A Place at the Table - 44 - Shoes
A Place at the Table - 44 - Shoes
God, what is any power on earth compared to You? Yet You became lowly that You might lift us up. With love and determination You turned Your triumphal entry into a death march. As each clopping hoof brought You closer to pain, You didn’t miss a step. You stayed in time. But each step You took on this path became greater than the next. Together with Your closest friends, though they couldn’t fathom the whole of You, You poured water into a basin and washed the dirt from their traveling feet. The dirt of ages. The dirt of generations. Lord, in an instant You both reveal and heal our hearts. Thank You. You have shown us the map, You have plotted the course, You have made us a place, and You have never deserted us. Lord, may we continue to make our way home. Amen.
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Every so often, the shoe area in our kitchen turns into something like this. Me, my wife, and our kids all come in and rather than putting our shoes in their cubbies or in our closets, they just get taken off and they pile up until we have a shoe cleansing and they disappear for a while only to return to a pile like this. Seay focused today on the servant act of Jesus of the washing of the disciples’ feet and I initially thought about taking a picture of my bare feet and decided that no one really wanted to see that. But I think its not about the feet but instead what the act means. When I think of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet (and when I think of what Seay lifts up in the prayer here), I think about the washing of all the stuff that we have piled up in our lives - our hurts, our sin, our pain, our concerns, our worries, everything…and God taking all of that and washing it away. As you look at this pile of shoes, you see boots from the winter season that has largely faded away, tennis shoes from workouts at the gym, dress shoes from going to work, cleats from sports activities, everyday kids’ tennis shoes, and the list goes on. The many different seasons that we all have in our lives. And Jesus comes and washes away all the sin, the hurt, and the pain from those many seasons. Thanks be to God!