Jesus Washes
"Jesus Washing Peter’s Feet" by Ford Madox Brown, circa 1852-56, currently stored at the Tate Museum in Great Britain. Photo by Alonso de Mendoza via Wikimedia Commons.
As we prepare to observe the holiest week of the Christian year, I've been reflecting on the lives and actions of people who say they're following Jesus. I've come to some conclusions about my own faithfulness.
1. Anytime I intervene on behalf of someone vulnerable, I am following Jesus.
2. Anytime I refuse to bow down to the false idols of consumerism, I am following Jesus.
3. Anytime I subvert the dominant political narrative with the gospel message that God, not Caesar, is ruler of the universe, I am following Jesus.
4. Anytime I protect and live in harmony with God's Creation, I am following Jesus, the Christ in whom all Creation holds together.
5. Hardest of all for me, anytime I choose to respond to hatred with a disciplined witness of love, I am following Jesus.
6. Anytime I endure retribution for these actions, even to the point of putting my life on the line, I am following Jesus.
Following Jesus requires commitment and sacrifice, not mere tolerance, but understanding love, mercy and humility. Anyone who says differently doesn't get it. Faith isn't an assent to a set of beliefs; it's trust that, no matter what, Jesus' teaching about God's unconditional love for us is true eternally. Nothing can separate us from that love. When we live out that love, we follow Jesus.
Starting this Sunday, we follow Jesus through the last week of his earthly life. I hope to relive the experience in such a way that all its glory, power, betrayal, Crucifixion death and vigil are transformed by Resurrection joy. I hope all who seek to follow Jesus will have a similar journey through life into death and again into life.
Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011. This article is revised from a Facebook post with the assistance of her friends.