Fuzzies, Toe Jam, and Bending Over.

New black socks are the best. The first time you put them on they conform to your feet. They seem to make your shoes fit better. They have a softness that somehow gets washed out over time.

I think the sock industry has a secret weapon...extra fuzzies. Like the crunchy fried pieces that come along with fish and chips (neither fish nor potato), socks have their own extra goodness. 

How do I know…because when I take a shower after wearing my new black socks for the first time, I find the tub floor covered with wet black fuzzies. Sometimes so many fuzzies that it seems the socks have given away part of themselves – as if they are involved in some sacrificial first wearing ceremony. 

When I was little, I remember my mom looking between my toes for what she properly called “toe jam.”  I knew this jam was never going to end up on my toast. She faithfully cleaned it out because, as a 4 yr. old, I could care less if it was even there. For some reason she cared – much like my grandma who always seemed concerned about holes in my underwear – what was their issue anyway?  Geez!   

Toe Jam and sock fuzzies are so petty compared to what Jesus was washing off his disciple’s feet on the Thursday before his death. The disciples were journeymen. Their feet had much more caked on them than just fuzzies. Their socks were simply a coating of sweat, dust, animal dung, human waste, and anything else thrown out on those famous Roman roads. 

Talk about being concerned about “toe jam.”  No wonder mothers are so anxious these days; the concern was passed down to them through a long succession of uneasy mothers wondering what their child was packing between their toes. 

I can hear those fishermen-disciples talking about the stench coming from their feet. “Hey, dung feet, can you put those things away.” “Can’t you watch where you are stepping, I think you walked through the contents of the bucket John dumped out the window after last night’s Passover meal.” “I think Jesus sent those demons into your little piggies.”

This was no fun job – 12 grown men trying to pull it together for one last supper. And where was Jesus?  There he was at the door, bent over, with towel at his waist, and a trough of water, ready to begin the daunting task of scrubbing these disgusting feet. 

This wasn’t mom searching for toe jam before bed. This wasn’t a quick shower to release the black fuzzies from one’s toes after wearing a new pair of socks. This was a much greater ordeal. 

Actually, this was servanthood – helping and caring with a humility and a love that wants to serve others unselfishly.  

I imagine as Jesus moved through each of the disciples he went through several towels, the floor must have been covered with disgusting muck puddles, and the water in the trough had to have been changed frequently. It must have looked like a car wash after a Jeep Wrangler mudding event.  

Jesus was probably a bit exhausted when he was done, and probably needed his own bath, as his clothing must have been covered in a myriad of guck and nastiness. Yet it was a picture for us of what the life of a Christ follower looks like. 

Jesus said in Matthew 20:26, “If anyone wants to be great, he must be the servant of the rest.”  That sounds nice…let me check for toe jam or fuzzies. No, that’s not the picture Jesus was painting us. Let’s get down and dirty...saturated with the excrement and dirt of this world. That takes putting aside our desires, our wanting to be great or right, and learning to serve our neighbor – even if they are planning to betray us. 

Are we simply checking for toe jam or really scrubbing the feet of our neighbors? 

“If anyone wants to be great, he must be the servant of the rest, and if one of you wants to be first, he must be your slave – like the Son of Man who did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.”  - Matthew 20:26