“The Vulnerability of Servanthood”

2008 Maundy Thursday Homily

John 13:1-11

If there seems to be a disconnect between the first and second parts of tonight’s service, it’s because there is one. Tonight we are combining Maundy Thursday’s traditional Communion service with the Tenebrae service of Good Friday. We’re celebrating the Last Supper and then segueing into a service that contains the reproaches of the cross. We’re moving from Jesus’ final Passover meal with his disciples to a commemoration of our Lord’s betrayal, arrest, unjust treatment, humiliation, and crucifixion.

But the theological, scriptural, and historic truth is that Maundy Thursday can’t really be separated from Good Friday. Neither can it be separated from Easter and Pentecost. None of these events can be understood independently of Advent and Christmas. All of this is contained within the continuum of those mighty acts of God that we call Incarnation and Atonement. And although the whole ball of wax takes place within an historical context, it is also an act of God rooted in eternity and either prophesied or described in Scripture.

Incarnation: “… the [Virgin] is with child and will bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel [God-with-us]… the Word became flesh and lived among us… Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself… And being found in human form…”

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God’s Living Word became one of us. Following the literal Greek meaning of “lived” or “dwelt,” he pitched his tent among us and became part of the human family. He experienced disappointment, rejection and betrayal; he bled and died.

Atonement: “For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God… taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness [he] humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross... For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly… while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

Our sermon text vividly describes Jesus modeling incarnational servanthood even as he prepared to die an atoning death. “… [he] got up from the table, took off his outer robe and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet…”

He began to wash his disciples’ feet. He intentionally took upon himself the role of a slave. And not just any slave: he performed a task that belonged to the household slave who was the lowest of the low. He did what masters did not do. His behavior was scandalous and absurd; it violated the cultural norms of his day. He disregarded conventional wisdom and defied the system.

But that’s not all he did. By kneeling at the feet of his disciples to take the humble role of a slave, he placed himself in a position of extreme vulnerability. On his knees he was wide open to a kick in the face, to physical and emotional abuse. In doing so he was following through on the life that began when he emptied himself and became God-with-us.

When he emptied himself he took upon himself every bit of vulnerability that comes with life as a human being. He opened himself to all the risks of mortality. When he washed his disciples’ feet he continued the ministry and mission of the Suffering Servant for which he had been conceived and born, a ministry and mission that were defined by a slave’s powerlessness, lack of economic, political, and social resources and protections, and the loss of freedom and self-determination.

On Good Friday he was obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross. He knew what it was to be forsaken by God, experiencing the very essence of hell. And he did it for us and our salvation. He did what we could not do for ourselves; he atoned for our sins and made it possible for us to be reconciled with God. There would be Resurrection, just as there had been Incarnation and Atonement, but first there had to be the Crucifixion, that ultimate sacrificial act of the Suffering Servant.

Both in the Upper Room and on the cross Jesus demonstrated the vulnerability that accompanies real love. If we are going to love one another we must be willing to serve one another even if such service brings vulnerability and sacrifice. If we are going to be Christ’s disciples in the world, then we must be ready to model a servanthood in which we incarnate God’s sacrificial love. We must be ready, if necessary, to identify with the lowest of the world’s low, the ones Jesus named the least of these. Our lives must be marked by a Christ-like love, through which we display humility, vulnerability, and servanthood. Sometimes that will involve being foolish and powerless as the world defines such things. At all times we must display a poverty of spirit that can involve plain old poverty.

Let us ponder that as we take Communion, as we are reminded of our Lord’s broken body and spilled blood. Let us ponder that as we conclude tonight’s service in the shadow of the cross. Amen.