My Feet Are Too Stinky! - Message given on 4/5/07
I have a mid week message post today because my Morris Church offers Holy Week services. Even though our congregation shrinks to a bit more than half the number of our Sunday worshipers, it represents twice the number of our regular Wednesday Bible Study. It's always good to get together with the faithful.
Let us pray: O God, by the example of your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, you taught us the greatness of true humility, and call us to watch with him in his passion. Give us grace to serve one another in all lowliness, and to enter into the fellowship of his suffering: in his name and for his sake. I pray that each heart here be open to your word this evening and that my words become truly yours in spirit. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight oh Lord our rock and our redeemer. AMEN
Today is Maundy Thursday. Not Monday Thursday. That’s what I thought for years as a child. I figured somebody just had their days confused. Somebody explained the proper pronunciation to me, and I left it at that until this year. I began to wonder exactly what Maundy Thursday was. I found that it is the holy day on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. It also commemorates four events: the washing of the Disciples' feet by Jesus Christ, the institution of the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, the agony of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the betrayal of Christ by Judas Iscariot.
I could have figured that out for myself. But what is the Maundy? I found that it is actually derived from the Latin mandatum, the first word of the phrase "Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos" ( A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you), the statement by Jesus in the Gospel of John (13:34) by which Jesus explained to the Apostles the significance of his action of washing their feet. So that’s the history of Maundy Thursday.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s look at our Scripture lesson for this evening. It describes the scene in the upper room as Jesus and the Disciples are getting ready to celebrate the Passover, or what we call the Last Supper. Let’s hear the Word of the Lord:
John 13:1-17, 31b-35 NLT 1 Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He now showed the disciples the full extent of his love. 2 It was time for supper, and the Devil had already enticed Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to carry out his plan to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. 4 So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel he had around him. 6 When he came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, "Lord, why are you going to wash my feet?" 7 Jesus replied, "You don't understand now why I am doing it; someday you will." 8 "No," Peter protested, "you will never wash my feet!" Jesus replied, "But if I don't wash you, you won't belong to me." 9 Simon Peter exclaimed, "Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!" 10 Jesus replied, "A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you are clean, but that isn't true of everyone here." 11 For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, "Not all of you are clean." 12 After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, "Do you understand what I was doing? 13 You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and you are right, because it is true. 14 And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 16 How true it is that a servant is not greater than the master. Nor are messengers more important than the one who sends them. 17 You know these things ? now do them! That is the path of blessing. … 31 … "The time has come for me, the Son of Man, to enter into my glory, and God will receive glory because of all that happens to me. 32 And God will bring me into my glory very soon. 33 Dear children, how brief are these moments before I must go away and leave you! Then, though you search for me, you cannot come to me, just as I told the Jewish leaders. 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
The Word of God, written for the people of God - Thanks be to God
FOOT WASHING - This section of Scripture has given a great deal of discomfort to Methodists for years. Not necessarily because of the idea of Jesus getting ready to die for our sins. Rather, we are uncomfortable because of the part about foot washing. Methodists are not traditionally foot-washers in the context of worship services. But as you know, many Methodist preachers in trying to create a new experience for their flocks will offer a foot washing service. The thought of such a thing has brought foreboding and even terror to Methodists throughout the country, maybe the world. Especially here in the South where we believe things like bare feet in church are just not PROPER!
STINKY FEET - I can remember the first time my Methodist minister suggested that we have a foot washin’. My first thought was “I have a hole in my sock!” But there was something even worse. It was the curse of the Patsios foot. Back when my son was a teenager we were living in a split level house. His bedroom was down the half staircase by the den. As many teenagers are wont to do, he spent a lot of time in his room, and we spent a lot of time in the den. We could always tell when Jason pulled off his shoes down there. The curse of the foot would waft its aroma up the stairs and into the den. The problem is we Patsioses have stinky feet.
The thought of going to a foot washin’ was especially terrifying to me and my son. (Patsios women don’t seem to have this problem.) But the illustration of Jesus washing the Disciples’ feet is a powerful one. Peter’s reaction seemed to be similar to mine. “Peter said to him, "Lord, why are you going to wash my feet?" 7 Jesus replied, ‘You don't understand now why I am doing it; someday you will." 8 "No," Peter protested, "you will never wash my feet!’ ” or in the modern vernacular, “My feet are too stinky!”
None of us want to let our most Holy God see those dirty parts of our lives. You know the rotten stinky feet kind of sins that we normally hide under socks and shoes. Somehow, it seems so far beneath our Lord, and we just don’t want him to see (or smell) those places. Peter protested vehemently. No way was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God going to wash his stinky dirty feet!
But Peter was mistaken. Jesus knew what He was doing. He knew exactly the condition of Peter’s feet. And his response was just as adamant as Peter’s, “…if I don't wash you, you won't belong to me.” Peter, just like we do, felt that he had to get cleaned up to be in Jesus’ presence.
There are two problems with that thinking. First, we can never get cleaned up enough to come into God’s presence. We are always sinning. We are always falling short. Our best efforts fail miserably. Second, the whole concept of grace is that we turn over our sins to Jesus. There are no secrets - as if we COULD keep a secret from Him. He accepts us as we are, even with our stinky feet!
Peter just got his order reversed. Come to Jesus with all your dirty stuff. Then, after you have received His grace, then get cleaned up. Jesus will help you. That’s really good since we could never get it right by ourselves anyway.
SERVANT LEADER - There’s another aspect to this foot washing thing. Jesus was not only cleaning his friends’ feet; he was showing them what it means to be a servant leader. In a Christian context, leadership does not mean privilege and perks. It means service. Jesus told them and us, “And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.”
LOVING ONE ANOTHER - This is one of the harder things Jesus has told us to do. You’ve heard the quote, “I love humanity; it’s just people I can’t stand!” The concept of serving folks seems nice. We can feel all altruistic about the work we do, especially for strangers. But it’s harder when we have to clean up our own brothers and sisters in the faith. Maybe it’s because we know them better. After a time, we might even know some of those hidden things about folks in our own community of faith.
Jesus knew our foibles and problems among the faithful. That’s why he told us, “34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” But sometimes it’s hard to love them. Churches have a bad rep for shooting their wounded. That’s why as soon as someone errs, backslides, maybe stinks up their feet a little, they stay away from church like a stray dog avoids the dogcatcher. But that’s not what Jesus says we are to do.
We say that so and so knows better. We expect better of Christians. When we get “done wrong”, it’s really hard on us. That’s when we separate the true followers of Christ from the pretenders. Folks, it’s easy to love people who are kind to us. The challenge is to love folks when they disappoint us or even hurt us.
Jesus makes no distinction. He loved Peter and the rest of his Disciples. He knew that all of them would betray him in one way or another during the next days. Yet he still humbled himself and washed them.
I praise God that my Jesus loves me even with my stinky feet-especially with my stinky feet. In the name of the father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
MAY WE PRAY? Almighty and gracious God, thank you for coming to us even when we were broken, even while our sins were a stench to your nose. We come to your table not as those who are righteous, but as those who are loved and forgiven, In Jesus’ name AMEN.
Let us pray: O God, by the example of your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, you taught us the greatness of true humility, and call us to watch with him in his passion. Give us grace to serve one another in all lowliness, and to enter into the fellowship of his suffering: in his name and for his sake. I pray that each heart here be open to your word this evening and that my words become truly yours in spirit. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight oh Lord our rock and our redeemer. AMEN
Today is Maundy Thursday. Not Monday Thursday. That’s what I thought for years as a child. I figured somebody just had their days confused. Somebody explained the proper pronunciation to me, and I left it at that until this year. I began to wonder exactly what Maundy Thursday was. I found that it is the holy day on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. It also commemorates four events: the washing of the Disciples' feet by Jesus Christ, the institution of the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, the agony of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the betrayal of Christ by Judas Iscariot.
I could have figured that out for myself. But what is the Maundy? I found that it is actually derived from the Latin mandatum, the first word of the phrase "Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos" ( A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you), the statement by Jesus in the Gospel of John (13:34) by which Jesus explained to the Apostles the significance of his action of washing their feet. So that’s the history of Maundy Thursday.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s look at our Scripture lesson for this evening. It describes the scene in the upper room as Jesus and the Disciples are getting ready to celebrate the Passover, or what we call the Last Supper. Let’s hear the Word of the Lord:
John 13:1-17, 31b-35 NLT 1 Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He now showed the disciples the full extent of his love. 2 It was time for supper, and the Devil had already enticed Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to carry out his plan to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. 4 So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel he had around him. 6 When he came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, "Lord, why are you going to wash my feet?" 7 Jesus replied, "You don't understand now why I am doing it; someday you will." 8 "No," Peter protested, "you will never wash my feet!" Jesus replied, "But if I don't wash you, you won't belong to me." 9 Simon Peter exclaimed, "Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!" 10 Jesus replied, "A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you are clean, but that isn't true of everyone here." 11 For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, "Not all of you are clean." 12 After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, "Do you understand what I was doing? 13 You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and you are right, because it is true. 14 And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 16 How true it is that a servant is not greater than the master. Nor are messengers more important than the one who sends them. 17 You know these things ? now do them! That is the path of blessing. … 31 … "The time has come for me, the Son of Man, to enter into my glory, and God will receive glory because of all that happens to me. 32 And God will bring me into my glory very soon. 33 Dear children, how brief are these moments before I must go away and leave you! Then, though you search for me, you cannot come to me, just as I told the Jewish leaders. 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
The Word of God, written for the people of God - Thanks be to God
FOOT WASHING - This section of Scripture has given a great deal of discomfort to Methodists for years. Not necessarily because of the idea of Jesus getting ready to die for our sins. Rather, we are uncomfortable because of the part about foot washing. Methodists are not traditionally foot-washers in the context of worship services. But as you know, many Methodist preachers in trying to create a new experience for their flocks will offer a foot washing service. The thought of such a thing has brought foreboding and even terror to Methodists throughout the country, maybe the world. Especially here in the South where we believe things like bare feet in church are just not PROPER!
STINKY FEET - I can remember the first time my Methodist minister suggested that we have a foot washin’. My first thought was “I have a hole in my sock!” But there was something even worse. It was the curse of the Patsios foot. Back when my son was a teenager we were living in a split level house. His bedroom was down the half staircase by the den. As many teenagers are wont to do, he spent a lot of time in his room, and we spent a lot of time in the den. We could always tell when Jason pulled off his shoes down there. The curse of the foot would waft its aroma up the stairs and into the den. The problem is we Patsioses have stinky feet.
The thought of going to a foot washin’ was especially terrifying to me and my son. (Patsios women don’t seem to have this problem.) But the illustration of Jesus washing the Disciples’ feet is a powerful one. Peter’s reaction seemed to be similar to mine. “Peter said to him, "Lord, why are you going to wash my feet?" 7 Jesus replied, ‘You don't understand now why I am doing it; someday you will." 8 "No," Peter protested, "you will never wash my feet!’ ” or in the modern vernacular, “My feet are too stinky!”
None of us want to let our most Holy God see those dirty parts of our lives. You know the rotten stinky feet kind of sins that we normally hide under socks and shoes. Somehow, it seems so far beneath our Lord, and we just don’t want him to see (or smell) those places. Peter protested vehemently. No way was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God going to wash his stinky dirty feet!
But Peter was mistaken. Jesus knew what He was doing. He knew exactly the condition of Peter’s feet. And his response was just as adamant as Peter’s, “…if I don't wash you, you won't belong to me.” Peter, just like we do, felt that he had to get cleaned up to be in Jesus’ presence.
There are two problems with that thinking. First, we can never get cleaned up enough to come into God’s presence. We are always sinning. We are always falling short. Our best efforts fail miserably. Second, the whole concept of grace is that we turn over our sins to Jesus. There are no secrets - as if we COULD keep a secret from Him. He accepts us as we are, even with our stinky feet!
Peter just got his order reversed. Come to Jesus with all your dirty stuff. Then, after you have received His grace, then get cleaned up. Jesus will help you. That’s really good since we could never get it right by ourselves anyway.
SERVANT LEADER - There’s another aspect to this foot washing thing. Jesus was not only cleaning his friends’ feet; he was showing them what it means to be a servant leader. In a Christian context, leadership does not mean privilege and perks. It means service. Jesus told them and us, “And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.”
LOVING ONE ANOTHER - This is one of the harder things Jesus has told us to do. You’ve heard the quote, “I love humanity; it’s just people I can’t stand!” The concept of serving folks seems nice. We can feel all altruistic about the work we do, especially for strangers. But it’s harder when we have to clean up our own brothers and sisters in the faith. Maybe it’s because we know them better. After a time, we might even know some of those hidden things about folks in our own community of faith.
Jesus knew our foibles and problems among the faithful. That’s why he told us, “34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” But sometimes it’s hard to love them. Churches have a bad rep for shooting their wounded. That’s why as soon as someone errs, backslides, maybe stinks up their feet a little, they stay away from church like a stray dog avoids the dogcatcher. But that’s not what Jesus says we are to do.
We say that so and so knows better. We expect better of Christians. When we get “done wrong”, it’s really hard on us. That’s when we separate the true followers of Christ from the pretenders. Folks, it’s easy to love people who are kind to us. The challenge is to love folks when they disappoint us or even hurt us.
Jesus makes no distinction. He loved Peter and the rest of his Disciples. He knew that all of them would betray him in one way or another during the next days. Yet he still humbled himself and washed them.
I praise God that my Jesus loves me even with my stinky feet-especially with my stinky feet. In the name of the father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
MAY WE PRAY? Almighty and gracious God, thank you for coming to us even when we were broken, even while our sins were a stench to your nose. We come to your table not as those who are righteous, but as those who are loved and forgiven, In Jesus’ name AMEN.