Barefoot in the Church - Part 3

 Continued from yesterday...

Now let me say something else that may be a surprise to you, if you have trusted in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are perfect and complete and fully loved in Him. 

It’s almost as if we have two rooms inside of us…an old nasty room that is furnished with pictures of “Me, me…me!” and a new room that God has furnished for us to live in with His Son Jesus Christ.  In the old nasty room there is a map on the wall and we are at the center of the universe, in the new room there is a map on the wall and the Lamb of God is at the center of the universe.  We can choose to live in that old nasty room with its self-righteousness and pettiness and self-centeredness, we can run through life shouting, “Look at me, notice me, put me first.”  We can nurture unforgiveness like a favorite plant, we can make it a cherished part of our lives…or we can take off our robe, wrap a towel around our waist, pour water in a basin…and wash the feet of our brothers and sisters in Christ…and then…we can remove our shoes and allow our feet to be washed by others. 

            Jesus could wash the feet of these men because He knew who He was.  The apostles were having a fit about being first because they didn’t know who they were.  When we know who we are we can wash even the feet of Judas Iscariot.  There are times we’ll minister to people, we’ll serve people, and we’ll know that they’re going to turn around and bite us, but it’s ok because we know who we are in Jesus Christ, and if Jesus could wash Judas’s feet then we can wash the feet of people who will take advantage of us or talk about us or gossip about us.

            Didn’t Jesus cry out on the Cross, “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they do”?

            Jesus knew who He was and He knew He had a purpose, a destiny…He knew He’d come from God and was going to God.  I am reminded of a statement that one of our parishioners made during an ALPHA retreat; Bill Robinson was in his 60s or 70s and had been in church all his life; but he never knew that God wanted an intimate relationship with him, he said, “We’ve got an inheritance in Jesus Christ.  This is great.”  When we know who we are in Christ, when we know how much our Father loves us, when we know that God has a destiny for us…we can wash feet…and we can allow our own feet to be washed.

            Now next Sunday is a communion Sunday, and the Sunday after that is Palm Sunday, and the Sunday after that is Easter.

            Is there any barrier or sin between you and God this morning?  Is there anything between you and a brother or sister in Christ?  If there is anything between you and a brother or sister, then there is something between you and God.  Are you holding unforgiveness in your heart toward someone?  Is there bitterness to be found?  Are you part of the argument about who is going to be the greatest?

            Have we learned to allow our feet to be washed?  Have we learned to wash each other’s feet?  Do we know what it is to pray for each other?  Are we speaking words of love and encouragement to one another?  Have we learned to look beyond the old nasty room in our brothers and sisters and to see them as God the Father sees them…in that nice new fresh room filled with Jesus Christ and God’s love and acceptance?