When Bare Feet Hit Holy Ground
1 Cor. 12:15-21
The final line in the Beverly Hillbillies theme song says: “Take your shoes off, y’all come back now, ya’ hear?”
Does anyone here like to go barefooted? Raise your hand.
My wife has been a barefoot lover for as long as I’ve known her. It has happened so often I can visualize it clearly. The pattern goes like this: she comes in the house and kicks off her shoes and you almost always hear a sigh of relief. I, on the other hand am a shoe person. When I was growing up I wore shoes all the time. I felt like the cowboy who said, “Bury me with my boots on.” It’s only lately that I’ve come to appreciate the blessing of bare feet.
Today I want us to consider our feet. You will probably all remember this sermon for a long time. Many of you will appreciate it; hopefully most of you will. But I suspect that some of you will have to forgive me for it.
One of my favorite stories about feet in the Bible comes from the book of Exodus 3 where Moses meets God for the first time. Turn with me there and lets read this together.
3:1 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.
3 So Moses said, "I must turn aside now, and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up."
4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."
5 Then He said, "Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
After Moses bare feet hit the holy ground, his life would never be the same again.
This was how God called Moses into ministry. God had been working on Moses for a long time before this, 80 years, in fact. But Moses seems, to some degree, to be unaware of God’s preparing him for the work he is calling him to. After this barefooted moment Moses becomes the greatest leader in the Old Testament. Until Jesus came, no one arose in Israel to match Moses. God used Moses to bring Israel to himself. Moses led the children of Israel out of Egyptian slavery, and through the 40 years of wilderness wanderings to the boarder of the promised land of Canaan. Moses received from God all the laws that would govern them until Jesus came. Through Moses God made his covenant with Israel. And Moses ministry all began as he stood bare footed before the Lord on holy ground.
Now I’m going to invite you to do something right now that will make this lesson stay with you. Everyone who is willing and able, take your shoes off. I’m not trying to be funny or cute here. Neither was God when he said this to Moses. Take off your shoes and in a moment I’m going to ask you to stand and sing number 100 and 101.
As you do this think about where Moses was when this happened. He is in the very wilderness where he will lead the children of Israel. He is at the mountain of God where he will return with Israel to receive the 10 commandments, God’s covenant in stone for his people. At the point of our reading, he is standing before the presence of God as he stands before a burning bush. But also think about this. This place is a place of stones and scorpions and poison snakes. It’s not a nice place to go barefooted. Moses was probably not very comfortable at this moment.
What God is doing here with Moses, he desires to do with all of us. God wants us to be faithful followers of his will and his ways. Would you stand with me now and join me in singing 100 and 101?
Holy Ground.
Be seated…
We need to walk in the awareness of God’s holy presence always. When Moses took off his shoes, he was taking off something he made and standing on something God made. Sometimes we can create a comfortable environment where we separate ourselves from the things of God and are shielded from the sharp points of pain and suffering around us. When Moses had his shoes on he could walk around almost carelessly in the desert. But when your shoes are off, you have to watch where you walk. God wants us to walk carefully in his presence. Watch our steps. Barefooted saints walk more carefully than those with shoes on.
You can put your shoes back on now. But I hope that in your hearts you will walk before the Lord and listen to his call with the same care as Moses did.
Another great foot passage in the Bible is found in Romans 10:12-15. Turn there and read with me:
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him;
13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."
14 How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD THINGS!"
Are your feet beautiful? Take my word on this one, feet are ugly. It is a wonderful thing to have feet, and it is a blessing from God to be able to walk. But as far as a thing of beauty, feet are not the first thing that comes to mind, unless it is the feet of one carrying good news.
Feet are not in a position of honor among our body members. In both places where Paul mentions feet in 1 Corinthians 12, feet are either putting themselves down or being put down. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
And: 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; or again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."
While feet may have a humble position in the body, God’s word makes it clear that feet are important. Feet that bring the good news of God’s word are particularly blessed in the Bible. They are called beautiful. From barefooted before the Holy God to beautiful footed bearers of gospel news… we are called by God to come to know him and enter his holy presence, and then to go and take the message of the gospel to others. Today we have Marvin Tercero from the Baxter Institute in Honduras with us. Marvin will be speaking with us tonight about the mission team he is a part of that is hoping to go to Bogota, Columbia. Marvin is a young man with blessed feet. Marvin we pray for you and the team and for all of our missionaries that God will keep you faithful and make you fruitful in his kingdom as you bring the glad tidings of the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who are lost.
Turn to 365 and let’s sing that together. “How Beautiful.”
Our final look at feet in the Bible comes from the beginning, middle and end of the Bible: first Genesis 3:
15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."
Whose feet are these and what are they doing? This prophecy of the foot of Christ bruised and bleeding from the cross shows us a great truth. It was the heel of God that hit the head of Satan and crushed him. The process involved a painful price, the redemption price for our souls and the payment for our sins.
Psalms 22:
16 For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me;
18 They divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots.
Here the prophecy grows clearer as the presence of Christ grows nearer. God is telling us in more detail how great the suffering of this sacrifice will be. The bruised foot of Jesus will mean nail scarred feet. But those feet will do a mighty deed of bringing good news to every man. Their pain will provide our freedom from sin and Satan. Then comes the fruit of the sacrifice and the blessing that is passed on to every one of us who follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ our King. Jesus bare feet on that cross were pierced and bruised as he performed the work of salvation for us all. We inherit this great salvation by believing and obeying him.
And finally: Romans 16: 20 And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
