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Holy Thursday, April 1, 2021: The Lowest Part

 

I have some questions for you:

Do you need to win, or are you OK with losing if you are having fun?

Do you need to be on top of things or do you have a “Fear Of Missing Out?” (FOMO as it’s called)

Do you always want to “look good” or could you appear in public disheveled, un-beautified?

Do you have a need to be right or are you the more curious type who can admit mistakes?

 

Here’s another one . . . can you admit your faults, or do you spend a lot of time pretending to “have it all together?”   Well, there are some people who never seem to have flaws. There are some who have mastered the art of perfection. And there are also some who always need to be right. And with all those groups . . . who don’t have a lot of flaws, or seem perfect, or are usually right . . . they are also some of the loneliest people I know. That is, they are not a lot of fun to be around.

 

I prefer people with warts, doubts, troubles or struggles. And it is usually the people who are honest about themselves that have some of the best relationships. For perfection is hard to be around. Arrogant people are hard to be around. But people who can admit their faults are easier to tolerate.

 

It’s like the Dad who was trying to convince my six year old son that it's perfectly normal to accidentally pee in your pants. The Dad said, “But he’s not believing it and still making fun of me.”

 

Think of water. In normal years, we would have a foot washing tonight. But we can’t this year. But we can still think of the power of water . . . not only does it refresh, cleanse or soothe, it also follows the principle to go lower. Water [as I pour water into the big basin] flows downward and it is in the lowliness that good things can occur. Seeds begin to sprout, reservoirs can refilled and life can begin. Water seeks not the highest places but always the lowest.

 

At the beginning of the gospel, it says that Jesus loved his own in the world and loved them to the end. Love, like water, always flows to the depth. That is, it flows to the lowest parts, that is, the unpopular, or secret parts. For its easy (and often shallow) to love the best and brightest. Or to love the charming and good-looking. To admire the perfect ones.   But real love occurs in the darkest moments, in the lowly honest moments of truth, in the shameful or embarrassing situations of life.  

 

And notice that in the gospel story, Jesus stripes down to barely anything and lowers himself to wash feet. It’s the servant’s role of course, but it becomes the model for us to care for the lowliest or stinkiest part of those around us. That lowering is probably best understood with the action of forgiving.

 

For when you can off your high horse of being right and acknowledge that you’ve been hurt, let down your armor, and admit your broken feelings. Admit that there is something to forgive – a mistake, an offense, an error – perhaps being like water (going to the lowest parts) or imitating Jesus and bending down . . . you may discover what this night is trying to teach you: Forgive.

 

Stop pretending that you have it all together. We all get hurt, get wounded. Here’s your invitation take some quiet time tonight . . . either here at church or at your home, and think about what, or who, it is that you need to forgive. Later on in the scripture verses, we hear about Judas betraying Jesus and how the disciples deserted him when trouble comes. And still Jesus goes low to attend to each disciple.  

 

Maybe forgive that person. Forgive that lost dream. Forgiveness is letting go of how you thought your life would be. Or most important forgive yourself for not being perfect, for having flaws, for refusing to have Jesus bend down and soothe your tired feet and whisper, “It’s OK. You’re OK. I know. You’ll be fine.”

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