Washing Feet

I grew up washing feet. Most Christians have heard of the practice, but it’s not that common in most churches.  My childhood church practiced foot washing as an ordinance.

Several Sunday nights during the year, we would have Communion. We would solemnly consume oyster crackers and tiny glasses of grape juice as we remembered Jesus’ sacrifice for us. We would then file into Sunday school rooms where there were jugs of warm water, basins and towels prepared, and we would wash one another’s feet. 

I remember looking forward to being allowed to participate in these rituals. And once I was baptized at 6 years old, I was welcomed into the mysterious club. Often, these were sweet times. It meant a lot when the older ladies in the room treated me as if I belonged.  

Remind me. What is so important about washing feet? 

But soon, communion and foot washing both lost their mysterious appeal to me. They were things that the minister said were important. He even read scripture to back them up. But they didn’t translate very well into my day to day life. The ritual was devoid of meaning to me. And after I joined a church with different practices I never missed it. 

A new perspective

Many years later, I was on a team serving at a women’s retreat. And the night before we began, the leaders washed the feet of those who had never served before. It was a powerful symbol to me. The woman who knelt to wash my feet that evening was someone I respected a lot. I felt like our roles should be reversed. And that’s the whole point, right?  

It started right before the Cross

Do you remember where it started? The Biblical account makes it clear that it was a very important night in the life of Jesus.

 As Jesus gathered His best friends around for the final Passover meal they would enjoy together, the disciples continued to jostle for position. Every disciple in the room could have recited an impressive resume as to why he should have a place of honor – at this meal, and in the kingdom. 

Not so friendly competition

After following Jesus for three years, every man present had built an impressive resume. All of them felt they deserved honor. They had left so much, businesses, families, prestige. 

As they made their way to the upper room that night, I’m sure their conversation turned to the events of the previous week. They may have even mentioned how they had taken off their coats and laid them in the road for Jesus’ donkey. And they were sure that this festival would be a special one, one that marked the beginning of the Messianic Kingdom. 

Dirty feet at the dinner table

Passover is the beginning of the drier season in Israel, and the roads were still muddy and sticky from the long rainy season. Animals pulled carts through the same streets where people walked. The disciples would have worn simple sandals that did little to protect their feet from becoming caked in the smelly mud and debris of the road. 

Many in our culture ask us to remove footwear when we enter their home. It helps keep the outside dirt from accumulating inside. Wealthy Jews and Romans employed servants to meet guests at the door and wash their feet. If there were no servants present, it fell to the youngest in the room to clean feet. It was humiliating. And the Jews were very concerned about ritual cleansing, so it would have been noticeable that everyone’s feet were unwashed. 

Mom says I’m special.

It soon became clear to everyone in the room that there was a problem.  John was likely the youngest of the disciples. But he was one of the more prominent as well.  And a few days earlier, his mother had approached Jesus and asked that her two sons be given the most coveted roles in the kingdom Jesus would set up. John surely thought he had earned this distinction.  And after his mother’s request, there was no way he was going to remind anyone of his young age.

The problem was that their constant bickering didn’t change the fact that their feet were quite dirty. I imagine that the room smelled of dirty feet. It was hardly an environment in which to eat the most important meal of the Jewish calendar, and their last meal together.

Washing feet? You first!

It was Jesus who broke the tension in the room. He got up from the table and located the supplies that had been left for the task. A pitcher of water, a basin, and a towel. He stripped off his outer garment, and like a common slave, wrapped the towel around his waist. He then moved quietly from man to man, washing their feet, drying them. 

Peter alone protested. But there is no record that he moved to switch places with Jesus, or moved to help the rabbi finish the task. 

Servant or Leader? Yes!

Jesus said nothing until He had put away the basin and towel. Then He asked,  “Do you know what I have done for you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are correct, for so I am. So, if I, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you ought also to wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:12-14 NASB)

This was Leadership 101. Paul says in Philippians 2 that Jesus chose not only to become a man, but to become a bond servant. It was the ultimate object lesson. For the weeks leading up to this Passover, these men had argued and clamored for honor. But Jesus changed the definition of honor.  

In this moment, the God of the universe knelt to wash dirty feet. In this one act of humility, all arguments about who was the greatest became moot. And He told them that they needed to put their pride aside and learn to serve one another. They had learned a lot during the three years they had followed the rabbi from Galilee. But they had failed to grasp how important it was that they love one another. 

Learning to love by washing feet

They would need each other in the coming days. The Kingdom they thought they were preparing for was much further away than they could imagine. But they were about to be a part of something bigger than any of them imagined. But scarier too.  They had to love each other before they could love and serve the community around them.  A few minutes later, Jesus told them,  “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another.” (vs. 35)

Jesus commanded us to serve one another, to outdo one another in humility, not position. In Romans 12, after Paul explains spiritual gifts, he tells them to “give preference to one another in honor” (vs 10).

But I don’t like washing feet

We don’t walk barefoot in the mud much these days. And we don’t have water and towels at the front door to clean feet. So, what does this mean in practical terms? How do I model what Jesus taught here in my daily life?
Here are some ideas.

• Put relationship first. Learn to care more about relationship than about being right. Bob Goff said, “Wise people know the right arguments to lose. The fact is, it’s most of them. If it’s more important to you to be ‘right’ than to be like Jesus, then it’s time to get back to the basics of your faith and relationships.”
• Make it a point to know what’s going on around you. How can you serve someone who is unable to repay you? Is a neighbor struggling to keep their grass cut?  Did the person ahead of you in the grocery line sheepishly take items out of her cart that she couldn’t pay for? 
• Offer help instead of criticism whenever possible. 
• This is a political season and our yards are sprouting campaign signs more quickly than weeds. Can you have a meaningful dialog with someone on the other side of the political fence instead of declaring them stupid, evil, or worse?  
  
  That night in the upper room everyone needed to have his feet washed. Ignoring the problem didn’t make it go away. In the same way, it’s not easy for me to admit that I want to be noticed, that I want to be right, that I’ll serve if I get credit.
  
  Lord, I confess that I spend a lot of my time making myself look good. I want to be preeminent when You are the only one who is. Remind me of Your sacrifice and show me where I am to serve. Amen