Barefoot in the Church - Part 1

 Good morning,

Yesterday a dear friend called to talk about John 13 and feet washing...Holy Week is soon upon us and he is going to lead his conjugation in washing one another's feet - a sacramental practice that I dearly love.

This got me thinking about a message I first preached in Becket, MA years ago - as I began my message I sat down and removed my shoes and socks - and so I preached the message while I was "barefoot in the church."

I hope there is something here for you - I'm posting it in sections, more will follow tomorrow.

Much love,

Bob

Come with me into what may be familiar territory for some of us…for others perhaps it is the first time…walk with me down the narrow streets of Jerusalem…past Roman soldiers, past priests and religious types, past men and women preparing for tomorrow’s Passover observance.  Each family is preparing a lamb for slaughter, a lamb that will completely be consumed tomorrow night.  But let’s walk through this hustle and bustle and climb these stairs over here…but please be quiet…let’s keep things hushed…for there is another Lamb being prepared…let’s step into the room at the top of the stairs…

            There He is…the Lamb…He knows that He’ll soon be walking down these stairs, He’ll be walking outside the city, beyond the brook Kidron, into the olive garden…He knows there will be torches in the night sky…betrayal by one whom He has loved and cared for…an arrest…He knows that a long night stretches before Him…a night in which the friends which now surround Him in this very room will abandon Him…a morning in which a dear friend denies knowing Him…within hours His flesh will be torn from His back by a whip laced with pieces of metal and bone…and shortly thereafter…can you hear it…shortly thereafter there is the sound of a hammer pounding spikes…penetrating His flesh…nailed to a Cross…and the sky will turn black…the sun will cease to shine…and a cry will pierce the universe…

            And as these events close in on this Lamb…what do we witness in this room?

            Luke tells us in his Gospel…as we look over there…that there is an argument going on…the twelve apostles are arguing…”Who is going to be the greatest?  Who’s going to be in charge?  Me!  No me!  Jesus spent more time with me!  I’m better educated!  I’ve given up more to follow Him!  I am a better public speaker!  I have a better singing voice!  I’m better looking!  I have more contacts!  Me!  Me!  Me!”

            Here is the Lamb about to be sacrificed.  Sacrificed and abandoned, mocked and ridiculed, despised and hung on a Cross…bearing our sins…and what is going on in this room?  “Me…me…me.”

            And so the Lamb…looks at them…rises from His seat…removes His outer garments…wraps a towel around Himself…pours water in a basin…walks over to one of the twelve…kneels on the floor…and begins to wash the man’s feet.  From one…to the other…to the next…James, John, Matthew, Peter (of course Peter has something to say about it all), Phillip…and Judas Iscariot…from one to the other until He has washed the feet of all twelve.

            A silence cloaks the room.  No longer the “Me, me, me” of argumentation.  No longer the self-promotion of making oneself look better than the rest.  No longer the puffed-out chest of pride and vanity.  For the Lamb has administered a rebuke that all but the most dense of fallen humanity cannot fail to see.  But lest there be any misunderstanding…the Lamb speaks,

            “Do you know what I have done to you?  You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.  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 as I have done to you….If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”

            How can this room be filled with, “Me…me…me!”?  With the shadow of the Cross hovering above…with Judas Iscariot having done the deal to betray Jesus…with over three years of living day in and day out with Jesus…how can this room be filled with, “Me…me…me!”?

            How can the Lamb take on the form of a lowly servant in the midst of these cries of “Me, me, me!”?  How can He stoop to the ground and wash feet…how can He wash Peter’s feet, the one who will shortly deny Him with curses?  How can He wash the feet of Judas Iscariot…the one who has given himself over to Satan?  How can He penetrate the cries of “Me, me…me!” and stoop beneath the pride, the vanity, the arrogance?

            The Lamb says, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”