Picking Up The Joysticks

Throughout the Gospel, Jesus does some pretty amazing things. Turning water to wine. Giving sight to the blind. Forgiving sins. Walking on water. From raising the dead to feeding a crowd of 5,000 with a few pieces of bread and some Blue Gills, Jesus performed many miracles in a period of about three years. (Forgive the understatement)

But to me, one of the most amazing things he did was also one of the dirtiest: He washed his friends' feet.

Here's the setting: (John 13: 1-17) Jesus is about to have his last meal. He knows that in just a few short hours, his closest friends are going to betray him (Judas), deny him (Peter) and leave him alone to die an excruitating, painful death (all of them). If I were in a similar situation, I would be a basketcase. What I would NOT do would be to get down on my hands and knees to wash my friends' dirty, nasty, road-weary feet. But that's exactly what Jesus did.

Wow.

I mean, I love my friends, but I really can't imagine doing this. Can you? And we live in a modern world with paved roads and lots of shoe options besides open-toed sandals. In Jesus' day, washing guests' feet was a job for a household servant to carry out when guests arrived. So Jesus - God in flesh, the maker of stars and architect of the universe - wraps a towel around his waist (a symbol of what the lowliest slave would do) and washes his disciples' feet. Amazing.

And this type of selflessness and servantitude is what he expects of us.

Gulp.

I have always struggled with this passage and this concept. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy doing nice things for other people. You know, as long as it fits into my busy schedule. And it isn't too dirty. Or hard. And of course, as long as it doesn't involve washing someone's nasty feet.

Obviously, I have some hang ups in this area. So leave it to God to give me a wakeup call and show me that yes, he expects me to serve others in this way. Even if it's unpleasant. Even if it involves dirty feet. Or worse.

It was at my daughter's last birthday party. My wife and I were preparing for an onslaught of about 15-20 hyped-up 5 year olds to invade our home. (is there any other type of 5 year old?) The only entertainment we had secured was one of those giant inflatable jumpy thingys. Like a trampoline on steroids. I must admit I was looking forward to "testing it out."

I knew we were in trouble when it was 3 hours before the party and the guy we had rented the inflatable from still hadn't called to get our address. 2 hours before the party, I finally reach him and he assures me he'll have the thing set up on time. Oh, but he's "running a little late."

I tell the guy that there can't be a "little late." You ARE the party.

30 minutes before the party is supposed to begin, still no inflatable. My daugther senses our tension and starts getting upset. I can't tell if I'm going to hug the guy or strangle him if he ever shows up. Probably both.

During this time of nervousness and anxiety, is when God taps me on the shoulder with a stunning visual. My dad has taken it upon himself to go out to the back yard where the (still missing) inflatable is supposed to be. To pick up dog poop.

We have a 70 pound dog. This is no small endeavor. Literally.

In our family, we call this chore "Picking Up the Joysticks." Why the phrase "joy" is in there, I will never know. And, as anyone in my family will quickly tell you, I've never actually participated in this ritual. Call me crazy, but when it comes to picking up dog poop or doing, oh, about 16,834 other things, I'll do one of the the 16,834 other things.

But here, in this moment of tension and unease, my loyal, loving father takes it upon himself to grab a bag and some gloves and pick up a yard's worth of dog poop, so the kids won't step in it when they play around the still missing inflatable.

No one asked him to do this. He just did. And as I stood in the window watching him, I swear I saw a smile on his face the entire time.

I felt a peace. I felt God telling me to relax - the inflatable would get there when it got there. I felt blessed to have a beautiful, healthy 5 year old birthday girl. I felt grateful for having a dad who would serve in a way that Jesus would.

Oh, and the guy showed up with the inflatable literally 5 minutes before the party began. My daughter had an amazing birthday party, and we jumped on the thing all day long.

It was a joyous day, in more ways than one.