Jesus washed the disciples' feet. We all know the story. We all say we know the meaning. But how do we, 21st "centurians," who don't live in middle eastern countries where people walk around in sandals and get their feet all dirty, incorporate this into our everyday lives? Certainly, even in America we have those people, myself being one of them, who wear flip-flops practically all year long which results in some pretty dirty feet. And yes, washing their feet would be pretty nasty. But in our modern world we don't really need people to wash our feet. We have showers for that, and they work just fine. So what is it that we're called to do? Because, while I appreciate the symbolism of foot washing (it's especially sweet in wedding ceremonies :P), I don't think God calls us to do something that is not needful to our world. I mean can you imagine the look on your neighbors face if you walked up to them and said you wanted to wash their feet?
So what can we do? How can we "foot wash" in the world surrounding us?
The Mennonite Confession of Faith says this in regards to foot washing "Those who follow Jesus are likewise called to let go of privilege and pride in order to love others more fully, even those who are hard to love. By this life of love, they show that they are cleansed and a part of Christ (
Sometimes the way we express our "powerful, humble service" can make us feel just as dirty as we imagine the foot washing of Biblical times would. You know, those times we have to wash all the dishes from the church dinner, weed the church flowerbeds in the middle of summer, or *shudder* clean the puke off the church restroom floor.
But sometimes, the way we express this "powerful, humble service" is through something much simpler, much cleaner. Sometimes all we need to do is kneel down and tie a shoelace.
So maybe someday there will be a person in my life who needs their feet washed, literally. But until then, I have shoes to tie.
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