In a German prison camp just months before World War Two
ended, Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds stared down the barrel of a Nazi’s pistol and
refused to identify the Jews among his fellow prisoners of war.
“We are all Jews here,” said Sergeant Edmonds, the
highest-ranking American noncommissioned officer in the prison. “The Geneva
Convention does not require prisoners to divulge their religion,” Sergeant
Edmonds added, warning that if the German shot them, he would be tried for war
crimes.
Edmonds’ act of defiance spared the lives of 200 Jews.[1]
On Maundy Thursday Christians commemorate Jesus washing the feet
of his disciple, Jesus’ Last Supper, and his giving his disciples a new
commandment to love one another.[2] Each
represents an important aspect of the Christian tradition.
Foot washing – washing and often anointing with perfumed oil
the dirtiest part of the body among people who wore sandals or went barefoot in
an often dusty and sometimes muddy place – was an act of hospitality performed
by the household’s lowest member or servant. Hawaiian residents certainly understand
foot washing is an act of hospitality. Jesus humbly performing this task memorably
emphasizes that Christians are called to servant leadership. Washing dirty feet
metaphorically recalls Holy Baptism, renewing our baptismal vows by dipping our
fingers into the baptismal or other holy water font and then making the sign of
the cross, a priest washing her or his hands before officiating at the
Eucharist, and other moments in which we experience God’s forgiving, healing
love. Similar to foot washing occurring when people gathered, Holy Baptism is our
sacramental that welcome into the Body of Christ.
We remember and celebrate Jesus’ Last Supper in the
Eucharist, now the central act of worship in the Episcopal Church. Prior to the
adoption of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, our worship was more focused
on Scripture and most parishes only celebrated the Eucharist once a month. A
major reason for this shift in was a growing recognition that God feeds us in the
Eucharist. Many Episcopalians mysteriously experience or receive grace necessary
to sustain their spiritual journey by participating in the Eucharist.
After the Last Supper, Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment.
Maundy Thursday derives its name from the Latin word mandares, meaning
mandate or commandment. Naming the day for this new commandment is very fitting.
Foot washing recalls Baptism and continuing dependence on God’s grace. In the
Eucharist, God nurtures us individually and forms us into a community, the body
of Christ. Jesus’ new commandment to his disciples that they love one another
as he loved them incarnates our new identity and proclaims us as Jesus’ people,
Christians.
I don’t know if Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds regarded himself
as a Christian. I do know that the love he showed for the other US military
personnel in that German POW camp, a love he courageously exhibited while
staring down the barrel of a pistol, a love so great that it saved the lives of
about 200 Jews, is precisely the love Jesus expects us to have for one another
and our neighbors. Those who attempt to walk intentionally in Jesus’ footsteps
should aim to make Edmonds’ extraordinary demonstration of love our everyday
lifestyle.
[1] Julie
Hirschfeld Davis, "Wartime Act of Defiance: ‘We Are All Jews Here’,"
New York Times, January 28, 2016 accessed at http://nyti.ms/1PEFdi6.
[2] John 13:1-17, 31b-35
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