March 23: To Give and Receive
♫ Music:
Day 30 - Thursday, March 23
Title: THE SERVANT OF ALL; JESUS TEACHES HIS DISCIPLES HUMILITY
Scripture: John 13:1–17
Before the festival of the Passover began, Jesus realised that the time had come for him to leave this world and return to the Father. He had loved those who were his own in this world and he loved them to the end. By supper-time, the devil had already put the thought of betraying Jesus in the mind of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son. Jesus, with the full knowledge that the Father had put everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from the supper-table, took off his outer clothes, picked up a towel and fastened it round his waist. Then he poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel around his waist.
So he came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
“You do not realise now what I am doing,” replied Jesus, “but later on you will understand.”
Then Peter said to him, “You must never wash my feet!” “Unless you let me wash you, Peter,” replied Jesus, “you cannot share my lot.”
“Then,” returned Simon Peter, “please—not just my feet but my hands and my face as well!”
“The man who has bathed,” returned Jesus, “only needs to wash his feet to be clean all over. And you are clean—though not all of you.”
(For Jesus knew his betrayer and that is why he said, “though not all of you”.)
When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his clothes, he sat down and spoke to them, “Do you realise what I have just done to you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘Lord’ and you are quite right, for I am your teacher and your Lord. But if I, your teacher and Lord, have washed your feet, you must be ready to wash one another’s feet. I have given you this as an example so that you may do as I have done. Believe me, the servant is not greater than his master and the messenger is not greater than the man who sent him. Once you have realized these things, you will find your happiness in doing them.”
Poetry & Poet:
“Prayer”
by Tanakoz Tolkynkyzy translated by Patricia McCarthy
When a person I trust most betrays me,
please teach me to be strong.
When the senses take over my emotions,
please teach me to see my feelings
for what they are. When a car covers
my white dress with splashes of dirt
from the street, please teach me not to curse.
Whenever I flatter myself, teach me
not to lie to my child. When my wishes,
in all their innocence, are assumed wicked,
please teach me to be patient.
Whenever I see a disbeliever, please
teach me to see the God in him.
When days turn gloomy, teach me
to sleep like a baby. When nights
are stormy, teach me to leap to the moon.
When I fall totally in love, please teach me
to stay silent. And teach me to live
without sun in my body that is like a sunflower.
Better still, teach me to live totally
without sun. When the world is merciless,
teach me to be merciful. Whenever
I get injured, teach me to heal the wounded.
Teach me to believe in individuals,
to overcome my Self. Please teach me
to look as a saint on this immoral world.
When what seems to be a good word
is hurtful, please teach me
not to react. And when feelings
become tainted, teach me not to weep.
Whenever my gentle soul is hurt
by other sensitive people, please teach me
to forgive. When the pure world
is darkened by the innocent, please
teach me to get angry at myself,
at no one else. When the person closest
to me does not listen to my troubles,
please teach me to love him.
Teach me to lose.
Teach me to back off.
If you wish to change my fate,
I beg you: teach me to bow my head.
Please…
TO GIVE AND RECEIVE
This week’s devotionals focus on the last days of Jesus’ public ministry. On Sunday we read about Mary of Bethany washing Jesus’ feet with perfume. Indeed, an unsettling act in which she demonstrated extravagant love to Christ. We also get a foreshadowing of Jesus’ death through her use of perfume (John 12:7). Equally important in this exchange is that Jesus received Mary’s gift.
In today’s focus passage, John highlights a parallel act which took place not long after Mary’s gift to Jesus. Take a moment to read John 13:1-17.
Giving as a part of relationships
Alone with his disciples, Jesus begins to wash Peter’s feet. Yet, unlike Jesus who readily received Mary’s gift, Peter resists Jesus. Perhaps it was because societal norms would have precluded a teacher washing a student’s feet. Perhaps it was culturally appropriate to not accept a gift on the first offer. Or perhaps Peter still didn’t trust Jesus enough to follow his lead in all things.
In any case, Peter refused Jesus in that moment. In response, Jesus reminds Peter of the significance of the act. Jesus wasn’t just washing his disciples’ feet. He was demonstrating the intimacy of their relationship by offering himself to them. Peter’s refusal in that moment had implications in his relationship with Jesus. A refusal of Jesus’ act that night was a refusal of Jesus himself.
Receiving as a part of relationships
I resonate with Peter’s initial refusal of Jesus. My years in China trained me to refuse something twice before accepting it on the third offer. That cultural practice has become almost automatic. Yet sometimes my reasons for refusal are deeper. While I may long for ongoing meaningful relationships, it can be hard to receive anything from others. For me, and my guess is that for many of you as well, there is a tendency towards utilitarian, exchange-oriented relationships.
But Jesus modeled something different for his disciples by washing their feet. He was not only modeling humility and disrupting social hierarchies through humility. He also modeled how to indiscriminately offer himself in his relationships.
Reflection
Take a look at Luke Allsbrook’s Jesus Washes the Feet of the Disciples. The focus of the painting is on Jesus washing Peter’s feet; an intimate portrayal of relationship. Around the frame’s painting Allsbrook included John 13:13-17 which includes these words from Jesus, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (John 13: 15).
Given Jesus’ charge for us to follow his example, reflect on these questions:
1. Are there things that Jesus offers to me that I have refused?
2. Do I readily receive from people in my life?
3. How can I develop a practice of giving and receiving as part of meaningful relationships?
Prayer:
God, I pray for humility in relationships.
for humility to indiscriminately serve those around me,
for humility to receive from others,
for humility to follow your example in all things.
Dr. Jamie N. Sanchez
Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies
Chair of the Graduate Department and
Program Director for the Ph.D. and M.A. in the Intercultural Studies Program
Cook School of Intercultural Studies
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab
About the Translation of the Bible for the 2023 Lent Project:
J.B. Phillips New Testament Translation of the Bible
J.B. Phillips (1906-1982) was well-known within the Church of England for his commitment to making the message of truth relevant to today's world. Phillips' translation of the New Testament brings home the full force of the original message. The New Testament in Modern English was originally written for the benefit of Phillips' youth group; it was later published more widely in response to popular demand. The language is up-to-date and forceful, involving the reader in the dramatic events and powerful teaching of the New Testament. It brings home the message of Good News as it was first heard two thousand years ago.
https://www.biblegateway.com/
About the Artwork:
Jesus Washes the Feet of the Disciples
Luke Allsbrook
2017
Oil on canvas
68 x 80 in.
Collection of SMU Perkins School of Theology
Walking on the dusty roads of Israel necessitated the washing of one’s feet before reclining and eating at a low communal dinner table. But when Jesus rose to wash the feet of his disciples as a servant would have, they were stunned and humbled by his simple, lowly act of service. Our Lord came as an example of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53—“just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28, NIV) As his followers, we are called to emulate him by serving one another in humility and love. James A. Herbert, research professor of art at the University of Georgia, says of Allsbrook’s work, 'His paintings transcend the pictorial because they suggest not only an exterior vision, a heightened reality, but an interior soul-catching, a spiritual journey. They are simultaneously landscape and inscape, pervasive with the warm atmosphere of devout feeling as well as radiant phenomena, the light behind the eye as well as in front of it.”
Text carved on the frame:
When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
About the Artist:
Luke Allsbrook received a B.F.A. in painting from Indiana University (Bloomington) and an M.F.A. from the New York Academy of Art. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the US and is included in the Forbes Collection, the Mercedes Benz Collection, the U.S. Department of State, the Morris Museum of Art, and in the collection of HM King Charles III. The recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundations Grant, Allsbrook has taught drawing and painting at the New York Academy of Art, the Lyme Academy of Art, William Paterson University, UNC-Asheville, and in Italy with the University of Georgia Cortona Program.
https://www.lukeallsbrook.com/jesus-washes-the-disciples-feet
To watch a time-lapse video of artist Luke Allsbrook creating this painting, please click on the below link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts8BW6bnIMs
About the Music: “The Servant Song” from the album Sacred Song
Lyrics:
Will you let me be your servant,
Let me be as Christ to you;
Pray that I may have the grace to
Let you be my servant, too.
We are pilgrims on a journey,
We are brothers on one road;
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load.
I will hold the Christ-light for you
In the night-time of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
Speak the peace you long to hear.
I will weep when you are weeping;
When you laugh I'll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow
'Til we've seen this journey through.
Composer:
Richard Gillard (b. 1953) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. He says of his music, "I've had almost no formal musical training. I'm a self-taught guitarist and play mostly in a folk style." Regarding "The Servant Song," he says it "was first published in 1978 on a record album by Scripture in Song called Father Make Us One and has appeared subsequently in other Scripture in Song publications including a song book entitled Songs of Praise which is widely used by New Zealand congregations. It has also been recorded by the St. Paul’s Singers of St. Paul's Anglican Church.”
https://westwindmusic.weebly.com/
https://hymnary.org/person/Gillard_R
About the Performer:
Vince Ambrosetti began working in pastoral ministry at the young age of seven, and has worked with parishes ranging from one hundred families to parishes serving more than five thousand households. He completed his studies in systematic theology at the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana. In addition to his graduate studies in theology, Scripture, sacrament, and pastoral ministry, Ambrosetti founded International Liturgy Publications, the oldest nonprofit publisher of sacred music for the Catholic Church. To support the new and growing ILP, Ambrosetti brought his experience as the national director of training and development for Merrill Lynch in its Diversified Financial Services Group, and as the founder and president of American Fidelity Mortgage Corporation. Although he ceased involvement in business endeavors in 1990 to focus solely on parish missions and publishing for the Catholic Church, his business insights are a priceless addition to his interactions with pastors nationwide. Ambrosetti has been honored with three Grammy Awards.
https://www.veritasbooksonline.com/1968/vince-ambrosetti/
About the Poetry and Poet:
Tanakoz Tolkynkyzy (b. 1977) is a poet and journalist. She has worked in a range of mass media, and is currently a producer at the national TV Channel Qazaqstan in Kazakhstan. Her debut poems, published when she was eleven, won numerous literary contests among young poets. Since then her work has appeared frequently in literary periodicals, securing her reputation as an emerging writer. Tolkynkyzy has published four collections of poetry. Her verses are regarded as a fine example of contemporary Kazakh poetry for their expression of the most intimate feelings common to many Kazakh young women. She has translated poetry into Kazakh and edited the first anthology of Kazakh poets in Spanish and Azerbaijani.
https://thehighwindowpress.com/2019/09/20/contemporary-kazakh-poetry/
About Devotion Author:
Dr. Jamie N. Sanchez
Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies
Chair of the Graduate Department and
Program Director for the Ph.D. and M.A. in the Intercultural Studies Program
Cook School of Intercultural Studies
Biola University
Jamie N. Sanchez has been at Biola University since 2016. She is chair of the Graduate Department, program director for the Ph.D. and M.A. in Intercultural Studies Programs, and an associate professor in the Cook School of Intercultural Studies. She was recently awarded a CCCU research grant focused on resilience in refugee women. When she’s not working, she can be found hiking her way through Southern California.