[1]
John 13:15, 17 King James Version
15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done
to you.
17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
In the highlands of Madagascar, we were attending a large
church. We knew very few people there, the vast majority of whom were Malagasy.
The service had been in Malagasy and I understood nothing. Then they separated
the group by gender to experience the Ordinance of Humility. I sat on the right
hand side near the front of the church and figured I would not participate
because I couldn’t communicate meaningfully with the men in attendance.
The majority of people had left when I noticed a man sitting
near the center of the church, whom I had never seen before. When no one
stopped and chatted with him, I walked over and said, “May I serve you?” in
English.
“Yes!” he responded with a smile and in English. English is
a distant third in the languages of Madagascar.
We went outside the church through the far door, where the
men were washing each other’s feet. We found a vacant seat and I asked him to
sit there. I fetched a basin with fresh water in it and brought it back to the
man. Kneeling in front of him I washed his feet. Since most people walk
barefoot a lot, the water turned a red brown—the earth color of the Red Island.
I found out that he had been called to be the new pastor for this church and
was attending that day mainly to see how things were done there.
He had pastored a number of churches in various places on
the island. Animism is the majority religion on the island. Forms of animism
exist very widely especially in Asia, Africa, and South America, but certainly
on all continents. A major tenet of Animism is ancestor worship. Ancestors are
believed to communicate with their descendants and direct a lot of their
behavior. Even Christians very often find it difficult to not follow what an
ancestor directs them to do. Adventists believe the dead know not anything[2],
nor can they communicate anything. These communications from the so-called
ancestors come in reality from the evil spirits that are rife in the world. Their
counsel often results in the persecutions of Christians. It also results in
discouragement, despair, impoverishment, and suicide.
I gained a rich blessing from washing this new pastor’s
feet, and him washing my feet. I will remember it for the rest of my life. He
gave every evidence that he understood the part God’s free grace plays in the salvation
of humanity. This is contrary to the strong legalism that permeates much of
Adventism in Madagascar.
Thank You Lord
for the hope we have because of Your free grace to us.
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