“I
give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should
love one another” (John 13.34).
“Just as I have loved you, you also should love one
another” Jesus gives his followers this new commandment at the last supper. At
first it sounds like a very safe commandment. But let’s face it, it is not
always easy to love people, sometimes people make it difficult for us to love
them. I am sure we all know people, like
that, who make themselves very difficult to love. Maybe it is the ‘black sheep’
of the family, the one who always manages to annoy the rest of the family
during the holidays. Or perhaps it is a
boss or co-worker who is constantly trying to show everyone else up. Or maybe it is someone we know, who for
whatever reason is continuously getting under our skin. As hard as it might be to love people like
that, Jesus’ last commandment to his followers goes beyond just loving the
annoying people in our lives.
Jesus’ command isn’t just about liking or being nice
to people, but about really and truly valuing them as human beings. This is a much harder proposition, especially
in our society. How many times do we
hear on TV, the Radio, or in a magazine or Newspaper, that we shouldn’t value
or love someone? We are constantly being
told not to value or love the poor, after all they are just lazy, looking to take
advantage of the system, or don’t know how to manage their funds. One “news” channel even went so far as to
argue the poor aren’t worth loving or valuing, because most of them have a refrigerator
in their dwelling places. Or how often
are we told not to value or love immigrants, especially if undocumented, because
they are coming to steal from us, or they might enhance our cultural and ethnic diversity. Or told why we shouldn’t love or
value liberals and progressives because they are only out to destroy the country. I am sure we can all think of countless
others who we are told not to value or love for whatever reason. We are constantly being bombarded by messages
telling us why we shouldn’t value and love others. Unfortunately many of the people we are told
not to value and love live on the margins of our society, people who are easy, for
those of us in the majority, to devalue and not love.
With the constant bombardment, no wonder why it is
difficult for us to value and love others, especially those who are most unlike
us. But what does this mean for those of
us who call ourselves Christians? Many
of us sense there is something wrong, but are less sure of the answer. Maybe that is why we gather together on Maundy
Thursday, and why so many do not. We
realize and hope that there is something more to Jesus’ commandment than just sentimentality. On that Maundy Thursday night 2,000 years ago
Jesus upset the structures of the world that continue to devalue people for the
sake of the few.
He did so by redefining what it means to be a leader,
by washing his disciples’ feet.
While much has been made of the place of foot washing, what is often overlooked
is whose feet he was washing. We might
consider the disciples to be the founders of the Church, but in their day they
were nobodies, they were unclean, lazy, and uncouth. They were Jews living in Roman occupied
territory, who had some of the worst jobs possible in the hopes of surviving. They were, in essence, the very people our
society tells us not to value and love. Yet
it was their feet that Jesus washed, in so doing Jesus redefines how we value
and love people. No longer will the
criteria of our society or theirs determine a person’s worth. Instead we are to see all as being created in
God’s image. It might not seem like much
has changed in the 2,000 years since Jesus’ last supper, but on that night
Jesus challenged and changed the world.
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