Good comes out of pain and tragedy

I’m one of those people who does not laugh at the so-called funny videos of people falling. I feel physical pain when I see them. Yesterday’s nap and last night’s sleep were violently interrupted by the same vision. Our granddaughter had described to us her horrific fall and every time I shut my eyes, I could see it, and feel her pain, and usually started crying.

This event in our lives has done more than deepen my empathy. This young woman has a most marvelous attitude. She is not angry. There is pain but no complaining. I tend to compete, blame, or judge and she cheerfully corrects my attitudes without making me feel condemned, just gently reminded. Does she know this verse? 

If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.” (John 12:47–50)

I’m getting a strong example of what it means to be like Jesus. It is as if her recent fall and injuries destroyed selfishness and self-pity and gave her His peace and joy. We marvel at how someone with casts and braces on all four limbs can be this way. Did the fall do it? Is the Father sending her in her brokenness to rebuke me in my thoughtlessness? Whatever else is going on, I’m feeling like the disciples must have felt when Jesus washed their feet:

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. (John 13:12–17)

The one time someone did this literally was both humbling and an expression of humility. While my feet were not covered in the stuff of walking barefoot, having them washed has an effect that is difficult to describe, yet it clearly expresses loving care. This is why Jesus said:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34–35)

In love, we visit and support our broken and bleeding granddaughter. I love, she is behaving in love toward us, her nurses, and even the people who could not fix her phone. She is like the Lord Jesus when He showed no sign of His own needs (He was on the way to the Cross) as He cared for these men who were at that time so oblivious to all else but themselves. Again, all I can say is “only God” and marvel at His grace.

PRAY: Our lives constantly face challenges. This one is huge and multifaceted, giving us an understanding of You that is new, and wonderful, and at the same time almost terrifying. Such power to save, both physically and spiritually. She could easily have died. She could, like most people, be angry at the world, blaming and in misery. Only You can take tragedy and make it good, even amazingly beautiful. 

Full obedience is more than talk . . .

 

READ: John 13-16

In the list of spiritual gifts from Romans 12, study shows that the gift of teaching is a motivation to gather information so it can be shared with others. Teachers want the truths of God to be known and this reading from John  shows that Jesus is the Master Teacher. In my red-letter Bible, this section is almost entirely red as Jesus teaches His disciples (and me) about living by faith.

The down-side about the spiritual gift of teaching is that those who have it tend to gather information and pass it on as if that is all they must do to be obedient. This is an error. If God teaches me something (and He does every day) sharing it in my blog or with those around me is not enough; I’m supposed to also obey what He says.

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. (John 13:12–17)

The blessing is not in telling everyone else to do this, but to do it myself. God wants others to know this truth, but not at the expense of my neglect. Besides, who listens to anyone who does not follow their own advice or do what they tell others to do?

Out of this passage in John, the specifics are clear: I’m to love others as Jesus loved me, not just tell them about it. If I love Jesus, I’m to show it by keeping His commandments, not merely telling others what they are supposed to do.

“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.” (John 14:23–24)

Being a teacher can lead to a false pride, the pride of ‘knowing’ all sorts of things, but I know from experience that “knowledge puffs up” — but “love builds up” and a love for God is seen in the obedience of what I do, not in the amount of knowledge that I have. Not only that, loving obedience produces deep joy whereas sharing truth has no such guarantee.

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. (John 15:10–11)

Jesus says I need to ask the Father. He will give me what I need and in receiving answers from Him, my joy will also be full. Lord, today I need from You a deeper desire to put to practice all that You have taught me, not just so I can be joyful but so Your love can be shared in deeds as well as words. Be quick to bring to my attention those times when I should be doing something that You have told me instead of merely telling others about it, as if sharing it is the only obedience necessary.

 

Pass the soap . . .

After nearly three years of ministry, Jesus knew that His time was near. Soon He would leave this world, but before He did, He wanted His disciples to experience His love in a special way. He also wanted them (and us) to know how to show our love to one another:

“When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, ‘Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.’” (John 13:12–17)

Some interpret foot-washing as a ritual to be performed as any other rite. However, this story has background. In Jesus’ day, foot travel in sandals resulted in dirty feet. If it was raining, or if the traveler was prone to sweat, those feet could be repulsive. Hospitality was an important part of their culture, so those feet must be washed, but this was done by servants only.

Today, washing feet or having your feet washed is usually a humbling experience. Because of that, many interpret what Jesus did as an example of how to refresh other Christians who have become ‘dusty’ through living in this sinful world.

I’ve had my feet washed literally, which was a blessing. I’ve also had my feet washed symbolically by loving believers who did for me unexpected actions of kindness. One time I’d driven to Bible school on a road coated with about two inches of ice. It was a harrowing experience. When I arrived, I realized I’d left my assignment paper on the kitchen table and it was due that day. I expressed my dismay to one person, not realizing she passed that on to another friend. The second person approached me about an hour later to say she had to drive into town to the bank. Then she asked for my house keys. I still become weepy remembering her kindness and sacrifice as she thoughtfully saved me a ‘late-fee’ cut in my marks by retrieving my essay.

More recently, we were having a stressful week with family illness and a host of other things. A dear Christian friend called and told me that the Lord prompted her to bring supper over for us. She brought stew and bread, butter and a pie. Again, I wept.

Foot washing is not a ritual, even with the symbolic interpretation. It is listening to the Holy Spirit’s promptings and following through with what He says. These are God-whispers, not a to-do list. I’ve tried the list, such as “phone someone every day” or “invite others over two times a month” but that rapidly turns into duty and burdensome, easy to abandon.

Foot washing is meeting obvious needs, but sometimes not so obvious. I had a rhubarb plant in my yard. A new couple came to our church from down east. The Holy Spirit prompted me to take them some rhubarb. I wondered about it at first, for rhubarb is something like bagpipes; you either love it or hate it. But I took a bundle anyway and was met with: “Oh my, we moved here and the first thing I have missed from our home is my rhubarb plant.” Only God can do stuff like that!

^^^^^^^^

Jesus, sometimes my feet need washing, but many times I notice others who could be blessed with little things or huge responses. Whatever it needed, keep my ears tuned to Your nudges and my heart willing to do whatever You ask, even those things that seem to make no sense to me. I trust You to know the needs of others and to tell me what I should do to wash their feet.