Maundy Thursday / Jueves Santo
March 24, 2016 / 24 Marzo, 2016
Saint Andrew Lutheran Church/Iglesia Luterana San Andrés
John 13:1-17, 31b-35 / San Juan 13:1-17, 31b-35
(English & Español)

This semester at seminary, I’ve been taking a preaching class, and last week, one of my classmates – Denise – preached a really awesome sermon about this evening’s gospel text. She focused on Jesus’ act of washing his disciples’ feet, but what really stuck with me about Denise’s sermon was that she didn’t just preach it; she actually took off her robe, poured water into a basin, and made it very clear that she had every intention of actually washing our feet.

That kind of freaked me out a little bit. I mean, baring your feet and letting someone else touch them is awkward under the best of circumstances – but in my case, I actually have a skin infection on both of my feet and one of my toenails that’s kind of embarrassing and gross (in fact, it’s actually really hard to even admit it here), so I was mortified by the idea of taking off my shoes and socks and showing my gross feet to everyone.

In our gospel story, the disciples – especially Simon Peter – were also a little put off by Jesus’ act of footwashing. Obviously, we don’t know whether any of them suffered from any sort of skin infection, but after roaming around the streets of Jerusalem and the Judean countryside in sandals, it’s a pretty safe bet that their feet didn’t exactly smell like roses. It’s understandable when Peter declares to Jesus, “You will never wash my feet.” Continue reading “Feet are Gross: A Maundy Thursday Sermon” →