HOLY WEEK: DAY 43

SCRIPTURE READING - DAY 43


John 13:4-5

…[Jesus] got up from the table, took off
his outer robe, and tied a towel around
himself. Then he poured water into a
basin and began to wash the disciples’
feet and to wipe them with the towel
that was tied around him. (NRSV)


MEDITATION BY Jenny Jack


I am comfortable with God as judge. I’m comfortable with God as comforter. I’m even comfortable with God who laughs and weeps and sings. But I have a hard time understanding the God who kneels down and serves.

What is it about this concept that is so contrary to what I think God “should” be like? What is it that is so difficult to let him get down and clean the dirt from beneath my toes, and then respond to the invitation to do the same for others? Doesn’t he want me to strategize, to work hard, and to change my little corner of the world?

For Maundy Thursday in 2008, a group of us offered free shoe shining on the main pedestrian street in Glasgow—we thought actually washing people’s feet might be a little too much for strangers on the street to agree to! With each pair of shoes to be shined, there was a body and a soul attached, and an interaction that took place. One of the guys would kneel down on the concrete and prepare his kit, while the receiver would cautiously place a foot on the stool. This one sheepishly hid his dirty soles beneath the chair until the last moment; that one confidently placed his feet in tennis shoes on the stool. One sat down and told the story of her 80+ years; another looked desperately for anything that wasn’t a pair of eyes to look at. One little girl even got her rain boots shined. Many were delightfully surprised that folks from the church were offering to serve them. All were moved in some direction through the interaction that took place.

It struck me that the disciples must have felt something akin to these emotions. We know how Peter felt, but what about the others? What did they feel when Jesus exhorted them, “If I, your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14), thus instituting the act of service as a core value for those who follow him?

I think it is easy for us today to say with Peter, “You shall never wash my feet!” Not because we don’t think we need it, but because we fear it. Our feet—and the hidden closets of our souls, for that matter—are cracked and dry, with dirt and grime caked into them, and we don’t want him to have to wade through all that junk. It’s easier to create strategies, to form ideas, and dream dreams than to look the God of the universe in the eyes when he kneels down to serve us, or to obey his command to look one another in the eyes and serve each other.

Before we get to any of our agendas, let us be willing to wrap the towel around us and serve…to look for the ones in front of us, and invite them to encounter the God who kneels down.


REFLECTION


What are the cracked and dirty places that you find it difficult to let God cleanse?


Take a moment to just be open to him in one of those places.


How is he inviting you to serve someone today?