One of my favorite TV shows as a kid was GI Joe. The constant battle of the Joes against the wicked COBRA organization was a constant source of delight. One of the funny things at the end of the episodes was a public service announcement starring the GI Joes. Usually, a child would be ready to do something hazardous and unsafe, and one of the GI Joes would show up and tell the child how better to live. Then the Joe would say "Knowledge is half the battle..." and you would assume that follow-through on this knowledge is the other half.
Same thing is true here. Jesus is revealing something about the nature of God here. I do not picture God as the one washing my feet. I picture God on a throne, sitting above it all, or a figure holding me up when I need support, but never beneath me. Yet, if I believe the Bible, I hold that it is not only possible but true that God takes a service role. God does not obey me, God does not make me a god to take a break (Bruce Almighty, I'm looking at you), yet God voluntarily takes the servant role. I think of a God who would sacrifice just so that I might reconciled to God (along with creation).
That is a picture of God that shocks. Let it sink in, and I think you might find yourself protesting with Peter. This doesn't seem right, this isn't the picture of Lord and Teacher that I have in mind. God surprises me.
And that's a good thing. I ought to be surprised by God every once in a while. I would not have done what Jesus did, and that comforts me. It means that I am not allowing myself to construct a Jesus who looks and acts just like me. I follow Jesus, not the other way around.
And that means that I take on the example of foot-washing. I will do this in a symbolic way next Sunday (spoiler alert!), but for today, I wonder how I can take on the servant posture. That kind of imagining actually sounds like fun... what do you think?
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