True Service

Hey guys—this is your last warning: Valentine’s Day is tomorrow.

It’s the primary day our country celebrates romantic love.

We spend absurd amounts of money on cards, overpriced chocolate, and roses that cost half that much two weeks ago, all as a way to celebrate love.

There is nothing wrong with getting sentimental and celebrating romantic love. In fact, I hope God allows you to continue to get butterflies in your stomach when you think of your spouse until the day you die.

However, can I give you a different picture of love today?

How many of you have watched the show Dirty Jobs? They recently released a new season after several years off.

The series features host Mike Rowe travelling around to different jobs that all have different levels of difficulty and disgust.

Many of the jobs he has done are ones that most of us would never want. He has worked with people cleaning out sewers and septic tanks, grease traps at restaurants, and jobs on farms that I wouldn’t even feel comfortable mentioning.

As you watch the episodes, you can’t help but think, “There is no amount of money that could get me to do that.”

One job I don’t believe I have seen featured on the show may take the cake, though: nurses.

I have the highest level of admiration for nurses, and especially those who work in hospice or long-term care facilities.

The tasks nurses are called to do on a regular basis are things many of us would go far out of our way to avoid, and yet they take it in stride as a part of their calling to serve others as a nurse.

Now, many of the people on Dirty Jobs and even some of the nurses out there simply do what they do because it is a way to make a living.

However, can I submit that doing things that no one else will do for people who don’t deserve it or have any way to repay you is a much clearer picture of love than a heart shaped box of chocolates and overpriced flowers?

In fact, radical—even humiliating—service is what Jesus calls us to be known for as his followers.

We are going to see that as we look at John 13 together, so go ahead and open your Bibles to that passage. That’s page 956 if you are using one of the Bibles in the pew.

As you are turning over there, let’s recap what we talked about in our last message.

Last week, we said that we are to hate our lives in this world—to love Jesus so greatly that nothing else in this life matters by comparison.

We saw that clearly in the life of Mary, a woman who took perfume—likely her most precious possession—and poured it on Jesus’ feet.

In that act, she showed that she loved Jesus more than she was worried about her finances, her future, or what others thought of her.

In John 13, we again return to the idea of someone washing someone else’s feet.

This time, it is even more incredible to observe.

The feet that are being washed are the disciples, but the one doing the washing is Jesus himself.

As we look at what he did and what he taught us about his actions, we are going to see that to identify with Christ is to serve.

Let’s read the first 5 verses together...

Jesus did something unbelievable when he washed the disciples’ feet that night.

His actions give us a crystal clear example of what it looks like to serve others.

In washing their feet, Jesus removed at least major barriers that would keep us from serving others.

First, Jesus shows us that...

1) No act of service is beneath you.

If we are going to identify with Jesus, we have to realize that we are not too good to do anything, and there is nothing that is too demeaning or humiliating for us.

From the moment we are conceived, we are the most important person in our lives.

I remember times when my wife was pregnant with one of our children and she would go, “Oww!” as they pushed their toes into her ribs from the inside. At no point did that baby ever think, “Oh, I’m hurting my mom. I shouldn’t do that.”

When a baby is born, they don’t care what you are doing, they just know they need to eat, or they are cold, or they need to be changed, and it doesn’t matter if you are tired or eating your own dinner or whatever.

We may get better at hiding it as we get older, but there is a part of us that puts ourselves at the center.

Do you ever feel like there must be a Facebook group dedicated to making your life more obnoxious? “Sean drives a white Honda, so if you see him today, pull out in front of him and go slow. If he is in line behind you, make sure you pull the tag off something you are buying so they have to page management to get an override or something.” There are days where it feels like even your spouse or your kids are in on it.

Because we put ourselves at the center, it seems like the world is out to get us.

That kind of mindset makes it nearly impossible to serve others, because we focus more on what we deserve than how we can serve others.

We refuse to serve others because we think they owe us something or we deserve something because of who we are.

If there was ever anyone who actually deserved to feel like that, it would be Jesus, right?

Throughout the Gospel of John, we have seen that he is the Creator of the universe who left heaven to take on human flesh. He has power over disease, demons, and even death itself. He has never done anything wrong, yet there was a group of people who were dead set on killing him.

John gives us a great summary right here. Look again at verses 1-3...

Here is Jesus, who has loved all those who belonged to him, up to and through his death on their behalf.

He is within hours of being beaten and hung on a cross to die. He has come from God the Father, from heaven. Soon, he would finish his earthly ministry and return to heaven, and he even had the authority over everything.

If anyone deserved to be served that night, it was Jesus!

As we get closer to Easter, we will see all that Jesus endured. He knew what was coming, and he knew who he was, so what did he do?

He got up from his own meal, from celebrating the Passover meal, took off his outer clothes, grabbed a towel, and started washing their feet.

We said last week that washing feet was the task reserved for the lowest servant in the house.

We said that Mary opened herself up to social ridicule by doing this to Jesus.

And now, what is happening? The God who created the sun and the moon and the stars, who sustains every atom of creation, does the exact same thing for his disciples.

The context John puts to this makes it clear that Jesus knew exactly who he was and exactly what he was doing. In fact, it is written in a way that makes it seem like he served them this way because of who he was.

Jump down to verse 12-15 where Jesus explains what he has been doing...

Jesus is their Teacher, their Lord, and he knows it! That’s who he is.

Yet, he gives them an example by serving them.

It is more than just an example; it is part of his very purpose for coming to earth:

Mark 10:45 CSB

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

He came to serve, not just by washing our feet, but by giving his own life to buy us out of our slavery to sin and to bring us into his family.

If Jesus, our Teacher, our Lord, and the God of the universe, would be willing to serve us this way, then what on earth could God ever ask me to do to serve someone else that would be beneath me?

What is too menial, too costly, or too disgusting that would top Jesus washing my feet, or even better, Jesus dying in my place?

“But Sean, doesn’t the Bible talk about giving people honor?”

It is true that there are passages like Romans 13:7 that say we are to honor leaders, especially political leaders, or 1 Timothy 5:17 that pastors or elders are worthy of “double honor.”

Here is the thing about that, though: as I looked through the passages in the New Testament that talked about honor, the focus was on giving honor; it was never on demanding honor or even expecting honor.

From that, I believe we can say that there are times where honor can and should be given, but honor should never be demanded.

If you are looking for a command on how we are supposed to behave, here’s one for you:

Philippians 2:3–4 CSB

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.

If you and I are going to call ourselves Christ followers, then this is what we need to be known for—in humility, considering others as more important than ourselves.

This doesn’t mean you become spineless and never say no to someone or establish boundaries. Sometimes, that can actually be easier than pushing back and not allowing someone to continue sinning against God and against you. You aren’t serving someone by allowing them to continue in sin, so in that instance, their need for change may mean you have to serve them by putting boundaries in place that keep them from being able to continue hurting themselves and others.

For most situations, though, this looks exactly like it sounds—looking out for the interests of others, being willing to get up and take the towel and wash their feet.

It means we are going to come alongside others in ways when their lives are messy and painful, and we are going to get right down there with them, just like our Savior did.

Identifying with Jesus means we serve.

So, who are we supposed to serve?

There has to be a limit, right? I mean, what about people I don’t like?

What we find from this passage is that...

2) No person is beneath you.

As we go through the text, we find that we are actually called to serve at least three different categories of people.

First, Jesus makes it clear that we are his servants. That is first implied in verse 13.

If Jesus is our Teacher, that makes us his students or disciples. If he is our Lord, then we are his servants. He is in charge, and we take direction from him.

He makes it clear again in verse 16. We are his servants, and we are not greater than he is.

So far, this makes sense, right? I mean, we should definitely want to serve God, the one who gives us life and even gave his own life for us by dying in our place and rising from the dead.

In fact, the more we understand who God is, the more we grow in our desire to serve him and honor him however he calls us to serve.

We saw that last week in Mary’s life, where everything she had seen and heard from Jesus overflowed into this lavish act of worship as she poured out her perfume.

So, we are certainly supposed to serve God however he leads.

That makes sense with the next set of people we are called to serve too. Look at verse 14-15.

He tells us to wash “one another’s” feet. That implies other believers, right?

If I love Jesus and have been saved by his grace, and you love Jesus and have been saved by his grace, then there should be a natural connection, even affection for each other, right?

You are my brother or my sister in Christ, and I should love and care for you like that.

We are on the same team, striving to honor Jesus together, so if I can help you, that is a win overall for the Kingdom of God.

Let me ask you: how are you serving your brothers and sisters in Christ? How are you helping them grow in Christlikeness or find joy and encouragement along the way?

Is there someone at church whose personality doesn’t exactly mesh with yours? What would it look like to serve them, to wash their feet like Jesus washed the disciples’s?

Again, thus far, it has all made sense. If I identify with Christ, I am his follower, then I am to serve him and his people in any way he leads.

There is a third group, and for many of us, this is really where it gets tough.

Look back at verse 12. The Bible seems to indicate that Jesus washed all of the disciples’s feet, right?

Go back to verse 2—Judas, one of the disciples, was already set on betraying Jesus.

In one section we didn’t read, Peter argues with Jesus about whether or not he should wash Peter’s feet. As a part of that, we have Jesus saying in verse 10-11; not everyone was clean.

Jump down to verse 18, and then to verse 21.

As Jesus humbled himself to wash the feet of his disciples, he washed the feet of the man who would, within a handful of hours, betray him to the Jewish leaders. Judas’s betrayal set off the chain of events that would leave Jesus bloodied, naked, and dying on a cross before noon the next day.

Jesus knew all of that; he knew who would betray him, he knew it was time, and yet he knelt and washed Judas’s feet.

Identifying with Jesus means a willingness to wash the feet of our enemies.

Jesus is modeling for us what he had already commanded. Listen to his teaching from Luke:

Luke 6:32–36 CSB

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High. For he is gracious to the ungrateful and evil. Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

It would be hard to find anyone who was more of an enemy to Jesus than the man who was literally intent on betraying him.

And yet, Jesus—the God of the universe—knelt down and wiped the dust and manure off his dry, crusty feet.

I don’t ever want to downplay the pain others have caused you, and again, I am not saying that you can’t serve someone by establishing healthy boundaries.

However, I am saying that Jesus washed the feet of his betrayer, and he calls us to do the same.

I don’t know what that looks like for you, and I know it is a lot.

That’s why we need to keep in mind what I have heard others say:

“I am a sinner first before I am sinned against.”

Your enemies have sinned against God, and against you, that is true.

But you and I have also sinned against God, and we have done so in more ways then we could ever imagine.

This doesn’t mean that we deserve for them to what they did, or that how they hurt us is God’s punishment for your sin and mine.

Rather, it call us to remember God’s goodness toward us, which changes the way we react to others.

If Jesus, the one I sinned against, was willing to serve me by giving his life as a ransom for me, then if I am going to follow him, I have to be willing, even to give my own life for my enemies.

That is something we can only do by the grace of God.

That is the clearest picture of love we can offer—serving God, serving other Christians, and even serving our enemies, even if that means humbling ourselves to wash their feet.

Are you willing to identify with Christ? Then you are signing up to serve.

After we take some time to respond, we are going to observe the Lord’s Supper together.

Just after he washed their feet, Jesus took the Passover Meal and gave it a beautiful new meaning, using the bread and the cup to point to the sacrifice he would make. We are going to use these elements to remind us of all he has done.