April 2nd, 2026 - Maundy Thursday - "Cleanup Crew" - Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris

Matt Nelson: Welcome to the sermon podcast from First United Methodist

Church in downtown Bentonville.

If you have questions related to what you hear today or just want to find

out more about the ministries of First United Methodist Church, please visit us

online at fumcbentonville.org or check us out on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok.

Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris: Hear now the word of the Lord.

Before the festival of Passover, Jesus knew that his time had come to

leave this world and go to the Father.

Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them fully.

Jesus and his disciples were sharing the evening meal.

The devil had already provoked Judas, Simon Iscariot's son, to betray Jesus.

Jesus knew the Father had given everything into his hands, and that he had come

from God and was returning to God.

So he got up from the table and took off his robes.

Picking up a linen towel, he tied it around his waist.

Then he poured water into a wash basin and began to wash the disciples' feet,

drying them with the towel he was wearing.

When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, "Lord, are you going to

wash my feet?" Jesus replied, "You don't understand what I'm doing now,

but you will understand later." "No," Peter said, "You will never wash my

feet." Jesus replied, "Unless I wash you, you won't have a place with me."

Simon Peter said, "Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head."

After he washed the disciples' feet, he put on his robes and

returned to his place at the table.

He said to them, "Do you know what I've done for you?

You call me teacher and Lord, and you speak correctly, because I am.

If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too

must wash each other's feet.

I have given you an example.

Just as I have done, you also must do.

I assure you, servants aren't greater than their master, nor are those who are

sent greater than the one who sent them.

Since you know these things, you will be happy if you do them." This is the

word of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

You may be seated.

I'm gonna take you behind the scenes tonight and tell you that Ray and I

vehemently disagree about foot washing

And we have had a lot of conversation about this.

And what it turns out as we've had that conversation, we've, we've realized that

we basically break on sacramental lines.

And what I mean by that is, do we consider foot washing a sacrament or not?

Ray holds to the sacramental side in saying that Jesus tells us to do

it and we should do it, which is one of the arguments for the sacraments.

Jesus instructs us to do something, we should do it.

We do that with baptism, communion, and he argues also with foot washing.

Whereas I say that we do things that make sense within our context, and this

does not make sense in our context.

I have never come into someone's house and had them say, "Oh, your feet are so dirty.

Let me wash those for you." Right?

Now, this is a long tension in Christianity, and it is a dividing

point within Protestantism.

There are some Protestant churches that count foot washing as a sacrament.

There are some that do not.

And there is this disagreement.

There's no disagreement about baptism, and it fits both things.

Jesus tells us to do it, we should do it, and we do still need to be cleaned,

and we use water to clean ourselves, so contextually it also makes sense.

There's no division on communion.

Communion makes sense.

Because Jesus told us to do it, we should do it, and we all gather around

a table and share a common meal.

There are disagreements about other things that are considered sacraments, like

ordination and marriage and confession.

There's arguments about whether Jesus did those, required those of everyone.

Are they applicable in every context?

Some- those are only considered sacraments in the, the Catholic Church.

But foot washing is this divide.

You know, those that consider it a sacrament say it is still needed.

We are still in need of cleansing, and we are still in need of getting on our

knees and being humble before others.

And then there are those that say we have socks

And our feet do not need to be cleaned by strangers.

So if I'm gonna stand on the this needs to be adapted side, right, then I better

come up with what is the adaptation.

So back behind the scenes as we're having this conversation in staff meeting, I

said to our worship team, "All right, then this is supposed to represent

humble hospitality, the willingness to lower yourself, to make yourself into

a servant, and to offer hospitality, make someone feel welcome in your home.

So what is the equivalent of an act of humble hospitality today?" And

I have to tell you, we were stumped

For many moments, we sat in silence, unable to figure out an equivalent act.

And I think we all need to pause and reflect on that

And if we are lacking in humility, or lacking in hospitality, or both

But we finally reflected and we decided that perhaps the place where

we experience hospitality the most in Bentonville is at restaurants.

That's where we go and are received by the hospitality industry.

So at first we thought, "Okay, the most humble, hospitable action

is that of a busboy." But busboys are still eye to eye with us.

Busboys are still part of our community.

Busboys still receive thanks from us as we get up from the table.

We dug a little deeper and realized there was someone even more

humble, and that is the dishwasher.

Because the dishwasher is doing incredibly physical and invisible work.

They are the servants who are ignored, and yet their service is expected.

And they deal with our dirt, really intimately deal with our dirt.

And if they do their job, then they prepare a safe and clean and welcoming

table and never receive any credit for it

The only time the dishwasher is noticed is if they do their job

poorly, and then people complain

So I love that we're conflicted in this moment.

I love that we're conflicted about whether this is sacramental or not, and that

we're conflicted about humble hospitality.

I think that puts before all of us a challenge and an opportunity.

And because we are a church where all are welcome, Ray is going to

wash some feet in a minute here.

Predetermined, so if you all are panicking right now, don't worry.

Predetermined, and I will just say I'm keeping my socks on.

I'm not one of them.

But he is going to model that, along with some other folks are gonna model

this for you, and reflect on how holy of a space that is, and what Jesus

is calling us to through it, and how it does take on sacramental elements.

But also, I am going to give you a challenge to live this out in a

way that makes sense contextually.

So I want you to do at least one of three things.

Number one, I know there's still a mess to clean up in Heinz Hall,

so when this service is over, go back down there and help.

Do the work of a servant so that the next time we gather, it's in a hospitable place

Second, if you don't cook the Easter dinner, offer to do the dishes.

Oh, I got an amen up here.

I think somebody's cooking the Easter dinner.

Offer to do the dishes.

And then the third one

The next time you go out to dinner, take a thank you note with you

And look at the dishes, and if they are clean,

write a note and ask it to be taken to the dishwasher so that

they know the difference their act of humble hospitality made.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.

Matt Nelson: Thanks for listening to the sermon podcast from First United

Methodist Church in downtown Bentonville.

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FUMC

Bentonville welcomes all.

Because we believe the communion table is God's table, we invite

everyone into our church family.

We welcome and celebrate every race, gender, gender identity, sexual

orientation, marital status, age, physical and mental ability, national origin,

economic station, and political ideology.

We come together in action and outreach, aspiring to follow Jesus' example of

radical hospitality, love, and grace as a transformative movement in our community.

Please join us for worship on Sunday mornings at 9:00 AM, 10:10 AM, and 11:00

AM, live, and on our YouTube channel.

Grace and peace.