The night before Jesus went to the cross He taught the disciples the importance of clean feet. Getting up from the table, Jesus took a basin of water, wrapped Himself in the towel of a servant, and went from dirty foot to dirty foot – wetting, wiping, drying – as the disciples sat in shocked silence.

Peter, as usual, broke that silence. Protesting the Lord’s act of humble service, Peter commanded the Savior to stop. Jesus then declared to Peter, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” In another classic display of Peter’s reactionary personality, he responded by saying, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”

Patiently, Jesus replied, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”

There were many lessons for the disciples to take away from this culturally unexpected experience. Chief among them was the lesson Jesus Himself explained in calling the disciples to imitate His humility in serving one another. Within this lesson, however, was couched another powerful picture of life in the body of Christ.

Those who have been bathed in the blood of Christ need no other baptism for salvation.

But they do get their feet dirty.

We all pick up some of the filth in this world, and indeed the filth in our own hearts, as we trudge through our days. We can try to hide it, but the smell usually gives us away. And that is a good thing. It is an essential part of life in the church to pull back the cloak of our practiced appearance, remove the sandals of our self-sufficiency, and apply the waters of truth to the worldly grime stuck to our feet.

Sometimes this may be a private affair in which we confess our sins to our Lord, turn from them in repentance, and enjoy the forgiveness we have in Christ. Other times, we find our sin clings tightly to us and does not so easily loosen its grip. In such cases it is tempting to simply try to hide the offending filth. But this is a dangerous temptation. An infection can be concealed, but it is not thereby cured. Rather, it will spread even more readily by being left alone. So then, sometimes, and likely more than we wish to admit, we could all use some help washing our feet.

It is a humbling thing to let someone else see what we are ashamed of. We will never do it, unless we hate the dirt more than the embarrassment; unless we value the purity of our worship to Christ more than the status of our reputation. If our love for Christ is greater than our love of self, then we will have the courage and humility to grab basins and towels and minister to each other in the ongoing process of sanctification which God, by the Spirit of God, through the Son of God, is accomplishing in all of those who are His – all of those who are “completely clean,” even though they have dirty feet.

However, just as Jesus warned His disciples, there will be those who sometimes want to join the feast and are not clean. There will be those who are leaving dirty footprints everywhere they go, and when shown the soiled evidence are callously unconcerned. They spurn the water and the towel, but jostle for a place at the table just the same. The smells of bread and cup and spices are contaminated with foul and repugnant odors that contaminate the meal and dishonor the Lord of the feast.

Such a one must be sent out from the table until they are ready to wash their feet, or perhaps to be bathed in the first place. Some will tragically wander into the night forever, choosing to value the sin on their feet over the feast on the table.

So let us make dealing with our sin as regular as our gathering together. Before the Lord, and with the help of our church family, may we present to God feet sparkling top and bottom, front and back - even those hard-to-reach spots between the toes.