What makes a Lutheran Sacrament is ‘words of Jesus’ and a ‘tangible sign’. Jesus is pretty clear in his command to wash feet, but somehow it never really caught on in the church, generally, though there are some sects/denominations that do practice it regularly. It’s not really a surprise why it never caught on, is it? Even the disciples didn’t seem thrilled about it. And for all the people who say that it was more normal for them to wash feet back then, the church normalized baptism and communion and any number of other things we do in church. Had it been desired, foot washing could have been, too. The truth is that foot washing, humbling ourselves to serve, is a hard thing to do. Let’s try to resist arguing with Jesus about his command to wash feet and lean in to where we may be called to humble service. – Pastor Trudy Stoffel
