One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o'clock in the afternoon. And a man lame from birth was being carried in… When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, "Look at us." And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, "I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk." And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. (Act 3:1-7)
I think this is another one of the texts where you can lose track of really important messages because our attention is drawn to the fantastic. Peter heals a man lame from birth! PETER… HEALS!! I mean Jesus – sure he’s GOD after all… but Peter? That’s awesome! And of course… like… I can’t do that. You see – I can’t be a disciple after all because Peter has powers… full on super powers – a real life super hero for God.
Of course that is what the crowds thought too… one problem – it’s not what Peter thought at all. It wasn’t Peter that healed… it was the name of Jesus according to Peter that healed the lame man. Now this doesn’t exactly get us out of the dilemma – because I believe I have faith and I believe I’ve said the name of Jesus a lot and it never caused miraculous healing… or did it?
What if we back away from the fantastic event of the lame man walking and look at what Peter really did for a moment. Do you see it?
Look closely – look at it… do you see it?
“Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, ‘Look at us.’”
Peter told the lame man that he had no money to give him… that he had only one thing to give. And what he gave was his attention – what he gave was the dignity of recognition and relationship.
You can imagine what usually happens can’t you? Hundreds of people a day probably walked past that man as if he was nothing more than lawn furniture… and that’s the more positive result because hundreds more walked past him with awkwardness as they sought to look anywhere but at him.
I’ve done it – I’ve looked the other way hoping that I wouldn’t feel so bad about doing nothing… pretending that what I don’t see doesn’t really exist. In fact if we push back the bubble enough we can pretend that everyone else lives a life just like mine. Like a horse pulling a carriage we put our blinders on – so that we won’t get distracted by the people on the periphery of our lives.
What does Peter give him? Not scorn or embarrassment, or pity and condescending care. He doesn’t give him money, or easy answers, or cheap platitudes, or derision, or food… or anything the man was probably expecting or hoping to receive.
Peter instead gives him his full attention. I see you. Now look at me… yes you see me, seeing you. Peter acknowledges that this “man” this “lame man” is sitting there and he grants him the personhood he deserves – and dignity as someone worthy of notice… worthy of stopping what Peter is doing and granting acknowledgement of this person who is more than just a shameful disability. And in the stopping, the notice, the eye-to-eye greeting – the Spirit offers refreshment, healing, and wholeness!
Peter doesn’t work a major miracle – Peter acknowledges a man as worthy of notice… and that is not beyond the ability of any of us to do in our own lives. As for what comes of it? That’s the Spirit’s work… but we have to take the first step – to see and be seen, and let the Spirit work through us.
What blinders are you wearing and why?
Who has acknowledged you and made you feel more whole?
Who has God put in your way that you might be a refreshing presence to them?
Refreshing and Healing God,
Open our eyes that we might see one another.
Open our hearts that we might love one another.
Open our spirits that we might be made whole.
Open our lives that we might bring wholeness to others.
Amen.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
April 26: Risking Redemption
And he (Peter) testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2:40-42)
I find it fascinating to put this text alongside another testimony of Peter’s… the night of Jesus betrayal – “But he denied it, saying, ‘Woman, I do not know him.’” (Luke 22:57) This is Peter’s lowest moment of discipleship; he denies knowledge of who Jesus is… not once – but three times. In fact you could say that on that night there was little difference between Judas and Peter… the gap between denial and betrayal is a mere matter of nuance.
And yet here we are – not that many chapters later in the story – and Peter is giving one of the great sermons of all of scripture. It is a communal moment so stirring and in tune with the Spirit that about three thousand people are baptized and join this emerging church.
And Judas… Judas has hung himself and is buried in a common field – his name to be villianised by the gospel writers and the church that inherits their story. What makes such a stark difference from the story of Peter and the story of Judas? Why do these two narratives – so similar in their lowest moments – end up so different?
Let me hold that thought for a moment and make a not-quite random jump. When human development people look at young toddler behavior they notice something. A toddler who enters a room alone, or with strangers, will usually sit in one place (probably crying) and stay there. A toddler whose mother (or father) comes in and sits in that room with them will go and explore the whole room (making lots of mischief)! All the toddler needs is the parent to make them feel safe – to remind them that world is anchored in the safe presence of his or her mother – and that safety will translate in the ability to risk and explore.
Now back to Judas and Peter…
At the critical moment of his life Judas left the community he knew (and I think – loved). He left the disciples and identified himself with those who wanted to arrest Jesus. And when he realized that he had done the wrong thing he returned to them to confess that he had betrayed innocent blood and they turn to him and say, “’What is that to us? See to it yourself.’” (Mat 27:4)
Judas is on his own – having abandoned one community his new one abandons him… and now left alone there is no safe space. The world becomes too fear-filled… too big… too much to deal with – and Judas takes his own life.
Peter who denied Jesus stays with his friends - his community – the disciples. Peter is there to meet the risen Lord, even runs to find him. Peter doesn’t get left adrift on his own. And so Peter is able to find his “safe place” again… and empowered by the Holy Spirit go forth and risk and explore and share good news – to correct his own mis-spoken testimony and set the record straight.
In being apostle – as in discipleship – our community is of vital importance. It is safe place – home base. It is like the parent of the toddler whose mere presence enables the child to stride forth and encounter the world with joy, curiosity, and assurance.
Do you feel the reassuring presence of Christian community in your life?
Are you willing to place yourself in that community even in the worst of times?
How is that community helping provide you a safe place from which to risk and explore going forth to share good news in the world?
Redeeming God,
You breathe Spirit into our lives – offering forgiveness and love. You are our sure foundation and have gifted us with a remembering community to keep that truth present in our life. Help us to move from remembering and affirming one another to sharing that gift with the world.
Amen.
I find it fascinating to put this text alongside another testimony of Peter’s… the night of Jesus betrayal – “But he denied it, saying, ‘Woman, I do not know him.’” (Luke 22:57) This is Peter’s lowest moment of discipleship; he denies knowledge of who Jesus is… not once – but three times. In fact you could say that on that night there was little difference between Judas and Peter… the gap between denial and betrayal is a mere matter of nuance.
And yet here we are – not that many chapters later in the story – and Peter is giving one of the great sermons of all of scripture. It is a communal moment so stirring and in tune with the Spirit that about three thousand people are baptized and join this emerging church.
And Judas… Judas has hung himself and is buried in a common field – his name to be villianised by the gospel writers and the church that inherits their story. What makes such a stark difference from the story of Peter and the story of Judas? Why do these two narratives – so similar in their lowest moments – end up so different?
Let me hold that thought for a moment and make a not-quite random jump. When human development people look at young toddler behavior they notice something. A toddler who enters a room alone, or with strangers, will usually sit in one place (probably crying) and stay there. A toddler whose mother (or father) comes in and sits in that room with them will go and explore the whole room (making lots of mischief)! All the toddler needs is the parent to make them feel safe – to remind them that world is anchored in the safe presence of his or her mother – and that safety will translate in the ability to risk and explore.
Now back to Judas and Peter…
At the critical moment of his life Judas left the community he knew (and I think – loved). He left the disciples and identified himself with those who wanted to arrest Jesus. And when he realized that he had done the wrong thing he returned to them to confess that he had betrayed innocent blood and they turn to him and say, “’What is that to us? See to it yourself.’” (Mat 27:4)
Judas is on his own – having abandoned one community his new one abandons him… and now left alone there is no safe space. The world becomes too fear-filled… too big… too much to deal with – and Judas takes his own life.
Peter who denied Jesus stays with his friends - his community – the disciples. Peter is there to meet the risen Lord, even runs to find him. Peter doesn’t get left adrift on his own. And so Peter is able to find his “safe place” again… and empowered by the Holy Spirit go forth and risk and explore and share good news – to correct his own mis-spoken testimony and set the record straight.
In being apostle – as in discipleship – our community is of vital importance. It is safe place – home base. It is like the parent of the toddler whose mere presence enables the child to stride forth and encounter the world with joy, curiosity, and assurance.
Do you feel the reassuring presence of Christian community in your life?
Are you willing to place yourself in that community even in the worst of times?
How is that community helping provide you a safe place from which to risk and explore going forth to share good news in the world?
Redeeming God,
You breathe Spirit into our lives – offering forgiveness and love. You are our sure foundation and have gifted us with a remembering community to keep that truth present in our life. Help us to move from remembering and affirming one another to sharing that gift with the world.
Amen.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
April 21: Empowering Others
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? (Act 2:4-8 NRS)
This scripture comes to us as the Pentecost moment – the coming of the Holy Spirit that is many times referred to as the birthday of the church (though apparently I just missed that verse in the chapter).
What I think is very intriguing is that at its foundation the church was about responding to the needs of those who were “outsiders” rather than those who were “insiders”. The Holy Spirit does not make it so that all the diverse people’s present can understand the Galilean speaking their language… the Holy Spirit enables the Galileans (the Apostles) to speak the languages of the diverse people. The ways of the Galileans does not become the way it is done for everyone and that everyone else has to learn.
Similarly it is not that the church establishes who it is and figures out how to get new people to “understand” our language… but that we adapt our language to the people who we are reaching out to with the good news of Christ.
This is not a lesson the church is good at remembering. It is not a lesson that we – as Americans – are particularly good at remembering. There is an amazing power in the ability to communicate – trust me as one who has lived where I did not know the language… it’s a VERY powerless place to be. And yet as the internationally dominant people we have made communications issues easy – learn English!
That works in most places of the world… but what it doesn’t do is empower the people you are working with or honor who they are – and it doesn’t make them feel like they are in an equal relationship – and it doesn’t feel very inviting to a sense of community… certainly not diverse community.
What does this mean for us in the church? What does is mean for us as individual disciples and apostles? It means we are talking about more than the particular languages people speak – and we are talking about the church “language” and the ways that understand we can be and do church in our lives. It means we need to reclaim that at its foundational heart the church is about having the agility and grace to reach out to outsiders in ways that invite, honor, and empower them – and not simply make them fit into our cookie cutter image of “church”. It means that the beginning of our relationship it is not about what the church, or me – or you, will do for them… but what we will all do for each other, and with each other.
The Holy Spirit brings people together in a community that celebrates diversity and honors individuality. The Holy Spirit gifts us to move beyond ourselves and our own limitations. The Holy Spirit does not reduce us to the single common denominator – or require that we lose our individuality to some corporate monolithic look and feel. And so it is that we learn to “speak” the “language” of others… to reach them where they are – to honor their individuality – and to invite them to make our community a little larger… and a little more reflective of the life of God that will never be reduced to one way of doing anything.
Are you seeking to learn from others – even as you are teaching and shaping them?
Have you opened yourself to the Spirit to empower you to move beyond yourself and your own perceived limits?
Do you seek to empower others by honoring their gifts, their ways, their “language”?
Empowering God,
You do not ask that we adhere to one and only one way of being.
You invite us to know that you are always doing a new thing.
Encourage and empower us to move beyond who we are, to be – in community with others – the people you imagine us to be.
Amen.
This scripture comes to us as the Pentecost moment – the coming of the Holy Spirit that is many times referred to as the birthday of the church (though apparently I just missed that verse in the chapter).
What I think is very intriguing is that at its foundation the church was about responding to the needs of those who were “outsiders” rather than those who were “insiders”. The Holy Spirit does not make it so that all the diverse people’s present can understand the Galilean speaking their language… the Holy Spirit enables the Galileans (the Apostles) to speak the languages of the diverse people. The ways of the Galileans does not become the way it is done for everyone and that everyone else has to learn.
Similarly it is not that the church establishes who it is and figures out how to get new people to “understand” our language… but that we adapt our language to the people who we are reaching out to with the good news of Christ.
This is not a lesson the church is good at remembering. It is not a lesson that we – as Americans – are particularly good at remembering. There is an amazing power in the ability to communicate – trust me as one who has lived where I did not know the language… it’s a VERY powerless place to be. And yet as the internationally dominant people we have made communications issues easy – learn English!
That works in most places of the world… but what it doesn’t do is empower the people you are working with or honor who they are – and it doesn’t make them feel like they are in an equal relationship – and it doesn’t feel very inviting to a sense of community… certainly not diverse community.
What does this mean for us in the church? What does is mean for us as individual disciples and apostles? It means we are talking about more than the particular languages people speak – and we are talking about the church “language” and the ways that understand we can be and do church in our lives. It means we need to reclaim that at its foundational heart the church is about having the agility and grace to reach out to outsiders in ways that invite, honor, and empower them – and not simply make them fit into our cookie cutter image of “church”. It means that the beginning of our relationship it is not about what the church, or me – or you, will do for them… but what we will all do for each other, and with each other.
The Holy Spirit brings people together in a community that celebrates diversity and honors individuality. The Holy Spirit gifts us to move beyond ourselves and our own limitations. The Holy Spirit does not reduce us to the single common denominator – or require that we lose our individuality to some corporate monolithic look and feel. And so it is that we learn to “speak” the “language” of others… to reach them where they are – to honor their individuality – and to invite them to make our community a little larger… and a little more reflective of the life of God that will never be reduced to one way of doing anything.
Are you seeking to learn from others – even as you are teaching and shaping them?
Have you opened yourself to the Spirit to empower you to move beyond yourself and your own perceived limits?
Do you seek to empower others by honoring their gifts, their ways, their “language”?
Empowering God,
You do not ask that we adhere to one and only one way of being.
You invite us to know that you are always doing a new thing.
Encourage and empower us to move beyond who we are, to be – in community with others – the people you imagine us to be.
Amen.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
April 15: Standing and Staring
There were a lot of requests following our Lenten series for continued devotionals. I have enjoyed writing them and will continue to do so with a few changes. They will still focus on moving through a book of the Bible – and doing so with a lens of understanding discipleship. Here are some of the expected changes:
• The devotionals will be done by blog. You can find the blog at http://palmsdevotional.blogspot.com
• We invite you to post comments and create a conversation around the texts, devotionals and thoughts they create.
• The devotionals will be twice a week, usually Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday.
• If you would prefer to get them by email rather than the blog link then please reply to this email confirming that request and you will be put on a separate email list for the devotional.
• In following the move we made on Sunday from the Gospel of Luke to the Acts of the Apostles – we will move to walking through pieces of Acts together.
So without out further ado – and recognizing that this first entry will borrow some from my Sermon last Sunday - let us encounter God in God’s word to us.
“Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” (Acts 1:11)
As we turn from Lent to Easter we turn with Luke from a time of discipleship to a time of apostleship.
Disciples follow a master. They sit and learn as the master teaches. They absorb knowledge, mimic actions; they watch and wonder, what’s he going to do next?
Apostles are sent out – no longer following the physical presence of a master – but living a life that follows in the way of being, in the type of activity, that the master had taught them.
During Lent I had a wonderful conversation with one of our members. He was basically asking about how we deal with our tendencies to let hard messages – even good messages – slide off and be forgotten. We all do it… it usually ends up in some kind of statement like; “I’m only human”. And that of course is the ultimate excuse for why we cannot change, or live into some higher standard. I’m only human.
Here is the problem for us when we do that. Jesus is Christ is human. (Yes Jesus is God, but Jesus is truly human and shows us what true humanity is to look like!) When we say “I’m only human” what we really mean is, “I’m less than human”. I’m less than human and not feeling empowered enough to change that fact! That’s a depressing statement to make – and so we don’t. Instead we lower the bar on humanity, and make that our excuse.
On the other hand we are captivated by those who do manage to live true humanity. I think of Gandhi and Mother Theresa – but there are many less extreme examples, people who live lives of love and compassion. People – just like you and I - who leave their own comfort zones to bring comfort to the world. We are captivated by them – and we have a tendency to stand there staring, and thinking them more than human – so we can be “only human”.
But Christ wants us to stop staring – at him or them. Jesus desires more for us. Jesus desires not only that we live as he did – but that in doing so, “my (Jesus’) joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11) Our joy will only ever be complete when we let ourselves be Christ in the world. When we stop standing around staring and making excuses. When we let go of our limitations and our doubts and our comfort and our anxiety and our worship of something other than the God who is in us… and we embrace the Christ who lives and reigns in us by the power of the Holy Spirit – and we go forth to share our lives of love and care out in the world.
Have you let go of those things that captivate your attention, are you staring?
Are you allowing Christ and Jesus’ joy to dwell in you?
Where is God sending you?
-------------------------------------------------------
Sending God,
Give us strength to set aside our worries and insecurities.
Let the same love and joy that infuses your life - live in us.
Guide us to go out into the world as light, love and care.
Amen.
• The devotionals will be done by blog. You can find the blog at http://palmsdevotional.blogspot.com
• We invite you to post comments and create a conversation around the texts, devotionals and thoughts they create.
• The devotionals will be twice a week, usually Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday.
• If you would prefer to get them by email rather than the blog link then please reply to this email confirming that request and you will be put on a separate email list for the devotional.
• In following the move we made on Sunday from the Gospel of Luke to the Acts of the Apostles – we will move to walking through pieces of Acts together.
So without out further ado – and recognizing that this first entry will borrow some from my Sermon last Sunday - let us encounter God in God’s word to us.
“Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” (Acts 1:11)
As we turn from Lent to Easter we turn with Luke from a time of discipleship to a time of apostleship.
Disciples follow a master. They sit and learn as the master teaches. They absorb knowledge, mimic actions; they watch and wonder, what’s he going to do next?
Apostles are sent out – no longer following the physical presence of a master – but living a life that follows in the way of being, in the type of activity, that the master had taught them.
During Lent I had a wonderful conversation with one of our members. He was basically asking about how we deal with our tendencies to let hard messages – even good messages – slide off and be forgotten. We all do it… it usually ends up in some kind of statement like; “I’m only human”. And that of course is the ultimate excuse for why we cannot change, or live into some higher standard. I’m only human.
Here is the problem for us when we do that. Jesus is Christ is human. (Yes Jesus is God, but Jesus is truly human and shows us what true humanity is to look like!) When we say “I’m only human” what we really mean is, “I’m less than human”. I’m less than human and not feeling empowered enough to change that fact! That’s a depressing statement to make – and so we don’t. Instead we lower the bar on humanity, and make that our excuse.
On the other hand we are captivated by those who do manage to live true humanity. I think of Gandhi and Mother Theresa – but there are many less extreme examples, people who live lives of love and compassion. People – just like you and I - who leave their own comfort zones to bring comfort to the world. We are captivated by them – and we have a tendency to stand there staring, and thinking them more than human – so we can be “only human”.
But Christ wants us to stop staring – at him or them. Jesus desires more for us. Jesus desires not only that we live as he did – but that in doing so, “my (Jesus’) joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11) Our joy will only ever be complete when we let ourselves be Christ in the world. When we stop standing around staring and making excuses. When we let go of our limitations and our doubts and our comfort and our anxiety and our worship of something other than the God who is in us… and we embrace the Christ who lives and reigns in us by the power of the Holy Spirit – and we go forth to share our lives of love and care out in the world.
Have you let go of those things that captivate your attention, are you staring?
Are you allowing Christ and Jesus’ joy to dwell in you?
Where is God sending you?
-------------------------------------------------------
Sending God,
Give us strength to set aside our worries and insecurities.
Let the same love and joy that infuses your life - live in us.
Guide us to go out into the world as light, love and care.
Amen.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
April 3 - Holy Saturday Lenten Devotional
...were you there when the crucified our Lord?
Saturday was the Sabbath for Jesus' followers. This was a day of worship and nothing else... only on this Saturday what worship are they to do - and who are they to worship?
Imagine coming to worship tomorrow and the church is torn down - the community is scattered and hiding - the leadership in a worse state because one was killed, one killed himself, and the others were all caught in some state of denial and abandonment.
Would we worship amidst the ashes of our sacred landscape... could we?
And yet the habit formed in generations would not let you do anything else... and so we sit amidst the ashes and desolation - wondering where it all went wrong. Where did it all go wrong? Unable even to utter the next question... what happens now?
Were you there when they crucified our Lord?
Today we do not learn. We do not ask questions. We do not follow. Today we lament... today we imagine the ashes that are all too real for all too many people. Today we cry out for those whose hope has died... whose world grows cold - and barren.
Were you there when they crucified our Lord?
Saturday was the Sabbath for Jesus' followers. This was a day of worship and nothing else... only on this Saturday what worship are they to do - and who are they to worship?
Imagine coming to worship tomorrow and the church is torn down - the community is scattered and hiding - the leadership in a worse state because one was killed, one killed himself, and the others were all caught in some state of denial and abandonment.
Would we worship amidst the ashes of our sacred landscape... could we?
And yet the habit formed in generations would not let you do anything else... and so we sit amidst the ashes and desolation - wondering where it all went wrong. Where did it all go wrong? Unable even to utter the next question... what happens now?
Were you there when they crucified our Lord?
Today we do not learn. We do not ask questions. We do not follow. Today we lament... today we imagine the ashes that are all too real for all too many people. Today we cry out for those whose hope has died... whose world grows cold - and barren.
Were you there when they crucified our Lord?
Friday, April 2, 2010
April 2 - Good Friday Lenten Devotional
But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. (Luk 23:49 NRS)
I believe in Jesus Christ who… suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into Hell… (The Apostles’ Creed)
The drama of today invites few words.
Jesus suffers. Jesus is crucified. Jesus is dead… dead… dead….
Jesus descended… into flesh… into death… into the tomb… into hell.
And where are we?
“But his acquaintances, including the woman who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.”
When the food is multiplying – we are there.
When healing is happening – we are there.
When its time to walk on water – we are there.
When stories are told…
sermons are preached…
ideas are taught – we are there.
When its time for sacrifice… suffering... laying down life…
Where are we?
Every time injustice is perpetrated in this world… every time people are made to suffer… sacrifice… die – I imagine that Jesus is crucified again. Jesus suffers... sacrifices... dies...
Where are we in the face of injustice?
Thursday, April 1, 2010
April 1 - Maundy Thursday Lenten Devotional
A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. But he said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. (Luke 22:22-27)
Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me… So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. (John 13:8-17)
I will not likely be the first person to call this to your attention, but as I read this I’m increasingly of the opinion that the Reformed tradition really ought to claim a third sacrament in the life of the church: the sacrament of foot-washing.
It isn’t simply that it is instituted (mandated even – “unless I wash you, you have no share with me”), that it embraces the mystery of faith (choosing servant-hood over greatness), and that it is a tangible sign and seal of God’s grace (“I have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you… you are blessed if you do them”). But on top of all that it seems to me to hang there as the necessary third step of discipleship.
We are named and claimed, nurtured, and sent out by the Grace of God. Name and claimed in baptism. Nurtured at table. Sent out as servants – foot-washers.
The great foolishness of the cross… the counter-intuitive nature of discipleship is that we do not seek to be greater – we do not seek to be at table, but serving those who are. And here Jesus is clear that his way of discipleship really is a different way from the norm of society. We do not do as the “kings of the Gentiles”. We are not authoritarian “benefactors”… though surely such a role has appeal – and might even seem “good.” “But not so with you!” For us – disciples – the greatest is the one who has the least glamorous role… the support staff!
Isn’t it fascinating that it is at table – in the meal that institutes the sacrament of communion – that Jesus speaks of seeking to not be at the table. Perhaps the disciples are not simply invited to remember Jesus in the breaking of bread when they are served God’s grace. Perhaps they are to remember Jesus when they break bread (serve) for those who have been invited to the table. They are to remember Jesus when they – as he modeled – seek out the least, lost, and lonely and wash their feet, feed them, heal them – serve them.
In such an act the one who sought greatness becomes a servant… the one who was least becomes the greatest – and the world is a little more reflective of the life God seeks for us: the kingdom of God on earth.
Are you sitting at the table… or kneeling and washing the feet of God’s people?
Have you set aside worldly “greatness” for the role of God’s support staff?
Do you know the blessings of God’s grace flowing from the life of service?
Blessing God,
Your blessing comes to us in a bowl of water, from a table, and with a wash towel. Help us to find in such common elements, your uncommon grace.
Amen.
Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me… So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. (John 13:8-17)
I will not likely be the first person to call this to your attention, but as I read this I’m increasingly of the opinion that the Reformed tradition really ought to claim a third sacrament in the life of the church: the sacrament of foot-washing.
It isn’t simply that it is instituted (mandated even – “unless I wash you, you have no share with me”), that it embraces the mystery of faith (choosing servant-hood over greatness), and that it is a tangible sign and seal of God’s grace (“I have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you… you are blessed if you do them”). But on top of all that it seems to me to hang there as the necessary third step of discipleship.
We are named and claimed, nurtured, and sent out by the Grace of God. Name and claimed in baptism. Nurtured at table. Sent out as servants – foot-washers.
The great foolishness of the cross… the counter-intuitive nature of discipleship is that we do not seek to be greater – we do not seek to be at table, but serving those who are. And here Jesus is clear that his way of discipleship really is a different way from the norm of society. We do not do as the “kings of the Gentiles”. We are not authoritarian “benefactors”… though surely such a role has appeal – and might even seem “good.” “But not so with you!” For us – disciples – the greatest is the one who has the least glamorous role… the support staff!
Isn’t it fascinating that it is at table – in the meal that institutes the sacrament of communion – that Jesus speaks of seeking to not be at the table. Perhaps the disciples are not simply invited to remember Jesus in the breaking of bread when they are served God’s grace. Perhaps they are to remember Jesus when they break bread (serve) for those who have been invited to the table. They are to remember Jesus when they – as he modeled – seek out the least, lost, and lonely and wash their feet, feed them, heal them – serve them.
In such an act the one who sought greatness becomes a servant… the one who was least becomes the greatest – and the world is a little more reflective of the life God seeks for us: the kingdom of God on earth.
Are you sitting at the table… or kneeling and washing the feet of God’s people?
Have you set aside worldly “greatness” for the role of God’s support staff?
Do you know the blessings of God’s grace flowing from the life of service?
Blessing God,
Your blessing comes to us in a bowl of water, from a table, and with a wash towel. Help us to find in such common elements, your uncommon grace.
Amen.
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