Maundy Thursday - John 13:1-17, 31b-35 - The Rev. Colette Hammesfahr

 

Maundy Thursday – April 2, 2026 – John 13:1-17, 31b-35

On the first day of 7^th grade, Trevor McKinney’s social studies teacher gave the class an assignment. They were to think of an idea to change our world – and put it into action. This wasn’t just a normal assignment. It was something much bigger. It wasn’t just sitting down and writing a paper. Trevor and his class were tasked with doing something that would make the world different.

Trevor took this assignment very seriously. Imagine a 7^th grade boy trying to come up with one idea that would change the world – so many options. What would be manageable? What could a 7^th grade boy really do?

Trevor came up with one simple idea. His idea was to do one significant act of kindness for three people. It had to be something they cannot repay. And, instead of paying you back, they must “pay it forward” to three others.

He starts the ball rolling. First, he brings a homeless man home, lets him shower, and gives him food. Second, he tries to help a classmate who is being bullied. His third act of kindness is that he attempts to reconcile broken relationships around him.

As you can imagine, the people he helps don’t understand what’s happening. There is a cost associated with Trevor taking on these tasks. It’s awkward and uncomfortable for both parties. To those being helped, it seems a little suspicious. But soon, things begin to change. Trevor’s idea begins to spread. What began as one simple act starts to move and morph into something larger. One person helps another, and then another, and then another. It’s spreading not because he’s taken a lot time to explain things to people or because he’s spent a lot of time organizing the process. It’s spreading because the people who are receiving something unexpected begin to act differently. They know that someone has done something for them…and they find themselves doing it for someone else.

The foot washing, the Eucharistic meal, stripping of the altar, the altar of repose…these are all symbols and signs of this last evening with Jesus. Gathered around the disciples, after dinner, Jesus gets a basin and a pitcher of water; takes off his robe and washes the feet of the disciples. When he is done, he says to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?” Notice what Jesus says. He doesn’t say, “What I’ve done for you.” He says, “What I’ve done to you.” There’s a big difference between “for” and “to.” “For” is a gift – it can be held at a distance. “To” changes something. It means something has touched you, something has affected you.

The answer to Jesus’ question was, “No.” They didn’t know what Jesus had done to them. They just had their feet washed. He served them. He held their feet and touched their skin. It was a strange thing for Jesus to do. We know that Peter was uncomfortable with it. He tries to resist it. They don’t know what we know. They haven’t seen the cross of Good Friday. They don’t understand what Jesus has just done to them.

And then Jesus says, “You also should do as I have done to you.” He didn’t say, “Pay me back.” He didn’t say, “Earn this.” He said, “Do for others what has been done for you.” Don’t hold onto this love. Pay it forward.

This is how God works. It starts with something being done for you that you don’t fully understand. It’s grace that you didn’t earn and love that you didn’t expect. Then, somewhere along the way, you realize that it wasn’t done “for” you, it was done “to” you. When you realize that, your life changes. You find yourself serving, not because you have to but because something has already happened in you. Instead of saying, “I got help, now I’ll help someone else.” You say, “Something has happened to me…and now I can’t be the same.”

Maybe that’s the deeper connection to the classroom and Trevor’s “pay it forward” project. The teacher didn’t just give them an assignment so they could write about how to change the world. He gave it so something would happen to them. It would be something costly, and awkward, and real so they would discover that they were capable of more than they thought. So that they wouldn’t just understand kindness but become people who live it.

On this night, Jesus is doing the same thing. He is not just teaching the disciples about love. He is doing something to them so they will become people who love like him. Tonight, we may not fully understand what Christ is doing. But we are being loved.

Tonight is not the only time Christ does this. This is just one way we remember it. Because Christ has been kneeling in front of us in ways we didn’t recognize – in acts of kindness, in moments of grace, in people who have loved us when we didn’t deserve it.

Tonight Christ says, “Do you know what I have done to you?” Maybe not yet. But you will. Amen.