Today in our Gospel reading taken from John, we read what is known as The Farewell Discourse. Here Jesus speaks to his disciples just before his arrest, trial and death. There is something profoundly beautiful and yet at the same time profoundly sad for us when hearing or reading this passage as we know where the narrative is heading. And we are having to watch or listen, knowing the disciples do not.John's Gospel is known to stand out as being distinctive compared with the other Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke (known as the Synoptic Gospels), as in John's Gospel there is a real focus on the flesh running throughout, the sense that God is made known in the enmeshed life of the Word - Jesus in the world, and that life in the body is one of fullness and grace. This is not the incarnation as a moment of emptying or of giving up of the flesh, as sometimes Paul describes in New Testament writing, in John's Gospel, flesh is where all the action is, where the Word encounters and engages the world and as a result, Jesus' humanity, his body, his flesh, and ours, is considered sacred and holy, and is used to deliver a message.And so here in this upper room, where the disciples are led, where the table is laid and food and wine available, Jesus knowing that his hour has come and that he is to be removed out of this world and go unto the Father, reclines and looks at his own that he loves and who he will love to the end. He sees that he needs to prepare them for his departure to show them how he wants them to live and be in his absence. This is our present reality, the Church's reality: living without the physical presence of Jesus and sustaining ourselves by remembering Jesus' words and actions. And Jesus needs to give the disciples something physical, something of the flesh to link in with his words so that they will remember. Something so out of the ordinary so as to stay in the mind as unusual, perplexing, and not be forgotten. "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me"When I was around the age of 18, I worked as a care assistant in a nursing home and I remember clearly how uncomfortable I felt the first time I was asked to wake a resident up in the morning, wash, dress and bring them to breakfast. Everything was heightened. Every drop of water flowing into the sink, the feel of the flannel and soap, the uncertainty of how this person in front of me would react to me helping them undress. To gently touch the skin, the body of another person, to wash them, when once they could wash themselves, for them to trust me and for me to trust that they would guide me and let me know what to do and how to do it. Were my hands too cold, was I too quick or too rough? Too much soap or not enough? So much intense non-verbal communication as the physical act of washing and cleaning, something usually so basic and automatic took place. You get a sense of connection whether it be positive or negative very quickly in this act of love and care, for the other person it is near on impossible to remain hidden if someone else is washing you.And here is Jesus, washing the feet of those he loved. A job usually done by a slave or young female with no interaction required or expected and certainly no eye contact. Peter just could not comprehend it. Jesus the Teacher, the Lord, washing his feet. There are some theologians who comment that they believe Peter is teasing in some way when he says "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" considering it such aridiculous thing for Jesus to do but I do not see it this way. Like Peter, if Jesus was to tell me that to not wash my feet would mean I would have no share with him, no part with him, then I imagine myself to respond similarly and plead for him to wash every single part of me so as to be a thousand times sure that I would be with him, to have a share with him, to have a part with him.Jesus knows that they will not understand until later, when he is gone. And so, through the act of taking the feet of the disciples in his hands, washing them and drying them tenderly and with love for each one, he instigates a completely inappropriate version of a cultural and religious act so as to impart what he wants them to do, what he wants them to be, for it to be stored as a multi-sensory memory in their minds, hearts and body, never to be forgotten.When he is no longer in the world with them, he wants them to remember that none of them are greater than the other, that all of them must wash each other's feet - not in the literal act but in what the act of doing so brings out in both the giver and receiver. A tenderness, a gentleness, an intimate act of love that leads from one person to the other and back again. An act that changes both the giver and receiver. An act that will make it impossible to remain hidden from one another. For he has set us an example that we are also to do as he has done. It will likely make us feel uncomfortable at times, not just in the giving of this act of love but also in receiving it. Some of us if not all of us can find receiving it equally challenging.But it is the commandment that Jesus has given us. And like John's Gospel and like the feet washing, it involves the flesh and body and is active and alive in all its fullness of expression. To love one another as I have loved you. This is a real, fleshy, human love imparted to us by the washing of feet, then later the breaking of bread and drinking of wine, so let us share in this and live out what Jesus gave the disciples on this his last supper: a call to action to love one another the way he loves us.Natalie Rees 14/04/2022
We keep a few moments of silence as we prepare ourselves to stand before Almighty God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.‘At the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ (Philippians 2:10-11)Hymn: All glory, laud and honour to thee, Redeemer King...Luke 19:28-40‘Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.’ (Ps. 31:24)Let us come to the Lord, who is full of compassion, and acknowledge our transgressions in penitence and faith: Father eternal, giver of light and grace, we have sinned against you and against our neighbour, in what we have thought, in what we have said and done: through ignorance, through weakness, through our own deliberate fault. We have wounded your love, and marred your image in us. We are sorry and ashamed, and repent of all our sins. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who died for us, forgive us all that is past and lead us out from darkness to walk as children of light. Amen.May Almighty God, who forgives all who truly repent, have mercy upon us, pardon and deliver us from all our sins, confirm and strengthen us in all goodness, and keep us in life eternal: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer for the day: True and humble king, hailed by the crowd as Messiah: grant us the faith to know you and love you, that we may be found beside you on the way of the cross, which is the path of glory. Amen.Luke 22:14 - 23.56Please see the Message from the Minister.Let us kneel before God in prayer, asking for his cleansing love to be known to all people. We pray for St Peter’s Church, that your will be done, and for our work to be blessed;We pray for our world, that all of its creatures will thrive, and for peace in Ukraine; We pray for our friends, families and community, that we may share in the love of Christ; We pray for people who are sick or suffering, that they will know healing and strength; We remember the departed, and pray for all who mourn.Let us join in the words of the Lord’s prayer, whoever and wherever we are: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen. Hymn: At the name of Jesus...May Christ give us grace to grow in holiness, to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him; and may the blessing of God Almighty who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon us and remain with us always. Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.
This week we see the culmination of our Lenten reflections, and we walk alongside Jesus to Jerusalem and the cross. We begin by waving our palms in recognition and joy at the figure riding on a donkey.And then, as the tumult fades, we see the powerful message of humility in his readiness to face what he must, in his washing of the disciples’ feet and sharing of the last supper with those who would betray and deny him, in his refusal to speak against his accusers, in his last words of love.In our Palm Sunday service within the church, there is no sermon. A dramatised reading of the Passion is read instead. You might read and ponder upon one or all of the Biblical accounts of the events leading to the crucifixion. You might come to the church to reflect upon the ‘Stations of the Cross’ on Wednesday, to one of the Last Supper services on Thursday, and/or follow the cross from the church to the top of Beeston Hill on Friday.You might light a candle. You might sit in silent contemplative prayer, or play music or a film of the Passion. Whatever you do, you will surely become aware of the spiritual depth that this Holy Week leads you into.As the troubled Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, the disciples slept. Will you stay awake during his last hours, watch and pray, as he asks of you?Amen.Julie RubidgeLay Minister
