Article 13: Foot Washing – to cleanse, humble and serve
January 23, 2011
BMC- John 13:1-17 &Luke 22:24-27
Introduction: As You Wish
The movie, The Princess Bride, is the story of a young maiden in the country of Florin, Buttercup, and her farm boy, a young man name Wesley. It is based on S. Morgenstern’s classic tale of true love and high adventure and has something for everyone: fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love and miracles.
In the beginning, Buttercup is very demanding and bossy toward the farm boy. In fact the two things that she enjoyed were riding her horse and tormenting the farm boy; yet whatever her request, his only response was “As you wish.” No matter how rude she was or what she asked for, his only words were always, “As you wish.”
Over time, the maiden’s heart softened. She began to appreciate the farm boy and came to realize that when he said, “As you wish,” what he really meant was “I love you.” And she came to love him too. They decided to marry and so Wesley set out to seek his fortune in order to be able ask her hand in marriage.
It is a story of love and adventure with twists and turns and life threatening terrain like the fire swamp. But it all begins with a heart that is changed through service, a heart that learns to love by being loved. Incidentally when Beth was in Jr. High living in small town Ohio, one of her weekend activities with a friend of hers was to watch The Princess Bride, well not so much watch it as recite it. They would assign parts, turn the volume off and start the movie. They knew the dialogue well enough to say it for the actors.
Then during our honeymoon as we drove from place to place, she read the book to me. Whether you watch the movie or read the book, the story begins with a servant heart that acts out of love and creates love in another. This is central to our passage this morning as well, only here we are further along in the story. Jesus has lived among the disciples for three years now teaching, healing and showing love in many ways. Now on the night that he will be betrayed and begin the final leg of his journey to demonstrate the ultimate in sacrificial love, he pauses to have a meal with his disciples and to wash their feet.
The Passages
“But first let us set the stage. In the Lord's day when people gathered for a meal, it was the slave's duty to wash the people's feet before the meal began. The Lord and his disciples were poor; therefore the disciples probably took turns washing off the dust of the roads from the sandaled feet of the little brotherhood. Normally they did it willingly ... But tonight, all of them sat stubbornly in their places and would have none of the menial duty.
“Perhaps on their journey to the upper room they continued to argue with each other as to whom would have the position of honor when Jesus ushered in the kingdom of God {as we heard in our Luke passage for this morning}. Perhaps with ruffled tempers and with sore feelings, they trooped into the upper room like a group of sulking schoolboys, not one among them willing to see the pitcher and basin and towel set out for their use. And so, for once, the customary little courtesy was not carried out, and they began their meal with feet still travel-stained, an uncompromising spirit prevailed.
“Wanting to clear the air and cleanse this childishness out of their hearts, the Lord took the role of the servant, rose and carried through his dramatic action. The disciples were shocked, as clearly demonstrated by Peter's challenging the appropriateness of the Lord's action. In the foot washing, Jesus demonstrated his earlier words spoken just before he entered into Jerusalem, "Whoever would be great among you must be your servant ... even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."[1]
To Cleanse
Of course the functional, original purpose of foot washing was to clean the feet of people who had walked in sandals on dusty roads. It was good hygiene and a sign of hospitality. And though in our culture, we do not typically experience the same need for our feet to be washed, we do still have a need for cleansing.
At first Peter refuses to have Jesus wash his feet. Then after Jesus tells him that he must or he has no part in Jesus, Peter jumps to the other extreme and asks for his whole body to be washed. Jesus dissuades him from this saying that once someone is clean, they only need their feet washed.
Spiritually speaking, we have been cleansed by the waters of baptism. Our sins have been washed away, and yet we still do things that soil our spotless robes from time to time, that dirty our feet. We still fall short. We still sin. We are still in need of cleansing. We do not need a whole body wash, baptism; but we still do need some touch up cleanings, to have our feet washed. The practice of foot washing reminds us of our need for cleansing.
Doing Laundry[2]
“College students are notorious for their laundry problems while away at college. This seems to be especially true for freshmen. It is not uncommon, of course, for a student to put this task off for as long as possible. {I know that I was guilty of that then and still am at times today.}
In fact, you can sometimes tell that students on campus will soon be dealing with their laundry when they start wearing the nicer clothing that they have {to everyday events. It is all that they have clean.} Sometimes they have been known to store up dirty clothes in anticipation of a visit home, where they just know that Mom will be more than happy to help out.
“One college freshman went to the laundry room in his dorm with a pile of dirty clothes. They were all bundled together inside an old sweatshirt. He was so embarrassed by how dirty his clothes were that he did not want anyone to see them. He took the bundle of dirty clothes and without untying them stuffed them into the washer.
“When the machine stopped running he was delighted to find that they were still all tied together in one large knot. As he removed the bundle from the washer he kept them tied together as he placed the laundry into the dryer. After they had gone through the drying cycle he was even happier to find that the tied bundle was still intact. When he finally returned to his dorm room he quickly discovered that the clothes had certainly gotten wet and were dried but they were still dirty.”
Even though we are mostly clean, we still need to receive cleansing. Like throwing our dirty laundry into a washing machine all bundled up will not get our clothes clean, simply coming to church on a weekly basis and participating in worship will not fully cleanse us. We must do the additional work of making ourselves vulnerable and confessing our sins, of unbundling our laundry. The discomfort and vulnerability that we experience in foot washing is a reminder of the deeper cleansing that we must receive in our faith.
To Humble
Another meaning of foot washing is to foster humility within us. In our John passage for this morning, we read that it was Jesus, not one of the other disciples; who wrapped a towel around himself, bent down and washed the feet of the disciples. Their teacher, their master, not to mention the Son of God, God incarnate bent down and washed their feet. None of us can get higher than that and yet He humbled himself and willingly washed the feet of his disciples.
This is a tangible expression of the lesson that Jesus was teaching the disciples when they were arguing over who is greater in our Luke passage for the morning. As Barclay notes in vol. 2 of his commentary on John, this argument may have been an impetus for what John shares about Jesus washing the disciple’s feet.
You’ll remember that last week, we spent time in Luke 22:14-20 in which we read of the Last Supper. This week, we pick up in the midst of that meal with verses 24-27. Here we read of this argument about which of the disciples was the greatest. Jesus responds by saying that they are not to be like the kings of pagans who lord their power over others. Instead, those who lead should be those who serve, just as Jesus served his disciples.
Samuel Brengle[3]
“In 1878, when the Salvation Army was really beginning to make its mark, men and women from all over the world began to enlist. A man who had once dreamed of becoming a bishop in another denomination crossed the Atlantic from America to England to enlist in the Salvation Army instead. His name was Samuel Brengle.
“Brengle left a fine pastorate to join William Booth's Army. At first General Booth accepted his services reluctantly and grudgingly. Booth said to Brengle, "You've been your own boss too long." So in order to instill humility in Brengle, he made him work by cleaning the boots of other trainees.
“Discouraged, Brengle said to himself, "Have I followed my own fancy across the Atlantic in order to black boots?" Then, as in a vision, he saw Jesus bending over the feet of rough, uneducated fishermen. "Lord," he whispered, "you washed their feet; I will black their shoes."
“Samuel Brengle went on to establish the Salvation Army in America. At the time of his death, the Salvation Army was thriving in both the United States and in Canada. Just before his death Brengle sent out a short memo to all of his top leaders. This memo had one single word written on it: "Others."” In humility, he served.
To Serve
Finally, foot washing is about service. It is about setting aside our needs and our desires to serve someone else’s needs freely and willingly. It is service to others that sometimes even requires sacrifice on our parts.
Horville Sash[4]
“This concept is illustrated cleverly in the story of Horville Sash. Horville had a very humble job in the offices of the largest corporation of the world. He worked as the gofer in the lowest reaches of the building doing what he could to help other people do their jobs, but often he wondered and thought about the floor just above his.
“Then came a day when Horville found a bug scurrying across the floor. As the mailroom clerk, Horville had only bugs to command - to bully. He raised his foot to flatten the helpless speck. "Spare me." The bug spoke. A speaking bug? Horville spared the bug. His reward: A wish. "I wish to be promoted to the second floor." Granted. Horville's boss told him that very day. Horville marched to the second floor like MacArthur and Patton rolled into one.
“Wait. Horville heard footsteps on the ceiling of floor number two. There was a third floor. A higher level meant higher wages, more power. The next day, Horville rose to the third floor job of sales coordinator. But he wasn't satisfied, he now knew there were other floors, many others and the promotions were like kerosene to a flame. He went to the 10th floor, then to the 20th, the 50th, the 70th. {Finally he} sat by the indoor pool on the 96th.
“The next day Horville discovered, and it was only by chance, a stairway leading up - to another floor? He scrambled up the stairs. He was on the roof. He was now the highest, the most powerful. Content. Horville headed for the stairway. Just as he turned to go back down to his office he saw a boy near the edge of the building with his eyes closed. "What are you doing?" "Praying." "To whom?" The boy answered, pointing a finger skyward, "To God."
“Panic gripped Horville. Was there a floor above him? He couldn't see it. Just clouds. He couldn't hear the shuffling of feet. "Do you mean there's an authority above me?" "Yes." The bug was summoned, "Make me God. Make me the highest," he said. "Put me in the type of position that only God would hold if he were on earth. "The very next day, Horville began work as a gofer in the basement!”
“The glory of God is that he came to love us and serve us. His work was as a gofer in the basement of this world, as it were. For God came to identify with the lonely, the outcasts, the poor and the powerless. And it is our glory to live like him.”
Conclusion
Jesus Christ, God incarnate, humbled himself in coming down to earth and living among us. He humbled himself even further by washing the feet of his disciples and dying the death of a criminal on a cross. This is significant, but even more significant is that we are called to follow His example. We are called to wash one another’s feet as Christ washed the feet of the disciples.
This morning, those who wish to participate will have the opportunity to wash one another’s feet, to reenact that which Christ himself did. In the midst of that act, we remind ourselves of the need for cleansing in our lives. We humble ourselves before others and we serve others with sacrificial love. May God dwell with us and bless us as we bless each other in this counter cultural act of community. And may this act of service here, transform our hearts for service everywhere.
Amen.
[1] www.esermons.com Seasonings For Sermons, Vol. III, John H. Krahn, CSS Publishing Co., Inc., 1983, 0-89536-585-5
[2] www.esermons.com Lectionary Tales For The, John R. Steward, CSS Publishing, Lima, Ohio, 1997, 0-7889-1056-5 Source: Michael Green, editor, Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House), p. 336."
[3] www.esermons.com ChristianGlobe Illustrations, King Duncan, ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc.
[4] www.esermons.com The Greatest Wonder of All, John M. Braaten, CSS Publishing Company
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