Embarrassment for Christ
Written by Rev. Dr. Scott Paczkowski
“He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” ”
Jesus had to embarrass himself regularly in order to proclaim his message. Jesus is asking to wash another man’s feet; Peter’s response was no surprise. Embarrassing! Or, here is Jesus, the Son of the living God, asking some dude in a fur loin cloth to baptize him in the wilderness. Jesus goes to his home church, preaches a sermon and is chased out of his own synagogue. His mother would have been so embarrassed on a day she wanted to show him off. Worse, imagine turning over the money changers tables at the temple. I can just hear his mother, Mary, saying, “Jesus, stop that! Now apologize and help those nice men pick up their coins.” Embarrassing!
Doing the embarrassing isn’t just acceptable, at times it is vitally important. Trying something new can be embarrassing. When our daughter was starting her senior year of high school, she was struggling with her college entrance exams. We figured out it was the time element that was frustrating her. We encouraged her to take a speed-reading course. She said, “I will, Daddy, if you do it with me.” I walked in and there were a number of other high schoolers who knew us, including some of my youth group kids. If I couldn’t keep up, I’d be embarrassed, big time. Possible embarrassment was worth helping our daughter.
Sometimes, embarrassment is uncomfortable and unnecessary. But in those moments where there are benefits to taking a risk, we need to act. God’s way is counter-cultural, so following the Divine path is often not what society expects or wants. Today, ask God to give you the courage to risk embarrassment for something meaningful. What is a little embarrassment, compared to shining a light on God’s gracious love? It is worth it. If you don’t believe me, just watch me do a Children’s Sermon sometime!
