1. Jesus wants disciples who will serve each other.
John 13:1-5 ¶ It 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.
2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 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; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
John 13:12-17 When 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. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
There is so much that is amazing about this episode in Jesus’ life. But in order to grasp the immensity of what he did here let me read one more scripture that describes what he did in coming to earth as a baby in the first place.
Phil. 2:5-7 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
Here is the Son of God, existing eternally in the presence of his Father. He is worshipped by heavenly creatures that defy our imaginations. He is all powerful. He is glorious. He is perfectly wise.
And then he submits to his Father’s plan to set all of that aside to become a human embryo, growing inside a young Jewish girl’s womb. As he is born he does all the things that babies do. All of them. What a humbling experience for God to become flesh and blood. As Paul said it, he made himself nothing, taking the nature of a servant.
Then he grows up, he enters into public ministry and gathers a following. People start to think he is awesome. They clamor for his attention. They want his touch in their lives. But the night before he is executed he humbles himself one more time. He needs his disciples to have one more image of him firmly in their minds before he leaves them. In a very practical way, he takes the form of the lowest servant, gets up from washing their feet and says to them, “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.”
Now, who is it that Jesus told them they were to serve? Each other. Just as he gave up his privilege and what he could have rightly demanded, he teaches his disciples to do the same for each other. So this is where it starts. 1. Jesus wants disciples who will serve each other.
I believe the first place for us to apply this teaching is with our immediate family. Our spouse, our children, our parents. If you want to give Jesus what he wants for Christmas, try starting with serving those closest to you.
This can actually be the hardest. For they can be the most demanding in an ongoing way. Sometimes it’s easier to serve strangers or people who don’t ask it of us very often than to lay down our own desires to serve our families.
ILLUS: How many of you like to do dishes? I’ll never forget one night shortly after we moved to Oak Harbor in 2002. As I sat at the dinner table following a wonderful meal I just did not feel like doing the dishes. I knew they were waiting for me but just wanted them to magically disappear or for a magical servant to appear to whisk them away. Dreaming, I said aloud “What I need right now is a servant who will take all these dishes away!” Out of the corner of my eye I saw two and half year old Ryan, standing a few feet away from the table in the kitchen, look at me, raise his hand, and say “Daddy, I servant.”
He then proceeded (with help from Daddy) to clear everything off the table. Smiling all the way. It was awesome - and made actually doing the dishes a few minutes later not seem so terrible after all! When was the last time you did something at home that said “I servant” to your loved ones.
Service may begin at home, but Jesus wants disciples who will serve each other in the setting of the church family as well. Every time someone in our church family decides to give of their time to make life easier for someone else in our church – that brings honor to God, and is following in the example of Jesus.
And I am so thankful for all the faithful servants who make the wheels go round each weekend.
• Children’s ministry workers – who allow parents to worship without distractions, and who give of their time and energy to ensure that our children feel loved and accepted.
• Coffee counter workers – get here early and stay after to make sure YOU can have a cup of coffee.
• Worship team members and sound techs – giving many hours each weekend to help usher us into God’s presence.
• Setup and teardown servants – making your life easy by providing a chair for you to sit on.
The list could go on…the point is that every time a person chooses to serve others in any of these ways, it brings joy to our master, for it reflects Jesus’ heart.
TRANS: But Jesus wants more from us than that we’d serve EACH OTHER…
2. Jesus wants disciples who will serve those outside the church.
Mark 10:35-45 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” …
41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
What is Jesus saying? In a nutshell: if you want to be great in my kingdom, you’ll become great by making yourself small. The day your life title is “slave of all” is the day you will be great in the only Kingdom that really matters.
I read a story in a magazine a few years ago about a church that decided to begin acting out this “slave of all” concept in a remarkable way. Let me read a bit to you…
If Jesus were present in the flesh, would he be cleaning strangers’ toilets? The pastor of Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, said yes. And, scrub brush in hand, he headed for the nearest gas station and started a movement.
It’s called Servant Evangelism. Steve Sjogren tried all the traditional methods of evangelism when he planted the church in 1985, but after 18 months, only 37 people attended. Then Sjogren returned to the gospels. He found that Jesus served everywhere he went, and he and the 37 went into their community to serve, including scouring the restrooms at local bars while disbelieving employees looked on.
"(God) is looking for people who believe that a humble demonstration of love plants a seed of eternity in the hearts of others that will blossom into faith in Christ," Sjogren wrote in Conspiracy of Kindness (Vine Books).
Nothing is too small: giving away light bulbs, newspapers, hot chocolate, handing stamps to harried tax filers on April 15, and washing cars—lots and lots of cars—all free.
With every intentional act of kindness, church members hand out a card showing service times, Web address, and a map to the church.
"One man came a year and a half after someone handed him a water bottle on a bike trail. Now he and his wife are involved and serving," says Mary Secrist, Sjogren’s assistant. "They’re excited about raising their kids in a home where it’s normal to serve God by reaching out to people."
At the church, two hours every Saturday are set aside for "Serve Fest." Members gather at the church, choose their assignments, then scatter across the city to clean toilets, rake leaves, give sandwiches to homeless people, and take dogs to nursing homes to cheer elderly residents. Then they return to the church to swap stories and pray over the seeds they’ve planted.
But servant evangelism is not a once-a-week activity. It’s a lifestyle. Sjogren regularly urges his Sunday crowds to be intentional in serving others. It’s working.
A woman contacted the church saying she was pregnant, her husband was in jail, and she had borrowed money for her daughter’s lunch. "I handed every dime to the cashier, only to find out that the woman in the red jeep ahead of me had already purchased our lunch and left a nice card for me that said God loves me! With all our gloom, our angel at Taco Bell has given us some sunshine."
Another seed planted.
It’s a great story, isn’t it? (Oh by the way – the church in Cincinnati is now over 6000 people!) Ever since I first read that article I’ve wondered “Why couldn’t we be that church in Oak Harbor?” Why couldn’t we make this great story OUR story?”
There is no reason why we couldn’t. All it takes is a willingness to do something, and a little bit of creativity. To help you out, I’ve created a couple of tools for your use.
The first is a list of 35 “Arrows Out” ideas to get you started in how to serve someone in the coming week in the name of Christ.
On this list are things like
1. Pay or reduce the bill for the person behind you in any line (DVD rental, grocery, post office, fast food, car wash, copy shop, Starbucks)
6. Wash windshields for coworkers during your lunch hour.
16. Give a pack of diapers to a new parent.
26. Take quarters to a local laundromat and pay for others’ laundry.
Christmas Ideas
• Leave a gift for the mail carrier.
• Help a single mom or elderly person decorate or take down decorations after Christmas.
• Give a gift certificate to a low income person shopping at Wal-mart.
• Let the person behind you in line at store go ahead of you.
• Take cookies to new people in your neighborhood.
• Bring treats to someone on watch duty on Holidays.
In all these situations, give the person a card like this one (hold up outreach card).
I’m convinced that if all of us were to serve someone outside of our church family this week, three things will happen.
1. We will receive joy from following Jesus’ example.
2. Those who are served will be encouraged – and may even begin a journey into a relationship with the God who inspired the service.
3. Jesus will be receiving what he wants for Christmas!
CONCLUSION:
In Matthew 10:8, Jesus commissioned his disciples to go out and preach the good news of the gospel. Among other instructions, he gave them these
Matt. 10:8 Freely you have received, freely give.
We have received so much from our Master. Salvation, hope, encouragement, joy, the power of the Holy Spirit. Wouldn’t it be great if we all took the time this week and every week to give just as freely as we’ve received?
I challenge you this week to do 3 things:
1. Serve your family.
2. Serve your church family.
3. Serve someone outside the church.
I can’t wait to hear the results!
