The Sewage, The Bath, And The Foot Washing.
June 18th 2023
Grace Baptist Church
Vermillion, South Dakota
Ordinary Time
Welcome In The Name Of The Father, The Son, And The Holy Spirit.
The Ground Beneath Your Feet Is Holy Ground.
Let Us Worship.
The Gospel According To St. John 13:5-20
5 Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
6 So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?”
7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.”
8 Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”
10 Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”
11 For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12 So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the tableagain, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?
13 “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.
14 “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
15 “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.
16 “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.
17 “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
18 “I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’
19 “From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He.
20 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”[1]
Prayer:
Great King and Father of the cosmos, how shall we wrap our minds around your Son, The Lord Jesus’ humility? His humility is made all the greater by His divine place of glory and majesty, yet it is He who strips Himself of honor and dignity and shows us a greater glory still, that of emptying ourselves in service and love.
How now shall I say that any task is beneath my station?
How then shall I be stingy in love?
How now shall my pride tell me that my enemies deserve not my love and compassion now that I know the Lord Jesus washed Judas’ treacherous and traitorous feet? O Lord have mercy on me and my pride. Make me a servant like the lamb of God is. Amen.
Homily:
Have you ever thought much about sewage? Probably not, and that’s because we have indoor plumbing and infrastructure that makes it so we don’t have to think about the unmentionable realities of biological life. We only think about the sewer or plumbing when something isn’t working properly. Some of us know people who have lived long enough to remember when they first got indoor plumbing and no longer had to use outhouses, chamber pots and thunder mugs.
In the ancient world, the Romans are given much credit for the sewer system they developed in Rome. It improved hygiene and health, and as you would expect, was available to the wealthy and powerful first, still leaving the masses to empty their chamber pots into public latrines when made available. Which brings us to our text, which is to say, however delicately, that one perhaps somewhat unimaginable aspect of life 2,000 years ago was the reality of how filthy a street could be.
We are rather bothered by things like litter. In Vermillion you are likely to run across a broken bottle of Bud Lite from time to time. In the first century and for many centuries afterward, in different nations across the globe, people emptied their chamber pots and thunder mugs into the street, sometimes from many stories above, sometimes landing on unsuspecting pedestrians. That’s why the term “gutter” was considered to be a bad place to come from, or pass out in, for it not only drained rainwater, but excrement as well.
There was also the preponderance of domesticated animal life living side by side humans in towns and cities, which I dare say we cannot fully imagine.
All that to say, your feet would be a kind of filthy that we cannot really imagine, and so it was that the custom of foot washing was not only a needful, but a humbling task. It was unimaginable for somebody of a higher station to wash feet, let alone the feet of somebody of a lower station.
We don’t quite have a comparable equivalent when it comes to hospitality. A glass of water, or a snack is be nice, but to withhold the washing of feet would not only show disdain for the guest: it would show a lack of regard for your own home.
This context must be known to the modern reader of the Bible because nowadays foot washing seems like it would be somewhat embarrassing for all parties involved because while it may be a recreation of a Biblical event it doesn’t seem to be a form of service which is necessary nowadays.
We need the historical context of why guests’ feet would need to be washed to understand the depths of Christ’s humility, and to understand the depths of service He calls us to when He says we ought to do likewise.
There was once a show on television titled “Dirty Jobs”. This is like that. Only God is doing the work.
So it is that He who deserved the greatest respect and honor of all, lowers Himself.
Why? St. Paul gives us a clue.
Philippians 2:1-8
1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,
2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.[2]
Emptied Himself, the Word says.
At the center of Christianity is the God who emptied Himself, indeed, He is the God who not only speaks eloquent words about love and service but lives them out, in creation, in the Exodus, in the giving of God’s law, in His revelation through the prophets, and in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He who healed the sick, He who lays down His life for the sin sick soul.
This is the Son of God we speak of.
Why is Christ so enduring? I believe He is real, true God of true God. Holding all things together by the power of His will. I believe The Holy Spirit still draws men and women to His truth which is the only truth that is lasting and enduring.
But there is also historical accounts like John 13 which reveal a humility never before seen. A goodness, a purity, an honesty unparalleled.
In a world where every peon angrily passing you on the interstate believes they are entitled to never be inconvenienced, in a world where everybody is leaving yelp reviews and giving and taking stars away from Facebook pages, in a world where leadership is decided based upon elections and polling, which creates a political system that is built upon lying, self-promotion, and self-aggrandizement, there is Christ.
There is the Lord Jesus Christ, washing feet. Washing Judas’ feet. Washing the grime, and filth, and stink of the world off of us all.
In our bathroom we have this morbid Life magazine special edition on famous people who died too soon. A lot of poor decision making in that magazine.
JFK has 3 or 4 pages. The Lord Jesus got a half page with the quizzical description, “Millions of people are still living and dying for His teachings”. Something like that.
You must ask yourself, “Why?”. Some might say the Lord Jesus made a series of bad decisions that got Himself crucified. That at any juncture He could have walked back some of His more inflammatory statements. He could have apologized to the religious leaders.
He who is full of beauty and truth, gave it all away, emptied Himself that we might be made whole.
Peter’s resistance.
Peter like many of us was prone to mood swings.
Many of us have trouble accepting help. Many of us have trouble accepting forgiveness. Either because we think ourselves too good, or too bad. Many of us have trouble accepting forgiveness.
John 13:8-10
8 Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”
10 Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”
Peter knew it was not proper that the Lord wash his feet, that it really ought to be the other way around. Jesus is the one who ought to be served. Jesus should be worshipped.
Luke 7:36-50
36 Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.
37 And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume,
38 and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.
39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”
40 And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.”
41 “A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
42 “When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.”
44 Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
45 “You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet.
46 “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume.
47 “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
48 Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.”
49 Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”
50 And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”[3]
The woman understood that Jesus deserves her worship. We are covered in the sewage of our sins. Indeed, we are drowning in it, and the Lord Jesus has washed us clean, like the Psalmist we cry out,
Psalm 40:1-2
1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.[4]
Peter says this ought not be.
Jesus’ response is shocking. If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.
Peter, hearing this, goes the opposite direction because despite his many flaws He understood the most important thing in life: Peter knew how desperately He needed Christ.
You need Him too.
Perhaps you think you need Him a mere sprinkle, perhaps you know you need to be immersed in Him. But you need Him.
Frederick Bruner, professor and Sunday School teacher, writes, “Forgiveness of sins will be the foundation of our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ- constantly- or there will never be a firm foundation or good relation with Jesus Christ or with His Father- ever or whatsoever. This is hard on our pride, but it is medicine for the submitting- and so, finally, relaxing- soul.”[5]
It takes a terrible amount of honest soul work to admit spiritual need. It is easier to look at the Lord Jesus and say He is the epitome of something you find useful in the moment.
Look at how He loves.
Look at how well He suffered.
Look at how bad governments are, they crucified the Son of God.
It is easier to use Jesus to make your points than to receive Jesus for the forgiveness of sins.
Peter must allow Jesus to wash Him.
That’s the work of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Jesus does not have any issue with power and authority. He says you call me teacher and Lord, and you’re right! For so I am!
All the more reason to worship Him, because He serves and loves extravagantly. All the more reason to entrust yourself to Jesus and be saved, to be washed.
The Church exists to give means of grace.
In this passage The Lord Jesus says if you’ve had the bath, you only need the foot washing, and if He, being teacher and Lord is about the foot washing, you should too because He did it to leave an example.
I don’t think He’s actually commanding us to wash feet. Although some Churches do foot washings on Maundy Thursday, and it is an act of humility, both the foot washer and the owner of the feet. I don’t know if you’re really being served if you’re being embarrassed by the whole affair, although, humility is a wonderful gift, so perhaps you have been served by being humbled.
Jesus speaks of receiving the one who He sends. That if you receive the preacher of the cross, and the message of the cross preached, you also receive Him who hung upon the cross.
He’s talking about apostolic succession.
I don’t believe apostolic succession belongs to any one Church, even if some churches have some really old real estate in Italy and have used some of the same office space on some of the same land that some of the Apostles walked.
Churches which have apostolic succession are Churches that teach, and preach something Christ and the Apostles would recognize. That is to say, Churches which offer the bath, and the foot washing. The bath is baptism, and the foot washing is the Lord’s Supper. Both of these ordinances lose meaning when they are separated from the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Baptism is for those who have thought about the meaning of life and have determined that it must be tied up in the redemption work of Christ. If you receive Christ, you receive the good gift of baptism, and are plunged beneath the cleansing flood, buried in Christ, washed.
You only need baptism once. Some have felt a need to be baptized again, and some Churches do so, but God’s promises are faithful even when we are not faithful, so you only need seek and receive Baptism one time because God’s promises are good to go. That’s Baptism. It’s the bath.
Now, your feet are another manner. The believer knows that walking in this world is a dirty business. Temptation is everywhere. We fail. We fall. We sin. And the Lord’s Supper is for you, weekly. It’s not so much the bread and the cup that do the work, but the confession of sins, and the receiving, week after week, the promises of God. We must allow Christ to wash our feet, or we have no part in Him. We recognize that’s why prayer and confession are so important to the daily life of the Christian. There’s something powerful, sacred, and Biblical about confessing and chewing on the Gospel together, the way Jesus wanted it, as a Church.
The Church exists to remember Jesus for the life of the World.
The Liturgy For June 18th 2023
The Congregational Singing
The Call To Worship
The Prophet Amos 8:11-12
Call & Response Blue Hymnal #75
The Apostle’s Creed
The Lord’s Prayer
The Offertory
The Congregational Singing
The Proclamation
The Gospel According to St. John 13:5-20
The Supplication
The Communion
2nd Corinthians 12:7-10
The Doxology
The Benediction
The Communion
O Master, Christ our God, King of the ages and Creator of all things, I thank You for all the good gifts You have given me, and especially for the communion of Your pure and life-giving Mysteries.
Therefore I pray to You, O good Lord and Lover of mankind: Keep me under the protection and in the shadow of Your wings; grant that even to my last breath I may with a pure conscience partake worthily of Your Holy Gifts for the remission of sins and for eternal life.
For You are the bread of life, the Source of holiness the Giver of all good things, and to You we give glory, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, to the ages of ages. Amen.
~ Thanksgiving After Communion, Second Prayer, “The Ancient Faith Prayer Book”, p. 99
The Benediction
May you go forth from The House of The Lord, washed. Washed from iniquity, washed from despair and anxiety, washed from the foreboding and the gloom. May you go forth from this Sanctuary washed in Baptismal waters and the Word of God. Amen.
The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith
Chapter 9, Paragraph 3
Man, by his fall into a state of sin, has wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation;4 so as a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin,5 is not able by his own strength to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto.6
4 Rom. 5:6, 8:7
5 Eph. 2:1,5
6 Titus 3:3–5; John 6:44
[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Jn 13:5–20). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Php 2:1–8). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Lk 7:36–50). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Ps 40:1–2). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5] Frederick Bruner, “The Gospel of John” p. 766
Beautifully preached beautifully written … thank you Evan!
I desperately needed to read this this morning ❤️😭