May I wash your feet?

I am not big on tradition for tradition sake or ritual activity. I understand that traditions help us carry a sense of unity with the why and the past. But often they get in the road of the why and become in and of themselves the purpose. When that happens the connection to the past and the why of the moment become what the Bible refers to as the "traditions of men" (Col. 2:8).

But there are some traditions that when experienced, especially the first time, hold such deep meaning, real connection to those who have gone before, and to the Savior also, that they leave a deep imprint on the heart. The act of the ritual itself can serve to provoke action in a manner that fulfills the intent of the instruction laid out in scripture.

One such tradition for me was that of foot washing. I know of no church that practices the ceremony of foot washing anymore. I don't object to not having a regular, every 6 week foot washing. But I do wish it happened a little more often. Only because of what it meant to me.

I was 11 years old and visiting a Seventh Day Adventist Church with a friend's family the first time I experienced it. All the men were excused to a room on the left side of the church and all the women went through the door on the right. I followed my friend into this little room where the woman were pulling off shoes and stockings. I had no idea what they were doing or why, but followed as invited. Seated barefoot in the little circle of woman and girls from probably 6 or 7 years old to woman in their 70's and 80's, there was a sense that something important was going on and that God was involved here.

The basin and the towel were brought out and the first woman knelt in front of the chair to her left. She gently lifted the woman's foot and washed it, dried it, and placed it with care back on the rug. Then she did the same with other foot. I can remember thinking,"they aren't doing that to me!" But the scripture being read as they moved from one to other gave me a feeling that I could refuse, but to do so was to miss something deeper than my young heart could grasp. And so when my friend's mom knelt down in front of me I allowed her to wash my feet. Then I took the basin and knelt in front of my friend to wash her feet in the same manner. I remember crying and not understanding the emotion at all.

Years later as a youth group leader, I felt the Holy Spirit directing us to do this with the youth. I thought "Lord, I will never get a bunch of giddy teens to take this seriously!" But what so often he speaks softly into my spirit came, "Trust me."

And so we introduced the idea to them on the week before Resurrection Sunday. The reaction was the expected. But by the time we finished there were tears in most of their eyes. The Spirit had touched us in a deep personal way.


There is a humility in allowing someone to touch and care for your feet. Now I am not talking about going to a salon and paying someone to do a pedicure. Having a friend bend over your feet, pour water, rub them, and dry them is an intimate thing that can be more than slightly uncomfortable. Being the one who does the washing is just as humbling. Yet the experience of this takes both the one willing to wash and the one willing to be washed and in that combined humility the perfect humble obedience of the One who offered it first is seen. I think that's why this simple everyday type action, simply washing feet becomes a deeply spiritual experience. It is a picture of our Beloved.

However, to take part in ritual washings was certainly not His point, and to reduce this example of servanthood to a ceremony would miss the truly spiritual part of the picture. John 13 begins with the washing of feet and moves into the prediction of betrayal and then Jesus gives us His "new command". "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."(italics added) First, He gave the example of what loving one another means, servanthood; then he gave the command. That's how the Bible works consistently, give the picture, then the meaning or fullness of that word.

When Jesus took off His robe and wrapped Himself in the towel like the lowest of servants it shocked the disciples. Peter, in true Peter exuberance, states "no, you shall never wash my feet!" For Peter, the thought that the One who raised a man from the dead, walked on water and bid him to join in, who healed the blind and the lame, who the very voice of heaven had spoken over, for this One to wash his feet was an impossible thought. After all, Peter got it. "You are Messiah!" he had proclaimed just days before. Now, Messiah was acting as a slave, a door slave! But Jesus would not be put off, for this moment represented the impact of the command that would follow.

When we "wash" one another's feet, what are we doing? Loving one another. Revealing ourselves to be disciples of the true and living Messiah. In chapter 17 Jesus prays that our unity will be so evident that the world will recognize who He is by our love. But what does all that mean in practical terms? Simple. It means taking care of one another like you take care of family. Serving one another better than you would like for someone to serve you. Doing one step more than anticipated for the other. And doing it without expecting in return. Doing it as if the one you are serving is Jesus, because when others see us truly doing this for one another, they recognize the difference between what the world does and what true Christian love is. . . and they take a deeper look at our Savior. And I don't know about you, but that's what I want my life to be about, others seeing Jesus in me. So wash me Lord and send those whom I may also wash their feet.

Mirror

When the Pharisees brought her, weary, clothes torn
and stood her before you, she expected your scorn.
But you did not condemn her, no you turned it around
that they might see their lives, and they might be found.

By the mirror of her sin you measured their lives
And they'd have forgiveness if they looked in your eyes.
but their hearts were hard as the stones that they held.
They missed the Messiah and a new heart as well.

So often we judge when the sin's really ours.
As he holds up a mirror and we see our own scars.
And there lies a choice that we all have to make.
We can walk away hardened or cleansed by His grace. (based on John 8:1-11)


I am often amused, often ashamed at how quickly I can judge someone else's sin only to find that it carries an imagine of something in my actions or attitudes. Have you ever noticed that? I wrote these lyrics in 1998 when studying the scripture in John 8 and noted that the woman was caught in adultry alone? Hmmm, this sin to my understanding takes two. Where was the man? Was he part of the crowd or crawling home having been let go by his buddies? And why did my Bible note that some of the earliest manuscripts do not have this portion of scripture? According to the commentaries, the early church had such an issue with adultry that some of the church leaders felt Jesus had been too easy on her. Too easy? Really?

Dragged through the streets of town, half naked at least, by an angry mob of men, accusations of her sin being shouted for the whole of the population to hear, and then stood against a wall being prepared to receive the stones to her body, she probably had no idea that this wasn't really even about her. It was about Him, a trap for Him.

Can you put yourself in her place for just a moment? The worst, most horrid thing you have done, and that secret being shouted through your street so that all could see for themselves the details of your sin. You might even be longing for those stones to relieve your ears of the accusations. Those who have brought you shove you against a wall and there is no place to run or hide; your humilation is full and your tears fall silently before unmoved hearts. And to add to this vile moment, the man sitting next to you is being called on to judge your actions.

Instead of looking at you, He looks at them. He writes something in the sand, perhaps it was the word piylegesh, concubine, or a word relating to the stealing of tithes, whatever He wrote it was most likely something to warn the accusors that they were on thin ice. And as they persist that He judge, He states "Let him who is without sin throw the first stone."

He did not say she had not done wrong nor did he say she was not worthy of death. He said to those accusing, "Are you really any different?" And what followed was the most amazing site. One by one, the older ones drop their stones and walk away. They have lived enough life to know that they were not guiltless. Then the middle age guys begin to see it too, and lastly the young, passionate ones walk away also, leaving the woman standing next to her jugdge without any knowledge of what to do now. She stands there bewildered at how death passed her by and how the words of this country rabbi have saved her life. For the first time perhaps, He looks at her, into her eyes and says "who has condemned you?"

Can you see her? Can you feel this moment of revelation with her? You should. You have had this moment when you invited this judge to be Lord of your life. "No one, sir." Can you see her eyes scanning the ground where the rocks have fallen and the empty pavement that moments before was filled with those screaming for her death. But He silenced them. Can you imagine the sense of freedom and maybe even the love and devotion toward Him? You should. It's happened to you, to me. He has pronounced me-the guilty, innocent, justified, and you also if you know Him, received His forgiveness.

"Then neither do I. Go and sin no more." I think He said those last words for us more than her. I have read those words and remembered the many times He has said this very thing to me. I can imagine that she went and left her life of sin, but then scripture doesn't give us privilege to that information. Perhaps she did, but perhaps, like many of us she slipped back into old ways. And I can't help wonder how many of those accusers went home and changed their ways that day? And what was that written in the dirt? They're all questions in my "someday in heaven" notebook.

And while I may not like to find the mirrors along the way, I have learned to appreciate them. For they show me first that I still need Him, and secondly that He cares enough still to show me, and then to prounounce me not condemned.

Touch

The push and stretch of muscles
The flow of blood
Pressure and touch, toxin released
Pulling the strain and aches from my body.

The knots loosen
the stress is released
My body relaxes.

I know the power of this rest
For I know a deeper rest
A truer peace

Your Spirit pulls at the muscles of my spirit
Allowing the flow of Your blood
and the toxins in my spirit release
Purity and strength
Peace & rest
flow from Your touch.


Tomorrow I have an appointment with Jenn. Jenn is trained in massage therapy and will use her knowledge of muscles and their manipulation to bring a deep physical peace to my stressed body. I don't view these appointments as a treat. I see them as part of managing the affect of the stress in my life. Not that life is horrible, it is busy and stressful.

These appointments also serve as reminder to me. They remind me of the way the Holy Spirit works the truth of the love of Christ into my being until it brings a deep abiding peace that infuses my thoughts, my body, and my spirit with a deeper trust and a rest that only comes through His touch.