see in us?

One of the answers that comes immediately to mind is the case of a young girl who has been attending our 11:00 worship service.

Almost every week she shares a prayer concern with us -- some concerns that almost embarrass the rest of us. Last week she was concerned about legal actions being taken within her family that is causing division and concern.

Some have remarked how "brave" she is to share her concerns in front of so many people.

I hear her sharing not as bravery on her part but expectancy. She clearly understands us to be a church that cares and loves. She clearly understands that our prayers are of immense value to her and to her family.

I think she is responding to our love.

In many ways, we have been washing her feet.

Perhaps you can think of a place where you have been served by someone in our church. A warm smile. A friendly hug. A much needed ear when you had to talk.

Certainly each of us has experienced the love of Christ through the words, deeds, and thoughts of others in our congregation.

And you can probably remember other times when you were the caregiver. When you were the one who visited someone in the hospital or nursing home. When you were the one who saw the newcomer and introduced them to other members of our church family.

In each of these acts, you have washed someone's feet or allowed someone to wash yours. And we enjoyed the experience.

Sometimes, however, it's difficult to love. Sometimes it's difficult to serve. Sometimes we turn away from an opportunity to express our concern in a concrete manner.

I think of the disciples at the table that night, and I wonder what it was like to watch Jesus get down on his knees and take the role of the servant who washed their feet.

How demeaning. How awkward.

How demanding.

Sometimes loving one another means being bold. Sometimes it means swallowing our pride and doing what God has called us to do.

There are other feet to be washed in our church, in our community. There are the migrant workers who will be returning to the camps this summer. There are the children who need the benefit of programs like Head Start. There are the unemployed and the underemployed who will come seeking shelter, food, and clothing.

Jesus set the standard. He washed all 24 of their feet, even those of Judas who was on his way out to report Jesus to the authorities.

If he can do that, how can we refuse to wash the feet of another child of God?

We simply cannot.

Ours is a new commandment, the commandment to love and to serve one another with the love of Christ. It begins with the washing of each other's feet, it ends with a meal shared among peers, fellow servants.

Tonight I will invite you to be servants of one another as we wash our hands rather than our feet. The act of washing hands was ritualized in some Jewish circles and still has a place in the celebration of mass in some Roman Catholic Churches.

We will allow others to serve us, we will serve others. We will all be servants tonight so that when we come to the table we will come as peers, as fellow partners in ministry.

For that is what Christ made himself to us--fellow partners.  Tonight, we will put  Christ's mandate of supreme love and service into action.  And as we do, we are being made one with Christ in his passion and in his resurrection.  Amen.