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If you have lived in this part of Virginia for any length of time, you are intimately familiar with red clay. Around here, it isn’t just dirt; it is a commitment. You go out into the woods or across a farm after a heavy rain, and that mud doesn't just sit on the surface of your boots. It caked on. It attaches to itself. It builds up until your steps feel heavy, and if you aren't careful, it has a way of staining everything it touches.

I brought my own hunting boots to the stage to show you exactly what I mean. These were caked during a scouting trip back in the fall. At the time, I didn't clean them; I just let that Virginia clay set. We all know the rule in a house with red clay: you leave those muddy boots at the door because you don't want that mess tracked into the home.

But here is the focus of our message today: What do you do when the mud isn’t on your boots, but it’s in your soul?

The Staining Nature of Spiritual Pride

We are very quick to notice physical mud, yet we rarely notice when we have tracked the "red clay" of pride into our walk with God. Every one of us—from the pulpit to the back row—possesses a nature that wants to stand on top. We want to bring glory to ourselves and honor ourselves.

The moment you say, "Pastor, that’s not me," you have actually proven the point. The minute you claim you are outside of that struggle, you have signaled your own pride. True humility isn't something you talk about; it’s something you show.

In our spiritual lives, sin acts just like that caked-on mud. As we journey through the world each day, we are bound to pick up "dirt"—sinful thoughts, wrong words, or prideful reactions. If we don’t allow Christ to wash that away, it compounds. Just as my boots got so heavy it was hard to walk, the longer we let sin build up, the more "sluggish" we become in our Christian life. Eventually, if you don't deal with the muck, you’ll find yourself spiritually stuck.

The Authority of the Basin and Towel

To address this "mud," we have to look at the pivot point in John chapter 13. We find Jesus in an intimate moment with His disciples in the upper room, just hours away from the cross. To understand why what He did was so shocking, we have to acknowledge who He really is.

The Gospel of John begins by establishing that Jesus is the "Great I Am," the Creator who spoke the universe into existence. He knew that the Father had given all things into His hands. He had all authority and all power. Yet, it was from this position of absolute security and divine authority—not obligation—that He rose from supper.

Jesus dismantled the world’s view of greatness through three specific actions:

  • He laid aside His garments: He didn't relinquish His authority, but He used that authority to serve others.
  • He girded himself with a towel: In that culture, wrapping a towel around yourself was the literal uniform of a servant. The King of Kings removed His outer robes and dressed as a slave.
  • He washed their feet: This is the God of the universe getting on His knees to perform the lowliest task imaginable.

If you want to know God, you must study this moment. Greatness in God’s kingdom is not determined by how high you climb, but by how much you humble yourself before Him and others.

Bridging the Gap: Why Only the Feet?

One of the most famous moments in this passage is Peter’s reaction. When Jesus approaches him, Peter recoils: "Thou shalt never wash my feet". On the surface, this might look like humility—Peter thinking he is unworthy—but it was actually his ego. There is a profound vulnerability in letting the Master stoop to serve you.

Jesus gives Peter a stern warning: "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me". This brings us to a critical distinction. When Peter then asks for his whole body to be washed, Jesus clarifies that "he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet".

This helps us understand a vital spiritual truth:

  • The "Bath": This represents our initial salvation. When you accept Christ, you are made "clean every wit" and become part of His family.
  • The "Foot Washing": This represents our daily relationship and fellowship with Him. While we are legally "clean" because of the cross, we still walk through a dirty world. We still pick up the "red clay" of daily sin.

The "part" Jesus refers to—an "allotted portion" or "shared inheritance"—is the joy and fellowship of walking with Him. If we refuse to let Him wash our "feet" through daily confession, our fellowship with Him is hindered by the mud we've collected.

The "Judas Test" and Our Moral Debt

The final pillar of this message is the mission Jesus leaves us with. After He finished, He sat back down and asked, "Know ye what I have done to you?". He told them that if He, their Lord and Master, washed their feet, they "also ought to wash one another's feet".

That word "ought" is powerful. It implies a moral debt. If we claim to be followers of Christ, we are obligated to follow His example.

This is where it gets difficult. Jesus didn't just wash the feet of John, the disciple he loved, or Peter, who would later lead the church. He also washed the feet of Judas Iscariot. The Bible tells us that even as Jesus knelt, the devil had already put betrayal into Judas's heart. Jesus knew exactly what Judas was about to do.

If Jesus had skipped Judas, we would have a "way out" when it comes to people we don't like. But He didn't.

  • The Command: We are to forgive even as we have been forgiven.
  • The Reality: It is easy to serve and forgive people who make life fun. It is much harder to "wash the feet" of the person who has betrayed you, the person who doesn't like you, or the person you find "ungodly".

Real happiness doesn't come from knowing these things; it comes from doing them.

The Basin is Still in His Hand

Jesus rose from that floor, dried His hands, and sat back down. He knew one would betray Him, one would deny Him, and the rest would run. He knew it all before He ever picked up the basin, yet He washed them anyway.

That is who Jesus is. Today, He stands ready with that same basin in hand. He isn't asking you for a list of your achievements or a defense of your pride. He is simply asking you to let go of your pride long enough to let Him reach your feet.

Will you let Him wash away the red clay today?