Are Your Feet Dirty?
(John 13:1-17)
Introduction:
“A large group of European pastors came to one of D. L. Moody’s Northfield Bible Conferences in Massachusetts in the late 1800s. Following the European custom of the time, each guest put his shoes outside his room to be cleaned by the hall servants overnight. But of course this was America and there were no hall servants.
“Walking the dormitory halls that night, Moody saw the shoes and determined not to embarrass his brothers. He mentioned the need to some ministerial students who were there, but met with only silence or pious excuses. Moody returned to the dorm, gathered up the shoes, and, alone in his room, the world’s only famous evangelist began to clean and polish the shoes. Only the unexpected arrival of a friend in the midst of the work revealed the secret.
“When the foreign visitors opened their doors the next morning, their shoes were shined. They never know by whom. Moody told no one, but his friend told a few people, and during the rest of the conference, different men volunteered to shine the shoes in secret. Perhaps the episode is a vital insight into why God used D. L. Moody as He did. He was a man with a servant’s heart and that was the basis of his true greatness” (Gary Inrig, A Call to Excellence, (Victor Books, a division of SP Publishing, Wheaton, Ill; 1985), p. 98).
Have you ever been in the presence of someone who was definitely – by the world’s standards – greater than you? I can remember meeting some of my favorite recording artists like Geoff Moore, Stephen Curtis Chapman, and a couple T.V. personalities in my lifetime. And I can remember how awe struck I was to be in their presence. Their reputation and fame preceded them.
It’s amazing how little you feel compared to someone of greatness; how small you feel paired against seeming royalty. But Jesus turned the tables on all of this. Jesus completely threw the baby out with the bath water when he mentioned who was truly great. But not only did he mention who was great… he lived a life of greatness. Take for instance our scripture for today…
(John 13:1-17, NLT)
Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He now showed the disciples the full extent of his love. [2] It was time for supper, and the Devil had already enticed Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to carry out his plan 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 and to wipe them with the towel he had around him.
[6] When he came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, "Lord, why are you going to wash my feet?"
[7] Jesus replied, "You don’t understand now why I am doing it; someday you will."
[8] "No," Peter protested, "you will never wash my feet!"
Jesus replied, "But if I don’t 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 are clean, but that isn’t true of everyone here." [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 it is true. [14] And since I, the 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] How true it is that a servant is not greater than the master. Nor are messengers more important than the one who sends them. [17] You know these things—now do them! That is the path of blessing.
When we serve we become great; and it’s by serving we see…
• The full extent of love:
When we serve, we become the hands and feet of Christ – we become his likeness to those in need. When we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, encourage the brokenhearted, give hope to the hopeless, and become a friend to the friendless, we take on the attributes of God. We become – in essence – Christ-like ambassadors for God. Rather than hindering God’s work in the world, we become active participants within the Kingdom of God.
Not only this, Jesus also told us that when we do anything unto the least of these we’ve done it unto him. This may bring to mind who the “least of these” really are. Take for instance, someone who lacks of the basic needs of life; when we provide the basic needs (and even go above and beyond) not only are we serving the “least of these”, we are serving Christ as well. You see, not only do we become like Christ through the act of serving, but we also serve Christ through the act of serving. In all that we do we should do to please God. We serve like Christ in order to honor God. And in all things, we take the background and allow God to be glorified in us.
When we serve, hardened hearts are broken, pride melts away, and God is honored. Not as a general rule, but when we serve others they become more open to us. So much so, in fact, that even the most hardened heart can be moved to tears when someone reaches out in a kind and gentle way.
When we serve, not only does it affect the receiver it affects the giver. Serving others has a way of bringing us to the point of purest humility toward our neighbor. The person who is ruled by pride could never find it in themselves to kneel and wash the dirty feet of a friend much less a complete stranger. One cannot serve – truly serve – with pride at the center of their hearts. But the one who serves becomes like soft clay in “The Potter’s” hands to be molded into a person of greatness.
• The equality of all humanity:
When we serve, we begin to see that though we may be different in many ways we are all alike at the core. It’s truly amazing that the act of serving and humility can clear away the preconceived notions and ideas that we have about others. We begin to understand them better when we kneel before them. When we take time to see the shoes that they walk in, to carry their load for a while, we see that they aren’t so much different from us. Though they may come from various backgrounds, ethnicities, and cultures, when we humble ourselves enough to serve them we realize that we are all very alike in our needs, wants, and dreams. We understand that words and stabbing glances can hurt, that loneliness is an ever-present reality, and that everyone wants to be loved – really loved.
When we serve, we see others as real people with real hurts, real struggles, and real hopes and dreams just like us. “The phrase ‘no difference’ occurs twice in the book of Romans. It is used first with reference to our human sinfulness. ‘There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Rom. 3:22-23 NIV). Second, it is used with reference to God’s grace extended to all who will call on Him. ‘For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’ (10:12-13 NIV)" (Darrell W. Robinson, People Sharing Jesus, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995), p. 128).
If God sees through to the heart of every person – beyond their race, color, economic status and the like – shouldn’t we also see others through those same lenses? When we truly understand the grace and mercy of God, we realize that we are all in need. We realize that we are all in the same boat; that we’re all running the same race. When we serve others, they become a part of our lives as real people, not just a face we pass by on the street.
• The real meaning of greatness:
When we serve, we can see into the heart of God. We can know the mind of God – at least in part – when we humble ourselves to serve. For when we serve we do so with the empowerment of God’s Spirit moving in and through us to be his hands and feet to the lost and dying around us.
In 1 Corinthians 2:9-13 (NLT), Paul reminds us of a scripture from Isaiah 64:4 that says:
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love him."
[10] But we know these things because God has revealed them to us by his Spirit, and his Spirit searches out everything and shows us even God’s deep secrets. [11] No one can know what anyone else is really thinking except that person alone, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. [12] And God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world’s spirit) so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. [13] When we tell you this, we do not use words of human wisdom. We speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.
You see, when we walk in the Spirit of God we know the wonderful things that God has freely given us. When we walk in the Spirit of God we are empowered to do great things; things that aren’t always noticeable and completely recognized by the world’s standards, but things behind the scenes – things related to serving.
When we serve, we come close to the heart of God. When we become obedient to God’s promptings, we become people after God’s own heart.
David was a man who was obedient to God. Though at times he stumbled and failed miserably, he was still considered a man after God’s own heart. There’s something special about David in that when he was down, when he messed up, he always sought the Lord. He always went back to God for forgiveness and mercy. David’s obedience brought him close to the heart of God.
When we serve, we become obedient to God. When we humble ourselves to serve others we understand the heart of God. When we serve we are as close to Christ as we can be for even Jesus said, “For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many.” If we can take this example of Christ’s life and apply it to ours, we draw even closer to the heart of God through our obedience to become servants.
Conclusion:
Doug Nichols in WORLD Magazine gives a stark illustration of what it means to serve. Listen to what he writes:
“While serving with Operation Mobilization in India in 1967, I spent several months in a TB sanitarium with tuberculosis. After finally being admitted into the sanitarium, I tried to give tracts to the patients, doctors, and nurses, but no one would take them. You could tell that they weren’t really happy with me, a rich American (to them all Americans were rich), being in a government sanitarium. They didn’t know that serving with O.M., I was just as broke as they were!
“I was quite discouraged with being sick, having everyone angry at me, not being able to witness because of the language barrier, and no one even bothering to take a tract or Gospel of John. The first few nights, I would wake around 2:00 a.m. coughing. One morning as I was going through my coughing spell, I noticed one of the older (and certainly sicker) patients across the aisle trying to get out of bed. He would sit up on the edge of the bed and try to stand, but because of weakness would fall back into bed. I really didn’t understand what was happening or what he was trying to do. He finally fell back into bed exhausted. I then heard him begin to cry softly.
“The next morning I realized what the man was trying to do. He was simply trying to get up and walk to the bathroom! Because of his sickness and extreme weakness he was not able to do this, and being so ill he simply went to the toilet in the bed.
“The next morning the stench in our ward was awful. Most of the other patients yelled insults at the man because of the smell. The nurses were extremely agitated and angry because they had to clean up the mess, and moved him roughly from side to side to take care of the problem. One of the nurses in her anger even slapped him. The man, terribly embarrassed, just curled up into a ball and wept.
“The next night, also around 2:00 a.m., I again awoke coughing. I noticed the man across the aisle sit up to again try to make his way to the washroom. However, still being so weak, he fell back whimpering as the night before. I’m just like most of you. I don’t like bad smells. I didn’t want to become involved. I was sick myself but before I realized what had happened, not knowing why I did it, I got out of my bed and went over to the old man. He was still crying and did not hear me approach. As I reached down and touched his shoulder, his eyes opened with a fearful questioning look. I simply smiled, put my arm under his head and neck, and my other arm under his legs, and picked him up.
“Even though I was sick and weak, I was certainly stronger than he was. He was extremely light because of his old age and advanced TB. I walked down the hall to the washroom, which was really just a smelly, filthy small room with a hole in the floor. I stood behind him with my arms under his arms, holding him so he could take care of himself. After he finished, I picked him up and carried him back to his bed. As I began to lay him down, with my head next to his, he kissed me on the cheek, smiled, and said something which I suppose was ’thank you.’
“It was amazing what happened the next morning. One of the other patients whom I didn’t know woke me around 4:00 with a steaming cup of delicious Indian tea. He then made motions with his hands (he knew no English) indicating he wanted a tract. As the sun came up, some of the other patients began to approach, motioning that they would also like one of the booklets I had tried to distribute before. Throughout the day people came to me, asking for the Gospel booklets. This included the nurses, the hospital interns, the doctors, until everybody in the hospital had a tract, booklet, or Gospel of John. Over the next few days, several indicated they trusted Christ as Savior as a result of reading the Good News!
“What did it take to reach these people with the Good News of salvation in Christ? It certainly wasn’t health. It definitely wasn’t the ability to speak or to give an intellectually moving discourse. Health, and the ability to communicate sensitively to other cultures and peoples are all very important, but what did God use to open their hearts to the Gospel? I simply took an old man to the bathroom. Anyone could have done that!” (Doug Nichols WORLD, March 12, 1994, p. 26).
Are you willing to become a servant? Are you willing to take on the life of a slave for the sake of others? Are you willing to show others the full extent of God’s love, help someone else feel like they are equals, and truly comprehend the meaning of greatness?
Matthew 23:11 (NLT)
“The greatest among you must be a servant.”
