No Strings Attached - Maundy Thursday - 4-14-22
No Strings Attached
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 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 the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Prayer – God of love and grace, we gather this night, much as Christ’s disciples gathered with him. They sat at the Passover table, unaware of the magnitude of the meal, the evening, the weekend. And now here we are remembering the events of over 2000 years ago. Join us this evening Lord, help us to remember your commandment to love and how we are to love all of your beloved – amen.
Many times the last thing a person says before he or she is dying takes on special significance. It is as if the very essence of that individual is somehow summed up and compacted into a single message. One conversation this week with an elderly woman dying of chronic lung disease – she shared with me what she needed to say to her sons – a need to instruct them on how to live life a little better, a lot better actually. She didn’t want her legacy to be one thing when it could be something different.
I imagine, in hindsight, this is how the earliest disciples felt about the words that are in our reading this evening. They were all at the table with Jesus, and the impending crisis that would take his life loomed ahead of them inescapably. And then came these final, poignant words, “A new commandment I give to you; love one another. As I have loved you, love one another.” This will become your unique signature in the world and to the world, the way folks will sense your true identity, your essence. This will be your ultimate reason for being, as it has been mine.
Jesus’ words tell us a lot about the kind of love Jesus is talking about. This surely isn’t a romantic love, nor is it simply being nice, nor is it only loving those who love you back. Think about it – when Jesus was washing feet, Judas was there. Further, Jesus will demonstrate the depth and breadth of God’s love by dying for those who manifestly don’t love him. Love means putting the good of the other first, even when it hurts with no strings attached.
Jesus spent his entire ministry embodying unconditional love – love with no strings attached. Think about all the people he met; all the people he healed; all the miracles that took place. Never once did Jesus say to them, “I will heal, care, listen, if . . . ” Jesus met people where they were, cared about them, listened to their stories, laughed with them, cried with them, even miraculously healed a few of them, and never once was there a condition tied to it. He offered his love to everyone he met – even those who were against everything he believed, taught and lived by. There were never any strings attached, never any pre-existing conditions that had to be met for Jesus to love the people he encountered.
Jesus and his disciples were gathered for the Passover meal that Thursday evening. Before the meal, Jesus knelt before each of his disciples, including the one who was going to betray him and the one who was going to deny him that very night, and still he washed their feet. I can imagine it was uncomfortable; it was strange to have their Teacher, the Christ, kneel before them and gently and lovingly, wash the dust from their feet. But that is exactly what Jesus did.
And then he broke bread with them and told them that the breaking of the bread was symbolic of his body being broken for them. What could he mean by this? And then he took that third cup of wine of the Passover meal, the cup of redemption, and told them it was his blood being poured out for the forgiveness of their sins. I can imagine the stunned and bewildered faces of his friends, and his not-so-much friend Judas. He fed those elements to each person at that table, including Judas and Peter, then he told Judas to go and do what he must do. Jesus knew the conditions of Judas’ love for him, but that didn’t cause Jesus to love Judas with anything less than perfect unconditional love. For Jesus, love meant no strings attached.
There was no admission price or price tag on Jesus’ love for Judas, for Peter, for the disciples, for us even today. There are no reserve clauses, no fine print in the contract, no hidden agenda. Jesus gave his love, God’s love, freely with no strings attached, even to those who would condemn him, even to those who would deny him, even to those who would scourge him, even to those who would hang him upon a cross, even to those who frequently turn their back on him and his teachings. Jesus gave love to all people, then and now, as the purest and simplest of gifts. Most of us want to be very sure that our love is not taken for granted. For Jesus and his love, he essentially said, “take me, and take my love for granted – and I will still love you.”
He washed their feet and then he fed them a spiritual meal with an unconditional covenant that can never be broken. And then he said to them and to us today – love like I have; give love as a gift, not as an expectation of getting something back in return, give love with no strings attached. The world is watching to see how well we do. And frankly when I look at myself and far too many folks who claim Christianity, I can imagine Jesus shaking his tear stained head and saying to himself, “if they would just remember to love like I have, if they would just remember to love with no strings attached.”
Tonight as we gather as a community of faith, we gather around this table. Think about what this table symbolizes – it calls us to remember this night; it calls us to remember the night he was betrayed and denied; it calls us to remember his death and resurrection; but most of all, it calls us to remember that God’s love is a free gift, not a gift with strings attached, not a gift tied up with countless ‘if’s’ or ‘when’s’ or particular prayers. And so as the elements of bread and cup are offered to you tonight, reminding us to love as Jesus has loved – otherwise this plate and this cup don’t mean a thing – thanks be to God – amen.