Washing Us Clean

Young Philip is eleven. His mom is homesick in the Carribean and wants to return with him to Virginia during World War II. On board the boat, they are attacked by German submarines. Philip feels something hit his head and he goes unconscious.

When Philip wakes up, he can see a large old black man leaning over him. His vision is foggy. He is on board a raft. The man introduces himself as Timothy.

Within a day, Philip is blind. Timothy protects Philip, taking part of the raft to build a small shelter for them from the sun. They land on a tiny island which they call The Cay, where Timothy builds a better shelter, fishes and teaches Philip how to feel his way around the tiny island.

After about a month on the island, Timothy says that he senses a storm coming. He ties their water jug to the tree and makes sure that Philip eats a good meal. Then he holds Philip against a tree, tying his body over Philip with vines until they are both lashed to the tree.

The storm comes and Timothy holds the little boy to the tree, protecting him from the elements. Timothy's back is cut to pieces. When the storm is over, Timothy is dead. But Philip is able to survive from all that Timothy has taught him . Eventually, Timothy is rescued.

Today we remember the last will and testament of Jesus. He did not create a written document. He did not have a durable power of attorney. But what he did, he did intentionally, with the knowledge that he was going to die.

What would you do if you had one day to live? What would you say?

Jesus did three things. He told us that he loved us and to love one another. He fed us. And he washed our feet.

We remember the food part every Sunday, how Jesus fed us. That's what we do with the ones we love, we gather with them for a meal. It is like saying, I love you and I want you to survive, so eat. We are more comfortable with this part. It is familiar to us and it is beautiful.

The second thing that Jesus did is so intimate, so completely vulnerable that it is disarming. It makes us uncomfortable, even two thousand years later. Jesus bathed the disciples, as a mother bathes her helpless baby, as a daughter bathed her mother's body after she died of cancer. Jesus washed our dirty, smelly feet. He loved even the ugliest, lowest part of us.

So when we reinact the foot-washing, look for God, see God. Use it as an icon. Picture how Jesus did it for the disciples and how he does it for you.

For Jesus knew that we are blind in comparison to God and we are all children to God. We need feeding and we need washing just like Philip. We cannot see what God is doing. We cannot see what is beyond this life. So Jesus lashed himself to us and took on the storm of death. He died for us so that we could live, so that we could see, so that we could believe.

- The Very Rev. Kate Moorehead