History was

made Sunday afternoon, March 19. At the Edgefield Baptist

Church located on Church Street in the inner city of

Fayetteville, four white men washed the feet of a black

man. He was The Rev. Eddie Thomas. They were The

Reverends Chuck Griffith, Roger Powell, Sam Calleiro and

me. It was the occasion of the celebration of Rev.

Thomas' third anniversary as pastor of Edgefield.

Now, I say

history without any historical record to review. Who

really knows if four white men at some point in the

history of Fayette County got down on their knees and

washed the feet of a black man? Who knows?

The church,

however, traces the practice of washing feet back to

Jesus and his disciples. On the night that Judas betrayed

Jesus, it seems that Jesus initiated the washing of the

feet of his disciples to dramatize that the teacher was

no greater than his students were. Others see other

motifs like baptism. Regardless, the washing of feet

communicates a spirit of humility and service and

profound love. That's what we were saying to our beloved

brother Eddie.

It was

neither planned nor orchestrated. It was not on the

printed program. No one had the idea going into the 3

p.m. service. Yet, during the service, the Holy

Spirit-who was welcomed into the service-

prompted Rev. Sam Caleiro that "we" should wash

Pastor Thomas' feet. A deacon was dispatched to the

kitchen and brought back a basin and towels. The rest is

history indeed.

Free Will

Baptists have long kept the practice of foot washing

alive in their services. However, there's not too many

Freewill Baptist Churches around and the practice usually

and only surfaces during Holy Week. Even then, the Pope

humbly washes the feet of some humble soul.

For you

understand that it takes the dynamic of humility

operating on the washer and washee for the washing to be

spiritually powerful. In our day of high mindedness and

self- assertion, it takes something to kneel down, take

off some socks, wash someone's feet-including

between the toes, dry them off, re-sock them, and put

their shoes back on. Doing every bit of it in the Spirit

of Christ who died a naked death on the cross for you and

me.

But there's

another crucial aspect of foot washing and it centers on

the washee. It's no small thing to sit still and let

someone or someones wash your feet. The washee could

protest, "You don't need to do that!" In fact

one such protestor said that to Jesus. To which Jesus

responded, "If I don't wash your feet (Peter), you

will have no part of me." Peter responded,

"Then, give me a bath."

We need

more foot washings in our community. We need more

humblings on all our parts. Would that churches visit one

another and wash one another's feet. The old devil would

end up high and dry!

The Rev. Dr. John

Hatcher is pastor of River's Edge Community Church in

Fayetteville.

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