“Make sure you
clean your feet before you come, we don’t want to be washing any nasty feet!”
The pastor half-joked with his congregation the Sunday before their Maundy
Thursday Foot-Washing Service. It’s true though if you think about it, we all
want to avoid that one person with notoriously bad smelling feet. We wait in
our seats to make sure we are not even near them in line. Sometimes we avoid the service all together
because we fear what others might think of our own cracked toe nail polish, or
unwashed feet. But the picture we are given in John stands in stark contrast to
our own vulnerabilities. The feet Jesus
washed would not have so pretty. They would be covered in dirt mingled with the
sweat from the day’s journey. The open sandals they wore would provide little
relief from the stench. Yet, Jesus ignores all of this. Instead he responds in
love, taking their filthy feet and washing them clean. It’s a metaphor for Jesus’ entire life and
ministry. Ministering to the outsiders,
the unclean. Even giving his life for us.
So often in churches today, we seem to feel we have to wash ourselves spiritually before we ever enter the door. We ask people to conform to our culture, our way of life, our dress and our speech. We ask them to put on a mask of purity to hide their inequities. We cover our scars and battered places with the newest makeups. We must be righteous to enter into the presence of God. Have we become the Pharisees, shutting out the very outsiders Jesus died to save? Have we forgotten that we are all filthy from our lives journeys and in need of forgiveness? Jesus does not call us to come before him whitewashed. Rather we are to come as we are. Covered in the dirt and sweat from a hard life’s journey. With all our doubt, fear and questioning. Showing our scars and battered limbs. We are to kneel before him and allow him to wash us clean.
This week I was blessed to attend the Maundy Thursday service at Calvary Baptist Church in Waco. To be perfectly honest I hoped it wouldn't be a foot-washing service. I wanted to go because I realize I hadn't participated in the Lord's Supper in a long time due to being gone a lot of Sundays from my church. I had an ache inside of me that needed to be filled. As the time for the foot-washing part of the service drew near I began to feel those insecurities well up inside me, but I made the choice to quell them and participate fully in what lay ahead. The small gathering of people sorted into two lines and each washed the feet of the person behind them. As my feet were washed by a dear friend of mine, and it became my turn to wash the feet of one of my closest Truett friends I began to realize the significance of what we were doing. We were serving each other as we were. No pretense involved. Accepting each other for the broken messes we were, and choosing to love each other anyway. To do so made taking the Lord's Supper meaningful in an entirely different light. I am just so thankful that Jesus and my fellow believers are able to accept me and my stinky feet.
“It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” –John 13:1-17, NIV
So often in churches today, we seem to feel we have to wash ourselves spiritually before we ever enter the door. We ask people to conform to our culture, our way of life, our dress and our speech. We ask them to put on a mask of purity to hide their inequities. We cover our scars and battered places with the newest makeups. We must be righteous to enter into the presence of God. Have we become the Pharisees, shutting out the very outsiders Jesus died to save? Have we forgotten that we are all filthy from our lives journeys and in need of forgiveness? Jesus does not call us to come before him whitewashed. Rather we are to come as we are. Covered in the dirt and sweat from a hard life’s journey. With all our doubt, fear and questioning. Showing our scars and battered limbs. We are to kneel before him and allow him to wash us clean.
This week I was blessed to attend the Maundy Thursday service at Calvary Baptist Church in Waco. To be perfectly honest I hoped it wouldn't be a foot-washing service. I wanted to go because I realize I hadn't participated in the Lord's Supper in a long time due to being gone a lot of Sundays from my church. I had an ache inside of me that needed to be filled. As the time for the foot-washing part of the service drew near I began to feel those insecurities well up inside me, but I made the choice to quell them and participate fully in what lay ahead. The small gathering of people sorted into two lines and each washed the feet of the person behind them. As my feet were washed by a dear friend of mine, and it became my turn to wash the feet of one of my closest Truett friends I began to realize the significance of what we were doing. We were serving each other as we were. No pretense involved. Accepting each other for the broken messes we were, and choosing to love each other anyway. To do so made taking the Lord's Supper meaningful in an entirely different light. I am just so thankful that Jesus and my fellow believers are able to accept me and my stinky feet.
“It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” –John 13:1-17, NIV
