The Very Rev. Anthony R. Pompa
The dictionary defines the word “by-stander” as a person present but not involved; chance spectator; onlooker. I was struck by the notion of a by-stander as I was listening to a story on NPR about the recent phenomena of Mob Flashes in center city Philadelphia, the phenomena of young kids converging at a particular geographical location at a coordinated time. There have been as many as a thousand on the scene at any given time. I appreciated the Philadelphia city official’s struggle as he was talking about how, in the most recent Mob Flash, a handful of teens out of the thousand turned violent and destructive. The question being discussed was what about the others. The conversation focused on the by-standers, those in the group of kids and those in the vicinity? The conversation about those who may be in the mob for the adrenalin rush and feeling of power, but internally are not approving of the violence and destruction, and those others in a state of shock and uncertainty look on. How many of these bystanders are there? Why are they immobilized in the face of violence and destruction? For those who are part of the mob, what moves them from being a participant in an act, to a by-stander that cannot act for the good or the ill?
The narrative that guides our faith this most holy of weeks is full of by-standers. There are those who were present but not involved in the happenings of Jesus of Nazareth and his followers. There are soldiers, citizens, clergy, and many others who watched both the excitement and the cruelty that would take place. There were many who would witness Jesus and choose to be a by-stander. The truth of the matter is that if you ponder the entire story and put it in historical context, the majority of those who witnessed Jesus in his life and ministry would be bystanders. They would be present at some point, onlookers, but choose not to become involved. Their lives would remain the same; they would be on-lookers. When they witnessed power, healing, love and intimacy, they were not changed or moved to make a decision of belonging to the followers of Jesus. They would not believe in who and what Jesus was up to, and they would therefore not behave in such a way as to help shape the new world Jesus proclaimed and described as God’s kingdom. When they witnessed the cruelty, harm and injustices that Jesus denounced and ultimately became the object of, they would do so as bystanders or onlookers. They watched perhaps with horror and dismay, but certainly kept a distance. There would be nothing that would change their belonging and believing, and therefore nothing that would move them to act in the midst of this cruelty.
If the definition of bystander is to be one who is present but not involved, then certainly we would not find this an adequate description for those that gathered around this Jesus on this most intimate night as Jesus prepares for the final act of his life. Who is it, then, who gather with Jesus if they are not by-standers? Who is it that have witnessed him in such a way that they are involved, present to every moment of this relationship and called into a deeper relationship that will inform their belonging, believing and behaving to proclaim this radical way of living Jesus describes as kingdom living? What makes the difference between by-standing and belonging, believing, and behaving?
These, I submit to you, are the focal questions for you, for us this night.
How do you and I experience Jesus this very night? Do we experience Jesus as one whom we look on from a distance, a distance of 2,000 years? Do we find ourselves looking on as chance spectators? Do we find ourselves present but in a way that does not involve us? Are we by-standers in this story that is ours, this story of faith and life, life and faith?
Or do we see this life and this faith and this night as an opportunity to be present with Jesus even as he promised to be present with us.
For you and me, the challenge is to know we are in this story; NO, I suggest to you that as a matter of fact we ARE this story.
We who dare to follow this Jesus are challenged this night to join him in this intimate moment the night before he dies. We are invited to sit in chair and offer our feet to be washed as if Jesus himself were washing them, and to ponder in our hearts the Mandatum (Maundy) he lays down for us in the totality of his life and in the humble action of his washing: We are as Jesus commands us to Love one another just as he loves us.
Now the commandment to love is not new. The Great Commandment to love God with all hearts, all soul, all mind, and all strength and to Love neighbor as ourselves, is found in Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. The new part of this commandment is the radical notion from Jesus that we love "as I have loved you."
So there are at least two challenges in this commandment. They are, of course, in relationship with one another.
One is to deeply and correctly discern how Jesus loves and to express that way of loving in our own lives. After all, it is the scripture that tells us that by loving one another in this way the world will know Jesus!
The other challenge comes especially for churchy folks like you and me. We “know this story” we read tonight. We have read it, heard it, marked it, and inwardly digested it, yet the challenge remains: will we become it? Folks like you and me may identify with Peter when he realizes Jesus is about to wash his feet. We may find the idea of Jesus washing our feet unnerving and we, ourselves, undeserving. We may find this foot washing an act of intimacy characterizing a relationship we may not fully understand, or so intimate we may not be ready to commit to it.
I wonder, perhaps, if this is an act of empowerment and as so is an act to move us beyond our fears, limitations, and inadequacies. I wonder, perhaps, if this act is a charge to live in the world bravely advocating for those who are poor, forgotten, downtrodden, abused, broken, despairing and hopeless, whether that someone is us, someone we know intimately or a stranger we do not yet know. I wonder if this is an act that moves us from bystander to belonging, believing, and behaving in this kingdom Jesus proclaims.
The commandment is NOT: Love one another as I have loved someone else.
The commandment is: “Love one another as I have loved YOU.”
Whether you come to have your feet washed this night or to meditate in your pew as the feet of others are washed, won’t you let Jesus love you this night? Won’t you join me in taking whatever steps we may to move past those places in us when it is more comfortable to be a bystander? Won’t you love one another belonging, believing, and behaving in such a way that the world knows the one and ones we are in communion with and the kingdom that is proclaimed? Amen.
