Some feet to wash...

I attended the charge conference at church tonight. Not exactly a bag of laughs but, as a serious meeting recapping all of our ministries, it could have been a lot worse...

Jack, of course, had everything organized to perfection and our new District superintendent kept things moving right along. I'm quite impressed with her, by the way. I first met her several weeks ago when we were discussing my 'opportunity' with St. Paul UMC. She seems genuine, caring, more than capable and just plain nice to boot. I also met the Rev. Mosae Han from Decherd UMC who was there as an observer.

The reports were given and most were mercifully brief. Prayers were offered and a few short speeches made. My report, such that it was, as a Certified Lay Speaker was accepted and my approval passed on for the next round of, uh, approvals. We talked about money, ministry, worship, outreach and...

Foot washing.

Yes, foot washing. Rev. Leimenstoll mentioned Jesus' act of humility as a lead-in to her remarks on how we should be servants of others. Great. She said that she wanted to recreate that act as an expression of that belief. Fine. Jack stands up and heads toward the corner of the room. It was then, and only then, that I noticed a big basin and some towels in the corner. Stacie kicked me under the table at this point and whispered, "They have real water!".

As opposed to fake water I guess.

Now I know that there are some denominations that regularly recreate the footwashing scene. I've even participated in several symbolic footwashing services. And each and every one of those were powerful reminders of Christ's message... But in all of those, we did in fact use 'fake water' - dry towels - to wash each others feet.

But tonight, they had a tub of water!

Real water.

Symbolic?

NO!

Well, maybe.

They were actually going to wash people's feet. Our Lay Leader and the three ordained ministers took off their shoes and socks and literally washed each others' feet with water.

At first, I thought, "This is pretty silly." You know, back when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, this kind of thing meant something. People didn't wear shoes and socks, they walked in the dirt and had neither showers nor soap. The washing of feet was a daily chore that had to be done out of necessity, not some misplaced thought of servitude or righteousness.

The emergent, post-modern, know-it-all Christian in me wanted to stand up and say, "Hey, this is cute and all, but it doesn't really mean anything. Make it meaningful! Can't we move on, get some cafe-lattes and discuss stopping war, violence and disease or feeding hungry children..."

But a funny thing happened as I watched these events unfold. I saw the emotions on their faces as they washed each others feet. I heard the sincerity of their prayers as they had their feet washed. I saw how their pride disappeared and their embarrassment faded as they lost themselves in serving others. And I realized that even though they were using real water, their actions were still symbolic. But the symbolism took on a new meaning for me - instead of a dry towel symbolizing the water, the act itself was one step closer to what it had really been. The symbolism became much closer to what Jesus had intended, I think. These acts represent serving others.

And serving others is what Christ commands that we do. Discussing such things over coffee (or Guinness - if your really emergent) is just talk. Symbolic foot washing is just a reminder. Even using real water on bare feet, as moving as it can be, is just a symbolic act. If it doesn't cause us to act in some way to make make the kingdom of God a present reality then it's just an empty promise.

The real power in these things, the only power in these things, is that they might cause us to actually do something.

Do some things like, oh, feed hungry people, clothe the naked and refuse to continue accepting the violence and poverty and homelessness and militarism in this culture of greed that we call modern life.

Maybe the meeting wasn't a bag of laughs, but life is not all laughs for those who are starving or dying or suffering.

And it wasn't silly either because it reminded me of why I am a Christian - because I believe in helping other people.

Unfortunately Fortunately, it also reminded me of just how poorly I live out that belief.

Maybe I have some feet to wash...