Lessons from Downton Abbey - Palm Sunday

Lessons from Downton Abbey, Week 6 – Palm Sunday, March 24

Bates, the Wounded Servant

Luke 19:29-38
As Jesus came to Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he gave two disciples a task. He said, “Go into the village over there. When you enter it, you will find tied up there a colt that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.  If someone asks, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say, ‘Its master needs it.’”  Those who had been sent found it exactly as he had said.  As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”  They replied, “Its master needs it.” They brought it to Jesus, threw their clothes on the colt, and lifted Jesus onto it.  As Jesus rode along, they spread their clothes on the road. As Jesus approached the road leading down from the Mount of Olives, the whole throng of his disciples began rejoicing. They praised God with a loud voice because of all the mighty things they had seen.  They said, “Blessings on the king who comes in the name of the Lord.
    Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens.”

John 13:1-15

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ Peter said to him, ‘You will never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.’ Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’ Jesus said to him, ‘One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’ After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

                We began Lent by suggesting that the characters of Downton Abbey could give us some clues about following (actually apprenticing to) Jesus in our own world and lives. This Sunday is Palm Sunday, and the traditional texts bring us to what is commonly called the Triumphal Entry. My memory from Sunday School was that Jesus entered Jerusalem being heralded as king. I don’t remember any sense of political intrigue in this event (What would Herod – much less Caesar – think of that proclamation?).  What I remember is that the people would of course recognize Jesus as the true king, the appropriate heir of David’s throne, because of course WE see him that way. At that oung age I knew nothing about political theater or demonstrations and I’m sure my teacher did not read this story with those genres in mind. But today I cannot read or hear this story without that awareness that Jesus and his followers were very likely presenting an ironic critique of the status quo, the kings who upheld it. I don’t believe that Jesus really wanted to wear Herod’s crown any more than he wanted to be the next Caesar in Rome. The “Triumphal Entry” was a way of demonstrating what Mark’s gospel has Jesus saying at the very first: The Kin-dom of God has come near.

                John’s gospel shows that in an equally dramatic, though more intimate, episode. Jesus (an out and proud Messiah the way John tells it) strips to the waist and washes the feet of his students, and imbues this behavior with the implication that they should go and do likewise. For John, Jesus is the king who serves; authority is exercised by caring for the lowliest needs of the other. All four gospels use royal language when speaking of Jesus, but I believe it is used to present an alternative to the present world situation, not to simply put Jesus in charge of the present world situation.

                Throughout this series we have been looking at the various characters, titled and servant class alike, to find hints at how to live under the tutelage of Christ. While we have not explicitly asked “Where is Christ?” in this character, that seems to be the compelling question. If not where is Christ, at least how would the Christ respond? And so on this Palm Sunday we come to the Downton character that I see as the most Christ-like (obviously not entirely but like the rest of us, he’s only human) character: Bates.

                Bates enters the series as a wounded servant. He carries with him a physical reminder of the war in which he and Lord Grantham served together and his limp is a symbol of the wounds that all the other characters have but in not so noticeable ways. It is obvious that Bates has endured violence, and he continues to do so (both physical and psychological) at the hands of his co-workers. Only Grantham’s overwhelming sense of obligation to Bates keeps him from leaving at the end of the first episode. Still, Bates refuses to return harm for harm. And even though Bates has reason to retaliate, and damning evidence against the devious Thomas, he stalwartly refuses to cause anyone to lose their job – even an enemy. He serves his family with humility and honor, and even resigns to prevent even a hint of scandal to come near to the house of Grantham. When Carson’s past as a vaudevillian is exposed, bates offers no judgment.  I realize that this may not be a part of the character study, but the actor portraying Bates has what I believe is the warmest smile on the show, and when he smiles it warms the entire scene.

                And there is one particular episode that I believe speaks to us about how to be followers of Christ in our complicated world. Bates seeks a cure for his limp. He obtains a device that is supposed to correct his infirmity: a steel brace that screws into the flesh of his leg. The device tortures him as he tries to endure the pain in order to attain its promised cure. Finally Mrs. Hughes forces Bates to divulge this secret. At the end of the episode, the two of them gather at the side of the pond where Bates flings the instrument of pain into the waters and accepts himself just as he is: wounded, limping, but whole. Too many times I think Christianity has been offered to people like that leg brace: promising a “cure” for life but instead inflicting unnecessary and ineffectual pain. I believe Christ asks us to fling the instruments of our spiritual and physical torture into the abyss and live the life we are given, even if we limp.

                I see parallels between the Christ who enters Jerusalem on an unassuming donkey and Bates who enters Downton with a quiet dignity and grace. He does not seek equality with Lord Grantham, or any other person there, but he soon becomes an essential presence that they all rely upon. They are both trying to make the world a better place, even if only in the space each inhabits. Bates’ quiet commitment to the principle of “do no harm” is very Christ-like, and in keeping to that principle, Bates suffers for and at the hands of others

                As we wave our palm branches, are we seeking ways to live that make the world more whole, more nurturing, more welcoming (even for our enemies)? Though I do not think bates would describe himself as a good Christian, the way he lives offers us a compelling challenge and in many ways is very Christ-like indeed.