Dirty Feet

This being Good Friday (and what a good Friday it is), I wanted to share something special with all you lovely ladies. Something that ties in with the suffering of Jesus so that we can be reflective, quiet, and somber. God had other plans.

A friend of mine (and I hope she doesn’t kill me for posting this) made a comment on my wall about a picture I put up, complaining that she had dirty feet in the picture. I couldn’t care less because it was in India and, yes, the roads are dusty and one’s feet definitely do become dirty. I remember that it was there that I understood the ancient Jewish custom of washing someone’s feet when they entered the home. It was so no dirt would drag in.

Once someone had forgotten to do so, and a woman with a little bottle of alabaster oil washed the dirty, smelly feet of a Prophet, rinsing it with her tears and wiping it with her hair. This story (Luke 7:36-50) is one of my favorites because of the humility she showed. As I said before, the feet of a person was dirty, disgusting, filthy, and smelled awful from walking through the dusty roads, but she used her most precious things to clean the feet of Jesus. The alabaster oil was costly, but she would gladly give up her riches for the Christ. Her hair was perhaps more costly, being the quintessence of female beauty, but she would sacrifice her body for her Savior. Her tears were the most costly thing of all, the very keys to her heart, but she would give it up to her God. All she had she gave up to wash the feet of Jesus.

God use to require us to examine those lower appendages too. What did God tell Moses at the burning bush? Exodus 3:5 tells us that He instructed him to remove the sandals from his feet for the place where he stood was holy. There are probably a few interpretations for this. Mine is simply this: God didn’t want Moses to get His place dirty. Removing one’s sandals is taking away the part of you that most clearly highlights where you have been. If you were in water, they would be wet; if you were in the mud, they would bear it too. But it God’s presence, he wanted Moses to separate himself from the world and leave it outside. Moses would have to put back on the sandals eventually, but when he was with God, he was not to bear any sign of the world. Pause now, and let that sink in.

I’m not trying to make you feel guilty today – no, in fact, I hope to do quite the opposite. It was not only us lowly sinful humans who had to be mindful. Isaiah 6 tells of the cherubim who would stay before the presence of the Lord. They each had six wings, two to fly, two to cover their face, and two – yes – to cover their feet. Imagine these lovely celestial beings flying around proclaiming, “The whole earth is full of His glory” and yet never being able to see it? Why? Because they still had to be mindful of their feet. They still knew their place – not yet holy.

But in Revelation 4 we see an awesome picture. Four living creatures, which can be interpreted as the four representations of Jesus in the Gospels, that too have six wings are flying about the throne room of God. They are in the very presence of the Almighty! And are they covering their eyes or feet? No! In fact, the Bible says that they are covered in eyes, as if to say they cannot get enough of seeing the glory of God!

That’s the difference! That’s the difference that Jesus made. See, He didn’t come into this world to condemn us. I’ll tell you what else: it might have been your sins that nailed Him to the cross, but He did not come into the world to die either. He came into this world to RESURRECT! The cross is not our hope – though it is our reminder. The empty tomb is our hope! If Jesus had just lived a good life and taught people and died, then we would be no different from every world religion out there. But Jesus was the Son of God and proved it by “laying down his life that He may take it again” (to paraphrase John 10:17). No one could take it from Him without His permission; He gladly gave it up and He knew He was going to take it up again. There is freedom from His resurrection!

Here’s where it really ties in girls. (Before you read on, first read Hebrew 12:1, 2 so that you can understand from where I’m coming.) Last night I had a dream that there were all these women running a race, not against each other but with themselves; it was all about just trying to finish it. Some inevitably looked to each other to see where others were at, but for the most part they knew it was not a competition. And I was there too, running with them, cheering them on, encouraging them to persevere. But there were a few girls who started to lose hope. They looked down at their feet and thought about where they had come from. They were thinking about they had gone through and wondered if it was even worth it to keep running. Some had been badly abused, others molested as children. Society told them that it was okay to become “rejects,” because they had somebody to blame. They didn’t have to run the race. Everyone would understand that they just didn’t have the strength because what happened to them crippled them spiritually. And slowly, they more they looked down, the more discouraged they got. Finally some quit altogether, and when we called out to them and asked why, they said, “It’s just not for me,” too ashamed to tell the whole truth.

But ladies, you do not have to give into that lie. Something beautiful God taught me through the book The Purpose Drive Life by Rick Warren was that God uses our experiences, even our hurtful ones, for His glory and for His ministry. The creatures did not hide their feet; they showcased it, knowing full well that it was what the Father had used to help them help others get into heaven. They wore their feet with pride, as a living memorial of how God uses our weaknesses, mistakes, shames, and trials for His glory. Jesus made that difference. And once we enter into heaven, we too will behold His majesty freely because we don’t have to worry about our dirty feet.