I have come into contact a couple of times recently that footwashing is treated as a sacrament to Anabaptist traditions. I have not grown up in this fashion, but I love the concept.
I certainly get nostalgic and choked up when footwashing occurs. It is the ultimate sign of respect for me, so powerful, so symbolic. Yet is it just symbol to those who practice it as sacrament. Probably not.
As representative sacrament, where the symbol becomes actuality (not transubstantiation stuff, but incredible outpouring of meaning), I think footwashing ought to stay as it is. As contra-sacrament, maybe it should take a more contextual approach.
We ought to contextualize Eucharist more often, making it more of a shared meal around food of the culture. This is not avoid the sacrament, but to add more than sacrament to the mix of worship and reconciliation. I could go on about Eucharist for hours, but that is for another post. In contextualizing footwashing, what would that look like. Again I do not discount the actual act of footwashing, as frankly it is a wonderful expression and partially contextual, but maybe not as highly as those in Jerusalem 2000 years ago.
Could the act of humble service mean handing the reigns of ministry over to a homeless person? This idea is wonderful and the guy over at My Stupid Mouth will contextualize footwashing in this way in an upcoming internship and ministry. I encourage you all to check out his blog and hopefully posts specifically on this internship.
Does it mean forgiving somebody for murder, rape or some other God-aweful act? Ask the people over at The Scarlet Letter "I". They encapsulate forgiveness in such a fashion.
Maybe it means cleaning up trash on the side of the road - a sort of footwashing for the local community. Maybe it means something else.
Any examples, real life or ones that you would like to contextualize?
A quote I love from William Temple (though I don't know where from yet) is "Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself, but the freedom from thinking of yourself at all." (Done from memory...but the concept is right). This idea of humility is exactly what can be emphasized in contextual footwashing. We ought to practice the sacrament, and do so way more regularly in church, but we ought to live it out in practice.
Let us all try to live a life of service and humility, thinking not less of ourselves but living in the freedom from thinking of ourselves at all and contextualize footwashing for those around us.
Permalink
