I clean up throw up

I'm sure that people threw up in the ancient world. Surely Sarah or one of her servants undercooked the pork and caused Abe's food poisoning one night. (He was wishin' he had the Law that night.) I'm sure Moses picked up the stomach flu while on the wilderness trail. I'd bet throwing up was part of David's insanity act before Achish (or Abimelech?). And it's tough to see how that third captain didn't at least soil his shorts when required to "bring Elijah in", the burninator. Of course there's all those times as the king of Israel looked over the walls to see the invading army approaching. Definitely a yak moment. On the NT side, all those demons.... Surely that afforded for a bit of stomach acid.

When Jesus bends to wash the feet of the Passover guests, and the commentator's say it was a gross job, which only the lowest of the servants did, I have to think it wasn't physically pleasant. I'd bet those manual labor, backwoods zealots didn't pay much attention to the [literal] crap they stepped into that day. How much did they chagrin to see their Master begin this task? (By the way, can you imagine give Simon Peter, the former fishmonger, a sponge bath? You can understand why Jesus demurred at that task. ;-) ) But now, when I consider my own feet, this task doesn't even compare. It's only my 8 and 11/12ths year old son's feet that even come close and he's not even negotiating dog poop in our yard, though my precious wife often hollers when his shoes come off unexpectedly warm and odoriferous. But that's about our extent of foot grossdom.

I've heard tales of those volunteering to clean latrines/outhouse holes. I've seen the "dirty jobs" guy do some horrendous stuff. But none of those things are part of my normal life! That's why I clean up throw up. Though I'll find myself avoiding the direct fire and often even the "innocent victim" side swipe, I will almost always come to the rescue. You see, Christ cleaned very dirty feet that day. Honestly, that was a normal job in his day, but it doesn't directly translate to me. So, I go for the vomit. I imagine the smells I catch are almost as bad as those feet that day, especially if it's the stomach flu!

In terms of holiness, baptism and The Lord's Supper are set apart. But here's a command that could be a rite and eucharistic as well: "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet." (John 13:14)

So, when you are called forth on such an errand of mercy, consider Jesus, your Lord and Master, who did it first. You may want to ask Him to hold your nose for you.