By This You Are Known
Rev. Mark Schaefer
Kay Spiritual Life Center
April 21, 2011—Maundy Thursday
John 13:1–17, 31–35
John 13:1–17, 31–35 • Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
I. BEGINNING
What does it mean to be a disciple?
That’s not an insignificant question. It’s one that lies at the heart of Christian identity. The earliest followers of Jesus were ‘disciples’. We continue to talk of Christian believers as those who are involved in discipleship. Here in this community, we have Covenant Discipleship groups, there is a bible study abroad in the Church called “Disciple” and most of the clergy in this Annual Conference are part of something called “Discipler Groups”. The United Methodist Church is even organized under a book known as “The Book of Discipline”–which, I grant you, is not the warmest sounding title you could come up with.
But, what is a disciple?
Well, many of you may know that ‘disciple’ means “student”. In fact, that’s all the Greek word ?????? mathete means: “student”. Well, heck, we all know what a student is? What’s the big mystery?
We all know that a student studies a ton of information. You take tests. You write papers. You demonstrate your mastery of the course material. And then you get a degree–a piece of paper giving you a bachelor’s degree. (I’m not sure why they named the degree after a single man who usually lives alone in a studio apartment, but there it is.) If you continue your studies, you can go on to get a master’s degree. I guess at that point you’re worthy of being called a “Master” and you can go out and get students of your own.
Okay, so that’s a student. But is that what we mean by a disciple? Is that how we understand our call to Christian discipleship? Something we study and agonize for and are frequently tested on?
Something about that model doesn’t ring true. We don’t really every picture the disciples running around between classes, We can’t imagine them having meetings with their advisors. Studying for tests while walking along the road to Capernaum.
II. DISCIPLESHIP
Of course, discipleship was understood differently. Discipleship was a whole different affair.
A student would go to study with a teacher and with that teach alone. One did not have a variety of professors or instructors, but one master to whom one was apprenticed. And this relationship would last years. You would study at the feet of this master, be instructed along with the other disciples in the wisdom and guidance of the master. And your tuition at the hands of the teacher would consist in modeling your own life on that of the master you served. In fact, it should be fairly obvious to all who encountered you whose disciple you were based on the understanding you had, the values you embraced, and the pattern of life that you led.
This was the model of instruction in the ancient world. This is the pattern of discipleship that lies behind the New Testament use of the word. Being a “student” did not involve studying for an exam, or writing a paper that you hoped would impress your professor enough to earn an ‘A’. It involved years of formation and modeling your life upon that of your teacher, your master. The things your master did, you did. The things your master taught, you taught.
III. TUITION IN LOVE
And so what is it then, that our master, teaches us? For that all we need to is look back to the text we read a few minutes ago. Jesus is sharing his final meal with his disciples and he gets up from the table, takes off his outer robe, ties a towel around himself and begins to wash his disciples feet. Some–notably Peter–object, but Jesus insists. After he is finished he says:
“Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”
What Jesus teaches us then is about love. As I have often said, love is not a sappy feeling. Love is not an emotion. Love is a way of living in right relationship. For Jesus that love is demonstrated in being a servant to others. The honorable one becomes the humble one. The Master becomes the servant. The teacher washes the feet of the students.
And language of discipleship is found throughout this teaching: “I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.” Jesus is commanding his disciples not simply to be aware of what it means to love, but to do it. “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” You are not blessed because you know something backwards and forwards. You are blessed because you have taken up the model of your master and lived out a life of loving service to others.
IV. DEFINITION
There are those who would seek to define you by what you know, by what you have learned. There are others who would define you by what you have accomplished, by what you have done. And of course there are those who would define you by who you know. All three of those definitions can be found in abundance in this city.
But you are not defined by any of those things. You, as Christian disciples, are defined by whose you are. You are defined not by the quality of your knowledge, or the ability to recall information, or by the lines on your resumes. You are defined, as Christian disciples, by who your teacher is.
A Christian disciple is not a know-it-all. A Christian disciple is not one who is a master of theology or one who is skilled in apologetics. A Christian disciple is not one who can speak at length about the finer points of Trinitarian theology and can explain in great detail how the whole scheme of salvation works. A Christian disciple is not meant to give learned presentations on arcane topics of religion. That is what it means to be a student today.
A Christian disciple is an old-school student, one who listens to her master’s teaching, one who attempts to live out that teaching, and embodies her teacher in her very being. One who follows in the footsteps of her teacher with every step of her life.
That is what it means to be a disciple.
V. END
We gather tonight to celebrate mystery. The mystery of one who loves us beyond our ability to comprehend. The mystery of one who came into Jerusalem that week to proclaim God’s kingdom in spite of our imminent rejection of him. One who gathered his disciples together in an upper room in Jerusalem and gave them one final lesson: love one another as I have loved you. One who demonstrated that love through humble service, who washed the feet of his disciples in humility, even as he was established as their master.
And one who reminds us that it is not on account of our birth that we are known as disciples. It is not on account of our mastery of the complexities of theology that we are known. It is not on account of our pious observance of religion that we are known as disciples. But we are known by our love for one another: By this everyone will know that we are his disciples, if we have love for one another.
