Washing Feet

Then, Jesus "rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded." (John 13:4-5)

We remember today that Jesus not only gives us a new commandment, to love one another, but that he calls us friends. Yes, he is still master and lord, but by choosing to be our friend and our brother he shows us how to be more faithful members of his one holy, catholic, and apostolic Body. He asks us to see ourselves—ordained and lay, paid staff and volunteers, young and old, male and female—as his friends.

Sandra Schneiders has pointed out that friendship holds within it the seeds of radical transformation, because it lets us “build bridges over chasms of ideological, religious, racial, and social conflicts.” Such friendships are not easy to cultivate or to maintain; they take work and are rare. But the polarized world we are living in needs for us to get this now more than ever if we really do mean to be living members of Christ’s Body and not simply nominal Christians.

The power of this witness as servants cannot be overestimated. I don’t anticipate Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner washing each other’s feet anytime soon. (And if they do, I’m not sure I want to witness it!) But I had a chance, once upon a time, to sit in a room with Senator George McGovern, who spoke about his close friendship in the U.S. Senate with Senator Barry Goldwater. For those of you who aren’t political junkies like me, they were on opposite sides of most issues, and very rarely voted together on anything remotely controversial. But at the end of the day they’d go out to a bar near the Capitol and have a beer together and talk about their families. In so doing they could disagree without de-humanizing those on the other side of the aisle, without calling into question one another’s patriotism, or values or birthplace or integrity. Even though that was less than fifty years ago, it feels like a distant galaxy, far, far away.

In congregations like the one I serve, however, we have the potential to deepen friendships with those who may be as just as far apart on the issues of the day, both theological and political. In washing feet, sharing the Eucharist together, gathering together for soup in Lent or a potluck supper; knitting or singing or praying or studying together, we bear witness to the world. See how they love one another; not because they are ideologically aligned and maybe not even because they always like each other; but because their Lord has commanded it. That kind of witness has the potential to change the world.