"Sweat Equity" - John l3:l-l7 - April 9, l998

This past Monday we broke ground for another home to be built by Habitat for Humanity. That is the program that enables low income families to own a home. The program requires that each family put in over 300 hours of labor. This is called "sweat equity." There is an organization, donors of material, and many volunteers which help with the building of the home, but without "sweat equity" there is no real ownership of the home by the family. What makes the program work is the sacrificial service by all the participants.

No one understood the meaning of sacrifice better than Jesus. However, Jesus is not advocating that we all make a sacrifice by taking our shoes off and washing each others feet. Rather, he is encouraging us to (l) be servants, (2) practice hospitality, and (3) be humble. For his disciples to understand the full nature of being a servant, he washed their feet. Peter resisted, but Jesus responds by saying, "a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him."

Jesus said that "he came not to be served but to serve." Unless we understand that being faithful means we are to be servants, we have missed a crucial understanding of the gospel. I, like many people, like to be waited on. I admit that it feels good to be served rather than be a servant to others. It isn’t simply a matter of volunteering to do something without pay or helping others because they can benefit from your help. It is using your talents and gifts in such a way that brings fulfillment. It is a willingness to give our love even to those we think are below us.

In the foot washing event Jesus wanted his disciples and followers to grasp the meaning of hospitality. Foot washing was a custom in that time where a host would wash the feet of their guests as a gesture of hospitality and/or friendship. When I had my birthday celebration last December, we invited our Japanese neighbors. They came and stayed for about an hour. Here they were in the midst of mostly "church" people and relatives but very much a part of the event. They brought a gift which the woman, Keoshi, had made especailly for me. They even took pictures. Later they returned with the pictures they had taken. They were very proud of the one where I was holding there littel two year old daughter. I must confess that they seemed more hospitable to me than I have been to them.

Jesus wants us to welcome others into our lives just as he welcomes us into his. Foot washing is symbolic of our mutual recognition and acceptance. It means we don’t compare and think of ourselves as better than someone else. It means we are together in our faith. We acknowledge each other, respect each other and care for each other. As he says in his sermon that follows, "we are to love one another."

The foot washing event took place during a meal. It was Passover and this was a festive occasion. It was good for Jesus and his disciples to be together, since he wouldn’t be with them much longer. This occasion was an opportunity for them to be intimate with Jesus one last time. The heart of the message which follows has to do with the relationship of the disciples with Jesus and their relationship with each other.

Relationships are not automatic. They have to be built and nurtured. To receive another we have to decide to receive them. Jesus reaches out to us, but like Judas, we can reject him. We reject him when we don’t practice hospitality. We reject him when we resist being servants. When we reject others it is the same as rejecting Jesus. Entering into a relationship with another person means we make a conscious decision to love them.

The foot washing event required a real act of humility. Without humility we are unable to know the full meaning of being a servant. Humility, as understood in the New Testament, means a lack of concern for one’s own prestige and consequently valuation of others above self. Humility is primarily an attitude. It does away with selfish pride and arrogance. Humility means we enter into fellowship with another person with total acceptance and love.

How do we learn humility? Sometimes we learn it by accident when something happens that causes us to swallow our pride. Or, there is no one else to do a job which requires getting our hands dirty and only we are left to do it. Others can model for us and we can read about it. But, the best way to realize it is to practice it. What I have observed in the Habitat program is the unselfishness I see in those who participate. People are helping build homes for folks who could never get credit at a bank or have the resources to build their own home. They are reaching out to complete strangers and accepting them as equals.

Foot washing has to do with unity and intimacy. Peter was struggling with this too. He thought that Jesus wanted to wash his feet as to cleanse him. But, foot washing isn’t about water, it’s about a relationship. Think about how lonely your life would be if you didn’t have relationships with other people. Think about how meaningless your life would be if you had no one to share your secrets, your problems, your joys and sorrows. Jesus knows that his ministry will continue when his followers have built strong relationships. Humility and hospitality make that happen.

I am always amazed when I see Hospice volunteers tending the wounds of those who are terminally ill. Without complaint and total dedication they give aid to complete strangers. Several weeks ago I was visiting the home of a elderly parishioner who had a hospice worker present. She remembered me from another client and we talked about the intimate moments we shared as we watched that person slowly slip away. Because we both had helped that person in the last months of her life the two of us shared a common bond.

I believe this is the kind of experience Jesus wants us to have as people of faith. We are bonded together by our service. We accept people and bring them into the household of faith by practicing humility and hospitality. By building relationships and creating a sense of belonging we are engaging in the art of foot washing or as we say in Habitat doing "sweat equity."

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio