Q&A: Why Is Foot Washing Not a Sacrament? Why Have the Body and Blood in Communion? Why Not Just The Blood? What is the Church? More.

Why is foot washing not a sacrament? Oh.

From the Lutheran perspective, what is the difference between foot washing and, say, baptism? In John 13, Jesus says, if I do not wash you, you have no part with me.

Not trying to be controversial or have some sort of weird gotcha moment.

I want to learn about my Savior through the word, and I'm confident you all are committed to searching the word for truth as well.

So why do we say, do this with baptism in the Lord's Supper? It's a sacrament.

Why do we...

Why do we not call foot washing that?

Well, okay, so two things.

Number one, we do do what Jesus said.

So I want to distinguish between what Jesus institutes in the washing of the feet with what Jesus institutes in the supper.

So the thing that's gonna make a sacrament a sacrament is that it's delivering the promise of the forgiveness of sins.

So there's no promise of forgiveness of sins or mercy or a clean conscience connected with foot washing.

The gift that's connected to foot washing is clean feet.

So Jesus has instituted baptism and the Lord's Supper as a washing of the conscience.

So we let those sacraments remain sacraments.

Foot washing is different.

It's a call to service.

And so we don't understand foot washing as the institution of a ritual, but rather as the institution of an attitude.

Right.

So that when Jesus washes his disciples' feet, he says, look at what you're seeing me do, you will also do.

So that means that the Christian is set to serve, and especially those who are put in office are set to serve the people that, that's what the office is, it's there.

So if the people have dirty feet, then we wash them.

But whatever else needs doing in service is what we do.

So we don't understand the foot washing to be a liturgical or ritual activity, but rather as a particular example of service, which Jesus has given us as an example to follow.

So no foot washing Lutherans, is that what you're saying? Aren't there some Baptists that call themselves foot washing Baptists? I think I've heard of it.