Doing the Low Job Well

Every job has its foot washing. In an office it might be the report nobody reads but someone must file. At home it is the dishwasher, the trash, the bathroom. In church it is stacking chairs after the service is over and most people have gone. These tasks share two features. They are necessary, and they bring no credit.

Jesus washed feet knowing that in a few hours these same men would scatter. He did the low job for people who would not repay it, and then he told his disciples that they would be blessed if they did the same. The blessing is not in knowing that service matters. It is in doing it. Plenty of Christians can explain servant leadership. Fewer will get down on the floor.

A simple lesson for ordinary weeks is this. Find the task that you have been avoiding because it feels beneath you, and do it first, without announcing it. Do it well, not resentfully, as though the person it helps were worth your effort, because they are. You will not feel important. You may feel something better, which is the quiet freedom of a person who no longer needs to be seen in order to serve. That freedom is a large part of what Jesus meant by blessing.