I Am, No, I Am
I Am, No, I Am
“Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; he riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.”
John 13:3-5
Growing up with a twin brother was pretty cool, most of the time. But there were always those moments when it definitely wasn’t cool. Competition occurred with everything. Our dad placed us on the same little league team. My brother was a catcher and a pitcher. I played outfield or something. There was always a debate at who was better. And it didn’t stop with baseball. We were always bickering back and forth; “I’m better. No, I am. No you’re not, I am!” Some days, my grandparents had to physically separate us. I always thought I might be cursed, I mean blessed, to have twin boys.
Jesus made no bones about it, He was not above washing the feet of those that followed Him. In John Chapter 13, Jesus told Peter why it was important and what it meant. Peter struggled to understand it, as I think most of us do.
People mostly traveled on foot in that time. They wore open-toed shoes or sandals. Some didn’t wear anything at all on their feet. They traveled for days and miles on their journeys. Imagine how dirty peoples feet were? Before every meal they either washed their feet or had a servant wash their feet. They did this because they sat on the floor to eat and their feet were visible to everyone else at the table. Washing of the feet was a lowly, lowly task.
Jesus showed the disciples that He was not beyond washing their feet before this meal, The Last Supper.
You see, our role is not to be served. It is to serve. It is a lifelong appointment as a child of God, to be a servant. We are not to worry about what we will get or have because we are Christians. We aren’t to worry about why things are happening to us, or why we haven’t been blessed. We are not the important thing. That’s a hard pill for people to swallow. It’s not always about us.
Our role is to be the blessing. To provide the service. To set ourselves aside for others.
Too often we place ourselves in the middle of everything. I do it with great frequency unfortunately. I notice that I start to become the center of my prayers. That I worry about what my future holds. I place my comfort and desires over that of everyone else I presumably care about. It’s a gut check really. One that has a little sting to it.
We all know and remember what it is like to have something done for us by someone else. All too often, we forget what it feels like to be the doer of the deed, but we never forget what we get. I remember all the sweet and kind things my wife does for me - and yet, I struggle to think of the recent acts of kindness I’ve done for her. My aunt sends me cards all the time just to let me know that someone is with me. Yet, I’m too busy to write.
My list is long. Unfortunately, it’s long on the wrong side.
Jesus is a great reminder that we should be washing the feet of those who matter to us, and even those who don’t.
It’s not about being served or owed or paid back. It’s not even about paying it forward.
It’s simply about serving.
As Christian’s, true Christian’s, not the ones who rode the ride and got the t-shirt, true Christians - we are to serve the way Christ served. Simply put. We should learn from the lessons that He taught others.
There is a purpose for it - newsflash, it doesn’t matter if we know what that purpose is. It’s time to go to God in prayer and ask Him to show you who to serve.
The smallest thing you do may be the biggest thing ever done for someone else.
“But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:26-28
“If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.”
John 13:14-18