Mar | 13 | Precious Pedicures from Stooping Servants

Key Word:- CLEAN

Title:- Precious Pedicures from Stooping Servants

John 13:6-8 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”

“My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you: Ask what you can do for your country.” This well known saying from the inaugural address of President John F Kennedy, sets the tone for our meditation today, for unfortunately in the church, once Christ has once and for all saved us and washed us from our sins, we then expect little more from Him. After all, “He's done so much already, shown so much love, that surely the song is true, that 'love so amazing, so divine, demands my life my soul my all.” Now then, it’s not about what He can do for us but rather, it’s about what we can do for Him. This view sounds good. This view sounds reasonable and try as I might to dismiss it, this view sounds so very right.
This view of Christ, the no longer servant King, is strengthened much, when the clarion call from dizzy pulpits full of desperate and imbalanced pastors, close their sermons with somber presidential appeals, speaking to us fellow citizens of heaven and saying “ask not what Christ can do for you, but rather what you can do for Christ. Now let us turn to 'Mission Praise' page number 8 and begin to sing together: 'To the regions beyond I must go, I must go, where the story has never been told; to the millions that never have heard of his I must tell the sweet story of old; of old; To the regions beyond, I must go, I must go' and by the way, the building fund is short of a few hundred thousand so start dipping into those wallets brethren”…and with such a challenging closing, the booming band marches out and onwards beating the drum and parading gloriously out onto the field crying “Let us serve Him who has done so much for us and here’s an extra fifty bucks.”
Unfortunately, for most of us in these changing church times, the money raising continues but the raising of the regions beyond standard has long since gone. Yes, even if the challenge was somewhat imbalanced, at least money and mission went hand in hand! Nowadays we have moulded us such a bunch of spiritually, entrepreneurial, crippled, inept little sissies from our pulpits, that folk who should be real, folk who should be blessed, folk who should be wise, are ardently seeking His pay-rolling rather than His presence, money rather than mission. Yes, they are ferociously seeking His financing rather than His fellowship and are hungering after Christmas cake rather than the Cross. Folk might well be described today as truly at ease in Zion, but they really don’t know what Zion truly is! Sad days friends, sad days indeed, for at the least that old view of Christ, being no longer servant King, fuelled the Great Commission.

However, even if the command of sacrificial response was once heard again in this strange season of our age, and it must be heard again, we must not forget in all our powerful preaching and in all our presidential challenges, in all the demanding of total dedication and of life sacrificing, to our all conquering, all powerful potentate, no, we must not forget something rather wonderful concerning our Saviour Christ Jesus the King and His continuing servant ministry to us? After all, He is still, the Servant King! Isn’t He? Ah, that’s made you stop and think hasn’t it? Yes, believe it! To us His children, Christ Jesus the Lord, is still the Servant King! Imagine that!

Consider this then friends; maybe King Jesus is still in the business of washing feet? Think about that and imagine the implications upon your prayer life and indeed your walk and work for God, for I am afraid that many of us still have the initial attitude of Peter towards the humility and example of Christ the King in washing our feet. “Never.” We say, “Never. Not here. Not now. Surely not!”

How hard it is for us to imagine laying back and letting Christ magnificently minister to us today. It is hard isn’t it? It goes against the grain of those awake in Zion, simply because the imbalance that ‘we owe Him so much that we should expect no more’ is so ingrained in us. “After all,” we say, “when Christ washed the feet of Peter, it was in His humiliation but now, Jesus is so Glorious and I mean so very Glorious, that He would certainly no longer wish to stoop to wash our feet, my feet, no not now, not at all, after all, He is sat at the right hand of the Majesty on High waiting for His enemies to become His footstool, waiting to rule the nations with a rod of iron!” With that lofty thought so at the forefront of our minds, should Jesus then ever attempt to descend from His high and Most glorious Throne towards our stinky little feet, we too would probably say with Peter, “Never Lord! We cannot believe, and do not expect or accept, that You, our glorified Christ would still don an apron and require us to stop and take off our dirty shoes, so that You would so gently minister to our most miserable of feet! Oh no Lord, for we understand that in approaching our earthly senior pastor, even we know that we have to go through four secretaries, three layers of administration, two associate ministers and a partridge in a pear tree, to even get a scribbled post-it note fixed to his 34-inch, ever busy, running and ruling, perfectly pastoric plasma screen in the inner sanctum of his throne of seclusion, so we would never expect You our Lord, I mean never expect You King Jesus, to help, to personally come a-running with tears and bowl of splashing water, to stoop and serve us so quietly and so tenderly Oh Lord. No! Never!” No, I am afraid we have not seen that example for two thousand years. The Bishop is on His throne, and is still in his oh so modern palace, and with such an example of unservant-like Kingship from His leaders, just why should expect Christ to descend from His throne to our feet today?

Think about that friend. If Jesus came now on His knees before you to minister to you, would you let Him? Man, would you really let Him? I think it would be a struggle for us friends. A real struggle. Why is this?

Possibly with respect to the servanthood of Christ our long standing church structures have effectively erected an 'idol contraire' deep down in our hearts and like some fat smiling Buddha this idol still oozes out it's mantra saying that “hey, the truth is that, those serving are after all, indeed greater, bigger and better than those supposedly being served? I mean look at the senior mega Pastor, bright red Porsche and all! “ ‘So this is how we live in our church structures and it is obvious that most of us have not yet in our hearts, grasped the topsy turvy nature of the Kingdom where “the last shall be first” and the “greatest of all, shall be the servant of all”’. Yes, remember that, the greatest shall be servant!

Yet, seminary sacks filled with career minded, well educated, Mastered and Divinely Doctored, handshaking, smiling, smarmy, smooth and well-salaried, sharply-spurred and amply-booted, exceptionally suited, very, very senior pastors, with all the associated perks and parking places, are clear evidence of the presence of this IDOL CONTRAIR. The greatest, is not the servant after all! No, an apron is no measure of success for a servant of God in our generation; Oh no! But a big church, an enormous staff, cap doffing respect and nice big car, ahhhh…now there's the blessing of the King on His faithful servant that is certainly not disguised!

Do you see the problem now?

I think that if Jesus has stopped serving us, has stopped washing feet, then we’re finished. The Scriptures tell us that if we will not allow Jesus to wash our feet, then we do not belong to Him and God help us, we have no part in Him. Oh contrite and smelly footed one, take heart today then, for if none of your leaders are willing to minister to your deepest and dirtiest of needs, yes, if they appear too high and mighty in success to even begin to contemplate the long stoop from their lofty throne to your long and cracked toenails, then always remember that Christ the servant King, waits with bowl and apron and pure clean water, to redemptively rub His Holy hands right in between your dirty little toes and then pull you from the crap and the quick skinned sinking sands of your hurting and ingrown, terrible little toenails, to make you clean once more. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30)…….Jesus says in effect, “Now put that prayerful shopping list away. Sit down, sit back, put your feet up and let Me see to you; let Me wash your feet; let Me serve you; let Me tell you; yes hush my child and listen whilst I sing to you today.” 

Listen: - Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, John 13:8-10a

Pray: Lord, despite our grotesque church structures, help me to learn how to let You wash my feet and then help me by Your example, to learn to truly wash the feet of others. Amen.