Echoes From the Campfire

[Don Adkisson]

       “Most people are so starved for warmth that the slightest kindness fills them with joy.”
                    --John Deacon  (Lobo--2)

       "Beg the LORD to save you--all you who are humble, all you who uphold justice.  Walk humbly and do what is right.  Perhaps even yet the LORD will protect you from his anger on that day of destruction."
                    --Zephaniah 2:3 (NLT)
-------------------------------
It is important that you read John 13:1-17 carefully.  There is much in these verses but I want to concentrate on a couple of things.  The disciples didn't understand what Jesus was teaching, especially Peter.  Jesus started washing the disciples' feet (which was the job of a slave), but Peter, thinking he was humble, refused.  Jesus said this to him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." (13:8, NKJV)  Then Peter blurts, "then wash me all over--give me a bath."  Jesus answers him, "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you." (13:10, NKJV)
     Jesus was probably smiling and shaking His head at the same time.  As William Barclay proclaims, "The wonderful thing about Jesus was that His nearness to God, so far from separating Him from men, brought Him nearer than ever to them."  Peter was offended so easily, then turned around after the words of Jesus and wanted his whole body to be cleansed.  There it is, like so much of Scriptural practice--two extremes.  Jesus showed His humility by doing the job of a slave.  Note this, humility is not bowing down in defeat; it is recognizing a need and meeting that need without fanfare.  Charles Swindoll points out that "authentic humility is possible only for victorious men and women."
     Some are like Peter, so proud they're humble, and will not allow the Lord to wash their feet.  Others say that "foot-washing" should be a sacrament, an ordinance of the church, yet Jesus didn't not say do this.  He was showing a principle of life.  Peter cries, "no, Lord," then wants a bath.  He was already clean.  Clean by grace and know that bathing of the body you do yourself, you work out your own salvation, however, before you enter the tabernacle you wash your hands and feet, or as Barclay puts it when you enter the "household of faith."
     One extreme--unclean; the other--give me a bath.  This is the symbolism of the laver in the tabernacle.  The priest went through purification rituals before they could offer the sacrifice upon the brazen altar, but then coming to the holy place, in that short walk, their hands and feet would become contaminated and they must wash them again before entering.  Swindoll says, "While the believer has been cleansed of sin in the legal sense--past, present, and future sins will not be counted against him or her in eternity--the believer will continually struggle to remain clean experientially before entering eternity."  
     Grace--salvation--has already happened, the believer is clean.  But life happens!  In this journey of faith we sin, we do things that are improper; we are unfaithful.  Yet we do not need a bath, we do not need a new beginning again, however, Krummacher points out, "The man's walk is polluted; his feet, with which he comes in contact with the earth, are defiled."  He needs only to have his feet and hands washed, for he is already clean.  Life is a fight, "lead me not into temptation and deliver me from evil" is something we are faced with everyday.  F.W. Krummacher states, "Where a real spiritual life exists, there is also constant activity, unceasing striving against sin, repeated humiliation before God, and renewed experience of His favor."  We repent by washing our hands and feet, and this is done quite regularly.
     Oh, we should have foot-washing services.  No.  Listen, humility isn't announced; it isn't calling attention to the act of humility except in Jesus' case where He was teaching a lesson.  How we wash feet can vary.  It can be a random act of kindness.  I remember when I was in the military I would get to feeling dirty from all the cussing and stories and crudeness around men, then a brother in Christ would come by (sent by the Holy Spirit) smile and say, "how are you doing, brother?"  I just had my feet washed; I felt clean again.  I didn't need a bath, just a cleaning of the extremities.  That is one reason we need to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit--you might be washing someone's feet.  It is not announcing that we are having a special foot-washing service.  I had this happen to me one time and fortunately I was not able to participate (whew), but I did talk to the person in charge later.  I told him that if he really wanted to show humility for him to sleep in the barracks with the boys.  What he actually was doing was showing how proud he was that he was humble enough to wash feet, but then he couldn't bring himself to sleep with the guys.  Let me also say that the joy of humility is through doing.
     A couple more thoughts for this morning.  Wash your hands and feet regularly, there is a danger of hiding or underestimating any act of unfaithfulness that may have been committed.  Get it washed off.  Look one more time at verse 10, the last phrase.  Remember Jesus washed all twelve of the disciples' feet, that would include Judas.  He makes a slight comment that they were completely clean--"but not all of you."  Judas was shown a great act of humility by the Lord.  Sometimes, we do acts of kindness to those who we might think are unworthy of such.  Keep a smile on your face, be ready to help someone who is in need.  I always like what Francis Schaeffer said, "True spirituality covers all of reality."

D.C. Adkisson