“The Community of the Towel and Basin”
April 26, 2015
John 13: 1-17, 34-35
Rev. Sylvia Dilworth
It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave
this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the
end.
The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon
Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he
had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer
clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to
wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean.
And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and
that was why he said not every one was clean.
When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you
understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and
rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also
should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who
sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them….
… “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one
another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Introduction. I read a short story this past week that sounded like a grand story-line from the
pen of Charles Dickens himself. The story goes that there once was a beloved, but very powerful
King. One day the king took off his gold crown, laid aside his royal robes and put on a disguise. He
left his throne room and descended the hill leading into his village. There he lived among his people
incognito. His disguise was that of a poor and humble street sweeper. The King found his village
full of corruption and hate. The story went on and intensified when a murderer in the village was
condemned to die. The disguised king, though, stepped in, traded places with the criminal and died
on the gallows in the murderer’s place. It was a story of stunning humility.
That story somehow rings familiar doesn’t it? That story somehow rings true and not like a
fairy tale doesn’t it? That is because that story is familiar and true; it is found in our passage this
morning, John 13. I just embellished it a bit.
For there we read that Christ Jesus, the King of Kings, laid aside his garments, just as he had
laid aside his glory in heaven, that he wrapped a towel around himself, just as he had wrapped
around himself the disguise of our humanity, that He washed his disciples feet. . .just as he came not
to be served, but to serve, and that he died the death of a common criminal paying the penalty we all
deserve. It is a story of stunning humility.
Or as Severian of Gabala wrote in A.D. 400. “He who wraps the heavens in clouds wrapped
around himself a towel. He who pours water into the rivers tipped water into a basin. And he before
whom every knee bends in heaven and on earth, knelt to wash the feet of his disciples.”
Our passage today, John 13, takes place on Jesus’ last night on earth. It takes place in the
upper room at the last supper. The next day he would die. How would you spend your last night on
earth? What would you do? Would you spend those last hours of your life washing feet? Jesus did.
Let’s look closer.
I. The Community of the Towel and Basin
We, the church, are to be the community of the towel and basin. John 13:3 says this, "Jesus,
knowing that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God, and that
he was going back to God, rose from supper.....took up the towel and basin and washed his disciples’
feet."
Jesus had come from the fellowship of the holy Trinity; of the Father, and of the Holy Spirit.
He now was going to return to that holy community. But before he did, he was going to demonstrate
how different, how radically upside-down different, his church, his community of followers were to
live compared to other kingdoms on earth. In His community of the towel and basin, in His church,
the lowly would be served and Kings would wash feet.
Normally, in Biblical times it was customary for the servant or the slave of the house to wash
the feet of the guests in a home. We saw last week that when Mary washed Jesus feet and dried them
with her hair; she was taking on the role of a servant. But here in a radical reversal of roles, the King
of the universe, took up the towel and basin and went around and washed all of the disciples feet. . . all
twelve of the disciples. Note: Judas is still in the room. Jesus knew Judas was going to betray him,
but Jesus washed his feet. Peter would deny Jesus three times. Jesus knew Peter would deny Him,
but Jesus still washed Peter’s feet. In fact all of his disciples were to desert Jesus in just a matter of a
few hours. Jesus knew this. And yet, He still washed all their feet. The community of the towel and
basin is filled with failing and broken people. Within Christ’s church, in this upside-down
community, we serve even those who are hard to love.
Jesus says to his disciples, “If I your Master and Lord have washed your feet, you also should
wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”
Jesus chose to switch places; and he commands us to do the same. Imagine what our church
would be like if we did that for one another; if we put our Christian brothers’ and sisters’ well-being
ahead of our own. Imagine the transformative impact that kind of love would have on this
congregation.
A Scotsman named Ernest Gordon wrote of his experience in a Japanese prison camp along
the River Kwai during WWII. According to Gordon, the first months in the camp were brutal:
prisoners were abused, tortured, and worked to exhaustion on a railroad their captors were building.
The Scottish soldiers hated their captors, and the camp was filled with selfishness and despair as each
man fought for survival.
One day one of the prisoners became deathly ill. In times past he would have been left to die
alone—as it was each man for himself. But this time, a prisoner named Scotty took it upon himself to
care for the sick man. He gave the man his blanket while he shivered through the night. He saved his
meager rations of bread and soup and fed them to his sick friend. In time the friend recovered, while
Scotty died a few days later. He had literally given himself away to save his friend.
That act of love transformed the camp. In the days that followed, the hatred, bitterness, and
selfishness began to dissipate as the prisoners began acting in love: sharing their rations, nursing each
other's wounds, and showing kindness whenever possible—even toward their captors. When the Allied
forces finally penetrated the jungle and arrived to liberate the camp, the prisoners placed themselves
between their liberators and their captors. There would be no more killing.
Love transformed a prison camp. And that kind of love can continually transform this church.
Jesus is giving us a command; that if we call him our Master and Lord, then we need to be a part of his
upside-down community, his church; putting one another first, lovingly serving one another; being
willing to do anything, however costly, or undignified, in order to help our brother or sister in Christ here
at MPC. We are the community of the towel and basin. We are to wash one another’s feet.
II. Served by Christ we Serve
But as the community of the towel and basin, our service also reaches outside the walls of our
church. For Jesus’ whole life had led up to this night when he washed his disciples feet. His whole
life had been a life of service; Jesus had served the poor, he served children, he served the disabled, he
served those oppressed by evil, he served the Romans, and he served the Gentiles. His commission to
us then is not only to sacrificially love our brothers and sisters within the church, but to lead a
servant’s life outside the walls of our church as well. Since Christ has served us, we in turn serve
others.
But being a servant; having a servant’s heart, is so hard isn’t it? It goes against every grain of
our nature. Sometimes the only way to overcome this servant revulsion within us is just to continually
look to do the job no one else chooses to do.
Rev. Dave Petersen from Houston, Texas realized this fact; he realized that serving was not
something that came naturally to him. One day at the local gym, he noticed a man leaving the sinks
in the gym locker. The man was putting away his shaving kit as he walked away. Dave turned and
saw the sink that man had been at. It was covered with globs of shaving cream, beard stubble, and
wadded up paper towels. It was a disgusting mess. Even though there were other sinks to use, Dave
chose to purposefully put himself in that position of being a servant. He cleaned up and wiped down
that dirty sink. The next week he went to the gym, on the same day, at the same time, and he found
the same sink in the same mess. He cleaned it up and wiped it down again. He did that the next week
and the next week and the next week after that; for months on end. Why? Because being a servant
does not come easily to some of us. It is against our wills and nature. To battle that tendency we need
to choose to serve at the job that no one else will do.
As Shane Claibourne has said, "Everybody wants a revolution, but nobody wants to do the
dishes.” We love doing dramatic things. We want to change the world in shocking ways, in deep
ways, in meaningful ways. But in that process we can miss the basic ways people need to be served.
Our Youth group here at MPC has decided to serve outside the walls of MPC. They are going
to Alaska to serve alongside our sister church there in Skagway. As we support their mission today
we become a key part of that mission. Next week we can serve outside our walls by being willing to
sponsor a child in Africa. In three weeks we can serve outside our walls by participating in one of the
eight different service projects on our Faith in Action Sunday. None of these ways of service is
revolutionary. Most our very ordinary ways to serve and love our neighbors. Yet they are simple
ways that Christ’s love and message can spread from SW 45th Ave clear to Alaska, to Africa, to
downtown Portland, to children, to the elderly, to the refugees, and on and on. A ripple effect, a chain
reaction, all starting right here.
Another way, as followers of Christ that we can we serve outside these walls, is by practicing
hospitality in our own neighborhoods and places of work. Max Lucado writes “Long before the
church had pulpits and baptismal founts, she had kitchens and dinner tables. Not everyone can serve
in a foreign land, lead a relief effort, or volunteer at the downtown soup kitchen. But who can't be
hospitable? Do you have a front door? A table? Chairs? Bread and meat for sandwiches?
Congratulations! You just qualified to serve in the most ancient of ministries: hospitality. Something
holy happens around a dinner table that will never happen in a sanctuary. In a church auditorium you
see the backs of heads. Around the table you see the expressions on faces. In the auditorium one
person speaks; around the table everyone has a voice. Church services are on the clock. Around the
table there is time to talk.”
Christ commissions us to serve outside our church walls, in our dorms, in our families, in our
schools, in our apartments, in our offices and places of work, in our neighborhoods, in our city, in our
world. We are placed there by Christ, to wash feet, to serve, not to be served. Served by Christ we
serve.
III. The Company of the Cross
Let’s rewind John CH 13 a bit and see again what lies at the very center of this narrative.
While Jesus was washing their feet the disciples were obviously a bit embarrassed and
uncomfortable. No one said a word. Until of course he came to Peter. Peter always had
something to say. Peter blurted out, "Lord are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus tried to explain
that Peter would understand later. But Peter refused. "No you shall never, ever wash my feet!"
Peter is giving orders to Christ!
Two reasons may be behind Peter’s refusal. One, this foot-washing, was beneath Jesus to do
such a thing. It was scandalous. It was humiliating. And it was Peter’s duty to point this out to Jesus.
Or secondly, this foot-washing was beneath Peter for Jesus to do this. “For crying out loud, Jesus, I
can wash my own feet. You don’t need to do it!” Either way, Peter is demonstrating a pride. A
defiant pride.
But Jesus response to Peter was, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." This is the
Gospel in one short sentence. “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” For here Jesus is
talking about the cross; he's using the feet washing as a symbol of the cross. The very next day, Jesus
would become the ultimate servant, the suffering servant, who would die for the sins of the world.
Yes, it would be scandalous. Yes, it would be humiliating. But unless we are washed by Jesus, we
can have no part in him. Unless we allow Jesus to forgive us our sins, we cannot have Christ’s
salvation. His washing of us is totally unmerited grace. We can’t do it ourselves. And we can’t
pridefully pretend that we can do it ourselves. Unless we humble ourselves and admit our need for
His forgiveness, our need for his washing, we can have no part in Him.
In 1818, Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian physician, was born into a world of dying women.
For in hospitals across Europe, one out of six young mothers died of "childbed fever." A doctor's
daily routine in many of these hospitals began in the dissecting room where he performed autopsies
on decomposing bodies. From there he made his way to the maternity ward to assist women in labor
without ever pausing to wash his hands. Most doctors of that era never washed their hands between
examining patients. Dr. Semmelweis was the first man in history to associate such examinations
with contamination that resulted in infection and death. He began to wash his hands with a chlorine
solution, and demanded all who worked with him to do the same. After eleven years and the delivery
of 8,537 babies, he lost only 184 mothers--about one in fifty. He spent the rest of his life lecturing
and debating with his colleagues for very few of them believed him. Once he argued, "Childbed fever
is caused by decomposed material, conveyed by your hands to a wound. I have shown how it can be
prevented. I have proven all that I have said. But while we talk, talk, talk, gentlemen, women are
dying. I am not asking anything world shaking. I am asking you only to wash. .. For God's sake, . . .
for God’s sake! Wash!"
But virtually no one believed him. This was before the breakthroughs of Joseph Lister.
Doctors and midwives had been delivering babies for thousands of years without washing, and no one
was going to change them now! When Semmelweis died, his wash basins were discarded, and
thousands of women continued to die.
The towel-draped Jesus said to Peter, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." Without
our being washed clean by Christ, we all die from the contamination of sin. For God's sake, . . . for
your sake; be washed by Christ..