Here is a text which has much to say to our generation. Our Lord’s discourse here takes us within twenty-four hours of the crucifixion. I believe in these chapters we have the seed germ of all the truth concerning the Church, as well as almost all the doctrine in the New Testament. Of all the Scriptures between Genesis and Revelation, I know of no greater portion as far as the people of God are concerned than chapters 13 through 17 of John. This is indeed a marvelous portion of John’s Gospel. It introduces the Upper Room Discourse of our Lord (John 13-17), which is also found only in the Gospel of John. It is not included in any other Gospel account. This menial task was performed by none other than the Lord of glory. ![]() Our text is about the dirty work of washing the disciples’ feet. I’m honestly not sure whether I declined to protect my neighbor’s dignity or my own.) (I drew the line when the visiting nurse told me she would show me how to change our friend’s diapers. I never knew that aisle existed before, and the choices facing me there were so numerous I would have called for help if I hadn’t been so embarrassed. I will not forget the first time I had to go to the store to buy Depends (adult diapers) for a friend and neighbor. ![]() I know from my own experience that there are many different forms of dirty work. I was told of experiences ranging from “changing dirty diapers” to “cleaning grease traps” while in the Army. This Sunday, I asked for volunteers in the audience to share some of their “dirty work” experiences. Graciously, the Lord enabled my next adjustment to work so that I could go home and clean up.Īll of us have had our share of “dirty work,” and I doubt that we have really enjoyed it. That was about as much dirty work as I could take. It was sort of like sprinkling bits of coconut on a cake that had just been iced. “Oh, it does that all the time,” she explained, “and it never explodes.” Poof! Just then, the light bulb exploded, showering my body with an abundance of small glass fragments, which was already soaked with dirty diaper water. I told her that the washer upstairs was overflowing and suggested that she turn off the light above me so that it would not explode. I called to the young mother who owned the washer, as she stood nearby trying to encourage me. Only my head was protected from the flood of filthy water, safely tucked under the wayward washing machine. The dirty diaper in the toilet lodged there, stopping up the toilet, so that all the dirty diaper water from the toilet and the washer spilled out onto the floor, and then somehow made its way down through the ceiling light fixture of the room I was in, and down onto my body, which was spread out on the bathroom floor. When her washer went into its spin cycle, a good volume of dirty diaper water drained from the machine into the toilet. She had left one dirty diaper soaking in the toilet, and then turned on the washer, with the drain hose emptying into the toilet. She was washing dirty diapers in the washing machine, but she had made one crucial mistake. ![]() I was praying that God would enable me to fix this machine, but I was not a “happy camper.” Just about this time, I could feel the ceiling and walls vibrating, and I knew that the woman upstairs was doing her wash. This I did far too many times to count.Īfter I had wasted a considerable amount of time, I laid there under the washing machine, grumbling to God. And every time the circuit breaker would blow, I had to crawl out from under the washer, go around the back of the apartment complex, go down into the basement, reset the breaker, come back up the basement stairs, crawl back under the washer, and make another adjustment. Each time I did, the clutch would grab again, blowing the circuit breaker. Every time I changed the adjustment on the clutch, I had to test it. Every time the washer got to the spin cycle, the clutch would grab, the load in the washer would overload the motor, and the circuit breaker (which was located in the basement, some distance away) would trip. The trouble on this occasion was that this woman’s washing machine was in a downstairs apartment. This worked reasonably well, most of the time. They would put the washing machine in the bathroom, connect an adapter to the sink faucet to get hot and cold water, and place the drain hose in the toilet. There was, however, a very popular work-around to this problem. It was in seminary housing, where there was no hook-up provided for washing machines or dryers. To have no working washing machine was a serious problem. This woman had just recently given birth to a baby by cesarean section and was suffering from some complications. ![]() I remember all too well that day many years ago when my wife came home to tell me that one of the other seminary wives was having trouble with her washing machine.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |