John 13 – Washing Feet / Communion at a Small Country Church

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Lectionary Readings for Oct. 3, 2021          19th Sunday After Pentecost, Year B
Job 1:1; 2:1-10    Job and His Family
Psalm 26     v8 I love your sanctuary, Lord, the place where your glorious presence dwells.
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12    v2:3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God...
Mark 10:2-16      v14 ...Jesus said to His disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.

But this week we continue our series exploring the book of John, now with Chapter 13.

Weekly Meditative Exercise

Christianity includes a long and rich tradition of embracing meditative practices as a way of keeping us connected with God, ourselves, and each other. I encourage you to spend some time each week (ideally 10-30 minutes) trying each weekly exercise. You will naturally find some more appealing and effective than others. You’ll like some but not others, and after 6-12 months you’ll better understand what’s available and what helps you.

This week’s exercise focuses on Holy Communion (pages 34-36)
From Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun. InterVarsity Press, 2005.

  • Desire: to be nourished in our faith, tasting the flavors of redemption

  • Definition: The Lord’s Supper celebrates God’s desire to be in relationship with us as understood through the life of Jesus.

  • Scripture: “And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body.”  ~ 1 Corinthians 10:17

As you engage with this exercise, I encourage you to think about what the phrase “God’s Spirit nourishes me” means to you.
How does bread and juice help you connect with God’s creation?
How does bread and juice help you connect to the life and ministry of Jesus?
How can your daily meals become a moment of communing with God?

Peace through Leadership Quotes

“Bread for myself is a material question. Bread for my neighbor is a spiritual one.”  ~ Nikolai Berdyaev

“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone; it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new.”  ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

Ensuring that people in our community have the basic needs of life is one way that we can begin to create peace for others. This is not a mechanical nor a transactional effort on our part. The love we put into our bread-making and bread-sharing (i.e. our service to others) is how people will hear, see, and feel God’s presence of peace moving around and through us.

Any time I preach or lead a group, regardless of age, I start the same way. I’m going to say three short sentences. Please repeat each sentence, with enthusiasm.
God made me. God loves me. God has plans for me.

Preface to Today’s Scripture Reading

Last week we heard the story of Mary of Bethany interrupting a celebratory dinner so that she could anoint Jesus’ feet with expensive, fragrant ointment and then wipe His feet with her hair. It was a powerful moment of honoring and worshiping God’s presence in her life.

Jesus’ fame and the community’s tension surrounding His looming arrest are now at an all-time high just as the Jewish faithful begin to converge on Jerusalem to celebrate Passover – the festival commemorating the Israelite’s escape from Egyptian slavery and abuse.

Today we enter the pivotal 13th chapter of John’s gospel. Jesus will perform no more miraculous signs, but rather will focus on preparing Himself and His disciples for His imminent death. Jesus chooses His words carefully, emphasizing the most important concepts and directives of His life’s ministry as He embodies and models servant-leadership.

The disciple Peter plays a prominent role in today’s story. He is almost comically imperfect as he responds to Jesus’ expression of love – first by saying he wants none of this, then saying he wants it all, and later overestimates his loyalty to Jesus. It’s easy to criticize Peter’s lack of understanding and allegiance. But as someone in our Bible Study group commented, “Peter is there to give the rest of us mere mortals courage.”

“Following the [foot-washing] example of Jesus, we are [ALL] called to tender acts, acts of servanthood, acts during which we focus on one person at a time and give that person our full attention” (Jarvis, Cynthia A.; Johnson, E. Elizabeth. Feasting on the Gospels--John, Volume 2. Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle 3800).

Let’s give our ears, minds, and hearts full attention as we feast on John’s version of the Last Supper.

Read John 13:1-11, 20-30, 34-35 and the rest of chapter 13 this week.

Let me paint you a picture of a small country church. Close your eyes if you’d like and imagine the rolling hills of northeast Georgia. The grassy farmland is scattered with pine, oak and maple trees as cattle and deer lazily graze the days away.

On the side of one gentle, grassy slope, you’ll find what appears to be a modest white barn with an old cemetery off to one side. Welcome to Hebron Presbyterian Church – founded in 1796. Catch that – not 1976, but 1796. With 225 years of history, tradition is serious business there. When someone says, “We’ve always done it that way”, they MEAN, we have ALWAYS done it that way.

In appreciation of my great-great-great grandfather’s service in the Revolutionary War, the new federal government gave him a land grant that was and remains adjacent to the church. As a result, six or so generations of my family have been members of the church at one time or another. I will likely be the last.

When Anne and I lived in Atlanta, I joined the church with the two dozen or so regular members. While I would love to share countless details and stories with you, today I’d like to tell you how they have always served communion.

Imagine two long, narrow tables at the front of the church with 12 chairs.

  • 12 people at a time come forward and sit at the tables with the pastor – recalling Jesus and the 12 disciples.

  • The pastor distributes the elements (the bread and Welch’s grape juice) and says a word of blessing.

  • Then they all eat, drink, pray, and return to their seats.

  • The next 12 come forward, and the process repeats until everyone present is served.

This is a fairly time consuming process, but they are in no rush at all, and that’s a good thing.   :)
Why rush one of the most theologically significant rituals we share?

What meant the most to me at these communion services was the variety of breads served. You see, different people were asked to provide the communion bread each month. And that’s where God surprised and challenged me.

I never found out who brought what bread, but it was obvious some people had been up since 4:00 or 5:00 am baking fresh bread while others likely remembered their responsibility on the drive in and grabbed the first loaf they could find at the grocery store.

The first few months I was there, we used the white bread we’ve all come to expect. But one Sunday we had a heavy wheat bread. That’s different but... OK. Another Sunday it was sourdough, no problem.

And one Sunday... ONE beautiful Sunday... someone contributed the greatest bread of all... raisin-cinnamon swirl – my favorite! Forget theology, I love that bread! Each month became like Christmas; I anxiously awaited communion Sunday, eagerly anticipating what unique surprise was hiding under the protective white cloths.

But one fateful Sunday... the loaf looked and smelled unfamiliar. With one bite, I realized... it was rye bread. I hate rye bread. Someone dared ruin my theological Christmas! So instead of enjoying the intimate community or focusing on a prayer of thanksgiving, I complained... to God and myself... “What were they thinking? THIS is not how you do communion. This is too different.”

 

And in that moment, God slipped into my diatribe for a quick conversation.

God:   Charles, you don’t care for the bread?
Me:      Nope. Not at all. I don’t want it.

God:   For months now, you’ve looked forward to My surprising provisions.
Me:     Well yeah, but I don’t like this.

God:   Is My provision not good enough for you? Do I not meet your standards?
Me:     You do.

God:   Charles, can you trust my wisdom and love? Can you use this as a moment to reflect on what this bread means for… for us?
Me:      Yes sir. Thank you.

So I did. In addition to looking forward to the “bread of the month,” I then began using that time of communion to explore with God what that bread’s characteristics could mean to me and my understanding of our faith.

  • White bread - Can I recognize God’s presence and goodness during life’s simple, common days and weeks?

  • Wheat bread - Am I grateful for God’s dense, nutritious Word?

  • Sourdough - Am I being sour? Do I need to butter up to someone to heal a wound? What sour people in my life do I need to befriend?

  • Raisin-cinnamon - Do I pause often enough to recognize and thank God for the special blessings in my life?

  • Rye - Do I seek and thank God when I’m unhappy about my circumstances?

 For 20+ years now, communion has been a time of deeply intimate spiritual exploration and adventure for me. And now you know why – a few weeks ago when the only bread we could find at church was fig bars – I couldn’t help but laugh and say, “Lord, thank you for the surprise! What would you like to reveal to me through this?”

In a few minutes, we’ll share communion. Together. As a meal. This morning we have a mix of white, wheat, and yes, cinnamon-raisin swirl. You can pick your favorite – OR – take a random selection and see where it takes you. There is no “right” understanding to any bread.

I invite you to ignore everything I’ve said this morning and simply ask God:
Lord, what would you like to share with me through today’s bread and juice?

Amen? Amen!