After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.” . . . After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
For Personal Reflection (45-60 minutes)
Imagine Jesus kneeling before you, looking you in the eye, and reaching for your dust-covered, unwashed feet. Do you offer your feet to him? Why or why not? If you resist, what is behind your resistance? Offer your thoughts and feelings to God in prayer.
Picture the person you find most difficult to love and serve. Watch Jesus kneel to wash his or her feet. How do you feel? Offer your thoughts and feelings to God in prayer.
Now Jesus rises and hands you the basin and the towel. He invites you to kneel and wash the feet of the one who has betrayed you or made life difficult for you. How do you respond? Offer your thoughts and feelings to God in prayer.
Is there any concrete act of love and service that Jesus is calling you to undertake in his name?
For Group Reflection (45-60 minutes)
What most stood out for you in the time of personal reflection?
How can the group pray for you?
Conclude your time of prayer by washing one another’s feet.
Praise for Barefoot
“Whether or not you’ve been a devoted reader of Sharon Garlough Brown’s Sensible Shoes series, you will find yourself in the lives of the four women of Barefoot—in their gratitude and grief, their longings and resilient hopes. Most importantly, you’ll meet Jesus, who startles us with this never-ending surprise: we are his beloved.”
Jen Pollock Michel, author of Teach Us to Want
“Sharon Garlough Brown does not disappoint. That’s because what undergirds all of her books is deep truth. One reads them and thinks, yes, that’s how churches can be, or yes, that’s what it’s like to parent a twenty-something, or yes, that’s a friendship that mirrors mine. But the deepest truth when we read her books is this one: yes, that’s what a life of faith looks like—battered yet sustained, wounded yet deeply hopeful that God is up to something. These books resonate because they feel so true and because this is how we long to be: barefoot, surrendered, saying here I am to the One who guides our steps.”
Mary Hulst, college chaplain, Calvin College, author of A Little Handbook for Preachers
“During a difficult year of loss in my own life, I found great comfort in this fictional tale of four friends with true-to-life faith. The way they relate with Christ and one another in grief, disappointment, celebration, and joy served as a kind companion to me personally, as well as a creative reminder of some of my favorite spiritual practices.”
Emily P. Freeman, author of Simply Tuesday
“Prepare to be encouraged, inspired, stretched, and wrung out by Barefoot. This enriching novel reveals God’s transforming presence in the lives of four imperfect but beloved friends. Don’t miss it.”
Amy Boucher Pye, author of Finding Myself in Britain
“How grateful I am to be reunited with Hannah, Meg, Mara, and Charissa, my friends in Sharon Garlough Brown’s Sensible Shoes series. Having already journeyed with them through seasons of growth and change, I was eager to see what this third novel, Barefoot, would reveal. And what a tender story ensued as these women faced both serendipitous joy and heart-wrenching sorrow. The thread of being in a supportive prayer circle is powerful in each of these books, and the valuable spiritual exercises woven throughout help us to process as well. . . . Barefoot brings us gently to the place where we know the only adequate response is to take off our shoes and stand before God on holy ground.”
Lucinda Secrest McDowell, author of Dwelling Places
“Sharon Garlough Brown may be a novelist, but she’s also a portrait artist, painting with tender detail the souls of four women on a spiritual journey. This third installment is harrowing, lovely, joyous—like life, like faith. Beautifully rendered!”
Sarah Arthur, author of Between Midnight and Dawn
About the Author
Sharon Garlough Brown holds an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary and is a pastor, spiritual director and retreat leader. Her book Sensible Shoes was named one of television personality Kathie Lee Gifford’s “favorite things” in March 2013. She and her husband, Jack, copastor Redeemer Covenant Church in Caledonia, Michigan.
The Sensible Shoes Series
Sensible Shoes
978-0-8308-6453-9
Two Steps Forward
978-0-8308-9871-8
Barefoot
978-0-8308-9883-1
Coming in Spring 2018: An Extra Mile
For more information, visit ivpress.com/sensibleshoesseries.
Formatio books from InterVarsity Press follow the rich tradition of the church in the journey of spiritual formation. These books are not merely about being informed, but about being transformed by Christ and conformed to his image. Formatio stands in InterVarsity Press’s evangelical publishing tradition by integrating God’s Word with spiritual practice and by prompting readers to move from inward change to outward witness. InterVarsity Press uses the chambered nautilus for Formatio, a symbol of spiritual formation because of its continual spiral journey outward as it moves from its center. We believe that each of us is made with a deep desire to be in God’s presence. Formatio books help us to fulfill our deepest desires and to become our true selves in light of God’s grace.
More Titles from InterVarsity Press
Surrender to Love
978-0-8308-7709-6
Listen In
978-0-8308-9765-0
Liturgy of the Ordinary (forthcoming)
978-0-8308-9220-4
Sacred Rhythms
978-0-8308-7829-1
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For a list of IVP email newsletters, including information about our latest ebook releases, please visit www.ivpress.com/eu1.
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InterVarsity Press
P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426
ivpress.com
[email protected]
©2016 by Sharon Garlough Brown
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press.
InterVarsity Press® is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®, a movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities, visit intervarsity.org.
Quotations from Psalm 131, Song of Songs 2, Zephaniah 3:17 and John 1:29 are from the English Standard Version; Psalm 84; Psalm 90:12, Psalm 116:7, and Galatians 2:20 are from the New International Version. All other Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The selection from the poem “Tourist or Pilgrim” by Macrina Wiederkehr is used by permission of Sister Macrina.
The Abba Macarius story and memento mori exercise came from Rebecca DeYoung.
This is a work of fiction. People, places, events and situations are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to events, locales or actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover design: Cindy Kiple
Images: woman: © Mark Owen / Trevillion Images
row of bare feet: © kzenon/iStockphoto
ISBN 978-0-8308-9883-1 (digital)
ISBN 978-0-8308-4321-3 (print)
Brown, Sharon Garlough;, Barefoot
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