Get Down

The death penalty teaches us something we should already know, but often don’t want to admit: we live in a country where people are expendable. We see it clearly when we throw away one of them through execution, but most of the people we’ve killed have been treated as expendable their entire lives. We kill the poor. We kill children who were in the foster care system, children on whom we spend very little resources for their growth, education, and well-being. We kill the mentally handicapped. We kill those who can’t afford lawyers. The people we kill are people we have been slowly killing throughout their entire lives.

But today in Maundy Thursday, the day when Jesus got down on his knees and washed the feet of the very ones who would betray him. If ever there were expendable members of a community, these betraying disciples were it. But Jesus teaches us that none are expendable. All deserve loving care. And if we are to be disciples in Jesus’ new community we must do as he did: get down on our knees and wash the feet of others. Long before people find themselves in a courtroom, we tell them through our love and service, “You are not expendable. You are a beloved child of God, and I am honored to get down on my knees for you.”

-Sarah