Clean
Many years ago, while working at a Christian retreat in Indian Springs Campgrounds in Georgia. I was fortunate enough to work with and to get to know a little better a member of our Church, Ben.
My job that weekend was to ensure that the candidates were taken care of, that they all got up on time and to the Chapel, and that they all got in bed, while also conducting a head count to verify that none of them had decided to go AWOL (absent without leave). For the rest of the day, I assisted where needed and stayed out of the way as best I could.
Ben’s job was to tend to and take care of the three Pastors who were leading the weekend. He made sure that they had above and beyond what they needed, so they could focus all their attention on ministering to those in need. Ben took his job seriously, and well he should have. He brought them all kinds of snacks and drinks so they would lack nothing. He had coffee ready when they arose each morning and tended to their every beck and call.
For the most part, we had very little to do during the day, except when there were break times, and then we went into action. He was taking care of the pastors, and I was making sure the other workers didn’t need any help whatsoever while ministering to the candidates.
During the slow times, we found ourselves sitting outside the conference room listening to the talks and buying our time to do our jobs. While sitting, we would talk and joke, and we got to know each other better with every passing minute. Until (until you know I love conjunctions the way they bring more life to the story). A man came walking by looking for something wrong, you know the type, no one thing anyone could do to suit this guy. All weekend, we heard “That’s not how we have done it in the past,” or “We have a schedule to keep,” and my favorite, “You can’t do that, that way, because we didn’t ask the council.”
And then the best was when he objected to the Pastors Baptizing one young man after accepting Christ during the morning Chapel service. The pastors used the text in Acts about the Ethiopian eunuch’s conversion and wanting to be baptized.
Acts 8:36-37 (HCSB)
As they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look, there’s water! What would keep me from being baptized?” [And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”]
“Look, there’s water! What would keep him from being baptized?” There was a lake there, and the schedule was so far off by now it did not matter too much what went down as long as God was in it. And He was!!! But the man did not like it because we were not a Church and we were not a denomination. So, if the young man was baptized, what “Church” would he be a member of? Was the question he asked. And the answer from the lead pastor was “God’s Church.” And the young man was baptized that very hour.
Well, as the man came walking by, after causing as much havoc as possible, Ben looked up and said his name, and said in a condescending voice, “He looks like a mullet. (A mullet is a saltwater fish.) And he did somewhat, and I started laughing and couldn’t stop. It was a combination of lack of sleep and the way the man acted, and it was just plain funny to me; I just couldn’t stop laughing. I was laughing so much that they came out of the conference room and asked us to go somewhere else because we were being disruptive. So off we went.
Ben and DeWayne were walking through the forest laughing back and forth at what the other had to say, laughing at this and that, having such a good time, and as the song says from Disney’s animated movie Robin Hood, Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly what a day. (Got to love me some Roger Miller)
As we were walking along, I said I needed something to munch on, and Ben said Come with me, I put all kinds of stuff in the pastor’s cabin. When we arrived, the cabin was locked, and I didn’t have my pick kit with me. We started walking around the cabin and found an open window. So, we pushed the window up and I gave Ben a boost, so much of a boost that through the window Ben went, and out of sight.
I yelled, “Ben, Ben? Are you okay?” and nothing, “BEN”! and again nothing. A few moments passed, and Ben popped up in the window with two hands full of chips, cookies, and candy. And then he said Look what I got, Mullet. I got food. I started laughing and said Throw it out, and I will help you down. He threw the food out and again disappeared. Then he popped back up this time with us a cold drink apiece. I said Come on out, Mullet. I will help you down. Why he didn’t use the door is really beyond me to this day.
We found a shade and sat and enjoyed our spoils. To this day, we call each other Mullet, or Ben calls me Big Fish, and I call him Little Fish. He is one of my prayer partners and a dear friend. Whenever I am preaching somewhere or working at the very same Christian Retreat (the last two times I was one of the Pastors), I give him a call. And whenever he has a prayer request, he gives me a call and it goes something like this: “Hey Big Fish, are you clean?” And then he says, “If you are not clean, then don’t bother, but if you are, would you pray for…”
The Jewish customs are all about being clean; the rituals used are all through the Bible, and most are still used today, one being the washing of the feet as a visitor comes into your home.
It is not hard to see how the custom of foot-washing arose in the Ancient Middle East. People walking barefoot or in sandals on dry, dusty earth must have had perpetually dirty feet, so washing them before entering a building was a compelling matter of housekeeping.
It also became a ritual, however, with a host honoring his guests by washing their feet. The most famous example of this is in John 13 when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet at the Last Supper.
John 13:1-5 (NKJV)
Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him,
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God,
rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.
After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
The spiritual meaning of washing is purification – cleaning the mind spiritually, much as water cleans the body naturally. “Feet” represents our lives on the natural level – the day-to-day outward thoughts and actions that absorb so much of our time. Washing the feet, then, symbolizes purifying the natural level of our lives, applying what the Lord teaches us to our outward, ordinary actions.
I believe this passage is a great example of eternal security. We all get our feet dirty in day-to-day activity, and we all need our feet cleaned daily. But as we see in this passage, Jesus himself says:
John 13:6-10a (NKJV)
6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?”
Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”
Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”
Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, …
Then Jesus refers to Judas again and says that not all are clean in the group.
John 13:10b-11 (NKJV)
…but not all of you.”
For He knew who would betray Him; therefore, He said, “You are not all clean.”
It always amazed me that He, Jesus, washed Judas’ feet as he did for the other disciples.
So, as Jesus said, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, …” we don’t have to get saved over and over, but we do have to restore the fellowship daily. And the way we do that is to get our feet washed by Christ Himself.
Remember, “The difference between Jesus and religion: Religion shames people for having dirty feet. Jesus kneels down and washes them.” As we should be doing.
We need all to be Clean, or accept the forgiveness of sins from our dear Savior Jesus Christ. And those of us who are clean need to be willing to go to Jesus with our dirty feet as often as needed. I know, as far as I go, it is a regular task to come to Jesus and ask for my feet to be cleaned, and knowing the price that was paid for me to have that freedom is humbling and convicting.
And if you ask daily for Christ to wash your feet, and picture in your mind Jesus rising and laying aside His garments, taking a towel and tightening it around Himself. And then, you see Him pouring water into a basin and beginning to wash your feet and to wipe your feet with the towel with which He was girded. You see the pierced brow from the crown of thorns, you see the nail-pierced hands as they wring out the towel, and the humbling of Himself as he kneels and washes your feet.
After picturing Jesus doing this for you, maybe it will help you to stay a little cleaner. I know ALL sins are forgiven and ALL sins are nailed to the Cross—past, present, and future. We don’t need forgiveness for these sins, as they have already been taken care of. We need cleansing from them, we need to see the cost of what was paid for us, and then we would try to sin less. The relationship is never changed, but the fellowship is broken on our part, and then comes the cleaning of our feet.
Think of it this way: Are you nice to the cashier at the grocery store? Can you forgive someone who accidentally cuts you off in traffic? Do you hold the door for strangers? Such small things may be signs of good, clean feet.
We see Abraham being kind to the servants of the Lord; Genesis 18:4, Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree;
And as they said, a year later, they would return, and he would have a son. And he did. When you do as the Bible says, it always comes with a reward, some here and some on the other side.
We see a woman willing to and loving Jesus enough to weep over His feet and then dry them with her hair; Luke 7:44. Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
We can see that Jesus scolds Simon because he himself did not try to wash Jesus’ feet, but a “Sinful” woman did. Be careful of how we see others; we need to see them as Christ sees them.
Back to our text in John 13
John 13:12-17 (NKJV)
12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. Jesus is willing to be obedient to come here and cleanse us with His action on the Cross. The question is, are we willing to get clean so God can use you? Are you willing to help others get clean so they, too, can be witness for the cause of Christ? Because the Bible says in Mark 10, “and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” And in Luke, “But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. For whom is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.”
1 Samuel 16:7 (NKJV)
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
So, the question is, do you have a clean heart?
Are you Clean? Not just dirty feet but a dirty heart. Do you hate or despise someone because of their social standing, the color of their skin, the job they have, or what they do not have? The amount of money they have, or again, maybe what they do not have? The kind of house they live in. Are you clean enough to come to the Lord on behalf of those individuals? We are commanded to do just that.
Can you, at any moment of the day, get on your face and enter into the throne room of grace and know that God is hearing your petition? Are you Clean? Not on the outside but on the inside. No more than you would drink out of a dirty cup, eat off a dirty plate, or cook in a dirty pot. God is not or will not use you or even hear you if you have a dirty heart,
Psalm 66:16-20 (NKJV)
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
And I will declare what He has done for my soul.
17 I cried to Him with my mouth,
And He was extolled (Praised) with my tongue.
18 If I regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord will not hear.
19 But certainly God has heard me;
He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
Who has not turned away my prayer,
Nor His mercy from me!
Did you see verse 18? It says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” God does hear those with Iniquity in their heart, which means to have malice or even anger in one’s heart.
It is so important to get clean, be clean, and stay clean. So that any given time, because you never know when someone who is counting on you for God to hear you and use you, that one may call and say I need you to pray. And because there is a dying world that is counting on you, you need to be clean!
So, as my friend Ben asks me, I am asking you;
Are You Clean?
Prayer:
Abba God, I simply come to you asking that you do for me as you did for Peter and even Judas, and wash my feet daily so I can boldly come clean into your presence, so I can write this book for you to receive the Glory, and that those reading this may have a closer walk with You and You may show Yourself mighty in their lives. And we know the only way to accomplish that is to be clean. Thank you, LORD, in the name of Your dear Son and our Savior, and our Brother Jesus Christ. Amen.