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The first foot washing I remember going to for Maundy Thursday was in college. I believe it was either my junior or senior year, and a group of us were forming a young adults ministry at St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Annapolis, where I attended church. The foot washing was before the Maundy Thursday service, and it was just for our young adult group and our leaders.
We were in the main part of the parish hall. It was a big enough area, but we were confined to just a couple of tables and chairs, making this larger space feel much more intimate and close. There weren’t many of us, at least 4 and maybe 10. It was a bit nerve wracking as many of us, including myself, hadn’t done anything like this before. Yet the act of foot washing was incredibly powerful. Having that deep connection bey washing someone’s feet, by participating in this great act of hospitality, helps bind you to one another. We had met as a group once, maybe twice, at this point, yet it was this event that brought us close. It was this event that would help bond our group together, especially as we moved into the next year together.
The title for today, Maundy Thursday, comes from the Gospel reading we have from John, this passage where Jesus washes His Disciples’ feet. “Maundy” means “commandment”, and it is after this act of humility and service that Jesus performs for His followers that he gives them the command to “love one another as I have loved you.”
The love Jesus shows is not one that exalts Himself over others. It is love that lowers Himself. He comes to them as “one who serves.” Jesus, in this night of celebrating a Passover meal with His Disciples, gives a great act of service to them. Even in Jesus’ time, hosts often did not wash their guests’ feet, though they would provide water for their guests to do so. Even in Jesus’ time, few would have stooped to such service. Yet Jesus did, and He commands His Disciples to do likewise.
Jesus really commands us to do likewise. As we remember this day of our Lord’s Supper with the Disciples, it’s not a time of exaltation. It’s a time of humility and caring. This day sets up the tone of the next two days, the path of love and service Jesus is getting ready to perform for the world. Once again Jesus will perform a great act of hospitality in order to wash away our sins. This act too would be one that most of us would balk at doing.
An act of love and service can be a powerful means to bind us together. Jesus has done so with us. Through His washing of our souls through His most precious blood, Jesus his inexplicably bound himself to us. His act of love which we will continue to celebrate these next two days makes it so Jesus will always be a part of us. Having Jesus in our hearts gives us an incredible responsibility. We are called to show the same love He showed us. We are called to show our hospitality to others as Jesus showed it to us. We are called to be bound together to one another as the community of our Lord as we love one another as Christ Jesus first loved us.