09/11/2023
Are we prepared to do the Father's bidding? I am not talking about the things you consider to be the grand tasks of heaven, but rather the trivial and menial jobs. Those that lesser acts that occur every day as we live out our lives; the ones that humble us and define us in the world’s eyes as the least of all the servants.
“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.”
John 13:14-16 ESV
I know people that have achieved positions of responsibility; some have risen to great power, but they are of this world and most view themselves as deserving and others as having jobs that are beneath themselves. Jesus taught us to humble ourselves like He did himself. In His life, He served the Father by serving those He was called to save. If I were to ask them who Jesus was they would tell me that he was a great prophet and the Son of God. They would credential Him as being nobility, but Jesus saw Himself very differently, He didn’t give people shoes, no, He washed their feet… and so should we.
Jesus washes our feet, and He calls on us to do the same. Arrogance and pride reveal a person for who they are... they are of this world. Even serving can be done with arrogance when performed as a means of demonstrating that one is better than another by doing so. A wealthy man who shows up at an orphanage once a year to distribute Christmas gifts while the cameras are running; who is receiving those gifts, and who is serving who? Jesus could have washed the feet of His Apostles in such a manner but He didn't He laid aside His garments, His greatness, and wrapped a towel around himself. How do we serve, and do we do so humbly, in secret, or to glorify ourselves?
“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”
John 13:3-5 ESV
Most of us have a certain view of feet, we envision sweet baby’s feet, the perfect feet of little children, and the soft feet of one who has worn shoes to protect them, but these are not the feet Jesus washed. Jesus washed the feet of men who had walked barefoot and in sandals for their entire lives. The feet Jesus washed were hardened and scarred; they were calloused by their surroundings and not pleasant to look at nor soft to the touch... they were instruments of travel and exposed to the elements… dirt, sand, and the course gravel of the road.
I am older now, and my feet are not those of a child or a young man; when a church I was attending had its annual foot washing service I didn't participate. It wasn't because I wouldn't wash any manner of feet, it was because of the shape my own feet were in. I didn't want to reveal my imperfect feet to others. I didn't want someone to see my imperfections. It isn't biblical to feel this way, and later I changed my mind about doing this. Sometimes becoming a servant means we must accept another touching our imperfections or seeing our faults, and then humbly allowing them to serve us. In this way our submission to another meets their need to serve.
The Apostles viewed Jesus as their master. In their eyes, having Him wash their feet would be belittling to Him, and it also meant that He would be touching their imperfections. They viewed this as a demeaning act for Him, and it made them uncomfortable. Peter showed us that he felt this way during his initial exchange with Jesus, but then, like me, he had a change of heart... Listen.
“Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!"”
John 13:8-9 ESV
There are two sides to serving that we must master. The first is in serving others; the laying aside of our pride in order to humbly, and often secretly, do for others. But there is another side of servitude... allowing someone to serve us. The acceptance of another's humility and kindness without feeling uncomfortable or belittled by it is a way that we serve them. Serving is like the tide, it rises and falls with regularity. The coming forth of our doing things for others, and then the receding as we allow them to show kindness to us. This is foundational to our faith in that it demonstrates love for one another. It is the very heart of the servant, and is the absolute root of all love.
“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.””
Matthew 22:37-40 ESV
To give of ourselves without the expectation of any return makes us noble and humble in our effort, but receiving something from someone else without our having the ability to repay them requires an even greater humility of heart. If it does not, then we have become a user and this is a different lesson altogether.
Interestingly enough, the more personal and self-effacing the service is that we give, the more righteous we feel for having given it... and this is also true about allowing another to serve us… if we do so with the right heart. Washing someone's feet is an act of humility and love, but not nearly as great as allowing them to wash ours; especially when we realize we don't deserve their efforts. Do we have a servant’s heart?
“And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
Mark 9:35 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for those you allow me to serve each day, and I thank you for the spirit of humility that allows me to be served by others. Jesus, wash my feet, and allow me to wash those of others around me in the selfsame manner and love. Thank you Lord for teaching me that to be the master I must first be the servant, and that there should be very little difference between these two roles in our hearts. All things come from you Father, and that includes my position in life. To assume I am above another takes the gift you have provided me and sullies it. To use your gifts in any manner other than as a service to those around me is not of you. Jesus came to serve, and if I am to follow in His footsteps... so must I. Teach me to take to my knees in service to others Father, and teach me that the greatest nobility of spirit in me is realized when I am easing the suffering and needs of others. Then show me how to allow them to serve and give to me; teach me to overcome my sense of pride and arrogance when others seek to give me of themselves in servitude, and to share with me their meager possessions. Father, you gracefully accepted the widow’s mite… help me to do the same. I praise you for your Son Jesus Christ and the servant He was, and still is. Help me be more like Him today, and forevermore.
Rich Forbes