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Keywords: Foot Washing Footwashing Christian Ceremony Service
Okay, Christians: It's time to deal directly with an issue that most of us prefer to avoid: footwashing.
The pure fact is that the Lord commands us to wash each other's feet. This is not some figure of speech, or some optional formality that we can safely ignore. Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. And He commands us to do the same to each other. Period.
"Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." (John 13:13-15 KJV)It's true that the broader meaning of this command is that we should take care of each other's physical needs as if they were our own. But this truth does not eliminate the requirement that we actually wash each other's feet.
So here is one good way we can do it and satisfy the commandment:
<><1. Under the leadership of your Pastor or group leader, each participating person writes his own name on a piece of paper which is then put into a box, to be drawn. Participation should be voluntary, but all Christians should be encouraged to participate.
2. Then, each participant draws one name randomly from the box. This is the name of his "footwash partner" for this ceremony. As each person draws a name, he reads the name out loud and pairs off with his footwash partner. People whose names have already been drawn will already have a footwash partner, the person who drew their name, so they will not draw a name from the box. If you draw your own name or the name of someone who has already been paired off, discard that name and draw another. Thus, all participants will be grouped into pairs. Try to get an even number of participants in each ceremony, so no one is left without a partner.
Make no distinction by age, sex, or marital status. It should be a pure random drawing, which represents the fact that all Christians are entitled to give and receive foot washing to and from all other Christians.
3. Each participant should provide his own water, basin, and towel to wash the feet of his footwash partner. (Optionally, the church or worship group can provide these supplies.) Jesus makes no mention of using soap or oil, so soap or oil are not needed.
4. All the footwashing should be done at the same time, with the person who did the drawing washing his partner's feet first, then getting his own feet washed afterwards, by his partner. Once the pairing-up is accomplished, the procedure should only take a few minutes to do.
5. A new drawing should be conducted for each footwashing ceremony, so that the footwash partners are constantly being changed. It is understood that this level of physical intimacy, conducted randomly with fellow Christians, is not usual in modern life. Too bad. It should be. It was clearly the Lord's intention that we should care directly for each other's physical needs, as if they were our own.
6. Before the footwashing begins, the Leader of the ceremony should read the authorizing Scriptures, John 13:13-15, shown above. Then he should pray a prayer similar to the following:
O Lord, we try to follow your commands, including Your command for us to wash each other's feet. Please be with now as we demonstrate our love for one another, as You have loved us. In Jesus' holy name we pray, Amen.6. The footwashing ceremony should be conducted with the same frequency as Holy Communion, recommended at least once a month, preferably each week or more frequently.
May the Lord richly bless you as you try each day to live by His commands.
Yours in Christ, Rev. Bill McGinnis, Director<>< LoveAllPeople.org
From chris@yonderway.com Thu Nov 1 07:16:42 2001 Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 01:17:05 -0500 From: Christian J HedemarkReply-To: ulccf@yahoogroups.com To: ulccf@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [ULCCF] Ceremony For Footwashing Brother, Thank you for sharing this. On the ULC Online forums I brought this up in my pulpit to a somewhat unenthusiastic response. I was until recently unaware of people actually fulfilling this commandment from our Lord but upon reflecting on this verse independently I came to the same conclusion that we were to do this. My thoughts on why may be a little different, and could perhaps add to your service. One of the major things that God accomplished by sending Jesus to walk among us was that He humbled Himself in an unimaginable way. Here He was, GOD, the great Jehovah, who was now walking among us as a (likely) average looking Greek & Arameic speaking Jew within the Roman empire. Even other Jews looked down on Him as the people He grew up with could not properly pronounce Hebrew at the temple. He joined us as one of the lowest of the low. By the time of the last supper, He was recognized by many of His disciples for who He truly was (others still weren't there 100% until the resurrection). He was treated as a King. And yet, He performed this very humble act. Remember, in this time period, even a Jewish slave would probably be above this chore. But here was the King of Kings, on His hands and knees, washing the dirty feet of 12 men who walked in His shadow across the sands and dirt roads of the region. The footwear back then was pretty primitive, and the feet got pretty nasty. I mean, on the scale of desirable jobs, this was right down there with the modern chore of cleaning a public toilet. Now think about this. If you were to go to someone who is at the dregs of society, the lowest of the low, and you washed their feet, how could you then look down your nose upon them after doing such a chore for them? You have humbled yourself before them. "Blessed are the meek". Could it be that you could be blessed by humbling yourself in the presence of the meek? This is the basis for a publicly held service I hope to hold in a national forest next year, that is frequented by the ATV and 4x4 crowds. I think there is a lot of power in this message, if presented properly in a sermon. Try to paint the conditions surrounding this act as Jesus did it, and put it into context with the contemporary views and customs of His time. There is a lot more power here beyond fulfilling a commandment just because Jesus told us to. Beyond doing this for fellow Christians, whom I respectfull do *not* agree are "entitled" to this, would you consider doing this for a homeless man on the street? For a police officer? For that dirty old man on the park bench watching the young girls go by? In my personal opinion, this is one area where it is important to avoid the mechanical drudgery of ritual and seek to replicate the spirit of the act itself. I would be interested in carrying on further discussion on this as I think it is something that many of us in our pride have quietly dropped from our doctrine. Reverend Christian J Hedemark II Hillsborough, NC http://yonderway.com "Those who are willing to sacrifice essential liberties for a little order, will lose both and deserve neither." - Benjamin Franklin
May the Lord bless this presentation of His holy Word.
Rev. Bill McGinnis <>< billmcginnis@loveallpeople.org
See more pages like this, at our Index of Pearls Of Faith, a treasury of Biblical truths.
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May the Lord bless this presentation of His holy Word.
Rev. Bill McGinnis <>< billmcginnis@loveallpeople.org
See more pages like this, at our Index of Pearls Of Faith, a treasury of Biblical truths.
Please also see our related pages . . .
CHRISTIAN
ETHICS & HUMAN RELATIONS
POLITICS & PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Blessings to you. May God help us all.
Rev. Bill McGinnis, Director - LoveAllPeople.org
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