Holy Thursday - Homily 3

Homily 3 - 2014

Washing another’s feet… It is an unusual activity, even a striking activity. Here in Church, it was a ritual; and for me, at least, the emphasis centred more on the activity itself and on the logistics than on the personal interaction. But it invites reflection. Would I ever do it spontaneously?

It is an act of service, but not of any service. Service can be performed from a sense of superiority, and can strengthen that sense of superiority. I, who have more or am more, give to you who have less and are less - whether my more is money, or skill and ability, or learning, or whatever. I can feel pleased with my generosity, proud of my humility.

When Jesus suggested we do it, what did he have in mind? In his world, foot-washing was a very practical act of service. But it was a task for a servant, for an inferior – a duty, not a spontaneous act. But if someone other than a servant were to do it, it would no longer be a duty but a spontaneous offer of service. It would have about it, I believe, an air of vulnerability, perhaps even of intimacy. It would involve a surrender of all superiority.

Might there be other everyday equivalents in our world? What comes to my mind is the readiness to take time to listen to another – not just listen to the constant stream of words that make up most of our interactions, but to listen, for example, to another in their grief, or in their confusion, or in their disillusionment, even in their anger.

We can feel vulnerable in such listening. We don’t know what to say. We feel awkward. We are not in the place of power. Yet, our listening to them, our simple being there with them, sometimes even in silence, can be what helps them most - not taking over, as it were, and offering logical explanations or platitudinous consolations or giving advice, but respecting their reality and simply letting them be as they are. Perhaps we are at our best when we have nothing to offer but a listening ear and a genuinely caring heart. Sometimes, of course, we may have something we could offer – experience, or knowledge or practical help. Yet if we have not first listened, if we have not first loved, our offers can be more hurtful than helpful. When service is not love, it can be more resented than appreciated.

Jesus offers forgiveness, the forgiveness that serves to save us, to save us from ourselves. He offers it, not from any sense of superiority, but from the place of the victim, the vulnerable one, from the place of powerlessness. He offers from a heart that loves. He does not overwhelm. We can walk away. But the offer always remains; and the love never grows cold. That, I think, was what he was illustrating when he washed the feet of his disciples - and invited us to interact similarly.