Dirty Feet

S - "You call me your teacher and Lord, and you should, because that is who I am. And if your Lord and teacher has washed your feet, you should do the same for each other. I have set the example, and you should do for each other as I have done for you. I tell you for certain that servants are not greater than their master, and messengers are not greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." John 13 TS

O - Of all the actions of Jesus on earth, why would he choose washing feet to be his prime example of how to treat each other? Why not chasing the money changers and sellers out of the temple? Or how about praying all night or speaking truth to the crowds as the prime example of how we are to be toward each other and all others? To make matters worse, not only will he choose the example of washing feet, he will not wait for the traitor Judas to leave before he engages it. He will wash the feet of all twelve knowing that one will betray, one will deny and all of them will desert him.

A - In this example Jesus makes a clear explanation of how he expects all who follow him to act toward all others.  It is in actually knowing him as Master, Teacher and Lord; and having experienced him treating us just like he treated the twelve on that night long ago which inspires and provokes this otherworld response to all others. The example and expectation are set. The decision to actually join him in this activity is up to each of us. The blessing is not in intellectual acknowledgment nor in announcing his activity and expectation.  It comes only in doing the very thing he asks us to do. To lovingly help each other with our dirty feet.   

P -  Lord who still washes dirty feet,

Thank you for the innumerable times you have loved me this way … washing feet made dirty by unavoidable circumstance and by avoidable choices.  I am so amazed that you act in this way and expect me to do the same.  I don't just want to receive the washing but to give as well.  I admit I'll need help to do it … and that you're more than willing to provide the help I need.  I choose and you empower.  Yes, to you, your example and your expectation.

Still amazed by you,

Steve

Is the Point a Place or a Person?

S - "No one has gone up to heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from there. And the Son of Man must be lifted up, just as the metal snake was lifted up by Moses in the desert. Then everyone who has faith in the Son of Man will have eternal life. God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has confidence in him will have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them!"  John 3 TS

O - Four ordinary words in these sentences with extraordinary importance.  Up, down, gave, sent.  All of them find their meaning and connection in the person of Jesus. Religion makes heaven or hell (up or down) the point of life after death.  Heaven makes the point of life before death and life after death a person (gave and sent).  The Jesus of religion is a necessary cog in a divine plan to keep people from hell.  The Jesus sent from heaven is the expression of God's love given to the entire world … 7.6 billion and counting. This love is not focused on place (heaven or hell) but on an ongoing forever relationship described in terms of sons, daughters, friends, brothers, sisters, mother and father.    

A - Jesus is heaven's message to all people.  It's a universal message.  He is not meant for a religious few or reserved for those who've garnered a "correct" perspective from historical, cultural, theological and linguistic information. Jesus is given to the world not as an offering of amnesty but as a living invitation to adoption. Jesus says "I won't leave you like orphans."  It's much less about where you are and much more about whose you are. If I'm just trying to get to heaven I could miss.  However, if I'm following, or with, Jesus I can't go to hell and I can't miss heaven. Confidence in him really is the way.  I accept heaven's invitation to adoption … I'll confidently follow Jesus day by day.   

P - God and Father who sent Jesus,

Thank you for loving the people of the world … all of them, including me.  Thank you for the person of Jesus who is the exact representation of your being.   In Jesus your point and love are crystal clear.  Thank you for loving us unconditionally. Thank you for making us/me confident in him.

Steve