Humble Me, o Lord

As my husband, Walter, entered the room for the ordinance of footwashing one Sabbath, he saw another man sitting alone. It appeared as if no one was going to offer to wash his feet. Walter couldn’t help but notice that the man appeared to have just wandered in off the street and was, perhaps, only a step away from being homeless. Walter wasn’t excited about washing the man’s feet, but the Holy Spirit kept nudging him. This is what Communion is all about. If you can’t serve him, then you don’t need to be here, said that still, small Voice. So Walter walked over and introduced himself to the man.

 I met the newcomer the next Wednesday evening at Bible study, where we became his friends. Several times Walter and I talked about inviting him home for dinner, but we couldn’t figure out how to go about doing so. After all, he really wouldn’t “fit in” with our other guests. Our church is very large, so we assumed that, on Sabbaths, the newcomer was probably sitting on the other side of the church, in the balcony, or downstairs. Out of sight—out of mind.

 Many months passed, and then, out of nowhere, the man entered the church and sat right in front of us. As I listened to the sermon, the Holy Spirit spoke directly to me and must have spoken to Walter as well. “He is on my mind. What do you think?” whispered my husband.

 I whispered back, “Invite him, but only if he is willing to take a shower when we get home.” The man accepted our proposal. As his clothes washed, he showered, put on some of Walter’s clothes, and came out sprinkled in cologne. We all gave him big hugs as he grinned from ear to ear! As we ate, he talked about his former home church many miles away, where he regularly ate in the soup kitchen. That’s how he first joined our church back in 1987.

“When I got up this morning,” he said, “I had no idea that I would be invited to your home for dinner. I can’t believe this! Thank you.” Tears surfaced in my eyes as I thought about the lesson we needed to learn and the blessing we almost missed.

 Lord, help us humble ourselves so that each day we can be used by you.

 Shirley Sain Fordham