Nurture and Include

This is the fifth Sunday in Lent, and our theme for Lent is “I Will: Living Our Baptismal Vows.” Today’s reading is from the Gospel of John, the scene where Jesus washes the feet of the disciples and teaches them to love one another. Baptisms are moments of great joy in the congregation as we welcome a new child, but it is also a commitment during which the congregation makes a vow to nurture one another in the Christian faith and life and include this person in our care. We’re called to welcome and include the new, to open our hearts and minds to the new ones. It is a radical inclusion, demonstrated by Jesus’ washing the feet of those disciples. What happened when Jesus got to Judas Iscariot in that foot washing?