The Forgotten Sacrament

John 13:1-7

As the Reformation occurred in the 15th Century, one of the doctrinal and ritual practices that got revised were the Sacraments. Roman Catholicism named seven rites as Sacraments, but John Calvin argued that there was no biblical basis for this list. He countered that the only rites that could be named Sacraments were those that Jesus specifically commanded the community of faith to do in remembrance of his own work and words. The Reformed Church reduced the Sacraments to two--baptism and the Lord’s Supper--because these were rites Christ directly told the Apostles to practice as they ministered to the world. 

Somehow they overlooked John 13. Jesus specifically and directly commands the Apostles to wash one another’s feet as Christ washed them prior to the Last Supper in remembrance of what he did, embodying the dictum that those who would be leaders in the community must be servants of all.

I suppose the Reformers argued that since John is alone in recollecting this Christ command, it did not hold the weight of the other two accepted Sacraments. 

That, and that feet are just plain nasty.

In 1st Century Palestine, when shoes were hardly what we would recognize save for sandals and when a lot of folks simply went barefoot, it was considered wondrous hospitality to welcome guests into one’s homes with footwashing, helping them relax and leave the world outside. Usually, the most menial servant in the house performed the task because...well, because feet are nasty. 

In our pedicured world, feet are better than they were, but we still get the heebies about dealing with each other’s feet. We still understand why Peter slid his paws beneath him as Jesus approached with basin, towel, and a ready hand. No beloved master was going to lower himself to that level. 

What still confounds us is Jesus’ retort that if he did not wash the Apostles’ feet, they would have no part in his kingdom.

Why?

Love requires two.

Love requires a beloved and a lover. 

As Jesus went around the circle of the Apostles Maundy Thursday evening, he did so in pure, unadulterated love. He became a menial servant because that embodied the love that Jesus professed. There is no task beneath contempt when the object is to love others as God loves them. In love, God cares for every nuance of human existence, from the most glorious bursts of creative imagination to the worst sort of waste disposal. 

We tend to diminish that aspect of God’s total love, preferring to equate God’s love with the purely glorious. But that would make God’s love incomplete. God provides for every aspect of our being. God willingly enters the worst of our existence--we profess in our Apostles Creed that Christ descended into Hell, and the Psalmist cried out that even if he were in the place of the dead--total non-being, he would not be apart from God’s presence. 

So, Christ wrapped a towel around his waist and began to cleanse the feet of the Apostles. That is what real and actual love will do. Remember that as you see the CNA sponge bathe the wasted patient in ICU. Remember that when you see someone kneel beside the man beneath the bridge to tend his needs. Remember that when confronted with the sick child who needs her face washed after losing her lunch. As we care and comfort in these instances, we embody real and actual love that flows from the compassion of God. 

Maybe we do need to rethink what we name a Sacrament.