Dirty Feet - a vision and meditation

"Floo'rs" - ©Dr John N Sutherland

"And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?

My hope is in you." 

[Psalm 39:7a ESV]

I was praying with a brother this week over skype when the Lord gave me a vision. It was a scene from John 13. The setting was the upper room in Jerusalem where the disciples gathered with Jesus to eat the Passover seder.

"... he rose from table, laid aside his robe and tied a towel round him, then poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of his disciples, wiping them with the towel he had tied round him." 

[S. John 13:4,5 Moffatt]

I watched as Jesus, the Lord of glory, the mighty God, the King of kings, the creator and sustainer of the universe, knelt. In the vision I could see a row of chairs, and on each chair a naked-footed person sitting; all were watching him. Jesus took the foot of the first person in his hand and gently washed it with the other hand; removing grit and dirt by gently but firmly man-handling the flesh. It was all so tactile.  He took his time, washing, I expect, each person's feet, one foot at a time, one person at a time.

The entire scene was handled in silence except for the sound of water gently falling back into the bowl. Jesus was in no hurry, dealing with each person with the same gentleness, care and hands-on-ness.

My friend and I were praying in the midst of the current COVID-19, lock-down. We usually pray in his front room, but for now its online. Life has become becalmed for so many. Everything has slowed down in this great jubilee for people and the land.

As I explained the vision to my weary friend, weighed down by work and family issues, the Lord then explained the vision, which I believe is for all of us, not just for my friend. And for this I thank him for his openness and honesty; may we all be blessed by the vision.

During this shut-down we have a unique - yes, a unique - opportunity to spend time with the Lord Jesus Christ.  What are we gonna do with this time?  Well, I'll tell you what the Lord said to me in the explanation. Are we willing to stop, drop everything, take a seat, and wait for the God of glory to come to us. He is washing feet right now, if you wish him to do so for you. But, you must stop, drop everything, and turn aside to where he is washing feet.

Turn aside. Take a seat. Remove your sandals. Eventually, in his good time, God will kneel before you, take your foot in his hand, pour water over it, and gently and carefully, in no rush, wash your foot with his own hands (nail holes and all). His flesh will touch yours. His presence will come and reach out to yours. He will dedicate a short time to spend part of his eternity and your short span, just with you. He will give you as long as you need.

But, you have to come to him.  I am reminded of how Jesus called Andrew, Peter, James, John and Matthew and they simply dropped everything and went to him. Such faith.  And their faith was so well rewarded.

Perhaps in a few weeks the jubilee will be over, and what passes for normality will return with all its hassle, bustle and noise. Will you then look back and say you had such a blessing from that time you dropped all agendas, turned aside, went into the upper room, and sat waiting for God to kneel before you. And such a tale you will have to tell of that time of intimacy with him.

Brother John
St Annan's Chapel.

The Pen of a Ready Writer

This is far from my first blog, or even writing experience. But, today the world changed; at least the world which is Christendom.

It is Resurrection Sunday, April 12th 2020. From the Last Supper until AD1054 the Church was a united body. The sign of this unity is - or, was - the Eucharist. There was one body, one bread, one cup and one Church. But the bonds linking the Latin church, based in the old Imperial capital of Rome, and the Greek churches, centred on the new imperial capital of Constantinople, were torn asunder. Emissaries from Rome entered Hagia Sophia and slapped down a deed of excommunication against the ancient Patriarchs, from Jerusalem and beyond. And the Church of Christ became two communions.

Over half a century later a radical German priest nailed to a church door a litany of complaints against the Church of Rome, and the whole of northern Europe was torn from southern Europe, creating not just three communions, but a geometric escalation of closed tables. Rightly, the late Cardinal Grey, Archbishop of Glasgow, said,

"This [the divided Eucharist] is the sixth wound in the body of Christ."

What changed today? For the first time since AD1054 all Christians are united again on the Eucharist. How so? Because, due to Corona virus (COVID-19 / SARS-2) we are all locked out of our churches, and there can be no valid Eucharist anywhere in the world.

As my younger son, Dr Malcolm, said,

"God has said to Mankind: go to your room right now, and don't come out until I say so. And, if you do come out, there will be hell to pay ..."

We are now globally reunited in being without the Eucharist. What was intended by Lord Christ to be the sign of our unity, and has become even more so with each passing century, the sign of our disunity, and distrust, and hatred, and misunderstanding, and worse.

I have heard some say that this isn't God - no, this is the devil; as if God and the devil were a ying and a yang of equal forces. But, even a cursory reading of the Scriptures tells us that nothing comes to us that He has not ordained.

"I form the light and I make darkness, 

I bring bliss and calamity; 

I the Eternal, the true God, I do it all." 

[Isaiah 45:7; tr. Moffatt]

Much is going on around us, for those with eyes that see and ears that hear; brains that would understand, and hearts that would learn. Since I have found myself in a new season of spiritual filling, I intend to share some reflections here, for whoever may come across them.

God bless you.

Bro' John, St Annan's Chapel.