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Filthy Feet and the Master's Mission
Like Jesus, We are Sent to Serve
by Dr. Tom Olbricht
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Serving does not come naturally. In our first few years of life we survived because others served us. It took considerable encouragement on the part of our parents before we started serving others. As disciples, we are washed in order that we may wash. “So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have
washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14).
What is surprising about the story of foot washing is not that feet were washed, but who it was doing the washing. It was common for household
slaves to wash the feet of their masters at the end of a long active day. The person in John 13 who grabbed the towel, then a basin of water and began washing feet came from God and was returning to him (John 13:3). The Lord and Master met the disciples at their cruddy feet. He thus freed them to wash the feet of others.
With some frequency we find ourselves confronting individuals in places at which life is seamy and defiled. We recoil from the scene before
us. But then we remember that He met us in our filth. He washed us clean. We were washed in order to wash. We are empowered to serve by our Lord and Master!
Dr. Tom Olbricht lives in South Berwick, Maine, with his beloved Dorothy. Tom has retired from an influential career serving the needs of college students as a professor of Bible, theology and communications, a dean, an author, an elder and more. He stays active speaking and writing to serve the church, for which he has nourished a lifelong and thoughtful passion.
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