May 16, 2025

Service and Servitude

This Sunday’s gospel lesson is John 13:31-35, near the end of that chapter. John 13 begins with Jesus and his disciples sharing a meal the night before the Passover begins. During the meal, Jesus abruptly strips off his outer garments, wraps a towel around himself, and begins washing his disciples’ feet. Sign-acts like this were not uncommon in the Jewish tradition. Examples are found in the Old Testament (see Hosea 1) and in the New Testament (see Acts 21:11). This object lesson of Jesus served as the touchstone for his teaching the central tenets and values of being a follower of his that followed this action; that is, to operate first and foremost out of love.

To do this Jesus makes a very clear but understated distinction between “servitude” and “service.” Washing feet was typically a task relegated for servants or slaves. It was a low status task. One did this because they were required to do so. At times, a member of the household staff of servants and slaves would be demoted to menial tasks, like washing feet, if they have under-performed or misbehaved. Peter’s objection to Jesus that it was he who should be washing Jesus’ feet after all, was an indication that this act offended Peter’s sense of status. As Jesus himself taught, no student was above their teacher. (Luke 6:40) Washing feet was an act of servitude, of obligation, of low status. Certainly no act for someone referred to as Master and Lord.

Jesus would have none of it. Primarily because his washing the disciples’ feet was an act of service, not servitude. His was a generous act given out of kindness, affection, and love. Following Jesus was not about requirements to which one was obligated, but about an attitude that one inhabited: an attitude of service, care, and hospitality. Jesus was demonstrating for his disciples how they would know if they were truly following him, by expressing their love for others through service which expresses care and dignity for all. And this is how outsiders would know them as Jesus’ followers as well. In todays’ vernacular, this was Jesus’ “brand.”

Some years ago now my son went on a North Park University mission trip to India. Their mission was to wash the feet of those in India’s lowest caste. These students were to take a posture of humility by serving those who believed no one was beneath them. The students who washed feet were frequently asked why they did this, which gave them a chance to share about a God who loves people so much that God became human to serve us ultimately by dying, that we might know God’s love in concrete, practical, liberating, and life-giving ways. This was a service that gained a hearing. How different would our world be if all Christians practiced the loving humility of such service?

May our church answer this question by continuing to encourage each other to practice our service for each other, for our Seattle community, and for our world. Maybe we will discover that this answer is the answer for what ails our age.

With audacious hope,

~ Pastor Todd