Real Hope: Jesus the UnexpectedChikamu

Dirty Feet

I’m grateful for my feet. I’ve moved from cross-country running to challenging charity walks. I think my feet are wonderfully useful and weird. Despite that conviction, I’ve felt it’s been a huge privilege to wash the feet of the many patients I’ve nursed and the little babies I’ve welcomed into this world as a midwife. I’ve joined ministry teams in washing the feet of those we’ve gone to serve. It’s just when someone wants to wash my feet that I find it confronting.

Jesus washed the feet of His friends in an act of service and asked them to do the same for others. This unexpected act of humility is a bit jarring when I contemplate being present in that moment, imagining my feet being held and washed. Leaders and teachers don’t wash other people’s feet, back then or now. Yet, here is our Saviour King on His knees, choosing an act of humble service to demonstrate to the next generation of leaders a way of being present with others that would defy the humiliation intended by violent controlling power.

The unexpected servant leadership of Christ has inspired other people of faith like Martin Luther King to become non-violent leaders of change. These narratives have been passed on to us to allow their meaning to transform us too. I’m left pondering how I allow others to come close enough to wash the daily dirt from my heart and spirit as Jesus would want. I’m also praying that I will act in the ordinary unseen ways of service for others that is becoming so unexpected.

Written by KATH HENRY