Pedicures Anyone!!

Raul Garcia III
Maundy Thursday
Thursday, March 29, 2018

Let us pray:
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.

    I’m gonna take a poll real quick. How many women here have gotten a pedicure? So here is a another question. How many men have gotten a pedicure? Let me tell you if you haven’t had a pedicure you should. It’s amazing and feels good. Ever since my little girls were small we would all go together to get pedicures and I would have the girls choose the color of my toe nails. Guys you don’t have to paint your nails, you can stop at that point. I did it because my girls loved choosing colors and seeing daddy with his toes painted and they smiled. Plus i think it brought great joy to the nail technicians. I’m sure y’all have seen my toes when the weather gets warmer with different toe nail colors. I love doing it.

    Now, can you imagine your going to get a pedicure and Jesus welcomes you in and says let me wash and take care of your feet. This is what happened to the disciples. Imagine, the disciples have been walking all day and following Jesus. Remember, Jesus was their rabbi so they followed him everywhere. Where Jesus went, they all went too. So they were walking all day to get where they were going and they get to this house. In old times custom it was the lowest person on the totem pole, the house servant, was responsible for washing the feet of the guest that entered the house. Since they were using an upper room with I’m guessing no house servant to wash the feet of the guest coming in, Jesus did it. He stood up and took a towel wrapped around his waist, draws water, washes and dries the smelly, dirty, gnarled and tired feet of the disciples. Then he asked them this question, “Do you understand what I have done for you?”

    I always got the jist of what Jesus wanted us to do. Be humble. No job is too big for you. Serve our brothers and sisters. Simple right.

    It wasn’t until I went to Uganda and actually lived out this Gospel story. That I got it. This experience will forever be ingrained in my heart and I will never ever forget it. We were in a village and there must have been about 50 women who were gathered, singing, and seated. Excited to be there. They were each going to get a goat and a small micro loan to help them get started, so they can support themselves. Somewhere along the way each of these women were widowed women. Their husbands had passed from war, from HIV or left them for another woman. While they were there with us we were going to treat them nicely. We were going to give them pedicures. There were a few of us guys there and a handful of other women and we filled up buckets and I started to wash these women’s feet. These women walked to this village to be with us. They walked a mile, two miles, ten miles. Didn’t matter. They were there with us. I started washing this lady’s feet and suddenly she is starting to tear up. I started washing another lady’s feet and she starts to tear up and cries. I was thinking I must be the worst foot washer in the world. It wasn’t that. It was that these ladies have never in their life had a man serve them. They have always been the servant. They have never had a man kneel before them and wash their feet. It wasn’t their culture or reality for them. Let me tell you by the time I was done all these ladies were in tears, tears of joy and loved it. This was such a humbling experience for me. To actually live out this gospel message. That is probably how the disciples felt when Jesus washed their feet. Like those women having a man wash their feet. Let me be the first to say that I am no Jesus nor am I comparing myself to Jesus because I am far from being Him. But that simple gesture of doing something simple made someone’s day. Made me smile and cry a little.

    Jesus tells us in verse 16, Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Jesus knew his time on earth was coming to an end. He was going to be with his father in heaven. Can you imagine, the Son of God wants us to wash each others feet. He wants to use us as we are. Broken and lost and sinful. We are forgiven. When he shares the meal and tells the disciples the body and blood of Christ given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. We are forgiven. We make the cut in His eyes. We are the best of the best.

    Jesus puts this on us as a priesthood of all believers to serve one another. He gave us a new command before his death, is to love one another, as I have loved you. To love one another. Not to love some or people who look and act exactly like you but all no exceptions. When there are times when you think you can't love someone or serve anymore. Remember we love because Jesus loved and sacrificed himself for us first.

Amen.