“It’s All About Image”
John 12:23-26
Be honest. What others think about you is important to you, isn’t it? Most of us will admit that we spend an inordinate amount of our time on building and maintaining our image. That’s why we spend so much time and money on cleansers, make-up, combing and styling hair, shaving, manicuring, buying the ‘right’ clothes, and a host of other activities. We want to project the right, the popular image so we will be accepted and liked. So my question is, do you know your image? Is it really a good one, worth spending all that time on?
The Bible teaches us that if we would spend less time on building our image and more time on living out the image God has given us, we would experience the acceptance and blessing we so desperately seek.
To begin with, we can rejoice that WE HAVE A GOD-GIVEN IDENTITY. The deepest roots of our identity go all the way back to Genesis where we learn that we have been created in the image of God; all people live by His divine, creative breath. The Psalmist, in Psalm 139 emphasized it by writing (13-16 MSG): “Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb.” But then, in Exodus 4:22, God said, “This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son…” God’s people have an even more special relationship with Him. WE POSSESS THE RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES OF THE FIRST-BORN SON. The firstborn son shares the father’s name and lives on the father’s identity; he is the next in line to the family power and blessing; he is the inheritor of all the riches of the father. So the people of God share the Father’s name, live on the Father’s identity, and receive all the riches of the Father!
This means that OUR VALUE COMES FROM GOD. Think about a mother who just gave birth to her firstborn. Suppose that as she held her baby in her arms, someone came up to her and said, “How much do you want for the child?” Not only would the mother show no interest, but she would be offended at the thought that this precious child could be bought. Suppose, however, the stranger persisted and offered ten thousand dollars, then a hundred thousand, even a million dollars. Any mother in her right mind would turn and walk away, saying, “My baby is not for sale. She is worth more to me than all the money in the world.” Now, why would she say that? Is it because she’s looking forward to countless sleepless nights, thousands of dirty diapers, hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs directly related to raising a child, or to endless worries about safety and protection of her daughter? No! It’s because her child is a reflection of her, an extension of herself; this child is a part of her. The child’s value is wrapped in the mother. So our value comes from and is wrapped up in God.
What a blessing! Listen to Isaiah expound on the privilege (43:1-4 NLT): “But now, O Israel, the LORD who created you says: "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba as a ransom for your freedom. Others died that you might live. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you.” Did you catch that? “Others died that you might live. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me.” Jesus comes to mind! He traded His life for ours- because we are precious and honored and loved! “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us…” The privileges of the first-born!
In reality, WE ARE THE IMAGE OF GOD. We are the image of God to the world. That’s part of what the New Testament means when it states that Jesus Christ is within us! That’s what Pentecost was all about – through the Holy Spirit, God in Christ dwells within us! We are in the process of becoming like Him – Paul wrote that every moment, in every experience, we are being transformed from one degree of glory to another. WE BEAR HIS GLORY There was a “Frank and Ernest” cartoon in which Frank and Ernest were leaving church wearing less than spectacular clothes. One said to the other, “The way I understand it, though our clothes may be plain, we have famous-maker bodies!” and we do! As the second commandment tells us, we are not to make images of God because we His image in the world! It’s all about image – and we have a God-given identity.
Being the first-born son had many privileges and blessings. But it also had responsibilities. WE HAVE A GOD-GIVEN PURPOSE. The Gospel of John spells out that purpose very graphically. John repeatedly shows Jesus teaching that we are to ADOPT A PRINCIPLE OF SERVANTHOOD. Do you want to know the will of God for your life? Be a servant. We read from John 12:23-26 a few moments ago: Listen again: “Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.” Give up trying to be who you want to be or what others want you to be – be who God wants you to be – a servant. John 13:13: “"You call me `Teacher’ and `Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.” Verse 16: “”I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.”” The first principle of servanthood is to RECOGNIZE THE ROLE OF RELATIONSHIP. Jesus said He was the teacher – that meant they were students who should learn. Jesus said that He was Lord – that meant that they were subjects who should obey His will. He also implied that He was their Master – they were servants who should serve. No matter what their image or concept of Jesus, He was in charge and they were subject to Him. He was the leader and they were the followers - He would give the directions and they were to obey.
Things have not changed. WE ARE UNDER ANOTHER. We are to learn from Him, obey Him, and serve Him. Paul put it this way (Phil. 2:5-8 MSG): “Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death--and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion.” He was a servant of God. Never forget: we are under another. We are to get our guidance, our knowledge, and our directions from Him. We must keep Jesus in focus at all times.
Yet keep in mind that Jesus said, without hesitation, that He was here to do the Father’s will, that He was a servant of God. Yes, He was Master and Lord - but He also said He was a servant to the disciples. Remember that He washed the feet of His disciples. He came not “To be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28). He undertook a dual role. It’s a divine paradox – the way to be a master is to be a servant. According to Jesus, there are others paradoxes: the way to get up is stoop down; the way to receive is to give; the way to be rich is to be poor; the way to be wise is to be a fool; the way to be exalted is to lower yourself; the way to live is to die. Jesus, our Lord and Master, is under another – serving God but also serving us. Listen to an incident recorded in Luke’s Gospel (22:24-27): “Within minutes they were bickering over who of them would end up the greatest. But Jesus intervened: "Kings like to throw their weight around and people in authority like to give themselves fancy titles. It’s not going to be that way with you. Let the senior among you become like the junior; let the leader act the part of the servant. "Who would you rather be: the one who eats the dinner or the one who serves the dinner? You’d rather eat and be served, right? But I’ve taken my place among you as the one who serves.” Recognize our relationship to God and others.
That brings us to the second principle of servanthood, found in verses 14-15 of John 13: “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.” Principle two is to RECOGNIZE THE REQUIREMENT OF REPETITION. It’s an argument from the greater to the lesser. If Jesus, the Son of God, our Lord and Master, is willing to wash our feet, to serve us, surely then we must be willing to serve others. It’s nothing more and nothing less than copy cat religion – do as Jesus did. It was a basic them of Jesus’ ministry. Luke 6:40: “A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like His teacher.” John 15:20: “Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’” So we are to do what Jesus did. What Had He done? Washed the disciples’ feet. That action was supposed to be the task of the servants of the household – and of one of the lowest servants at that. Yet Jesus did it. For the Son of God, the Master, the Teacher, to do the most menial of tasks was extremely radical. Why did Jesus do it?
As always in John’s Gospel, there is a double meaning to the scene. Jesus chose the foot washing, first, as an opportunity to symbolize the greater lowering of Himself on the cross. As He cleansed their feet so also He would cleanse their souls. Paul wrote (Eph. 5:25-26): “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” Again, Paul in Titus 2:14: “Jesus Christ…gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own…”
Yet Jesus also said, “Copy me.” It means that WE ARE UNDER ANOTHER TO BE UNDER OTHERS. As Jesus gave himself for the salvation and spiritual well being of others, so are we to do. There is no action too humiliating or self-denying, if it promotes the spiritual well being of another. If Jesus could wash the disciples’ feet – and could die for us – then we can give ourselves away for others. Being a first-born does not elevate our position but rather lowers our posture; rather than standing tall to be seen, we are to be kneeling low to serve. We must devote our energy to cleansing rather than to self-promotion. As evangelist D. L. Moody once said, “The measure of a man is not how many servants he has, but how many men he serves.”
So this morning I challenge you to ADOPT THE PRACTICE OF SERVANTHOOD. How do we do this? Paul said, LOOK WITH THE MIND OF CHRIST. What was Jesus’ mind? To serve the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned. He also said that in doing that we serve Jesus Himself. Let’s stand in the food lines, talk with the street people, walk with the street walkers, work with the missions, sit with Aids victims, support Hospice workers, be companions for the young teem who decides to carry her baby full term, make possible easier and less costly adoptions of those children who are carried full term.
Simply put – LIVE FOR OTHERS. A story from the book upon which the old movie “The Bridge on the River Quai” was based, is telling. The Irish Republican Army had a ‘buddy’ system called ‘The Mucker System.’ In this system soldiers agreed to ‘muck’ someone else. That meant the other person was more important than ones self – physically, socially, spiritually – in all ways. In the camp on the Quai there were two people who were muckers to each other. One day one of the two men fell ill with Malaria. Since the captors basically gave only one aspirin to those who took ill, most people never recovered. So when someone took ill they were placed in a bamboo hothouse where all the sick people were lodged. If someone died, their body remained in the house and at the end of the week the house would be burned – dead bodies and all – and a new one built. So this man was placed in the hothouse. At every meal, under the penalty of death, the man’s mucker snuck out of the eating-place and went to the hothouse to feed the sick man. At night he would then come out of his barracks, again under the penalty of death, with all his blankets wrapped around him and wrap the man in the blankets to keep him warm. At the end of the week the sick man was well – but his mucker eventually died from contracting the disease. A sad story, to be sure. But consider that through it all a large portion of the camp was converted to Christ because of this shining example of Christ-like love. By the time the war ended and the camp was closed, there was a symphony orchestra, and there were worship services on Sunday – all because one man, one mucker, considered others better than himself and lived for others.
So are you concerned about your image? Good! Start mucking people, because it’s all about image – God’s image – in you! But remember: HAVING A GOOD IMAGE IS MUCKY BUSINESS. So let’s really muck it up!
