John 13. 1-17, 31b-35
It’s love – god’s and ours – that changes the world!
Each time, every time, we come together, we’re gathered around scripture. And this night is no different. Sometimes, we sing it. In canticles. In hymns. In bits and pieces scattered through the service. But mostly, we speak it, read it. Sandwiched, for the most part, between the prayer of the day and the sermon. First Reading. Second Reading. Gospel. Psalm. Word of God, word of life! Thanks be to God! It’s like a heartbeat, a breath. Enlightening. Inspiring. Moving us to be and to become. But all that bible doesn’t just happen. It doesn’t, simply, drop down out of heaven. We don’t pull it out of a hat. It’s created, crafted. The passages we read, any given Sunday – or, for that matter, any given Thursday – are there for a reason. Deliberate. Intentional. And we read them over and over, again and again, year after year after year. Last year, the gospel reading was, primarily, from Mark’s gospel. The year before that, it was from Matthew. This year, since the first Sunday in December, we’ve been reading, mainly, from Luke. Next year, we start the circle all over again.
But, for now, like I said, with a few exceptions, we’ve been reading the gospel according to Luke. Last Sunday – Palm Sunday – we read his account of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Luke 19. 28-40. A few minutes later, we read his story of the Passion. Chapters twenty-two and twenty-three. And inside, I was all ready to read Luke’s version of Maundy Thursday. But we didn’t. We read, instead, Maundy Thursday according to John. And I noticed something. Something I hadn’t realized before. On this night – this night in which he was betrayed – we don’t read anything … from Matthew … or from Mark … or from Luke … On Maundy Thursday, there’s only one passage we’ve ever read! One passage we ever will read! And that is the one we heard a few moments, ago. John. Chapter thirteen. Verses one through seventeen. Verses one through seventeen and verses thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three, and thirty-four. Every other day, every other night, there are options, alternatives. But not on this one. The reading remains the same, forever. And you know, I think it’s because of the love! I think it’s because of the love!
Here, on the eve of Good Friday, I think those who did the choosing didn’t want us to miss that! To overlook it! To forget it! They knew we can get so swept up, so carried away … by the suffering, the brutality. And we miss the love. We get sidetracked, so distracted, with the details and the specifics, that we miss the love. Sometimes Maundy Thursday, Good Friday – especially here in America – becomes nothing more than one more choice, one more decision that has to be made. And yet again, we miss the love. No. If those women and men who chose what we would read wanted us to hear anything, this night, it would have to be the love. And John – if John is about anything – is about the love! If John is about nothing else, he’s about the love! There’s love in every chapter, every verse! Cosmic! Universal! Love upon love upon love! Nothing about sheep or goats. Nothing about wheat or weeds. Nothing about grain or chaff. No axes. No winnowing forks. No outer darkness or fires that never go out. There’s only love.
“Greater love has no one …” That’s John! “For God so love …” That, too, is John! Having loved his own, he loved them to the end …” That is John, as well! And here, now, we’re given a glimpse into love’s very heart, love’s very soul …
Jesus gets up from the table. He takes off his outer robe and ties an apron around him. He pours water into a basin. And then, he kneels down before his friends and one, after another, after another, he washes their feet and dries them with his apron. And when he’s done, he stands, takes off the apron, puts on the robe, returns to his place at the table, and he says to his disciples, to his companions, to his friends, “Now, do what I have done! Love! Love just like me!” You see, it’s the love! It’s always been the love! Not heaven. Not hell. Not pearly gates or halos and harps! Not raptures or second comings. It’s, only, the love!
That’s why we do what we do, here in this place. It’s because this night isn’t like any other! It’s because of what Jesus did! Because of what Jesus continues to do! We feed the hungry because Jesus that’s what Jesus did! We give the thirsty something to drink because Jesus has done the same! That’s why we clothe the naked and make room for refugees and take care of the sick and visit the captive and bound! That’s what love does! It isn’t so much asking what Jesus WOULD do. It’s what Jesus HAS DONE! What Jesus DOES! It’s the love god gave, the love god give and it’s the love we’ve received from the people around us! That’s the love we, in turn, share! The love we, in turn, offer! The love we, in turn, give! And it just happens when Jesus takes a knee! Loving without apology. Loving without exception. Loving without excuse. Naturally, automatically, impulsively, we go and do the same! Without thought. Without deliberation. It’s not a conviction. It’s not obedience. But it’s faith and it’s hope and it’s love. Especially, love.
And we don’t get that from each dotted ‘i’ and every crossed ‘t’! Not all scripture is created equal. Some passages have more grace, more charity, more love, than others. And on this night – this night unlike all others – the people who decided what we would read wanted it to be only the brightest and only the best! A night like this isn’t a time for golden rules. A night like this isn’t a time for beatitudes. This can only be a night for Jesus! Kneeling down before us! Washing our feet! This can only be the night for a great commandment! A night for the greatest commandment! “Love! Just like me!” “Love! Just like be!” “It’s your turn,” says Jesus! “It’s your time! To get up from the table! To roll up your sleeves! To fall on your knees! And to do what I have done! Love! Just love!”
Funny thing? Those whose feet you wash? They, too, hear the commandment! And they love, not like Jesus! They love like you! And it goes on and on and on and on … That’s how the world is changed. Love creating love creating love creating love … This night is different! Different from all others! And the words we read, although no different or unique, are concentrated. Focused. So that when we hear them, we are changed forever! When we hear them, we can never, ever remain the same. My friends, this – all this – is love! And after tonight, you, too – each of you, all of you – shall be love, as well!