Washing Feet
Pastor Ryan - March 25, 2024
There is something truly humbling about washing feet. That’s probably why Jesus said that if you are to be a leader you must be a servant, you must wash feet.
Jesus was constantly overthrowing the assumptions of the world. There is no greater example of that than our LORD mounting a cross and dying. There is no better way of showing that not even death has power over you than coming back from the dead. Jesus made it very clear that His Church is a tool for all people, and it exists mainly for those who are not in it. Wild, because every other institute exists for its own members. And, keeping with the theme, those who would lead Christ’s Church must be servants, following Jesus’ example. And I’ll be honest, it’s hard to follow his example.
Washing feet is weird. C’mon Jesus it's just weird. It’s weird because we don’t do that anymore. We don’t walk around in sandals. We have shoes that lace all the way up and socks underneath that. So, it's a bit of a chore to get the shoes and socks off. It's weird because feet are weird. We don’t like people touching our feet. What if they stick or are dirty. Which, if you think about it, is funny. That’s the purpose of washing the feet. But we don’t want anyone to know our feet are feet. Like I said, it's weird.
From my perspective It takes a lot of work to get the equipment together. And after some time, it hurts my back. It is not a fun task.
It can be awkward for the person having their feet washed. It is a trial for the person washing feet. Then why bother?
Jesus said to.
It is that simple. But there’s also a deeper reality. That your leader would willingly humiliate himself is telling. It means we at Christ Lutheran take Jesus seriously. It means that we do the hard things. And there are side effects. No one who washes feet can think they are God’s gift to anything. The task does what it intends to do: remind the leader they are a servant.
This act, of foot washing, is almost a sacrament. It has two out of the three requirements. A command from Jesus. An earthly element: water and soap. All that it is lacking is the forgiveness of sin. But two out of three still means we should pay attention. And we do.
We will be having foot washing again this year. It will be in the commons, as you go to worship on Maundy Thursday night, before the worship service. It takes just a few minutes. I hope that you would consider stopping and practicing in this ancient command from Jesus to His leaders.
Foot Washing 5:30 - 6:15pm
Maundy Thursday Worship 6:30 - 7:30pm