Your Will

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When was a time you were obedient when you didn't want to be?

When was the last time you selflessly served someone?

As Christians why do we serve?

Has there ever been a time where you had to do something that you really didn’t want to do?

Theres the classic time when I had to hug my sister when we were fighting

Or when I had to tell my parents that I wasn’t working

Today we are finishing our series on obedience. who remembers who we talked about week 1? Week 2? and tonight we are going to talk about how we have true obediance even in the face of monumental tasks.

So when my sister and I were younger we split the after dinner chores, who is doing dishes and who will clean off the table and take care of food.

Grace and I were fighting who would get to do the table, the easier of the 2 to do. So my mom goes, “Why don’t you try and be more like Jesus?

Well without skipping a beat my sister goes “It’s Jacks turn to be Jesus” and I ended up having to do the dishes.

How many of us are like my sister? When we want something, we’ll do whatever it takes even if that means we aren’t being like Jesus.

Maybe we want to play the new video game first.

Maybe we want to get the last word in an argument.

Maybe we don’t want to end up touching the gunk at the bottom of the sink so we pass dishes off to our other sibling.

But we can look at Jesus’ example to see what we should actually do.

During Jesus’ time, people either walked barefoot or wore sandals; however, these sandals were nothing like Birkenstocks, Chacos, or even Crocs.

Because they didn’t have shoes like we have now and the roads were dirt, foot washing was a normal part of the culture.

But in this passage of Scripture, Jesus was serving and washing feet. Can you imagine if you walked into someone’s home and Jesus knelt to wash your feet? How do you think you would respond?

Regardless of what you might say or do, the whole reason for this was because Jesus wanted to set an example for His disciples—and for us—on what it means to truly serve one another.

The title of my message is “Your Will”

Serving Is Loving

John 13:1–5 NIV

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. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 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.

In the first few verses of this passage, we see Jesus modeling servanthood to His disciples and showing His love for them by washing their feet.

In this moment, Someone the disciples loved and respected began to serve them.

It’s a humbling experience because who really wants to wash someone’s dirty, dusty, stinky feet?

It takes a lot of love for another person to meet these needs.

Jesus could have thought, “Let someone else love and serve My disciples like My Father in heaven, not Me.”

But He didn’t. He was willing to set aside what was expected in His culture to tangibly show His disciples just how much He loved them.

The world we live in is greedy and self-serving.

The desire to make a name for ourself often overshadows what we are truly called to;

Rather than making our name known, Jesus called us to make His name known.

And one of the ways we can make His name known is by following His example and showing our love for others by serving them.

The Bible tells us, “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.

Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.

When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”

APPLICATION:

Love is countercultural in our world today, so we need to be obedient when God calls us to serve others in an unexpected way.

What is the Lord asking you to do today that may go against what others are doing?

Are you listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit and being guided by Him?

Are you living a selfish life only for yourself, or will you end up choosing a countercultural life so that Christ may be known?

Serving Is Messy

John 13:6–11 NIV

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” 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.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

John 13:18–20 NIV

“I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’ “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”

If you knew someone close to you was planning to give you over to be killed, do you think you could continue to love them? Do you think you could still serve them?

Saying yes to these questions goes against everything in our culture.

As humans, we tend to do things for others in order to get something in return. But what if what you “get” is death? Would you still love that person?

The main thing we’re talking about today is that during His time on earth, Jesus set the example for servanthood, and we can look to His example as we follow God and serve imperfect people too.

Jesus knew that in the days following the foot washing, there would be people who would reject and turn away from Him, yet He continued to practically show love to everyone.

In a similar way, we should serve and be an example to those around us regardless of how they may respond.

As we follow God’s will for our life, what we say and do may not be what is expected of us (or even accepted).

But we need to set aside our self-serving attitudes and look for ways to serve the people around us.

Jesus was a king but humbled himself as a servant because He was setting an example for the way we should live.

Depending on how those around you are acting, serving them can be messy.

But if we are also following God’s ways and His direction, all that matters is that we’re obedient to what He is telling us to do.

APPLICATION:

Again, there will be times when people we love hurt us.

But just like the example that Jesus gave, our focus should be on the bigger picture.

Despite what others might say or do, we are responsible to answer the calling to a life of servanthood and to complete the work that Jesus started.

We must be the Church and serve the people in our home, local community, and the world, no matter how messy it might feel.

A little time after the last supper, Jesus was praying in the garden and said this prayer

Matthew 26:39 NIV

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

He knew what he had to do. He knew he had to go to the cross, but he also knew that he was going to suffer.

Jesus was not disobedient in this prayer, he reaffirmed his desire to do God’s will by saying “yet not as I will, but as you will.”

His agony was worse than death because he paid for all sin by being separated from God.

The sinless Son Of God took our sins upon himself to save us from suffering and separation.

In times of suffering people sometimes wish they knew the future, or wish they could understand the reason for their anguish.

Jesus knew what lay ahead of him, and he knew the reason.

Even so, his struggle was intense.

What does it take to be able to say “as you will”

It takes firm trust in God’s plans, Prayer and obedience each step of the way.

Serving Is Blessing

John 13:12–17 NIV

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. “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. Very truly I tell you, 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.

Foot washing met a practical need in Jesus’ time. If it didn’t, there’s a chance the act wouldn’t have had as much of an impact on the recipients.

In other words, if Jesus didn’t do something the disciples needed (or did something they didn’t need), it may not have been such a blessing to them.

As Christians, we can get caught up in the “acts” because it looks good on social media, we’re trying to prove ourself to others, or we think that’s what it means to follow God.

But as we inspect our heart and motives, let’s ask: Are we doing what we want to, or are we really meeting peoples’ needs?

Walking in sandals on dusty roads every day, people needed their feet washed and Jesus was there and willing to meet this tangible need.

Through something as simple as this, He made an incredible impact on the life of the disciples.

1 John 3:18 NIV

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

Serving is a blessing when it gets from the thought stage to the action stage.

We often hear this saying that “It’s the thought that counts.” Good intentions are important, but to truly have an impact we need to be a blessing with our actions.

ILLUSTRATION/STORY/QUOTE:

A young boy went to the local store with his mother. The shop owner, a kindly man, passed him a large jar of suckers and invited him to help himself to a handful. Uncharacteristically, the boy held back. So the shop owner pulled out a handful for him. When outside, the boy’s mother asked why he had suddenly been so shy and wouldn’t take a handful of suckers when offered. The boy replied, “Because his hand is much bigger than mine!”

CLOSING CHALLENGE/APPLICATION:

This is a silly example, but we can all be the “bigger hand” to help, serve, and be a blessing to others.

God has created each of us to meet someone else’s needs and be an example of Jesus to them.

We can be the key in introducing them to Jesus. Remember, we have all been called to serve the world around us, and have been given time, talents, and resources to do so. What we do with what we’ve been given will ultimately influence eternity.

ALTAR RESPONSE:

Will you be an example of Jesus for someone who needs to know Him?

Will you humble yourself enough to serve others and be an example of His love?

Will you do what you can to be a blessing even when it gets messy?

Are you able to say “whatever your will is”

Find a place in this room to pray and ask God to help you follow Jesus’ example of servanthood.