Holy Thursday—C2004
1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-15
Deacon Lee Hunt (St. Monica)

Serve Others

On Holy Thursday, we remember when Jesus celebrated the first Eucharist with his Apostles. In the second reading, St. Paul tells the Corinthians of the tradition he had received, and passed on to them, about what Jesus did at the last supper. His emphasis is what the Christian community does when it gathers in Jesus’ memory.

However, today’s Gospel focuses on something else that Jesus did during the Last Supper: the washing of his disciples’ feet.

Something happened not too long ago in an affluent North Carolina community that helps put the washing of feet into perspective.

In that community there is a parish in which many of the members are the local leaders in town. The pastor felt that the parish did not do enough to challenge these leaders to use their Christian influence to bring about important improvements within the community.

So the pastor invited these influential leaders to a meeting during which he washed their feet as a sign of servant-leadership. He then challenged them to use their leadership opportunities in service to others by asking each leader to “champion” one of several needs of the community.

The leaders accepted their challenge and redirected substantial energy, influence, and resources on the community needs. They used their leadership opportunities to help their community in ways they had not previously considered. These local leaders had taken up their towels to serve the people around them.

In a few minutes, some of us will have our feet washed in memory of what Jesus did on the night before he died. Even though Jesus’ execution was imminent, he spent his time with his disciples that night teaching them, feeding them, and setting for them an example. He did all this in a way that they and we will never forget.

Our situation at St. Monica is like that in North Carolina. We may not be a recognized leader in the local community, but we have the opportunity to be a Christian leader in our family, where we play, and at work. It is not important how many committees we’re on or what doors our names can open. What is important is the use we make of the opportunities we have available.

However, being servants in our culture is not easy. Our culture teaches us to be independent of others, to be in control of our situations, and to be the winner. It’s often about me and not about others. It is very difficult for us self-possessed, self-directed human beings to relinquish control of our lives to serve the needs of others.

Recently I saw on TV a positive discussion by employees of companies run by servant-leaders. For example, a well-recognized, successful company that uses servant-leadership is Southwest Airlines, which is part of an otherwise financially struggling industry.

Servant leaders are different than leaders that we think of as normal. Servant-leaders first want to serve. Then they acquire the experience to lead. They are sharply different from people who are leaders first, perhaps because of the need to satisfy an unusual power drive or to acquire more material possessions. Think of the ex-leaders of companies such as Enron and Worldcom. Once they established leadership, they seem to have served only themselves.

A good servant-leader makes sure that other people’s highest-priority needs are being met. This allows those who are served to have human dignity and to grow as persons. While being served, they become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, and more likely to become servants themselves. Eventually, the less privileged in society will benefit, or, at least, will not be further deprived. This type of leadership has more of a Christian dimension to it than what is normal today.

Can you imagine that some companies are actually implementing the service attitude that Jesus taught by the washing of feet 2,000 years later? How’d you like to work for a company like that, either as an employee or servant-leader?

On this first night of this holy Triduum, we are left with this command: “As I have done for you, you should also do.” The graciousness of God toward us prompts us to pass over from being served to serving others. Our thanksgiving is expressed in our own self-emptying service to others. Having received the gifts of God, we give them away; they flow from God through us to others.