In Brethren practice, the Lovefeast has been regarded as a service consisting of three parts — the preparatory ordinance of feet washing, the central ordinance of a fellowship meal, and the climaxing ordinance of the communion of the bread and cup. Today we look at the feet-washing service.
The Scripture is altogether clear in stating that Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, and that He gave them an example commanding them to do as He had done (John 13:14). The reference in 1 Timothy 5:10 is evidence that the early church kept up the practice which Jesus had earlier instituted.
The ceremony speaks of humility. The disciples had seen servants washing their master’s feet — but for the Creator of the universe to gird himself with a towel and get down on His knees in front of an illiterate fisherman and wash his feet – was unheard of. Our besetting sin is often an undue desire for status, and because each of us is inclined to feel he is above others, we need a service that will bring us on a common level.
The ceremony speaks of cleansing. John 13: 10 says, “He that is washed (bathed) need not save to wash his feet.” Two Greek words for “wash” are used here. The person who has been washed from his sins in the blood of Christ (as symbolized in water baptism) doesn’t need to be saved all over again when his feet become soiled as he walks through life. Our “feet” do become soiled; some of the filth of the world rubs off on every one of us; and thus we need repeated cleansings. The feetwashing service symbolizes the fact that we haven’t reached perfection; we still need cleansing.
The ceremony speaks of service. In a day when social service is being stressed so much, it is a happy thought that at least some believers observe an ordinance which symbolizes “service”. When we engage in feet-washing, we are promising to show in daily life what we practice during the ceremony in symbol. We are making a commitment to help our fellow brother clean up the mud when natural disaster strikes, nurse a wound when accident comes, and sit by a bedside when sickness invades the body.
Our Lord asks us only to do simple things. He set the example of feet-washing and tells us to do likewise (John 13:15).
March/April 1975
