Foot washing on Maundy (meaning "commandment") Thursday is actually meant to put us in a deeply reflective place. It's not merely a "reenactment" of what Jesus had done in (John 3:1-17 ) but is a continuation of his actions. It is a humbling act for the one washing and the one being washed. It was never meant to be merely a a manual act.
Jesus commanded us to wash so that we may never forget that we were made to be slaves to each other, just as He became a slave to us. There is no hierarchy in the Kingdom of God. Foot washing was done by the lowest of slaves and this was a role Jesus took upon himself.
He came not to be served, but to serve,
and to offer up his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28).
There is a large dose of humility required on behalf of the one coming to be washed as well. We must completely surrender control, pride, and humility. Our feet are not naturally pretty, and "biblical feet" were all the more dirty, callused, and pungent.
When he came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him,
“Master, you shouldn’t be washing our feet like this!”
Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now why I am doing it; some day you will.”
“
No,” Peter protested, “you shall never wash my feet!”
“But if I don’t, you can’t be my partner,” Jesus replied.
Simon Peter exclaimed,
"Then wash my hands and head as well—not just my feet!”
I washed biblical feet one year in Tanzania, and it changed my life.
I was preaching I in a village in Tanzania when the Holy Spirit asked me to call people up to wash their feet. This was odd. Visitors are held in great esteem in Africa whether they are from abroad or the next village over because travel is costly either in terms of hours (or days) spent walking or fuel spent driving. It shows great respect and honor to put ones' self out to visit. Mzugu's (rich white people) from overseas are placed even higher because they have spent lots of money and time. It is a very big deal.
God spoke to them and me that day;
I had given the call to come forward and the first person to accept the offer was a old grandmother, carrying her listless albino granddaughter. (I found out after the service she had severe malaria)
My heart burst.
I had learned just the day before that some witchdoctors in the Eastern Regions had started a rumor that albinos were good luck. A horrific practice had begun where albinos were hunted down, killed, and dismembered for body parts to sell to the witchdoctor for charms. The threat was so real that the government had issued a decree outlawing the practice. (I had actually read about this later in the paper while in Dar es Salaam).
I found myself, a visiting priest, washing the feet of a little girl who in the eyes of some of her own people was little more than a good-luck charm worth more dead and dismembered than alive and whole.
Her feet were bare so I began to pour the water. They feet were gritty and covered in all the things that make up the ground in an agrarian society. The water turned instantly brown. As I rubbed her feet, the grit was harsh under my feet yet she didn't move or make a sound.
My heart burst again.
I was caught up in God and taught the deep truth:
In the eyes of God, this little one is of infinite worth to the Infinite One.
We are called to go, not weighing the cost. He traveled from Heaven and came to Earth.
We are called to get dirty, to use our hands, and to engage. Do not worry about what is on them. Sin is sin is sin.
We are called to willing lay aside our pride. Let others stare and tell us we are touching the filthy. He bore that same. We are called to remember that we are the least, the last, and the filthy.
We are called to remember that Christ washed us not only with water,
but with his blood.
In the Great Reversal, I was worth more to God alive than dead,
so he choose death so I could have life.
The feet of Jesus saved my life, because they walked to me.
We are called to walk as well. Get dirty beloved. Get dirty.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment