John 13:4-5, 13-14 New King James Version
4 [Jesus] rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded…
13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
The Adventist Church, celebrates communion quarterly and usually couples this with foot washing. Many members refrain from the foot washing ceremony. It is inconvenient, embarrassing, and demeaning. Our Lord knew that when He encouraged us to do it.
Before coming to a Maundy Thursday foot washing service, I prayed, “Lord, lead me to someone tonight whom You want me to serve.” After a good sermon about the Last Supper and the brutal seizure of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, we broke up, and people went forward to pick up a basin with a bit of water in it and a paper napkin for a towel. I let the worshipers walk forward and started down the aisle of the church with that prayer in my heart. Probably fully one-third of the people were obviously not planning to participate and remained sitting on the benches.
One man sat alone near the back of the church. Something seemed to indicate that I should speak with him, “Do you have someone to serve you?” I inquired.
He looked confused at my empty hands. Some people were walking up and down the aisles handing out the emblems for communion. I had none. So, I rephrased the question, “Do you have someone to wash your feet, or may I do it?”
He responded tentatively, “Sure.” and began to squirm a bit uncomfortably.
“Good! I’ll fetch the basin, and you take off your socks and shoes.”
I walked back up to the front and picked up a basin of water. When I got back to him, he was still sitting uncertainly on the bench. I sat down on the bench in front of him, and he removed his shoes and socks. I knelt down in front of him and prayed that I wouldn’t have a leg cramp. Of course, my left leg started to cramp, so I switched knees on the floor.
While I repositioned his feet in the basin, I asked him when he had been converted. A look of surprise spread across his face, and he wiped it off immediately. He had grown up an Adventist and then lost interest. About 8 years ago, he decided to go back to school and went to La Sierra University. Now he was attending church, and he decided to try Christianity again. I indicated that that had been my Christian experience, too. I told of how a soldier in Germany had taken me on as his missionary project.
When he started to wash my feet, he asked how old I was. I told him 81, “I’m 54.” He’s the same age as my eldest child, the thought flashed through my mind, But He wasn’t finished. “What do you do with the big problem of sin?” he mumbled, deeply in earnest.
“I have that problem, too,” I admitted. “We will always have that problem. We were born with several thousand years of sinful ancestors before us. It’s in our very blood. That is why we celebrate communion. Christ took our sins away and His sacrifice still takes our sins away. He has promised in the Bible that He will never let Satan steal us away from Him.”
“I thought that people always do foot washing in silence,” he said meditatively.
“Ï have gained rich blessings when I talk with those I have had the privilege of serving,” I responded. “And I have gained a rich blessing with you!”
“I have, too,” he said as we parted. I walked back to my seat with Sylvia. A warm glow permeated my body as I realized how God had answered my prayer that evening. Later that evening, my new friend introduced his wife to me. It turned out that she and my wife knew each other.
On Sabbath morning another church member told me of how, at Destination Sabbath School, my new friend witnessed to the blessing he had received that evening.
Thank You, Lord, for allowing me to share in Your ministry!
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