Bring On The Dirt

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. John 13:14

I’M PRETTY MUCH the worst when it comes to serving others. You want me to spend time with you, buy you gifts, or encourage you? You bet. Die to myself without need for reciprocation? Hmm.

So often I forget that serving others actually breathes life into my own soul. God’s grace is like that. In laying down our lives, we end up with beautiful resurrected selves. Jesus shows us this in the following passage:

[Jesus] rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

John 13:4-5

From this passage we watch Jesus put on the clothing of a servant and in the most upside-down way kneel before His creation, washing them clean.

Three truths keep washing over me as I think about this scene in Scripture:

1. Jesus is not afraid of the dirt in our lives. Rather than being repulsed by the dirt we are walking around in, Jesus wants to kneel down beside us and wash us clean. He does this not only as an act of service, but as an example for us to follow.
2. A servant’s identity is never threatened. When we serve others, we are giving away something of ourselves: our time, money, gifts. But when we serve in the name of Jesus, this service never robs us of our identity. Instead, it solidifies it. We are already humbled, low, and willingly giving our lives away. No one can take something from us that we are already giving. Our well-being as a servant cannot be threatened.
3. Service and sacrifice bring connection and build relationships. Imagine a friend walking in your door with a huge bowl and a beach towel. You have just come in from a five-mile run through the rain and mud. Your feet are drenched, tired, stinky. But your friend walks over to you, takes off your muddy shoes and sweaty socks, and begins to wash your feet with soap and warm water.

The grace in this situation is completely overwhelming. We do not deserve anyone scrubbing our stinky feet clean. But we instantly become connected through the humble service of that person. And our soul is revived.

This scene of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet comes right before the greatest service He would ever give: His crucifixion. Which would wash our entire lives clean. His gift of grace to us through His sacrifice and service is the ultimate extension of connection. If we accept this gift, we are eternally connected. And eternally grateful.

When we lay down our lives in service to others, we look just like Jesus. And that is grace at its finest.

GRACE REFLECTION: Whom can you serve today? Look for ways to serve and build connection with the people God has put in your path.