Feet, man.
They are smelly.
Seriously, when do your feet smell good? Pretty much right out of the shower is the only time. Right after, you either put on socks and they get sweaty or you walk around barefoot and they get dirty.
Feet are gross.
They’re the one part of your body that’s in contact with the ground most of the time. If you’re lucky enough, I guess, to have a job where you sit all day maybe your rear end could argue that statistic, but speaking of smelly and gross…
And here’s the thing, these days I’m betting our feet much less smelly and gross than they were for people 2000 years ago. I’ve got this thing on my arm that counts how many steps I walk every day. My goal is 10,000, but unless I make an extra effort, I usually fall short of that by a couple of thousand steps. And I work on my feet most of the day. Can you imagine what Jesus and his disciples would have racked up on a Fitbit? And how dirty their feet must have gotten walking around in sandals all day? People make fun of me for wearing socks with my sandals, but I’ll tell you – my feet might stink, but they’re cleaner this way. Plus, like I said, feet are gross, so seeing my sock is much better for you, believe me.
So why are we talking about feet? Well, because its Maundy Thursday. Does anyone know what “Maundy” means? I’ll give you a hint, it has nothing to do with feet. Not directly. Maundy is derived from the Latin word for “Command”. Jesus gave his disciples a new command that night: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
I’m no Greek scholar, so I googled what “one another” meant here and this is what I found - One another – The Greek word allelous is translated “one another.” It comes from the root allos, a word that means “different.” Jesus wasn’t speaking Greek to these disciples but the translation of his Hebrew into Greek produces an important insight. The uniqueness of those who follow the Messiah is seen in their love for the one who is different.
Earlier, Jesus summed up the Law with two statements – does anyone remember them? Love God – Love your neighbor. And who is our neighbor? Jesus told them a story that can be summed up as “even THAT PERSON”.
Whoever THAT PERSON is for you, Jesus says we have to love him. And man, its hard. I know. Sometimes I wish we could just stick to the Ten Commandments. Sometimes it’s a lot easier to not steal or kill someone than to love someone that you don’t want to. But we don’t have that option.
Jesus demonstrated this love by washing his disciples feet. A job for a servant or a slave, NOT for a rabbi, much less the Messiah – at least this is how Peter felt. But Jesus once again flips expectations, demonstrating how to serve and not be served.
In just a minute here we’re going to take his “do what I do” approach literally here and you will have the opportunity to wash someone’s feet. I would say a few things before we do this. If you aren’t comfortable with someone doing this to you, you don’t have to do it. None of us here are Jesus, so I’m going to say that its ok.
Two – this is largely symbolic, so we’re not doing a pedicure or anything here. Pour a little water, pat it off with a towel and we’re good. No between the toes stuff necessary
Three – take it seriously though, if you’re the washee, put yourselves in the place of those disciples. If you’re awkward, imagine how they felt.
They are smelly.
Seriously, when do your feet smell good? Pretty much right out of the shower is the only time. Right after, you either put on socks and they get sweaty or you walk around barefoot and they get dirty.
Feet are gross.
They’re the one part of your body that’s in contact with the ground most of the time. If you’re lucky enough, I guess, to have a job where you sit all day maybe your rear end could argue that statistic, but speaking of smelly and gross…
And here’s the thing, these days I’m betting our feet much less smelly and gross than they were for people 2000 years ago. I’ve got this thing on my arm that counts how many steps I walk every day. My goal is 10,000, but unless I make an extra effort, I usually fall short of that by a couple of thousand steps. And I work on my feet most of the day. Can you imagine what Jesus and his disciples would have racked up on a Fitbit? And how dirty their feet must have gotten walking around in sandals all day? People make fun of me for wearing socks with my sandals, but I’ll tell you – my feet might stink, but they’re cleaner this way. Plus, like I said, feet are gross, so seeing my sock is much better for you, believe me.So why are we talking about feet? Well, because its Maundy Thursday. Does anyone know what “Maundy” means? I’ll give you a hint, it has nothing to do with feet. Not directly. Maundy is derived from the Latin word for “Command”. Jesus gave his disciples a new command that night: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
I’m no Greek scholar, so I googled what “one another” meant here and this is what I found - One another – The Greek word allelous is translated “one another.” It comes from the root allos, a word that means “different.” Jesus wasn’t speaking Greek to these disciples but the translation of his Hebrew into Greek produces an important insight. The uniqueness of those who follow the Messiah is seen in their love for the one who is different.
Earlier, Jesus summed up the Law with two statements – does anyone remember them? Love God – Love your neighbor. And who is our neighbor? Jesus told them a story that can be summed up as “even THAT PERSON”.
Whoever THAT PERSON is for you, Jesus says we have to love him. And man, its hard. I know. Sometimes I wish we could just stick to the Ten Commandments. Sometimes it’s a lot easier to not steal or kill someone than to love someone that you don’t want to. But we don’t have that option.
Jesus demonstrated this love by washing his disciples feet. A job for a servant or a slave, NOT for a rabbi, much less the Messiah – at least this is how Peter felt. But Jesus once again flips expectations, demonstrating how to serve and not be served.
In just a minute here we’re going to take his “do what I do” approach literally here and you will have the opportunity to wash someone’s feet. I would say a few things before we do this. If you aren’t comfortable with someone doing this to you, you don’t have to do it. None of us here are Jesus, so I’m going to say that its ok.
Two – this is largely symbolic, so we’re not doing a pedicure or anything here. Pour a little water, pat it off with a towel and we’re good. No between the toes stuff necessary
Three – take it seriously though, if you’re the washee, put yourselves in the place of those disciples. If you’re awkward, imagine how they felt.
Comments