Lighthouse Keeper

3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off 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 (John 13: 3-5)

To abide with Jesus and let him wash us.

Our little Martha brains (Luke 10) want to run around and fix everything. We dive into other people’s problems and offer complex, divine solutions for others that we are not able to offer for ourselves. We run God projects and save-the-world projects at the expense of letting Jesus wash our feet first.I was in Glebe, Sydney one Maundy Thursday before Easter (it’s an Anglican thing mainly the day before Good Friday).

I was fascinated by a little stone church and the people meeting inside surrounded by candles. As I poked my head in to be a tourist and look at the church building, I noticed they were setting up for washing feet. A group of young people, no older than 30, were filling up white basins and gathering towels. They asked me to join so I instantly sat down and thought “Who’s feet should I wash first?”

A young brown-haired woman asked me to take my sneakers off and bent down to start washing my feet. Like Simon Peter, I protested (John 13:6), embarrassed of my stinky Nikes. I wanted to be the one doing the foot washing. But (just like Jesus) the young woman persisted and put my smelly feet in the basin and soaped them up before drying my feet gently with a towel. I was completely humbled by the experience as the Scripture came to mind:

“Unless I wash you, you have no part with me” (John 13:8).

I talked to the young woman later and she had just been ordained as an Anglican Reverend. This was her first Parish in Glebe and she invited me back to the Easter services over the weekend (which I did attend–even though I’m Pentecostal not Anglican). It’s vital to always sit with Jesus and allow Him to wash our feet first before we have any part with the world. If we are unable to look simply at our own shortcomings and need for the mercy and grace of Jesus; we are unable to offer it to others. Abide and be washed…washed regularly by the love of Jesus +