John 13:1-17
Francois Clemmons –
joined the cast of Mr. Rogers in 1968
Fred heard him
singing and invited him to be on the show – as a police officer. Didn’t like it
at first…
Came around to it…
one scene from 1969…
Early on… Mr.
Rogers cooling off his feet in a kids’ pool, invited Officer Clemmons to join
him in cooling off his feet, and then took a towel and dried them off. Let me
help you dry them.
"He invited me to come over and to rest
my feet in the water with him," Clemmons recalls. "The icon Fred
Rogers not only was showing my brown skin in the tub with his white skin as two
friends, but as I was getting out of that tub, he was helping me dry my
feet." Clemmons says the scene — which the two also revisited in their
last episode together, in 1993 — touched him in a way he hadn't expected.
"I think he was making a very strong
statement. That was his way. I still was not convinced that Officer Clemmons
could have a positive influence in the neighborhood and in the real-world
neighborhood, but I think I was proven wrong," he says.
During Clemmons' time on the show, he wasn't
simply the friendly neighborhood police officer. Off the set, he was also a
Grammy-winning singer, who performed in over 70 musical and opera roles and
founded the Harlem Spiritual Ensemble.
Rogers, for his part, wasn't simply Clemmons'
iconic co-star. He was also Clemmons' "friend for life."
He says he'll never forget the day Rogers
wrapped up the program, as he always did, by hanging up his sweater and saying,
"You make every day a special day just by being you, and I like you just
the way you are." This time in particular, Rogers had been looking right
at Clemmons, and after they wrapped, he walked over.
Clemmons asked him, "Fred, were you
talking to me?"
"Yes, I have been talking to you for
years," Rogers said, as Clemmons recalls. "But you heard me today."
"It was like telling me I'm OK as a
human being," Clemmons says. "That was one of the most meaningful
experiences I'd ever had."[1]
Their last show in 1993 – I watched it
several times this past week…
Do you have a song to sing for my friend and
I?
There are many ways to say “I love you.”
There are many ways to say “I love you.”
In the gospel of John, we move into the events of Holy
Week halfway through the gospel… so maybe it makes sense that just twelve days
into Lent, we’re beginning to hear the stories that we traditionally hear at
the end. In John, there are a lot of words… but here, the words are not so
important as the actions.
Jesus washes the feet of the disciples— here are three
things to notice…
First, this seems
to be an ‘in-house’ practice. Jesus doesn’t take the basin outside and wash the
feet of every passersby. Rather, he is washing his disciples’ feet...and
encourages them to wash each others’ feet. Some of us might feel like: “This is
so insider! We need to wash everyone’s feet!!”
Well, nice
thought...but here, we’re challenged to start close in. This seems to be caring
for one another in the Church, in our closest circles, where we know who has
betrayed and disappointed us or who probably will…. It may actually be easier
to call for care for the ‘immigrant, homeless, orphan, stranger’ than the
people we know best…
But this act seems
to ask us, how are we caring for one another?
Second, washing
feet means that the disciples have been in the streets, on the road. People who
don’t leave the house won’t have dirty feet. Jesus expects that his disciples
will be walking the roads of life, that they’ll be getting their feet dirty.
How are we getting our feet dirty?
Then, Jesus does
this without being asked, and—as far as we know—without anyone saying, “My feet
sure are dirty. I wish somebody would wash them.” Jesus sees the need, and he
acts. He sees the needs of his loved ones...and he addresses the need. How many times do we go by one of our gathering spaces, the
church kitchens, or a Sunday school classroom...and someone has left a mess—big
or small. Rather than getting irritated, we can grab a towel...and “wash
someone’s feet”...save whoever made the mess from criticism...and make sure the
place is ready for the next person or people coming through.
How many times do
we wait until someone says something before we act? How many times do we do the
good deed but resent it? [2] Here, Jesus says, the kind of service I’m inviting you into is
beyond resentment, the kind that blesses you when you do it.
We are so delighted to participate
today in the action of Landon’s baptism… it’s kind of a surprise to be invited
to host this special day because Candi and Brian haven’t worshipped here at
Christ regularly since they moved…
But it is always a joy and privilege
to be invited to be witnesses to Christ’s action—with a little water and God’s
promises, reminding us that God claims us as beloved ones. It’s a washing that
helps us remember, we’re clean (not because of what we’ve done, but because of
what God’s done)…
and that next we’re invited into these world-changing practices (like washing feet) that Jesus showed us. We won’t always understand the impact of the little things we do or say along the way (just like the disciples didn’t really get the foot washing until later…) but Jesus promises, “You’ll be blessed as you do them.”
and that next we’re invited into these world-changing practices (like washing feet) that Jesus showed us. We won’t always understand the impact of the little things we do or say along the way (just like the disciples didn’t really get the foot washing until later…) but Jesus promises, “You’ll be blessed as you do them.”
As you care for each other’s dirty
feet, as you share each other’s tables, as you pray for good for the very
people who will doubt or betray or disappoint you later on (they will, right? Just
as you will doubt or betray or disappoint them at some point). But it isn’t
because we’re so good that we do this, it’s because we’re sharing the road of
life and the way we’re called to share that road is with deep, embracing, care
and love.
And even at the point when we can’t
do much… we can pray for people who haven’t even asked for it...but who are
getting dirty on the road of life. There is not one of us who can’t make a call
or write a note or send a text that says, “Hey...thinking of you today. You are
in my prayers...that God may give you all the strength and wisdom you need for
this day.”
Or maybe like Fred Rogers, we say it more
simply, "You make every day
a special day just by being you, and I like you just the way you are."
There are many ways to say, “I love you.” And Jesus calls today, “You know this—so do it!”
There are many ways to say, “I love you.” And Jesus calls today, “You know this—so do it!”
