Baptism and Hygiene

Luke 13:10a Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean.”

 Customs and traditions of hygiene are different in our culture than they were in Jesus’ time. A person did not bathe very often back then. Not like today where some people take two or three showers per day. No wonder that there are so many skin moisturizers out there and a million varieties of soap and shampoo. We have a culture of cleanliness, I suppose. But it wasn’t so much of a concern for those in Jesus’ day.

 I am going to attempt a metaphor here, so if you’ll follow along, we’ll see where it takes us.

 Jesus washes his disciples’ feet in order to demonstrate an act of love, humility and service to each other. He sets that as an example of what we ought to do for one another. Peter wants his entire body washed, but Jesus tells him that he has already washed and is clean and just needs to have his feet washed. For the baptized Christian, he has been washed, cleansed and does not need to be washed again. However, there is a daily need for confession and forgiveness, a daily need to have your feet washed. Baptism happens once. For me as a pastor, the sooner the better. When someone gets sprayed by a skunk, you want the smell to be gone as soon as you can. Original sin has us all smelling like skunks and so, the need to be baptized is urgent right from the start. Baptism cleanses us from the eternal effects of original sin. Then the daily problems of sin has us smelling like skunks over and over again. But we don’t run to the baptismal font each time we sin. We run to the forgiveness of Jesus, the confession of sin and the absolution that comes from one Christian to another. “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean.”

 We bathe in the waters of baptism. We wash our feet through confession and forgiveness.

 Peter said to Jesus, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Forgiveness is important. Regular forgiveness is essential for a healthy life, as is good hygiene.

 The question for us to consider is: In our hyper-hygienic world, do we treat baptism the same way as we treat a shower, two or three times a day?

 Just some thoughts as you walk along the road. This is a work in progress as more of the word picture comes to light.

 Heavenly Father, thank you for the washing of baptism, the cleansing of water and Word. Help us not to neglect the daily washing of feet, the regular confession and forgiveness that is necessary for our health, both now and eternally. In Jesus’ name, amen.