WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2024, WASHING FEET

 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2024 - HAVE YOU (FIGURATIVELY) WASHED SOMEBODY’S FEET)

JOHN 13:4-17

“He got up from the meal, removed his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 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.

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who would betray him, which was why he said not every one was clean.

12 After washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set 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.

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“Humility is the quality of being humble. Dictionary definitions accentuate humility as low self-regard and a sense of unworthiness. In a religious context, humility can mean recognizing oneself to a deity and submitting to that deity as a member of that religion.”

Micah 6:8: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly[a] with your God.

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So, today, have you ever been like Jesus—getting down on the floor and washing someone's dirty, smelly feet? (Maybe not quite that action, but something similar.)

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I had a big ego.  In the past eight years, that ego has taken a hit.  (Maybe it is gone - I hope so).

I had major surgery. I was the “man of iron,” the Information Systems Professor of the Year, and the campus “Professor of the Year.”    [Hey Bruce, you are not as important as you think you are!!!]

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Since then: 

I’ve been fired (well, not ‘technically’ fired) from two education jobs.  “It might be easier to say “I was not asked to return.” 

And I’ve been a woman for six years. (To an egotistical man, being a woman is like being exited to Siberia!!!  That’s humility!!!)

I was told by the person who was my life for 47 years, “Goodbye.” Another friend deserted me.  

Two years ago, I washed the feet of two friends (separately).  The first took it meaningfully, and the other was like Peter (don’t wash my feet).

But “washing feet” can mean other things, too. Like helping a great friend when his house got flooded, mowing my neighbors' lawns, shoveling their snowy sidewalks, and more. It could be called “random acts of kindness” or just being a good human. Love your neighbor as yourself means I have to love them in thought, words, and deeds (at least to me). 

But you, doing kindness, do not let your left hand know what your right-hand does. Matthew 6:3

So, love your neighbor - and “wash their feet” - either really or symbolically by doing good deeds!!

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

LOVE WASHES FEET

Karen Anne White, ©, March 27, 2024