P90X for the Soul – Serving
Serving
John 13:1-17
Godly service is done now! (v.1)
Godly service is done out of love (v. 2)
Godly service is not an issue of authority
Godly service is an issue of humility (v. 3-5)
Godly service helps others Spiritually
Godly service helps you Spiritually
Slide
Good morning.
One day left to live
I want to start you out with a question this morning.
If you knew you had 24 hours left to live, what would be the first thing you would do?
Maybe it would be to try to fulfill one more item on your bucket list?
Go spend all your money?
Drive a car as fast as it would go?
Seek some kind of thrill or ecstasy?
Go off your diet and eat all you want?
Most people would focus on themselves and finding some physical pleasure or do something that they think they wouldn’t have to pay the price for doing because they would no longer be around to suffer the consequences.
But how many of you would think, what completely selfless and humbling act could I do for those around me before I die?
What kind of example could I leave to those who know me?
While there probably aren’t too many of us that would have those as our first thoughts, Jesus did.
This morning we are continuing to look at some spiritual disciplines as we continue our series P90X for your soul.
This morning we are going to take a look at serving and to do that we are going to look at what Jesus did the night before His crucifixion, and see what we can learn from Christ so our own life is lived in a way that God is glorified and we find fulfillment.
Turn with me to John 13:1-17
Slide
Last week, when we talked about Confession, we talked a bit about the story of Jesus washing the Disciples feet and how that act was illustrative of how we need, as Christians, to be cleansed of the sin that comes into our life. We don’t need a whole bath because Jesus says if we have received Him as Savior, we are clean, but we need our feet washed, we need forgiveness, therefore we need to confess our sins to be restored in fellowship with the Lord.
This week we are going to look at another aspect of the foot washing of the Disciples by Jesus and what it teaches us about serving.
Read along with me in
John 13:1-17
13:1It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.
2The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"
7Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."
8"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet."
Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."
9"Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"
10Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." 11For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
12When 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. 13"You call me ’Teacher’ and ’Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. (NIV)
Pray
Now this story of Jesus washing the disciples feet is a well-known story to even those who don’t read the Bible or aren’t Christians.
But, sometimes, when we think we know something so well, we can often miss some of the amazing things that we should be learning.
I want you to see a couple of things from the first few verses of this passage.
First, Jesus knew it was time for Him to die paying for the sins of the world.
Second, Jesus knew that He had all things in His control.
Now, back to the question we asked at the beginning. If you knew you were going to die and had the power to do whatever you wanted, what would you do?
Jesus had exactly that. And what did He choose to do?
He chose to serve.
Now some may say, “But Jesus is God and I am not.” And while that is true, I think the key to Jesus’ decision is found in verse 3.
John 13:3 - Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; NIV
He knew who he was in terms of his relationship with the Father.
Godly Service begins in relationship with God
Slide
If we want to be true servants and serve in a godly way, we have got to have faith in and be in relationship with God through His Son.
When we know who we are as a child of God and that we will be in the presence of God forever when we leave this earth, it will affect the way we live right up until the end.
If you have not entered into a relationship with the Father by believing in and receiving Jesus Christ as Savior, you can try all you want to serve God, but you will never be able to without that relationship.
You enter into that relationship by receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior by confessing with your mouth your belief that He is God, that He died for your sins and rose from the dead.
When we enter into that relationship, godly service becomes possible for us.
Apart from that relationship it is impossible.
All of the rest of what we talk about today is based upon having this relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ and knowing who we are in Him.
Now, another important principle that Jesus examples for us is that
Godly Service is done Now!
Slide
Serving for Jesus was a priority and it needs to be a priority in our life. It is not something that we should be putting off until we can find time to fit it in.
Jesus was in his final hours on the earth and what does he do? He serves the disciples by performing one of the most humbling jobs around, washing feet.
He didn’t say, I have far more important things to do. I am about to pay for the sins of the world. I don’t have time to wash feet. Someone else who is gifted in that way can wash our feet.
Jesus saw a need in front of Him and he filled the need and set an example of godly service that we should follow and make a priority in our life.
Is serving others a priority in your life?
Does not mean we have to do every serving opportunity
Now before you answer that question, realize that having serving being a priority in your life does not mean that you have to do everything that is in front of you.
Jesus often had people wanting to be healed but he left to pray and to go to other villages because he knew his purpose (Mark 1:35-38).
We serve in a godly way when we are serving to accomplish the purpose that God has for us.
Does not mean that we can’t do anything else other than serving
This also does not mean that we should not be doing anything else.
It is important to have times of rest and other activities in our life.
This does mean that we don’t prioritize other things ahead of serving so that we have no time to serve.
Now, there are many who are serving in some way in the community and in the church and have placed it as a priority in their life and are doing it now.
Others have so many things going on in their life that there is no time left to serve.
You can’t very well serve when you have
Dance for Suzie on Mondays and Fridays
Football for Joey on Tuesday through Thursday
And we have date night on Friday
And I have to clean the house on Saturday
And Sunday is your only day to go out on the boat or have some time together as a family, so that is out.
Or for my job, I work 100 hours a week, I can’t serve and do that.
You would be correct on all fronts, you can’t serve and do those things.
I would argue that we need to re prioritize our lives and eliminate some of the activity that is taking up our time.
But we argue, if I don’t work those hours, I won’t have a job.
Of if we don’t do those activities for our kids, they won’t be able to participate in High School or get a scholarship or make the pros.
Now hear me in this. I am not saying that there will not be times that we have to work long hours in our job or that your kids can’t participate in other activities or that you can’t have any time to relax or have a night together.
I think we can and should do all of those things, but not to the exclusion of following the Lord and what He wants for us. And one of the things He wants us doing is serving.
That may mean that we say no to some activities that demand more than we can give.
Sorry boss, but I can’t work late again tonight.
But I’ll lose my job won’t make more money.
Proverbs 15:16 - Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil.
Besides, if we are the workers that the Lord wants us to be, we probably won’t lose our job. But even if we did, God is the one who provides for us, not our job.
Sorry coach, Joey can’t practice 4 nights a week and have games every weekend.
But he won’t play in high school or get a scholarship or play pro.
That may be, but is it better to play professionally and make a lot of money or to be a follower of the Lord and living in close relationship with Him relying on Him to provide?
Look around at the sports world or the entertainment industry and you will see it littered with broken marriages, drug use, adultery.
I would argue that it is because many of those people have either no relationship with the Lord or no godly foundation of walking with Him.
Their priorities are messed up and they are looking for fulfillment in the wrong places.
We need to make following the Lord a priority for us and for our families and serving is one way we do that, just like Jesus did.
Where ever you are in your walk, you need to take steps to be serving in some way now.
Now lest you say to yourself, “Fine, I will serve, but I am only doing this because I feel guilty” I would say don’t so it. That is because
Godly service is done out of love!
Slide
John 13:1b - Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.
He was loving them through His serving them.
If we are going to serve in a godly way, it has got to be from a heart of love.
Now sometimes everyone of us lack a heart of love.
What do we do in that case?
I think we have got to ask ourselves some questions.
Lost that loving feeling
Have we lost that loving feeling?
Were we serving out of love at some point and we are growing cold currently?
If that is the case we may have to stop and reflect on how we have been loved when we have been unlovable. Who me, unlovable? Yes, you.
We are sinners, but Christ showed his love for us anyway by dying for us while we were sinners (Romans 5:8)
Romans 5:8
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
There are times we are going to have to refocus on Christ’s love for us so that we can be serving out of a heart of love.
Never had that loving feeling
But maybe you have really never served out of love, but only out of obligation.
If that love is not there and has really never been there, you need to ask yourself if you really realize what Christ has done for you and if you are truly in relationship with Him.
John tells us in 1 John 4:7-8 to “love one another, for love comes from God…8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
If we have not served out of love ever, we have to ask some tough questions of ourselves to see if we really know the Lord or only know about Him.
Ok, so Godly service needs to be done now and it needs to be done out of love.
But we also find through Jesus’ example of service that
Godly service is not an issue of authority
Slide
John 13:3a - 3Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power
Jesus had all the authority of the entire world and yet served his disciples in the most menial of jobs, a job that was usually reserved for lowly servants or slaves.
Serving in humble jobs does not mean that your authority is undermined or that it would be beneath a person of your position.
Jesus was a leader and he washed the feet of the disciples and it did not undermine his authority.
It is not an issue of authority, but instead,
Godly service is an issue of humility
Slide
John 13:3-5
Even though Jesus had all authority, he humbled himself in serving.
Do not think for a minute there are any areas of service in the church or for the Lord that are below you.
Just because God has gifted you in teaching or leading, don’t think that you should not be helping to stack chairs or serve in the nursery or help clean up or set up after an event.
Maybe you think that you have been given gifts by the Lord and you want to serve in those areas.
That is great. But there are some areas that it is not a matter of gifting, it is a matter of serving with humility.
You are not gifted to stack chairs or work in our parking lot or in helping to move tables or set up for events.
If you feel called to leadership, you need to take a page out of Jesus’ playbook and serve and set an example. You have not been gifted in leadership to Lord it over others or to get them to do what you don’t want to do.
This was one of the points of Jesus’ teaching to the disciples. They were arguing about who was the greatest among them. Jesus told them that “The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:11-12)
The current leadership of the church looks for our future leaders in those who serve, who take initiative to recognize a need and no matter how menial or small to step in and meet the need.
That is humble servant leadership. That is what Christ wants in all of us and the type of leadership he wants in the church. Serving is not an issue of authority, but an issue of humility.
If there is not humility in your serving, you are not serving in a way that glorifies the Lord.
Another principle of godly service is that
Godly service helps others Spiritually
Slide
Look at what Jesus does here.
There is a practical nature to his service but also a spiritual nature to it.
His purpose is to teach them a principle of service to help them grow spiritually.
The serving we do needs to have a goal of spiritual help for people.
Jesus served the disciples in washing their feet but in also helping them to know that they need to be being cleaned to be in constant fellowship with him.
The service we do has got to have a goal of helping people in their walk with Christ.
Now I want to clarify this point.
This doesn’t mean that every action we do is only service if it is accompanied by a verbal proclamation of the gospel or some teaching point.
Stacking chairs or cleaning up after an event is service to the Lord because it is helping the church fulfill its mission and be a wise steward of its resources.
Those who help with the chair set up ministry are serving by allowing us to do AWANA, Impact, and TBD each week so that kids can learn about Christ and grow in their relationship with Him.
Serving in the nursery is godly service because it is providing a place for parents to bring their young children to be cared for so they can better hear the teaching of God’s word and grow spiritually.
Going on a missions trip to and building a house for someone and loving them in Jesus name and seizing the opportunity as a group to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with them is godly service.
Going on a missions trip to build a house for someone and not taking the opportunity (in a short or long term fashion) to seek to share Christ is NOT godly service. You may be serving, but your service is not the type of serving that Jesus is speaking about.
Now understand that this is not bad, but it is not what Christ is calling us to.
Coaching your kids baseball team is not bad and is a valid option and choice to make, but don’t think you are serving in the way that God wants you to by just doing that.
That does not fulfill your call to godly service and is not really helping people spiritually.
Now if you are taking this as an evangelistic opportunity and have that mindset, in developing relationships to share the gospel, it certainly could be godly service.
But please do not fool yourself with good intentions but poor actions. You need to be intentional about serving in a godly way so that it ultimately has as a goal the spiritual growth of those you are serving.
But godly serving not only helps others spiritually, but
Godly service helps you Spiritually
Slide
Look at what Jesus says to the disciples in verse 17.
John 13:17 - Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
When we serve the Lord by serving others out of love and in humility so that they can grow spiritually, we end up being blessed.
Now this blessing is not necessarily having easy circumstances, or more money. It may be some of that.
But more than that, blessing is being drawn closer to Christ.
It is having peace when the world says you shouldn’t
It is being able to experience joy amidst hardship.
That is what spiritual growth is all about.
Being able to experience Christ and draw closer to Him so that He is our refuge, our strength, our hope in every circumstance and situation.
You will be blessed by taking steps to serve and prioritizing your life around following what the Lord would have you do.
Conclusion
Today we are having our ministry faire. It is an opportunity for you to see the different ministries we have here and where it is the Lord might have you serving.
I want to encourage you to stay and have lunch and check out the ministries and bring glory to the Lord by serving Him by serving others out of love and in humility for the spiritual growth of others and yourself.
Let’s pray.
In all of our service, it is about the Lord. We do this ultimately for Him because of our love for Him.
Let’s stand and worship the One we adore.
Sing - It is You
