Passion Week: Footwashing

If you've got your Bibles, let's turn to John chapter 13.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you for being here.

Yesterday, Louise and I went to the Pisgah National Forest and hiked up to Black Balsam Knob, 6,214 feet above Sulep.

Walked several miles, a beautiful, one of the highest points in the Pisgah National Forest.

beautiful day yesterday wasn't it the hint of fall the green grass blackberries and blueberries growing you could pick the blackberries and blueberries and eat them they were just the right sweetness and the right brightness when you get on the top of black balsam knob you can stand there and you can do a 360 and everywhere you look beautiful peaks and mountains trees It was gorgeous. The Lord who made it all, everything that we see, everything that we enjoy, is the same Lord who on the night of April 6, A.D. 30, got on his knees and washed his disciples' feet.

That is an amazing thought that the Lord of the universe, in the incarnate form of Jesus Christ, gets on his knees and washes his disciples' feet. And then he teaches them after he does that. And here's the teaching in John 13, starting at verse 12. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. Do you understand what I have done for you?

them. You call me teacher and Lord and rightly so for that is what I am. Now that I your Lord and teacher have washed your feet you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth no servant is greater than his master nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things you will be blessed if you do them.

Let's pray.

Lord, your greatness is beyond our comprehension. That you could make all is hard for us to understand.

But when we see the wonders of your creation, the beauty that you have prepared for us to enjoy, We are truly amazed by who you are and your greatness. But this day, Lord, help us to see that you are the Lord who in your greatness serves, serves us. May we likewise be willing to serve one another. For it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Jesus makes five essential points in his teaching. Jesus gives us, I think, a great way, parents, teachers, individuals, as we're trying to teach other people the truths about the Christian faith, Jesus first models the truth, then he teaches the truth. And there's something about that giving of an example or a model that is so powerful when we begin to teach. So when you're trying to teach someone something, give them a model or example to follow, then give them the words to help understand what the model means. us. Parents, we are best in raising our children when we don't just tell them the right thing to do, but when we model it, right? And when there's this disconnect between what we do and what we say, children get confused. But Jesus, there's no disconnect with him. He models it and then he teaches it. And we're now at the teaching point in the lesson. And I'm calling all of these points, I'm categorizing them as the doulos principle.

Doulos is the Greek word that means servant. There are really two words in the Greek language that mean servant. One is the word from which we get deacon, diakonos. A deacon is supposed to be a servant. But it's the word doulos, which also means servant, that particularly means that you have a master.

You can serve someone without that person being your master. can't you? I can do something for you, but you're not my master necessarily. But when you use the word doulos, you are implying that when you serve, you serve because you have a master over you. And that is the principle we are to follow. We serve a master. We are his servants to do his bidding here on earth. And he models for us what it means to be a servant. Jesus says first to his

In other words, I am a person in a position of authority. Teachers were viewed as being people of authority. He is also the Lord. This word could also be translated master, but he is someone in a position of authority. He is someone who is in a position to be revered, and that's a necessary starting point for what he's about to teach us.

Here he is with all authority, all power, a position of reverence. And what does he do? He gives us an example. He gets down on his knees, the one with all this position, power, and authority, and he begins to serve the disciples by washing their feet. And he gives us this example, and he says, As I have done for you, do for one another.

Mark 10.45 makes it clear. the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.

And so he is giving us an example for how we are to lead our lives. The third point he makes is in verse 16. Amen, amen. No servant, that's doulos, is greater than his master. No messenger, that's the word apostolos from which we get apostle, is greater than the one who sends him.

We often say amen at the end of statements. When we say amen, we're saying it is true. It is true. Amen. Amen.

And Jesus often when he began to pronounce an important teaching, he begins by saying amen. Amen. And it's sort of like he's saying, pay attention. I'm getting ready to say something that is very important. And in verse 16, he begins, amen, amen.

Listen up, disciples. true, it is true, and what is true is that no servant is greater than his master or a messenger greater than the one who sends him. Jesus makes this statement several times in the New Testament that no servant is greater than his master. Do you understand what he's trying to teach the disciples here? If no servant is greater than his master, then it means that the servant must be willing to do whatever the master done for him no matter how menial the task may have been.

So Jesus, the master, has just gotten on his feet, on his knees, and washed the feet of the disciples. And you recall last week I reminded you this foot washing practice in Jesus' day was very important as people walked these dusty, muddy roads, roads on which the animals walked, on which animal dung fell as they walked through the streets of Jerusalem where it was not uncommon for human waste to be found in the streets. Not a very pleasant task to get down on your knees and wash somebody's feet. If Jesus Christ is willing to do this low, menial, demeaning task that not even Jewish slaves who were men were asked to perform, only Gentile slaves or students or wives perform this task if he the Lord of the universe will get on his knees and do that then there is no service no task that we can be asked to do that is below us because we are not greater than our master and if he will do the lowest of the low tasks we too should be prepared to do it you get it you may not like it but do you get it you understand the point fourthly with knowledge must come action after Jesus models for his disciples and gives this teaching to them that they are to serve one another that none of them is above the lowest of tasks in service he says now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. It is not enough for us to know that we are to serve one another.

It is not enough for us to know that we are to be willing to take on even the lowest, most menial of tasks. We must put knowledge into action. We must do them. When Joshua's way was thinking about what theme verse would be its theme for the organization, this is the verse we chose. To know and to do. Now that know these things you'll be blessed if you do them we need to know our mission our task but then we've got to do it and Jesus says it is in the action with the doing that the blessing comes you know all those beatitude beatitudes blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are those who mourn it's the Greek word makarios which is a word that means that we will be the objects of God's divine favor, that's what it means to be blessed, we will be objects of God's divine favor if we do what we know we're to do.

If we put into action this servant attitude, this doulos attitude. Okay? The teaching's pretty simple. It's not that we don't understand what Jesus is teaching.

Is it? This is not hard to understand, is it? This is not rocket

it's putting it into action so I'm going to give us seven lessons for life for us to think about as we put things into action here's lesson for life number one lesson for life number one we must not resist Christ

but we must humbly submissively and gratefully receive what he offers to us do you remember when Jesus got ready to wash Peter's feet Peter says no way no way never will you wash my feet there are so many of us so many adults particularly particularly adults who are not currently believers who just will not bend the knee and receive the grace that Christ offers it's pride sometimes it's oh I'm going to have to give up something else Jesus Christ says to us, I offer you salvation. I offer you hope. I offer it to you. Do not resist me like Peter resisted Jesus washing his feet. Jesus says, take it.

Humbly, submissively receive it. This is the first step in the doulos principle. If we're going to be servants of Jesus Christ, we must first receive the grace that he offers us. don't let your pride your hardness of heart the fact that you may have to change that you will look a little weird to your friends if you start living for Jesus there's so many reasons that we don't live for Christ or embrace Him you know those Christians are a little weird

they have a little different thought process Will my friends view me as the intellectual I want them to view me to be if I really believe Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation? That in Him and Him alone is there hope?

You've got to start on your knees with Jesus. You don't start any other way with Him. Secondly, we should embrace the paradox of the Christian life. What does paradox... Paradox is a statement that seems like it shouldn't be true, but it really is true.

the last will be first.

You want to be the greatest?

You've got to be a servant. You want to live? You've got to die to yourself.

Life in reality is so much easier to live when we embrace this principle. we have to strive to appear first in people's eyes. No longer do we have to try to get position and status and power because we know in the end, when all is set right by our Lord at that last day, it's not those who pushed for position, not those who were proud, not those who thought they were something that are going to inherit the kingdom of God. It's the meek, humble servant. So quit worrying about it.

People don't think much of who you are. Okay. Jesus does. They don't give you the credit you are due. Don't they know who I am?

Don't worry about it. Jesus knows. This paradox is a great freeing thing for life if we will understand it and embrace it. Third lesson for life. It is one thing to act like a servant.

It is another to be a true servant. So I'm going to draw a contrast here between acting like a servant and being a true servant. And some of this comes from Richard Foster's book, Celebration of Discipline. It's a great book. If you've never read it, you ought to get it.

Some people act like servants.

The person who acts like a servant chooses when he or she will serve, chooses whom he or she will serve, and chooses where they will serve. Sure, I'm glad to serve, so long as it's Tuesday night between the hours of 6 and 7, and so long as I can work with this particular person or this particular group. But don't ask me to rearrange my schedule or to work with those people.

Those who act like servants serve so that they will look good in the eyes of other people.

they want to be seen by others the person who acts like a servant serves just when they feel like serving well today I don't feel like being a servant so don't bother the person who acts like a servant is really self-centered really interested in only how they look and how they are perceived to others so they want to act like a servant enough to be well thought of They're not prepared to serve anybody, anyone, anywhere, whenever Christ calls. It's really all about me, this person says. And that's not what Christ calls us to be. He calls us to be a true servant. A true servant serves out of a genuine relationship with Christ and will willingly serve whomever, wherever, whenever in the call of Christ.

This person is only concerned about receiving the divine nod of approval and doesn't care if the rest of the world is completely unimpressed, so long as Jesus gives the divine nod of approval. For this person, service is a lifestyle. It is not something they just do. It is something they are. This person acts patiently, quietly, without fanfare, and without seeking fame.

So how do you know if you're acting like a servant or if you're a true servant? Well, let me give you a couple of thoughts on that. How do I know if I'm acting like a true servant or if I'm just acting like a servant? Lauren Sanny, who used to be president of an organization called The Navigators, was once asked, How do you know if you have a true servant's attitude? How do you know if you have a true servant's attitude?

his answer was this. You know by how you act when you are treated like one.

You know if you have a true servant's attitude by how you respond when you're treated like a servant. You know how servants get treated.

People don't give them the time of day to treat them as second class citizens. How do you respond when somebody treats you that way?

pride, puffed up, angry or it doesn't matter Jesus knows Jesus knows a second answer is this

if you're a true servant you're not doing what you do for self glory but for God's glory so how do you know if you're a true servant you know by who it is

Ruth Harms Calkin wrote a poem that says this you know Lord how I serve you with great emotional fervor in the limelight you know how eagerly I speak for you at the women's club you know how I effervesce when I promote a fellowship group you know my genuine enthusiasm at a Bible study but how would I react I wonder dear Lord if you pointed to a basin of water and asked me to wash the calloused feet of a bent and wrinkled old woman day after day, month after month, in a room where nobody saw and nobody knew. The answer to that question helps us know if we are a true servant or not. But now let me make a point here. Are we to desire others to see us doing good works for the Lord or not?

Are we to desire others to see us doing good works for the Lord or not? Matthew 5, 16. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they will see your good works. But then what does it say? and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

You see, the true servant doesn't care whether he or she is seen or not seen so long as God gets the glory. That's the point. We do not do things to be seen for self-glory. But folks, we Christians need to be doing good and people in the world need to see that. They may not like our theology, but when we're feeding the poor, helping the hungry, going into the prisons, when by our lifestyles we are demonstrating such great charity, even the pagans will have to say, wow.

And that's when the gospel can be best preached.

You know any true servants? I think of Mother Teresa.

What a tremendous example.

Formed the missionaries of charity, serving the dying poor of Calcutta. If you joined her society, you had to take a vow to give wholehearted and free service to the poorest of the poor.

How about that for a job description? Wholehearted and free service for the poorest of the poor. For her service, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. In 1973, the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. Because she was a servant.

I think of Yerga. You don't know Yerga. Yerga is the doorkeeper in Ethiopia at the guest house. That means when a vehicle pulls into the guest house, there's a big gate there. Somebody has to be there to open the gate.

Yirga opens the gate all day long. And when you go through the gate, Yirga greets you with a smile. He's always cheerful. But all he does all day long is open the gate. But it is such a needed service as cars are in and out all throughout the day.

I think of my brother Paul behind the scenes. You don't know it, but he does all that paperwork for that Honduras mission trip.

you don't know it, but Joshua's way exists in large measure because Paul is there to be sure things operate behind the scenes, accounting practices, administrative practices are set up. You don't know it, but he goes, as part of his dental practice, he goes down to these poor counties in the state of South Carolina, goes into schools and does dental work for poor children with a mobile dental clinic. And so you didn't know that.

I think of folks like you at the Divinity Care Facility when we went there. What a great model. Dean Kerrigan happens to sell coffee, you know, but has a bigger interest when he runs into this Divinity Care Facility. And then Shelton Hall says, you know, we can do something about this. And then Don and Don Blanchard.

I always get a kick when I talk to Don and Don because they both say their first names the same way. Don and Don. You know, in the South we say Don and Dawn. They say Don. But they're serving flipping burgers.

And Dawn trying to get us to get toothpaste and toothbrushes. And when this church doesn't respond as it should, she doesn't get frustrated. She just keeps trying to get toothpaste and soap and stuff for the Divinity Care Facility. I think of Gerald and Linda Gambrell. Gerald out there directing the crew to set up the tarp that we were setting up.

Carol Morris playing with the children. little black girls there at the Divinity Care facility. Kim and Stephanie and Liz singing and giving their time. Bill Smith in there measuring, trying to figure out how can we get a hood over this stove that was there in the Divinity Care facility that needed a piece to work correctly. Phil Ellenberg, Ken Richardson.

Ken Richardson driving his motorcycle. Somehow, I just laugh every time I see Ken on his motorcycle. But what a great thing. Then Dan Johnson, behind the scenes, did so much work to help us get Joshua's Way started. Always willing to help.

Danny Boyder. You know Danny Boyder? You don't know how many roofs he's put on people's facilities and learning center. Joshua's Way, he doesn't ever ask for any praise. I think a Tully Stoudemire in Honduras this past June.

The man didn't have shoes. Took off his shoes and gave them to him. I think of Gene Holway. Setting up our sound system every week. Week in, week out.

I came in this morning, Mitch Harvey in here, setting up chairs all by himself. And others of you have done that.

That, the Lord smiles upon folks. That's what we need to be about. I think of Mary Wingold making phone calls and my wife Louise a part of being sure meals are getting to people who are sick in our class. A lot of meals served.

It's one thing to act like a servant. It's another to be a true servant. Let's be a true servant. Fourth lesson. We should resist becoming a part of the human pecking order systems where we grasp for status and demand the privileges of our position.

Jesus made it very clear that it's the Gentile rulers who lord it over one another. And he told his disciples, don't be like that. We are to serve one another, not to lord it over one another. Jesus did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, the Apostle Paul tells us, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant. we often cry for status and recognition we get caught up in what our title is our position we dress in a way that people will think we have status we drive vehicles that we think give us status we spend our money and have these houses because we want people to recognize how important we are Jesus does not care about those signs of status he wants to know do we have the heart of a servant Jesus would have loved Generation X. You know the Generation Xers, the Gen Xers, these are the people born from 64 to 83. One thing that characterized that generation is they didn't care about titles and status and position. I was at a seminar where they were talking about, it was a banking seminar, they were talking about generational differences and how do you work with employees who come from different generations. And some folks who come from an older generation have a hard time It's not top-down command structure.

You know, there's a boss. Gen Xers wanted to, they were all viewed themselves as kind of on the same playing field, and they wanted to be collegial and to talk about things. Sometimes it drives people who like this top-down command structure crazy because they don't care about status, and they even dress in a way that you can tell they don't care about status. I think Jesus would have loved Generation X in that regard. I'm unconcerned about status and position.

Bernard of Clairvaux said this, Learn the lesson that if you are to do the work of a prophet, what you need is not a scepter, but a hoe. H-O-E. You've got to work. Lesson five. Begin today with little acts of service and those opportunities to serve that are staring you in the face.

I read the story of a man who went to work with Mother Teresa. and he was there in one of the centers that she has in Calcutta, and this man walked in, and all the nuns are working with these people who are dying and sick, bleeding, sores, ulcers. And he's standing there, and he looks at one of the nuns, and he says, what do you want me to do?

And that nun is probably only a nun could do. Looked at him and said, look around. Do something.

Folks, sometimes we're standing around, well, Lord, what do you want me to do?

And the Lord says, look around. Do something. There's so many things that stare us right in the face. Maybe you can begin at home.

Maybe this week you'll do the laundry.

Or maybe this week you'll thank somebody who did the laundry for you rather than take it for granted. maybe you'll speak a kind word to your spouse this week

maybe you'll have a listening ear maybe you'll open the door for that person who's coming in behind you maybe you'll stop this time to help the person with a flat tire maybe you'll thank the waiter or waitress who served you maybe you'll join one of our ministry teams in the class and do something for Jesus

Maybe you'll take some meals for Greer Community Ministries, or maybe you'll decide you're going to give some of your money to the poor this week rather than spending it on yourself. Maybe you'll take those job skills the Lord has given you and say, how can I use them in some way to benefit people who are in need?

Do something for Jesus now. That's my sixth lesson.

we know we're saved by grace but I'm afraid sometimes we abuse that teaching

because Jesus wants us acting for him and doing something for him and one day folks the Lord is going to ask us what did we do for him I will tell you one reason I want to be involved in reaching out and helping people because I know we're going to get asked this one day did you feed the hungry? did you clothe the naked? did you visit the people in prison? did you? well no Lord were we supposed to be doing that?

and he will say to the goats away to eternal punishment

go read it it's in Matthew 25 31 to 46 I'm not making this up And the reason he says that is that people of genuine faith put their faith into action. There are only two kinds of Christians in the world. And I use that word Christian with quotation marks. There are Christians who claim to have faith in Jesus. And then there are Christians who really do.

And you can tell the difference between these two types of Christians by what they do.

Faith, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2.17 or older translation, faith without works is dead. Do not tell me you have faith in Jesus Christ if that faith is not being put into action. In meaningful, observable ways. Last lesson.

If we wish joy, delight, and blessing in the Christian life, we must be, quote, doing. I was counseling with a person a couple of weeks ago who says, you know, I'm just not feeling joy in the Christian life. I'm not feeling delight. and we talked about it a while and I made some suggestions about some things to read that I thought would be helpful but then I said what are you doing specifically

to serve others in the name of Jesus Christ

and as we began to talk about it there were some things he was doing I said you just need to be more intentional about that because the blessing comes in the Christian life and I think the inward joy and delight when we go beyond ourselves and begin to have a purpose that is more than self-centered. It is when we're reaching out to others, lifting them up, building them up, helping them, that we begin to find the joy. You will be blessed if you do them. So are you missing joy in the Christian life? Are you missing delight?

Find a way to serve Jesus Christ and through Him other people.

And I think you will find the joy. One of my favorite pictures of Jesus is on his knees washing the disciples' feet. May we learn the lesson that he wishes us to learn from that. Let's pray.

Lord, for your grace, for your service to us, we are indeed grateful. Help us to open our eyes to the many avenues of service that sit right before us. may we begin to see and be concerned about and even cry over the tremendous needs we see in this world but may we not be inactive may we not be passive may we see the need to share the gospel to feed the hungry to clothe the naked to visit the prisoners to help dying children to be sure food gets distributed like Africa and South America and other places. Help us to do something. Do not let us sit by idly and just wring our hands at, oh, there's so much.

How can anyone do anything about it? Help us to find something and to do it for you. For it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.