Dear friends in Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The last words which people utter before their death are often memorable.  At times, the last words are sublime and comforting. On her deathbed, the poet Emily Dickinson whispered softly, “I must go in, the fog is rising.”  English poet Lord Byron sighed, “Now I shall go to sleep. Goodnight.”  Even the more practical inventor Thomas Edison whispered, “It is very beautiful over there.”

The last words of our loved ones often touch the very core of the soul and become vivid in our memories.  Simply ask, friends and family who have lost someone dear to them.  I recall poignantly the words of my mother-in-law as she prepared for her final journey, “Everything will be just fine.”  Sometimes, however, the last words can feel like a final work assignment. That was certainly how Jesus’ last words touched his disciples.

The morning gospel reading includes a portion of the final words spoken by Jesus on the night in which betrayed.  He pronounced these words after he had finished washing his disciples’ feet and then announced that one of them would betray him. It was a remarkable and confusing scene. As a teacher, Jesus wasn’t expected to perform such menial tasks. Yet, he even added a good Lutheran twist scene and asked his disciples, “What does this mean?”  He then went on to answer the question himself.  “We are to fear and love God the Teacher, so that if he has washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”  And then came the final assignment.  “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

Of course, these wouldn’t be Jesus’ true final parting words, but this last assignment would bear Christ’s unique signature on the world. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  My friend, this morning I would like us to meditate on Jesus’ new commandment.  For what does it mean to love others as Jesus has loved us?

Throughout the history of the church, theologians have wrestled with this passage. Some scholars have said that Jesus was advocating an intimate, personal love which could only be experienced within a close fellowship where men and women freely forgave and supported each other.  In monastic communities, washing one another’s feet was ritualized for the sake of internalizing the virtues of humility, service, and selfless love.  Other theologians have suggested that Jesus’ act of washing symbolized the vastness of God’s love for all creation. He himself readily knelt before the poor and needy of the world.  Certainly, foot washing was a cultural part of Middle-Eastern hospitality. It was good and refreshing for the guest who entered the home and minimized the dust and sand brought into the home of the host. The late Harry Wendt, an important biblical scholar mentor for me, offered yet another perspective. He felt Jesus washing the disciples’ feet was the pivotal moment in Jesus’ teaching which turned the religious world’s notion of greatness upside down and refocused the ministry of the church. Greatness was not about being served, but it was about serving. Wendt was so focused on this interpretation that he had a large, hand carved olive wood statue of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet on his office desk.

On the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus washed the feet of all his disciples.  He even washed the feet of Judas, the one who would betray him, as well as Peter, the one who would deny him.  And he washed the feet of all the rest who would fail to stand by him in his hour of greatest distress. The love that Jesus demonstrated that night and commanded his disciples to practice was certainly not based on their affection and faithfulness.

In his parting words, Jesus couldn’t be clearer  which is why his new commandment still echoes and haunts us unto this generation.  It is not by our theological correctness that the world will know that we are his disciples. Nor is it by our moral purity, or by our attentiveness to the confession that the world will come to know Christ- or even our good intentions.  It is quite simply by our loving acts of service and sacrifice.  These acts of love and mercy point to the love of God in the world.  As we used to sing in an old Bible camp song, “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”  For Jesus, god-like love wasn’t a sweet sentimental feeling. It meant action which could bring change into the world. Yes, Christ’s love, freely poured out has the power to change broken lives.

The late Pope Francis was known for his frequent breaks with tradition, and washing the feet of others on Maundy Thursday was one such example. He washed the feet of various individuals, including people with disabilities, prisoners, refugees, always demonstrating humility and service. In his last Maundy Thursday foot washing service in 2024, Francis washed the feet of 12 women at a prison in Rome.  The then 87-year-old pontiff, who had been experiencing health and mobility difficulties, washed the feet of each of the women from his wheelchair, many of whom were in tears as he did so. For Pope Francis, washing someone else’s feet was learning to walk in their shoes. But he also believed that it was the most intimate way of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with  those who had never heard.

That is the gospel that Jesus has entrusted to us in his last words and final commandment.  There is no one beyond the love of God. There is no one who cannot be forgiven, or offered God’s love, or receive the gift of his mercy and promise of everlasting life- except for the one, like Judas Iscariot, who walks out of the room and closes the door.  Pope Francis ended his Maundy Thursday homily in the women’s prison with a few brief sentences, saying “Jesus never tires of forgiving, but we tire of asking forgiveness. Today, let us ask the Lord for the grace not to tire. All of us have small failures, big failures — everyone has their own story — but the Lord awaits us always with open arms and never tires of forgiving.”

My friends, loving those with whom you agree is the easy part of the Christian life. Loving those with whom you disagree or those whom you disregard as below you or insignificant, or undeserving is hard  But let me assure, our world changes when love prevails. When we love one another as Christ has loved us– no matter who they are, love wins.  That is the victory Christ has won. Amen.

May the peace of Christ which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.