Washing Feet

This morning we are going to ordain Blake Hopson as a deacon of West Side. And so, this morning I want us to consider the role of a deacon and the role of service in our own lives. As you may already know, the word deacon simply means servant. A deacon is one who serves.

As we think about what it means to be a deacon, I want to look at a story we find in John 13. We have been looking at events in Jesus’ final week. This even took place on Thursday, the day before his crucifixion. At the end of the passage, Jesus will instruct all of us to serve one another, but not before demonstrating what true service looks like.

1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” 9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” 10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

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?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:1-17)

We should not be surprised that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. Jesus lived a life of service.

In Matthew 14 we read about Jesus feeding the five thousand. If Jesus had had it his way, he would not have provided food for them that day. His plan for the day was to go off with his disciples to be alone, but it didn’t work out that way.

Earlier that day, Jesus had learned of the death of his cousin, John the Baptist. Jesus had then gotten in a boat with his disciples and headed off to a less populated area. However, the crowds simply followed them along the shore and when they landed there was an even larger crowd. What did Jesus do? He healed their sick and he cast out demons. Jesus had wanted to be alone to process John’s death but when he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them and sought to meet their needs. He served them.

Jesus told the disciples that his purpose for coming was to serve. After hearing them argue about which of them would be greatest in God’s kingdom, Jesus talked to them about what true leadership looks like in the kingdom of God. Jesus said:

26 Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – (Matthew 20:26-27)

Then he added this comment about himself:

28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28)

Jesus came to be a servant and part of his service was giving his life. If we want to be like Jesus, we will serve others and service requires giving of ourselves.

Washing the feet of your guests was cultural norm. The majority of people walked wherever they went. The roads or paths they took were either wet and muddy when it rained or dry and dusty. Either way, because of their open toed sandals, their feet were dirty when they arrived. It was a welcomed custom to wash their feet. Well, you didn’t wash them, you had a servant wash them.

Nik Wallenda is described as an American acrobat, aerialist, daredevil, high wire artist, and author. He’s also follower of Christ who has become the most-watched high wire artist and daredevil in the world. Two of his most recent feats were seen by a billion people across the world. In 2012 Wallenda walked a tightrope across Niagara Falls. In 2013 Wallenda became the first person to high-wire walk across the Grand Canyon.

Wallenda knows that he will be tempted by pride, so after the huge crowds and the media fade away, he engages in a simple spiritual discipline: he walks where the crowds have just stood and quietly picks up trash. Wallenda wrote about this act of service saying:

My purpose is simply to help clean up after myself. The huge crowd left a great deal of trash behind, and I feel compelled to pitch in. Besides, after the inordinate amount of attention I sought and received, I need to keep myself grounded. Three hours of cleaning up debris is good for my soul. Humility does not come naturally to me. So, if I have to force myself into situations that are humbling, so be it. . . . I know that I need to get down on my hands and knees like everyone else. I do it because it’s a way to keep from tripping. As a follower of Jesus, I see him washing the feet of others. I do it because if I don’t serve others, I'll be serving nothing but my ego.

Having been the center of attention for millions of people, the last thing you would expect to find him doing is picking up trash, but he understands the importance of service and humility. The washing of feet was humbling too. In fact, it was considered so utterly humbling and humiliating, that Jewish servants were not required to wash feet. If you could not afford a servant, the least you would provide was a bowl of water and a towel for your guests to wash their own feet. When Jesus ate at the home of a Pharisee named Simon, he criticized his host for providing him with even a bowl of water for this purpose.

That evening in the upper room there was a bowl for that purpose along with a pitcher of water and a towel. However, no one bothered to use them. Luke tells us that the disciples were once again arguing about who was going to be the greatest. And what did Jesus do? I can tell you what I would have liked to have done. I would like to have slapped them all upside the head. But it’s not what Jesus did. Taking off his cloak, Jesus wrapped a towel around his waist, poured water into a bowl, and began to wash their feet. Jesus washed the feet of all twelve of his disciples which included the feet of Judas who was already thinking of how he was going to betray Jesus.

Understanding the humility involved in the washing of feet, how could Jesus wash the feet of the disciples, much less those of Judas? The answer is found in the first verse.

Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. (John 13:1)

Did you catch the key word in that statement? Jesus could wash their feet because he loved them.

While preparing a sermon on service, a preacher posted this question to his friends on Facebook: “What makes it hard for you to serve other people?” Here are some of their answers:

Serving is hard when it doesn't fit in to my schedule or plan. Like when I want to go for a walk or take a long bath, but my aging parent needs me to sort their meds, run an errand, or simply be with them.

It’s hard when their need seems endless. I don’t want to risk helping/serving because I may get sucked in. Being swallowed up in the serving and not getting to be the me I think I am or should be.

There is such limited energy left after a demanding workday meeting our basic responsibilities (whether with young kids or in the corporate world). How do you balance the need for rest and self-care with serving others?

The preacher’s favorite answer was this one:

What makes it hard to serve others? Others.

Serving others can be difficult. The only motivation is love. It was love, that motivated Jesus to serve and it love that motivates us to serve. Why else does a tired mother get up in the middle of the night to take care of a crying infant? Love! What else persuades a father with a queasy stomach to change his child’s messy diaper? Love! Jesus even loved Judas and washed his feet.

One day a Pharisee came to Jesus to test him. The man asked Jesus what he needed to do in order to have eternal life. Jesus answered the question with a question, “What do you think the law says?” The Pharisee gave a very good answer, one that Jesus commended. He said the law teaches that we should love God and that we should love our neighbors. When the man then tried to get out of loving too many people, Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan. In the story Jesus was showing that anyone we see in need is a neighbor. The way we demonstrate our love for God is by serving those we see who have a need.

After washing their feet, Jesus sat back down and told them:

14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. (John 13:14)

Do we really need to wash each other’s feet today? I don’t think so. As I mentioned earlier, providing a bowl of water and a towel was more than just being polite, it was a necessity because of their footwear and travel. The purpose of foot washing then was to care for others. We don’t have those issues today. Plus, there are many more ways to serve others.

Rick Warren told a story about Dan Cathy, the President and CEO of the Chick-fil-A. Cathy was in southern California checking on some new Chick-fil-A restaurants their company was building near Saddleback Church, where Rick was the founding pastor. These two stopped at a construction site of a new Chick-fil-A. Here’s how Rick Warren told the story.

We were looking at the building. While we were there, we were hungry so we went next door to, I think it was a Taco Bell. It was some other fast food in competition with Chick-fil-A. We’d been out, our hands were all sweaty and dirty and we went in the restroom and washed our hands. Then I watched Dan take out extra sheets of paper towels. This is the CEO of a chain of restaurants. I watched him pull them out and I watched him hand clean the sinks of the Taco Bell bathroom we were just in. I looked at him and said, “Thank you for doing that Dan.” He said, “Rick, we teach our staff to always leave any place they are at better than it was when they found it, whether it's our place or not.”

Nobody at Taco Bell and nobody at Taco Bell Corporate ever knew that the CEO of their competition just cleaned their bathroom for free.

There are thousands of ways we can serve others. Most of them are not glamorous or get much attention, but God notices. Take note what Jesus said at the end of this passage:

Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. (John 13:17)

We all want to be blessed by God. Jesus said that blessing isn’t found in being served by others but by serving others. Do you want to be blessed?

In an article titled “Ordinary Heroes” in the Christian Reader, Connie Moore, the activity director at Cedar Crest Manor nursing home in Medicine Lodge, Kansas, described Alvin Cavin. She said of him:

I’d estimate Alvin weighs 90 pounds, but 89 of those pounds make up his big heart. He keeps busy by giving to others.

Cavin, 89 at the time, was a volunteer with a big heart and a big Stetson hat. Alvin began coming to the nursing facility when his wife, May, an Alzheimer's patient, was admitted in 1985. He rarely missed a meal with May. Though “retired” from operating a dairy farm, Alvin milked almost a dozen cows before arriving for breakfast with his wife. Between lunch and supper, Alvin came to replenish May’s ice pitcher.

Before long, he volunteered to fill every other resident’s, too. Even after May went to be with the Lord in November 1986, Alvin continued to help out at Cedar Crest Manor. At supper, he set out napkins and coffee cups. If residents needed assistance with their wheelchairs, they got “Mr. Cavin’s escort service.”

Alvin explained:

Life’s so much better when you get your priorities straight. It begins when you make the Lord your first priority.

Alvin understood what so many do not, true blessing comes from helping others.

I read about a minister who was organizing opportunities for people in his church to do small acts of kindness in the community as a demonstration of Christ’s love. He phoned several neighborhood grocery stores and asked for permission to serve their customers. As he talked with a grocery store employee, the person hesitated and said, “I’ll need to ask the manager, but first, let me make sure I understand what you want to do: You want to clean up the parking lot, retrieve shopping carts, hold umbrellas for customers, and you don’t want anything in return?” “Yes, that’s right,” the minister replied. After a long wait on hold, the employee returned and said, “I’m sorry, we can’t let you serve our customers, because if we let you do it, then we’d have to let everyone else do it.”

How many people do you know who are beating down the door to serve others? Instead, people are demanding that others recognize their rights. We should all consider these words about our rights as Christians by Oswald Chambers:

If you are living the life of faith you will exercise your right to waive your rights, and let God choose for you. God sometimes allows you to get into a place of testing where your own welfare would be the right and proper thing to consider if you were not living a life of faith; but if you are, you will joyfully waive your right and leave God to choose for you. This is the discipline by means of which the natural is transformed into the spiritual by obedience to the voice of God … The only right a Christian has is the right to have no rights.

Jesus calls us to serve. This week, look for ways that you can be like Jesus. Look for ways to serve others.

I have been looking forward to this morning when we are going to ordain Blake as a deacon here at West Side. Being a deacon isn’t about attending meetings or making decisions. Being a deacon is about serving. That’s what the word means. And we have no better example than that of Jesus who humbly washed the dirty feet of his disciples. Blake Hopson has expressed his desire to serve.

SERVICE OF INSTALLATION:

I’m going to have Blake stand for his instillation after which we will pray for him.

Minister(to the congregation): Do you, the members of West Side Christian Church, having sought divine guidance, choose this man standing before you to be a deacon in our congregation and to perform a ministry of service as was done in the early church? If so please answer “We do.”

Congregation: We do.

Minister(to Blake): Have you prayerfully considered the responsibilities and obligation that the office you are called to fill carries with it? If so answer “I have.”

Blake: I have.

Minister: Do you accept the office of deacon in this church, and promise that you will faithfully endeavor to discharge the duties thereof so as to promote the interests of the congregation and the cause of truth and righteousness? If so answer “I do.”

Blake: I do.

Would the elders and deacons step forward as we pray for Blake.