I always get anxious that everyone thinks Love Feast is weird. And it is a little bit, or maybe more than a little bit. The communion part is familiar enough to most people but washing someone's feet, even if it is just symbolically pouring water over them, isn't a normal part of our life. I am a big fan of getting a pedicure at a salon, but even that is very different. Jesus washing the feet of his friends after sharing a meal would have been weird too.
Feet washing was a part of daily life in that time and culture, but was typically done by a servant or woman when someone entered the house. In a place that was dry and dusty washing the dirt from someone's feet was an act of hospitality. Jesus's action at the table would have been wrong place, wrong time, wrong person. Even one of his friends at the table was like, "uhhh...nope? That's weird."
When I try to explain this part of Jesus's last supper I stumble, trying to make it sound as "not gross" as possible. But the action in its origin was weird and it is weird today too because it transgresses so many cultural norms. Trying to make something that intentionally disrupts expectations sound remotely normal is even more weird! So I'm stumbling and awkward, not for the first time, not for the last time. (It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, disrupting expectations and being weird.)
Jesus uses this weird thing as an act of love, and it tracks. Weird or not, it makes sense for what we know of him and how he lived in the world. His very being was disruptive and so how he modeled love would also disrupt expectations.
After he has washed the feet of his friends, he stands up, (washes his own hands, because my germ-aware self needs to interject this detail), folds up the towel, and says;
“If I, your Teacher, have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.”
So, we’ll be weird together, gather around tables to share pizza, communion and distrust norms with water and towels.
With a chosen partner/buddy, we will will have the opportunity to stoop or stand and pour water over their hands or feet, dry them, then wash your own hands in the sink with soap. As usual, nothing is required and you are welcome to participate in whatever way is right for you, whether that is watching or participating.
Email, text, call, if you have any questions. Seriously.
This is meant to be an evening of community and embracing weirdness together (with lots of laughter). I want us all to feel a sense of belonging in our disrupting.
TODAY, March 24, at 4 pm
I'll bring pizza!
Let me know ASAP if you’re vegan/gluten-free/allergic please.
BYOD, Bring Your Own Drink.