October 26, 2014 A.D. by Pastor Ben Willis
October 27th, 2014According to John 13:1-17 [NLTse]
Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to His Father. He had loved His disciples during His ministry on earth, and now He loved them to the very end. 2 It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given Him authority over everything and that He had come from God and would return to God. 4 So He got up from the table, took off His robe, wrapped a towel around His waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then He began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel He had around Him.
6 When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to Him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”
8 “No,” Peter protested, “You will never ever wash my feet!”
Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to Me.”
9 Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”
10 Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For Jesus knew who would betray Him. That is what He meant when He said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12 After washing their feet, He put on His robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? 13 You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 16 I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. 17 Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.
Sermon
Do you see the powerplay going on here? No. It goes on quietly, unaddressed, like so many powerplays do. But you know how it goes: The place is a mess, but everyone pretends they don’t notice so that somebody else will have to do something about it, but not them. There’s work to do but everyone says, “It’s not my job,” to keep themselves off the hook…
In a culture where walking was the predominant mode of transportation and an environment where the air was dry and the streets were dirt or dirty, footwashing was a basic part of hospitality. But for feet that had walked through dirt and mud as well as sometimes the piles that horses, donkeys, cattle, and sheep left behind, yuck to the person who had to do the washing!
So that Passover night, as each of the disciples entered the upper room, I imagine they must have pretended that they didn’t need their feet washed. As they shook the dust off their robes and out of their hair and tunics, they must have simply ignored what each other was tracking in across the floor. I see Judas (not Iscariot but Judas the son of James), I see him going over to the table and making a big deal to Philip about the table settings. Andrew and James wander towards the windows to admire the view. Simon Peter and John rush over to the table to reserve places on either side of Jesus. (The others can’t believe they didn’t think about that.) Judas Iscariot, Bartholemew, and the other James (John’s brother) are overly involved in some inflated debate about Pilate and Caiaphas. Matthew – always by himself because the other disciples have never taken much of a liking to the tax-collector – he’s spending extra time brushing out and rearranging his nice clothing. And Thomas and the other Simon enter as though they didn’t have a care or thought in the world… If anyone had asked any one of them about the footwashing, each in his own way would have replied, “Footwashing? What footwashing? We don’t need that here.”
It’s a powerplay. It happens every day. Think about the lengths to which many go each day to get out of doing work around the house or around their workplace; how clever many have become in getting out of doing homework and all the unpleasant and sacrificial jobs that are a part of being Christ’s church.
Jesus, the Son of God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the darling of Heaven, the bright morning star! He tells us: Do you want to win the powerplay? Do you want to live so that no one around you ever has any power over you again? Be a servant.
When some big bully comes up and slaps you across the face and smirks down at you, you want to keep him from having power over you? Offer him the other cheek, as well. When some tough guy throws his backpack at you and tells you to carry it to his locker for him, do you want to keep him from having any power over you? Tell him you can carry it to his next class for him, as well.
“You want to win the powerplay in any room?” Jesus asks. Take the seat farthest from the head of the table. Be the first to bring the sponge or the mop. Let the people around you promote you, “No, Jesus! You are not going to wash my feet!” Let the host or hostess reach out to you, “Rich, don’t sit down there, come up here closer to me.” “No, Ben, thanks for getting the mop but I’ll take care of the spill, thank you very much.”
Do you want to be first in the Kingdom of Heaven? Then be content at being last and the most servant-minded here. People line up to do the tasks that are considered important, glamorous, or respected. But Jesus showed humility and true love by doing the task that no one else wanted to do. He washed the disciples’ feet – one of the dirtiest of jobs usually performed by the lowest ranking person in the room. And yet was Jesus the lowest ranking person? No. He was the Lord, the Rabbi, and the Teacher. And He knew He would soon be at the Father’s side in Heaven. Did He think it was too lowly a task for Him to do? No. Are there tasks that we won’t do because they are lowly? Because they are dirty? Because they are unpleasant or hard? And yet, aren’t those the jobs that most need to be done? And won’t God reward those who do His work? We need to be willing to do whatever is needed. Jesus was not only willing, He prepared Himself to do this service. He set His mind to it. Have we made plans, have we set ourselves, to serve others? People can’t make you serve them if you are always choosing to love and serve them first.
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-27)
Do you want to be great in the Kingdom of God? “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.”
And what was the result of His servant-mindedness? “Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in Heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-12)
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is not looking for those who are great to follow Him. He is looking for servants and those willing to serve to make great as He empowers their service and joins them in their acts of love.