(Open with an illustration: Hold up, one at a time, several kinds of towels and mention their use: paper towel, dish towel, face towel, bath towel and beach towel).
The story is told of a young Christian nurse that began working with lepers in India, bathing their wounds and bringing them food and water. Every day after her job of working in the hospital she would go to the leper colony as a volunteer. Someone discovered her work and spoke with her about it. As she explained what she did, the person said, “Well, I wouldn’t do what you’re doing for a million dollars!” The young nurse replied, “I wouldn’t do it for a million dollars either, but for Jesus, I will do it free.”
Somehow, someone had successfully passed on to her the towel of service.
In the gospel of John 13 we read that the night he was betrayed Jesus got up from the Passover meal and took off his outer garment and wrapped a towel around his waist, took a water basin and washed the disciple’s feet. They had all come to the meal after walking down the dusty Jerusalem roads. When they entered there was no servant to meet them at the door to wash their feet, so they, being normal men, just plopped down at the dinner table with dirty feet. Remember that this is no ordinary meal – it commemorated God’s gracious deliverance of Israel, and this group is in no ordinary company – the Son of God presided over it, and this was no ordinary time – it was Jesus’ last meal with his disciples before his cross.
The Passover… The Bible tells us in other accounts of this that these disciples were also arguing with each other about who among them was the greatest. (Normal guy talk). You have to wonder about these guys sometimes. I can almost see Jesus shaking his head. Now let’s be fair about these men. They were men of faith. They have followed Jesus for nearly three years. They have seen and done miracles. These were the men Jesus himself selected to take the message of the gospel to the world. But as John tells us, here they are… down and dirty at dinner without a clue as to what they ought to do. Plus they are treating the occasion and each other with less than reverent respect. They weren’t being belligerent or intentionally bad; they were just being... oblivious. Do any of you guys here know what I’m talking about?
Jesus knew what they needed. And it wasn’t really that they needed clean feet, they needed a good lesson in what it means to serve one another in love. So he gave them one. Serving… I love Ronnie Misseldine’s lesson that he gave here for our summer series called the “towel ministry.” He said that the last time they appointed deacons there at Central they gave each of them a towel with John 13:15 on it. Our Savior’s system of success, sanctification and salvation involves loving service. It involves turning members into ministers.
Now I want to tie this into our Acts study today. I hope you will see the connection and learn the lesson of passing the towel of service. In our study of Acts we have come to chapter 6 where we see how they set up servants to expand the ministry of service and satisfy the needs of these widows in the church.
This is an exciting time for the church in Jerusalem! Even as the clouds of persecution are building their number is increasing and, in fact, they are outgrowing their leadership’s ability to meet the needs of the church. Multitudes are being added. Don’t you know this was a huge workload for the 12 apostles? They’ve got more on their plate than they’ve ever had before. The pressures of leadership are mounting and this is all new to them. Without the Holy Spirit this church would surely have fallen apart just like Gamaliel said. But this is not of men, this is of God. And while it is indeed of God, He is using men to do the work!
As we observe this situation, notice that God doesn’t just step in and make everything happen without their involvement and decision. God allows them to struggle as they learn to serve. He doesn’t take that from them, but in fact, he leaves it with them! God puts this towel in their hands! It is time for the training wheels to come off and for members of the church to take on more of the responsibility. Just as Jesus, after washing the disciple’s feet passed on the towel to them to do it for each other, God is teaching the apostles to pass the towel of service and ministry and responsibility on to others. It is the only way to continuing growth!
Listen! Let me give an illustration. We support several mission works from this congregation. Question… How many of them have written us and told us, thank-you for your support, but our congregation is now mature enough and committed enough to pick up that responsibility? Has that ever happened here? Why not? I’ll tell you why not, because there is no plan in place that passes the towel. Is this how God builds the church? Is that how this church was built? If the Signal Mountain Church of Christ was like many mission churches here in the US and abroad, we would not be sending support out to others, we’d still be supported by some other congregation!
There is a time to wash feet and there is a time to pass the towel on so others can do it too. Now don’t get me wrong. We never rise above washing someone’s feet, but if we are to be like Jesus we must see that it’s also necessary to have a plan in place to help them do it for themselves and then for others! God’s word teaches us that there’s a time to pass the towel. Maturity demands it.
In Acts 6 the church is at a crisis and a crossroads. They will either stagnate and splinter or they will adjust to the changing conditions and keep growing. Which will it be? They needed the strength and guidance of the Holy Spirit. They needed decisive leadership. They needed the help of the whole church. They needed others to rise up and carry the towel of service. By the way, there are always plenty of towels to go around. The question is, are there servants ready to pick up those towels and serve? And are there leaders who pass the towels to them and trust and empower them to serve?
The church in Jerusalem has outgrown the ability of her leaders to handle all her problems.
This reminds me of Moses and the children of Israel in the wilderness in Exodus 18. After leading God’s deliverance of Israel they are out in the wilderness and Moses has company. His father-in-law, Jethro, comes to see him and brings his wife and sons and they visit together. Jethro notices that Moses sits all day judging the people as they all gather around him with their problems and disputes. At this point Moses is the lone leader. Jethro takes Moses aside and says, “What are you doing? This is not good! You will wear yourself and everyone else out if you keep this up!” Then he instructs Moses to appoint others and train them to do what he does so that the workload can be spread out. Basically, Jethro is telling Moses to pass on the towel. The Bible tells us that Moses listened to Jethro and did as he instructed. By the way, did you notice that God didn’t step in and fix things for Moses? He let Moses struggle and learn how to pass the towel. Problems sometimes work to expand ministry.
Back to Acts 6. Notice that it was a problem that produced the plan for passing the towel here in Acts 6. The problem was an administration problem, but the symptom was complaining. Wise leaders listen. Wise leaders pay attention to symptoms and begin putting plans in place before the crisis erupts and does damage. Notice that so far, the church is still growing. But with that growth comes problems. With new members come new responsibilities and new relationships. Each new member has needs and responsibilities. We must try to meet needs while also entrusting each member with responsibilities.
Here in Jerusalem the problem of caring for all the widows and making sure none are overlooked surfaces. Gifts are laid at the apostles feet to be distributed to the needy but now the number is so large they’ve got their hands full and people begin to get missed. Just think of what a big job this was! Thousands of people are being added to the church and many needy widows are among them. The church begins to take care of them with… notice this carefully, DAILY DISTRIBUTION of food. How often? Daily! Wow! Were the 12 apostles doing this? Yes! That’s a busy bunch of apostles! Instead of passing the towel to others they are wearing their towels out! Besides preaching and teaching Christ everywhere and healing sick people that are brought in from all over they are passing out soup at the church kitchen! How often? Daily! I get tired just thinking about it! Add to that the pressure of having jealous Jewish leaders label them as heretics and as targets for jail time or even capitol punishment! What a job! I wonder if Peter ever thought about the good old days on the Galilee fishing boat. If this were not of God, it would never have succeeded! They need to remember how Jesus passed the towel on to them. Now he is teaching them to pass it on to others.
You know, the church will only grow as large as the number of members that we can lead and feed. Those that are well led and well fed rarely stray from the fold. But someone has to do the leading and feeding. If a church is to continue to grow there must be a process that turns the led and fed into those that lead and feed others. That process is the passing of the towel.
Jesus Christ, our great shepherd, our Master who leads and feeds and cares for us has given us an example of passing that responsibility on to faithful servants among the members that will carry that towel of service and perform the work needed.
Some of you may be asking: how does this lesson apply to me?
I’m so glad you asked! If you are a member of the Signal Mountain Church of Christ, if the Lord has washed you, sanctified you, saved you, sealed you, paid for your sins and redeemed your soul from hell – you are now heaven bound! You are part of the family of God! As part of the family, you have a place and a purpose and a job to do. There comes a time when Jesus passes you a towel of service and says, “It’s your turn.” Are you ready?
