HE CLEANED THE DIRTY PLACES
Jenna Worsham
Today’s Scripture: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.” John 13:11, ESV
Theme: Humility towards each other shows we obey and worship God.
BEHIND THE OVEN
Our neighbor and friend, Mr. Bob, worked for years in construction. He has come out of retirement to help us with a few remodel jobs. One time, he was helping fix our dishwasher. To do so, he had to pull out two different appliances that hadn’t been moved since they were installed. There was a disgusting mess back there. Our friend started wiping up the mess and recounting all of the many backsides of ovens, dishwashers, and refrigerators he had seen—and their various levels of nastiness. He did not complain. He reassured and affirmed us as he washed the dirty places he had uncovered. His servant attitude reminds me of Jesus washing feet.
THE SEWER
There is a clean out port down in our basement garage area that connects to the septic tank. Mr. Bob once came to help us find where our tank was (so we wouldn’t have to dig up the entire yard to locate it). There is a long wire tool with a barb at the end called a “snake.” It “snakes” through septic pipes to measure the length of the line and help find the tank. Once measurement is complete, the line must be reeled back in, and it is covered with whatever is in the septic lines. Yuk! Our friend wiped off the wire tool (with my disgusted and mortified help) while making jokes and making me feel better, too. It stank. It was dirty. My friend reminds me of Jesus washing feet.
THE DIRTY PLACES
We all have dirty places in our lives. Some are on the outside of our bodies or in our homes. Others are inside: hurts, habits, hang-ups, and shortcomings we are ashamed to bring out in the open. In those dirty places, we can find loving and humble people caring for and accepting us.
Maybe it’s clean behind your dishwasher and oven. Maybe you don’t have to use a measuring tool to find your septic tank, but you, too, have some emotional or physical nastiness that require attention. If the disciples' feet weren’t cleaned after a full day of walking, exposed in unpaved streets, they might have become infected. Surely unwashed feet would stink throughout the Passover meal. Jesus personally cleaned the dirty places. He didn’t make anyone feel weird about their feet. He didn’t place a clothespin on His nose. He didn’t ask anyone to help Him or excuse Himself from the task. Jesus showed us how to worship with our hands – serve broken, confused, and mistaken people with humility.
FOR THIS YOU ARE CALLED
“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps" (1 Peter 2:21, ESV). No matter how grotesque or shameful, we are called to step down into someone else’s filth and help alleviate their pain, embarrassment, their dirty places, and their suffering. We do this because Jesus did it first. He humbled Himself, left us an example, and calls us to follow “in His steps.”
Make It Personal: Who has cleaned the dirty places for you? What would it look like to do this for someone you know who needs it, but doesn’t “deserve” it? Pray with me: today, this week, pray you see someone’s “dirty place” and use the opportunity to worship God by cleaning it humbly.
Pray: Lord, thank You for being an example of great humility. Help me when I want to avoid the dirty and disgusting jobs. Help me to serve humbly as an act of worship to You. Please help me to notice opportunities. Give me the heart and compassion for others that You have. And when I don’t feel like it, help me to have the self-control to follow You anyway. I worship You now with my thoughts and in my mind. I commit to worship You today, in at least one small way, with my hands and my humility. Amen.
Read: Proverbs 22:4; James 4:10
Weekly Memory Verse: “He must increase but I must decrease.” John 3:30, ESV