John 13:12-17
So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
As we prepare our hearts and minds to receive the sacraments of Holy Communion this morning, I find a glaring hole in our theology that has gone unaddressed for far too long. While we are right on point with the purpose, power and position of Christ relative to communing with God and with each other, and while we painstakingly go the extra mile to ensure we don’t make any missteps, mistakes or errors regarding this most holy sacrament, most of the time we leave out the account of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples as we recount the details of the Communion story.
The irony here is that there is divine mystery that’s difficult for even the most educated theologian to explain when it comes to serving the blessed elements. The blood and body of Christ represented in a cup of wine and broken crackers is often hard to reconcile in our thinking. We often stumble over the words, and vacillate over the terminologies. Remember Jesus almost lost all his followers when he first introduced the idea. It is a grand concept and divine instruction. It exceeds the imagination of carnality and is an affront to the logic of ordinary humans. But we do it anyway. We do it because of faith. We receive it by faith, though we don’t always understand why. But foot washing is a simple, practical and powerful action that requires no advanced degree, no theology classes, no homiletics or hermeneutics. All it needs are humble willing participants. And somehow we find serving the basic physical needs of our brothers and sisters the most difficult Christian activity to comprehend. Why is that?
The character, nature and personality of Christ is total opposite of our carnal inclinations. Saved, or not, our flesh wars within us to resist the unction of the Holy Spirit to fully love as Jesus loved. Our self interests, self image, and selfish nature is forever before us. As a result of our innate response to protect ourselves from hurt, brokenness, disappointment and emotional disaster, we create private space and personal boundaries.
Jesus let his disciples in his protected and sacred space by belittling and humbling himself to wash their feet. Peter was offended by this action because decorum and tradition demanded that anyone in the the position of Christ should never stoop to the level of servant and wash feet. It was also demonstrative of his own character and personality: knowing full well that when his time of leadership came, he wasn’t about to wash anybody’s dirty feet.
Our challenge this morning is to change our attitudes about serving. Since self interest is such an inherent trait and dominant factor in our lives, as followers of Jesus, we must endeavor to make serving a priority in our lives. In other words, celebrate service by celebrating servants. Because, what gets celebrated is what gets done.
Church of Christ, only when we insist the outreach worker sit right next to the pastor will we truly see institutional transformation. Only when the community development team gets as much face time as the choir will we begin to understand the power of Christ’s loving actions.
What am I asking when I ask can you wash somebody’s feet? Will you step out of your comfort zone to meet somebody’s need? Will you go the extra mile to show someone the love of Christ? Are you willing to make yourself vulnerable enough to let someone in your sacred (protected) space? Jesus did!
God Bless
