Stinky Feet

We continued our "disciple" series at church yesterday. This sermon was about stinky feet!

Within all of us, is a desire to be great, to rise, to excel. Jesus said that you don't rise to greatness though; you descend to it. (Matt 23:11-12) In John 13:2, we are told the story of the Last Supper. Jesus was among the 12 disciples and they started going back and forth, talking about who was the greatest. Now, Jesus knows that these are his last moments with them and that He's about to return to the Father. In the midst of them talking about how great they are, Jesus gets up and takes off his outer clothing and wraps a towel around his waist.

Jesus could have, knowing these were His last moments, told them to serve Him. He could have asked them to love Him in these last moments. He could've confronted Judas, whom He knew would betray Him. But He didn't. He got up and put on this towel. This putting on of the towel was something a servant would do.

Where are you in that spectrum? Are you a consumer that comes to church to receive and get your weekly fix, then you go home and go about your life? We should want Jesus, not blessings. Are you a servant? We should be striving to live a life of service, not have a serve us attitude.

So, back to John 13:5. Jesus wraps this towel around his waist, pours water into a basin, and begins to wash the disciples' feet. Now, the disciples knew what He was going to do once they saw Him getting the basin and kneeling down. This washing feet, it was the work of a slave. Back then, people traveled by foot. Their feet were extremely dirty after long days walking, exposed to everything without proper shoes, and probably not the prettiest feet! Not even Jewish slaves washed feet.......Gentile or foreigner slaves/servants would do this. Have you ever seen the show "Dirty Jobs"? This would have been a job for that show. This was the lowest of the low jobs. Even today, to clean up after people is a very humbling job.

My own thoughts on this: I have heard about how Jesus washed the disciples' feet many times and I had no concept or had not ever grasped just how big of a deal that was. I mean, I hate feet, but I think of washing someone's feet and it doesn't seem to be all that bad. But, I had never thought about how it would have been back then to wash someone's feet. I just got to see it from a totally different perspective today and it really helped me to understand just how humbling that would have been.

So, Peter sees what Jesus wants to do and He's like, you aren't going to wash my feet, are you? He cannot imagine His Lord doing this. It was a big deal. After He washes their feet, He puts His outer garment back on. He tells them that they call Him "Teacher/Lord", that He's washed their feet, and in John 13:15, He says that this is an example for what they should do.

A disciple of Jesus washes feet. How has God called you to serve? He has called you, whether you hear Him or not. The following are three questions for a disciple:

1. What's your motivation?

Disciples don't do things so that others will notice. Disciples do things out of love. Why do you do things? We tend to veer into religion. We do the stuff that Jesus did, but we become rule-keepers and religious. Do you want to be more like Jesus or are you trying to earn salvation, doing stuff because you have to and not because you want to?

2. What is the need in front of you?

Jesus knew what was coming (his death) while He was at the Last Supper, but He looked around and He saw the need in front of Him. He wanted to teach these disciples who were arguing. He knew that in order to teach them to do what He needed after He was gone (to be disciples), that He should show them what it meant to be a servant.

3. What do you have to give?

Sometimes we see a need and we don't fit the description and so we bow out. We forget to realize what we DO have to give. There's a story in Acts 3:6, about a beggar who asks Peter for money. He had no money, and this beggar wasn't expecting anything more, but Peter told him that he would give him what he did have. So, he healed him in the name of Jesus.

Jesus hadn't trained to be a foot washer, but He saw a need in front of Him and He gave.

Pilate wanted to let Jesus go, but the crowd demanded crucifixion. So, Pilate called for a basin of water and He washed His hands of Jesus' blood and told the crowd that His blood was on their hands.

You have a basin of water in front of you. Are you washing your hands of Jesus, or will you place that basin on the ground and hit your knees? There's no greater calling or place than as the least, on your knees before the Lord.

What will you do with the water in your basin? "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:45