Serve Like Jesus

OPENING

We are continuing this morning with our series on “More Like Jesus.” I want to be more like Jesus. And I hope you want to be more like Jesus.

I want to:

Walk the way He walked,

Talk the way He talked,

Think the way He thought,

Love the way He loved,

Serve the way He served,

Overcome the way He overcame.

And, through the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit, we are being transformed, day by day, into the image of God’s Son, Jesus Christ!

The title of the message this morning is “Serve Like Jesus.”

SCRIPTURE

John 13:1–17 NKJV

1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, 4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” 7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” 8 Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” 9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.” 12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

INTRODUCTION

Last week we talked about being “Balanced Like Jesus.” And we looked at the story of Jesus being left at the Temple when He was 12 years old. And we talked about how this is such a unique story of the life of Jesus and gives us our only real narrative from Jesus’ childhood in the Bible.

Well this morning we are looking at another unique passage in the life of Jesus. John is the only Gospel writer who gives us this story of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples. And it is such an intimate look into the heart of Jesus. In fact, Alexander Maclaren said of this passage, “Nowhere else have we the heart of God so unveiled to us.”

Jesus took time to share this special moment with His disciples even though He knew that He was so close to the end of His earthly ministry. In fact, that very night He would be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. The next day He would be nailed to a cross.

And you know I’ve often thought about, if I knew today was my last day on earth, what would I want to do? I’d want to spend time with family and as many people as I could. I would want to pray and make sure my soul was ready. I don’t think I would want to sleep. I would want to try to squeeze the most out of every moment.

Jesus knew it was His last night and what did He choose do? He chose to spend time with His disciples. He chose to share a Passover meal with them. And He chose to take time to teach them one last important spiritual lesson.

And I believe there are some lessons that we can learn from this story:

MESSAGE

War Room

Jesus Served With Humility

Jesus humbled Himself and performed the work of a servant.

Washing feet was the job of the lowest servant, and was often reserved for Gentile servants.

These servants were called “the people of the towel.”

Typical hospitality.

Bathing versus washing feet.

Jesus taught a lesson about what it means to be great in the Kingdom of God.

His disciples had just been arguing about who was going to be the greatest.

Luke 22:24-26 “24 Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. 25 And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ 26 But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.”

Jesus set the example.

Matthew 20:26-28 “26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.””

Example of Billy Graham

Jesus served without expectation of reward.

Jesus served His disciples without expecting anything from them in return.

Jesus was teaching them to focus on the eternal rather than the temporal.

We can be assured that we will receive a reward for our good works that are done with sincere humility before God.

Jesus promised a reward for those who serve in the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 10:42 “42 And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.””

When we serve others in humility, it is like we are serving Jesus Himself.

Matthew 25:34-40 “34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’”

GREATNESS IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS MEASURED BY THE WILLINGNESS TO SERVE LIKE JESUS!

1 Peter 5:6 “6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,”

Jesus Served With Impartiality

Jesus served those who did not deserved to be served.

Simon Peter

Jesus washed the feet that would follow “at a distance” as Jesus was arrested and led away.

Jesus washed the feet that would carry Peter to a Roman fire where he would deny he knew Jesus three times.

Judas Iscariot

Jesus washed the feet that had already taken Judas to the Pharisees to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

Jesus washed the feet that He knew would soon leave the Passover meal and return with an angry mob to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

The Other 10

Jesus washed the feet of the other 10 disciples who would scatter and run away in fear after Jesus’ arrest.

Jesus washed the feet, some of which, that would be absent while Jesus was being falsely accused, beaten, humiliated, and crucified.

We are commanded to have the heart of a servant

Luke 6:33-35 “33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.”

AUTHENTIC DISCIPLESHIP IS MOTIVATED BY A HEART THAT DESIRES TO SERVE LIKE JESUS!

Jesus Served With Charity (Love)

Everything that Jesus did that day was motivated out of love.

His desire to share a special meal with His disciples.

Taking time to teach them the spiritual lesson of the elements of the Passover meal.

Humbling Himself and washing their feet.

Knowing that He would be betrayed by Judas.

Knowing that He would be abandoned by His disciples.

Knowing that He would have to pray alone in the Garden because His disciples were too sleepy.

Knowing that He would be indicted, arrested, convicted, sentenced to death, crucified, and buried in the next 24 hours.

Jesus loved His disciples “to the end.”

The word “end” is the Greek word “telos” which means “to the uttermost, to completion, to perfection.”

Jesus loved them with an infinite, unconditional, boundless love!

Before Jesus leaves, He is determined to demonstrate the depths of His love for them.

So He assumes the place of a servant and washes their feet.

His love for us explains everything He did for us.

From Bethlehem to Calvary.

From Calvary to the Tomb.

From the Tomb to glory.

He did it all because He loves us!

Just as love compelled Jesus to serve, our love for others should compel us to Serve Like Jesus.

When we love as we should we will place the needs of others ahead of our own needs.

True love lays everything on the line for the glory of God and for the good of others.

True love will transform us into a “people of the towel.”

TRUE LOVE ALWAYS MANIFESTS ITSELF IN A DESIRE TO SERVE LIKE JESUS!

CLOSING

Jesus...“4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.”

Notice what Jesus did here and how it connects to His overall mission:

“Jesus rose from supper” - He rose from Heaven and came to earth.

“and laid aside His garments” - He laid aside His heavenly glory to be born in human flesh.

“He took a towel and girded Himself” - He robed His deity in humanity.

“He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet” - He would soon pour out His blood to wash away the sins of those who receive Him by faith.

“and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded” - He would provide the complete remission of sins, wipe them away, so that they would never be brought up against us again.

Jesus has given us something to pour out.

We are recipients of His love, grace, and mercy.

He has demonstrated His love for us through His humility, impartiality, and charity (love).

And now Jesus has called us to take what He has given to us and:

To become a “people of the towel,”

To put on humility, impartiality, and charity (love), and

To pour what He has given to us out to others.

You have what this world needs.

Let me ask you a few questions?

Are you pouring it out?

Are you meeting the needs of others?

Are you a part of the “people of the towel?”

Are you finding ways to contribute to the Kingdom of God?

Are you striving to Serve Like Jesus?

Are you willing to humble yourself before God in order for Him to use you for His glory?

Are you willing to serve those who don’t return the favor, who reject you, or who wrong you?

Are you willing to pour out the love that God has filled your heart with to others?

Do you want to be blessed?

The word “blessed” is the Greek word “makarios” which means “happy.”

Do you want to be happy?

Jesus said that you will be blessed, you will be happy, if you know the things He spoke of in this section of Scripture and do them.

In other words, you will be blessed, you will be happy, if you Serve Like Jesus!

ALTAR CALL