By Bruce Smith
So Jesus got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
The story of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet has always been a favorite of mine. It says so much about the world-changing implications of Jesus’ teaching. Jesus, the Master and Messiah, takes on the role of the most menial of servants. He, at this critical moment in his ministry, girds himself with a towel and performs the lowliest but most comforting of tasks. The action, while now familiar, was so revolutionary that its implications are still being worked out. The concept is so alien that Peter, that most lovable and outspoken of apostles, objects. Yet there can be no doubting the words at the end of the passage, Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
When I began considering thoughts for this week, I was drawn to it because of both the idea of servanthood and that Peter, the star of our sermon series, is featured. While Peter doesn’t get it right away, by the end of the story there can be no doubt that it instructs us, as practicing Christians, to act as servants to others.
Might there be another aspect to our assuming the role of servants? When we open ourselves up to become true servants, our master is no longer ourselves. Living in 21st century America we are conditioned to “get our share”, “to win”, “to look out for number one” and to be independent and to take care of ourselves. To be masters of our fate. If we are to strap on our towels, however, we must give all that up and defer to a different Master.
We must focus on His wants and direction rather than our own. Our lives need to become “Him” centered rather than self-centered. We are no longer masters of ourselves and our little worlds but simply servants devoted to One above us. And strangely enough that Master is He who washed dirty feet, met with despicable sinners, healed the rejected and proclaimed good news to the poor. This is our self-centered world turned upside down. By ceding away ourselves as our master we gain the peace of not having to “make it” according to the world’s standards.
It’s refreshing to step back from the world’s insistent demands and the media barrage for self-gratification to work simply as servants. If washing feet is needed, we wash feet. It’s more likely that we will paint or wash dishes but nonetheless we dedicate ourselves to others. And the goal is simply to serve our fellow man/woman to illustrate that there is hope in the Good News that we know. Each of us in our own small way becomes engaged in the building of a truly magnificent kingdom.
While it demands a sacrifice of our old selves, the rewards of servanthood are great and the yoke is indeed light. The One we serve has promised to always be with us. And, according to one writer, by becoming servants we become the incarnation, the embodiment of Christ in the world. We are able to look beyond our cares and wants to He who provides so much for us. And we can feel the fulfillment that results from serving!
While I find achieving this servant mindset a daunting challenge in my everyday life, it is with a sense of expectation that I strive for it. We can even give thanks for the opportunity to act as servants for such a caring and loving God! And may that experience permeate us and change us. By becoming real servants we become the incarnation, the embodiment of Christ in the world. What a calling!!