Dirty Hands

Preachers and ‘fried chicken’.  The standard meal for preachers has forever been fried chicken.  When a preacher is invited into a home for a Sunday lunch, it is almost assumed that the menu will include fried chicken.  Like most preachers, I love fried chicken myself.  But there is one thing that I hate about fried chicken.  I hate the greasy, sticky feeling left  on my fingers when I eat fried chicken.  I need a wet washrag or a ‘wet one’ to cleanse my fingers after every bite. 

Dirty hands are almost always viewed negatively.  We carry hand sanitizer in our pockets or purses.  We encourage our children to wash their hands several times a day.  There are also examples of ‘dirty hands’ in Scripture.  These examples in Scripture are dirty hands related to doing evil.  Like Pilate.  Pilate had ‘dirty hands’ because of the way he dealt with Jesus.  He attempted to cleanse himself of guilt by publicly washing his hands—BUT HIS   GUILT REMAINED.  He had DIRTY HANDS. 

There is another story of ‘dirty hands’ in Scripture that is admirable.  These two men had  dirty hands, but for the right reason.  Their deed is recorded in all of the Gospels.  It is the story of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus.  After Jesus died on the cross, He was left to hang there publicly and shamefully.  But, Joseph (who is called a ‘secret disciple’ of Jesus) took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Along with Nicodemus, they lovingly prepared the body of Jesus for burial and placed him in a tomb provided by Joseph.   

Their ‘dirty hands’ resulted from handling the body of Jesus.  I am a little squeamish.  I do not think I could be a mortician.  But, these two disciples of Jesus loved Him enough to get their hands dirty.  They handled Jesus’ dead body which would make them ceremonially unclean.  They did this in spite of the danger to their own reputations.   

Jesus needs us to ‘dirty’ our hands in service to Him today.  How willing are we to do the ‘grunt’ work? Some jobs in the kingdom are much more attractive and exciting than others.  But, Jesus Himself was willing to get down on His knees and wash the feet of His own disciples.  How about us?  Do we prefer the limelight to the background?  Do we want to be  in front of the crowd, rather than serving quietly in the background?  Are we willing to get our hands dirty for the Lord?

Prayer:  God, help me to humble myself to be a servant, like Jesus came ‘not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for us’.

Terry Brown

Abilene, Texas