"Go Wash Your Feet"
By: Pastor Jack Schneider
Jeremiah: “Why is my pain unending and my wound grievous and incurable? Will you be to me like a deceptive brook, like a spring that fails?”
God: “I will save you from the hands of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the cruel.” [Jer.15:18,21, NIV]
I grew up in what was unlovingly and for good reason called “Swampeast Missouri,” but while the humidity never quit [think Houston on the Mississippi], neither did the creeks and springs. This is North Texas,though, and after three weeks of triple-digit heat we know all about brooks that disappear and springs that fail. Nothing new for this area. Before the advent of city water lines and reservoirs to keep communities supplied with life-saving, clean water, we were at the mercy of seasonal rains. Old-timers are harder now to find, but a few can still tell of dust-bowl days when water was more precious than gold.
Jeremiah understood this firsthand and compared it to the mercy of God -- or the lack thereof. He actually felt cheated by God, abandoned in his zeal for God’s cause, and complained to God about it. “Look what I’ve done for You!” he shouted… “Look what I’ve given up because of my love for Your holiness! So where are You now when I need You?! Dried up like a Texas creek in August?” Truth be told, we’ve been there; felt like that, haven’t we? Sure, there have been times it seemed that God took the day off or sat on the porch with His feet up on the rail just watching the universe go by, thinking, “Nope…not gonna touch it today…que sera, sera; whatever will be, will be.”
Don’t miss God’s answer to Jeremiah, because it’s also His answer to you and me. V.19,ff [paraphrased]: “Quit griping and I’ll use you for some good after all! Talk sense instead of crying, because you’re here to serve Me and I’m about to shape you into a strong wall that people will learn to respect and trust. I’ll save you…I’ll redeem you… no matter how things look.”
I know you’re tired of the heat -- and I’m not talking about what’s outside. I mean what’s inside, in your marriage and family, at your workplace and even how you sometimes feel here at church. Yet in the midst of this heat and your feeling that even God has ceased to notice your pain, His promise is sure and His presence is real. You are His…You may actually be His answer to someone else.
As you reflect on these words, do yourself a favor: go wash your feet in some cool water. Inside, in the tub or outside, with the hose; it doesn’t matter. Just do it, and enjoy the break. Then, wash someone else’s feet.
[Think about that..]
- Pastor Jack
