On the evening before his death on the cross, Our Lordgathered his closest followers and with them, he did something incredible. Washing the feet of another person in firstcentury Palestine, was usually the job of someone of very low social status. In that geographic region, the landscape wasarid, dusty, sandy, and harsh. Transportationfrom home to work, from field to town, from village to village, wasaccomplished by walking and of course, the invention of hiking boots wasseveral centuries away. Sandals were thefashion back then. You can imagine whattheir feet looked like by the end of the day. I am sure they were covered with sand, cakedon with gunk, and you might imagine the odor. The cleaning of feet had both a practical and social significance inthose days.
Whentraveling guests stopped for a respite at a friend’s home, it was not uncommonfor a homeowner to instruct one of his or her servants to take fresh water tothe entrance of the home, and wash each guest’s feet prior to entry. This was an act of great hospitality and not amere a practical gesture. What issignificant about Jesus’ actions was, he did not send a servant to hisdisciples at the Last Supper, he served them himself. This event was of great importance to thatlittle band of followers, as it is for us today. What we sometimes see as an insignficantritual, speaks volumes to the very nature of God’s plan of salvation in Christ. God, in the mystery of the Incarnation,sent not a mere servant to reconcile us, He did it himself in Christ. God invites us to be served by God.
Each year some of us are dead set against participatingin this very important part of Holy week, but when we resist, we miss out onthe great lessons of humility and community. There is great humility on both sides of thefoot basin. For the one washing, you arehumbling yourself to give care to someone, serving them from a very lowlystate. For the one being washed you are humblingyourself to receive a free gift from someone and allowing them to enter yourpersonal space. Personally, it isdifficult for me to even have my spouse whom I love, trust, and share life togive me such a gift. However, in this ancientritual, we allow ourselves to become vulnerable, by offering ourselves to becleansed by another.
Isn’t this what the gift of grace all about? The reconciliation of humankind to God was notsomething passed on to someone else. Itwas not a job that was so insignificant that it was delegated to a flunky. No, God did it Godself. God took on flesh and walked among us. He offered himself not as a powerful ruler,king, sword wielder, but as the humble servant, willing to give all for all.
The wonderful thing about God’s grace, this free giftgiven us by the humble servant Lord, is that all we must do is receive it. Receiving grace gives us the strength to removethe masks we wear, the covering of ourselves that hides our brokenness, and westand before God and say, “Here I am, wash me clean.” God does just that. There is humility and grace and both sides ofthe foot basin. The ritual ofFootwashing is a practical lesson in humility, and it is a gesture of what itmeans to live in community. Awillingness to humble ourselves and serve each other, reflects the commitmentof God in Christ, to serve and reconcile us to Godself and each other.
Thegesture of washing each other’s feet signifies our commitment to eachother. To allow a sister or brother to wash our feet,shows that we are a community of commitment, service, and mutual love. On the eve before he offered himself to deathon the cross, as the humbled, self-giving servant, Our Lord used this verysignificant moment, this significant act to teach us, to encourage us, and tocommand us to love one another. As wegather on the eve on which Our Lord gave himself for us, I invite each of youto come forward this evening, and wash each other’s feet as a sign of humility,obedience, mutual commitment, and our love for one another.
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