Sermon
2nd April 2015 – Maundy Thursday
Text:
John 13:1-17, 31b-35 – The temptation of “the selfie”
There
is an interesting comparison between 2 of the characters in the account of
Jesus death.
Jesus
and Pilate.
Jesus
stands before Pilate for an extended period of time.
Pilate
wants to let Jesus go.
Pilate
came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to
you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” (John 19:4)
The
Jews don’t accept this and demand his crucifixion.
But
Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for
a charge against him.” (John 19:6)
Even
his wife knew that something was amiss.
Pilate’s
wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man,
for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” (Matthew
27:19)
In
the end, fearing the Jews, fearing Jesus, fearing his wife, Pilate only has one
option:
He
took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this
man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” (Matthew 27:24)
Washing
his hands was Pilate’s way of looking after himself – if you want to crucify
him, you take him and do it.
Compare
that to what we see Jesus doing today – washing feet.
But
not his own feet but the feet of his disciples.
This
is not an act of selfishness but an act of love and servanthood looking out for
the other person.
Even
Peter is shocked by this unusual act of servanthood –
“You
will never wash my feet”. (John 13:8)
Sounds
quite pious and what we might expect from a devout follower of Jesus.
But
it sounds very similar to a previous encounter between Peter and Jesus where
Peter hides his own selfishness behind an act of piety.
Back
when Jesus predicted his suffering and death Peter responded with:
“Heaven
forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!” (Matthew 16:22)
What
Peter is really saying is – I don’t want that to ever happen to me.
Peter
was a bit like that;
Remember
at the Transfiguration where he wanted to build 3 shelters to stay on top of
the mountain. (Matthew 17:4)
What
about everyone else?
But
Jesus saw through Peter’s veiled attempt of self-preservation:
“Get
behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the
concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (Matthew 16:23).
Pilate
and Peter are displaying typical human behaviours, thinking of themselves,
while Jesus is giving a new commandment:
Love
one another as I have loved you. (John 13:34,35)
This
is different to the earlier commandment where Jesus says – Love your neighbour
as yourself as it still has the starting point as oneself.
Now
Jesus is saying to begin by looking at how he has loved us as the starting
point.
Jesus
loved the sinner.
Jesus
put aside his own needs for our needs – “not my will be done but yours”. (Luke
22:42)
Jesus
went against social conventions when he touched the leper (Matthew 8:3), when
he let the sinful woman touch him, (Luke 7:36-50) when he healed the Canaanite
woman’s daughter, (Matthew 15:21-28) when he ate at Zacchaeus’s house (Luke
19:1-10) when he told the people to example the Good Samaritan, (Luke 10:25-37)
their despised neighbour and the list could go on and on where Jesus looks at
the needs of others ahead of his own.
This
is a real change for our present society.
We
live in a society where the “selfie” is the modern craze where we take pictures
of ourselves.
No
longer is the camera facing away from us – no it’s now turned in on us – and in
fact last year the biggest selling Christmas gift was the “selfie-stick” –
And
extendable rod that you attach to your phone so you can take even better
pictures of yourself.
Everything
in society seems to be going to the “self”.
Many
years it began with “self-serve” petrol.
Now
we see “self-serve” checkouts at our supermarkets.
Self-managed
superannuation.
The
“self” is where we are told to put our confidence in.
If
you want the job done – do it yourself.
But
now Jesus shows us the better way –
To
look away from the “self” – to deny oneself and look to Jesus selfless act of
giving his love to others.
As
you come to Holy Communion this evening, remember that here is the love of
Jesus that we are called to look to when he says – love one another as I have
loved you.
This
is how Jesus has loved you and he will repeat it in chapter 15 when he says:
My
command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one
than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:12,13).
Love
begins not with ourselves but by looking to how God loves us which John tells
us:
This
is real love—not that we loved God, but that God first loved us. (1 John 4:10,
19).
No comments:
Post a Comment