First Thoughts: In John's gospel the Passover meal is omitted and replaced by this radical act of Jesus' servanthood -- washing the disciples' feet. As is so often the case with Jesus' actions, this one is meant as an object lesson, a final reminder of what exactly Jesus wants to leave behind him as his legacy. All along the disciples have been bickering over how they're going to bring the revolution, who will be Jesus' right-hand man, who's "in" and who's "out" of God's love -- lots of talking, planning, visioning, hoping. But Jesus reminds them in this moment that the most important thing they can do is act. They must become the action of God's love in the world, and it starts right here among themselves. This is an important lesson for anyone trying to live a life of faith. Very often our worship experiences are focused only on what we believe, and we might leave our Sunday worship feeling pretty satisfied that we've "figured out" our faith. But our beliefs are irrelevant if they don't result in acts of sacrificial servanthood. Not only is servanthood the working out of our belief, but very often it's the corrective as well. How many times have we stood in judgment over someone we didn't know? When we engage in service on their behalf, when we reach out in love and compassion, hear their story, wash their feet, we discover the truth that was hidden to us before -- this is the embodiment of Christ. Servanthood slowly dismantles our beliefs, finally leaving us in the mystery of love, love for all without qualification, without judgment, without exception. In light of Jesus' act of love, pray to God for a servant's heart in your time with the children and see in them the face of Christ.
Teaching On Your Own:
Hey guys, there's something on my mind and I want to share it with you. Okay? Last night our soccer coach took the whole team out for dinner. It was a lot of fun and the food was great. The only problem was we made a pretty big mess. When we were ready to leave and our server came up and began cleaning the table, you won't believe it -- our coach actually got down on his hands and knees and began picking up the mess off the floor. Then he asked for a mop and pail and mopped the floor. Isn't that gross? Why do you think he would do something like that? You know, now that I think about it, my coach cleaning up reminds me of our Bible story today, about Jesus' last night with his friends. When they were all seated Jesus got a basin of water and a towel and knelt before each disciple and began to wash their feet. Stinky feet, now that's gross. That's even worse than cleaning up food off the floor, isn't it?
In Jesus' time washing feet was something the lowest servant in the household would do. Jesus wanted his friends to understand that he came into the world not to be a great king, but to be a servant. That the nature of God's love for us is tenderness and compassion, and if these disciples were going to carry on Jesus' message when he was gone, they too would need to be servants. So Jesus was really teaching them a lesson. Hey, do you think that's what our coach was trying to do? Maybe so. Maybe he wanted us to appreciate the waitress and see that she was tired and had cleaned up after people all day long. Maybe he thought if he acted compassionately, we would be more compassionate too. I'll tell you one thing, every time I eat out I'm gonna remember it. So maybe this is a lesson that will stick!
Teaching As A Team:
(Leader 2 deep in thought, distracted)
Leader 1: Hey, (name). Um, (name), hello?
Leader 2: Oh, hi.
Leader 1: You seem like there's something on your mind.
Leader 2: There sure is.
Leader 1: Tell me about it.
Leader 2: Last night our soccer coach took the whole team out for dinner. It was a lot of fun and the food was great. The only problem was we made a pretty big mess.
Leader 1: I can imagine!
Leader 2: So when we were ready to leave, our server came up and began cleaning the table. You won't believe it -- our coach actually got down on his hands and knees and began picking up the mess off the floor. Then he asked for a mop and pail and mopped the floor. Isn't that gross?
Leader 1: Yeah, it's kind of gross. But it's also kind of great too.
Leader 2: Great? What do you mean?
Leader 1: It reminds me of our Bible story today, about Jesus' last night with his friends. When they were all seated Jesus got a basin of water and a towel and kneeled before each disciple and began to wash their feet.
Leader 2: Ew, their stinky feet?
Leader 1: Yes. See, washing feet was something the lowest servant in the household would do. Jesus wanted his friends to understand that he came into the world not to be a great king, but to be a servant. That the nature of God's love for us is tenderness and compassion, and if these disciples were going to carry on Jesus' message when he was gone, they too would need to be servants.
Leader 2: So Jesus was really teaching them a lesson.
Leader 1: Absolutely.
Leader 2: Maybe that's what our soccer coach was doing too.
Leader 1: Sounds like it. Maybe he wanted you to appreciate the waitress and see that she was tired and had cleaned up after people all day long. Maybe he thought that if he acted compassionately, you guys would do it too.
Leader 2: I'll tell you one thing, every time I eat out I'm gonna remember it.
Leader 1: Then it sounds like your coach was a good teacher.
Closing Prayer: Servant God, help us to follow your loving example, offering our lives in service to those around us. Help us to become great, not in stature over others, but in the bigness of our hearts. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this message in a home or classroom environment, revisit the scripture passage again. Invite the children to really think about the atmosphere in the room. What was the room like -- dark, warm, lighted, full of music? What were the disciples doing -- eating, chatting, joking, sleeping? In the middle of this casual scene, Jesus stands up, takes off his outer robe, ties a towel around his waist, and fills a basin with water. Then he kneels before one of his friends and begins to remove his sandals. How do the children think the people responded? Share with them Peter's response. He was horrified to think that Jesus would be so lowered in the world to take on this menial task. Then share Jesus' teaching that he was called to be a servant, and they were too. Ask the children to identify who the servants are in their lives. Help them out with the folks they might overlook -- teachers, garbage collectors, farmers, grocers, people working at the power and electric plants, police officers, bus drivers, and so on. We really do have a lot of people in our lives who serve us and make our lives better. First of all, we can express gratitude for this great community of service. Second, we can ask the question, how would God have me be of service? Remind the children that God's idea of greatness isn't becoming more "important" in the world, but more loving.
As a closing ritual, I encourage you to reenact the scene with an actual washing of feet. This could be done one of two ways -- with the teacher washing the feet of all the children or with everyone taking a turn washing others' feet. (Both ways have their merits.) In preparing the ritual make sure the water is warm and soapy, you have enough towels so everyone can have a dry one, and you bring some sort of ointment or lotion to put on the dried feet. Taking your time with this ritual makes it feel like an actual act of service, elevating it from a mere game of pretending. Close your time with the children in prayer.
