Lovely

Jesus wants us to follow in his footsteps, which sometimes leads to foot washing. Lovely.


But what does it mean to wash feet today in our Napa church context? Back in Jesus’ day, all manner or filth could be caked on a person’s feet after walking a day in open-toed sandals in streets with open-trench sewage. But in Napa, it is more likely that we may run across someone with some serious toe-jam, or ugly toenails, or maybe sort of stinky, needing a rinse. Unless we’re talking about a teenage boy. I’m not sure Jesus would have washed the feet of a present day teenage boy…

Foot washing in Jesus’ day was reserved for those on the lowest rung of the Jewish social ladder – Gentiles and slave women. It was simply the nastiest job. So, we’re looking for a nasty equivalent – something people don’t even want to do for themselves. Something they’d rather push on someone else that they don’t have to look in the eye for the shame it would cause.

Foot washing also served an obvious purpose – it cleaned a person’s feet. Everybody needed their feet washed. Jesus was doing something that needed to be done. Of course, he did performed this unforgettable teaching moment the very night he was betrayed, which led to a much greater act of sacrifice, and a much farther-reaching symbol of God’s grace, God’s forgiveness, God’s cleansing: the cross. So, we’re looking for a clean-up act, an act of redemption, an act of restoration.

A nasty job that we don’t wish on anyone that must be done for our own restoration.

Harry Smith had a colonoscopy on TV – maybe that’s what we’re looking for? I sure hope not…

I couple of years ago, I gave out a symbol of servanthood to a couple of key pastoral staff members: a toilet brush. I thought that was a pretty good equivalent for foot washing. I still think it’s pretty good for a generally disgusting task that nobody wishes on anybody else. But I don’t think it quite hits the mark.

Jesus’ foot washing (and later Passion) was more than something to check off the task list. These acts were representative of who he was, what he was about, and what he came to do. And, subsequently, what he calls us to become.

Jesus looked the disciples in the eye and did the thing they were in denial about needing done. They certainly didn’t ask him to do it. But they definitely needed it. They needed to be cleaned up if they were going to become who they were meant to be. It wasn’t going to happen without Jesus’ initiative, either. He had to step up, take the risk, make the sacrifice, pay the price, for the sake of the ones he wanted to redeem.

That’s the example that has been set to follow. Not just splashing some warm water an already clean feet in the churches of Napa. No, the way of Jesus has redemption in mind; a redemption that requires honesty and love and sacrifice for the sake of the other. It requires losing pride, giving up status, being a bigger person than before, and choosing to love in the way the other person needs to be loved more than demanding love for ourselves or only loving in ways we want to love.

Foot washing is having the tender conversation with someone we know is hurting, evidenced by a variety of destructive behavior including defensiveness, putting up walls, hurtful acts toward themselves, others, etc.

Foot washing is asking the questions that people may not initially elicit but are desperate to pursue.

Foot washing is listening – really listening – in a world that only wants to hear their own voice.

Foot washing is not settling for the appearances of holiness, but actually becoming more and more whole – for others and ourselves.

Foot washing is sacrificing a portion of our hard-earned money for the sake of the work of the Kingdom – the Church’s work – so that more and more might find the road to Life in Christ.

Foot washing is sacrificing personal preferences in order to reach others in ways they will understand that may be unfamiliar and perhaps even distasteful to us.

Foot washing doesn’t happen apart from community. You will never, ever reflect Christ in isolation. The solo Christian is an oxymoron. Washing the feet of a mannequin doesn’t count.

Foot washing requires practice. You need to practice on others. Others need to practice on you. The practice makes you more like Jesus. You become more whole, more loving, more like Christ. And people notice.

So, how are you going to follow Jesus in this regard? How are you going to wash someone’s feet?

It’s not a choice. It’s an order. And it’s lovely.