SACRED STEPS: Service - John 13:1-17

So let me ask you, what do you need, Jesus, to wash from your feet today? What sins have you walked through today or this week that you need to bring to Jesus and receive forgiveness and cleansing? Don't think that your friend that your sins are your problem to solve, friends. Take them to Jesus. Let him cleanse you and restore you to walk with him. So Peter sat with the disciples, then as Jesus explained what he did, and he commanded them to serve. And Jesus told them, if you are my servants, you are not greater than me, so follow my example. Friends, if you follow Jesus, follow his example. Serve. [01:03:21] (46 seconds)  #BringItToJesus

Friends, if we follow Jesus, we walk through a dirty, disgusting world, and our feet get dirty with sin. We're clean. We've been washed by him, but our feet get dirty. So what do we need? Well, we need Jesus to wash our feet. We need to repent of our sins and ask his forgiveness and be cleansed so that we can sit and dine with him. We can have communion with him. See, we don't come to Jesus once for salvation and then say, you know what, Jesus? I can handle the dirt from here. We gotta keep coming back to him for cleansing because he's the only one who can. [01:02:38] (34 seconds)  #KeepComingToJesus

Judas, the one who Jesus knew, and we're told right here, Jesus knew he was gonna betray him. Jesus knew that for 30 pieces of silver, Judas had sold him to the religious leaders that would lead to his execution. He sat at the table. Judas ate the bread and the wine. And Jesus, knowing that Judas would betray him and kick off all of these events, washed his feet. See, when we serve others out of love, we aren't concerned about the actions of the other person. We're not concerned about what they do with it, how they praise us for it, what they say about us, or what they're gonna do with the gift that we give them. When we serve out of love, we serve, even if they hurt us. [00:36:29] (45 seconds)  #ServeDespiteHurt

This would have been unthinkable for a person of high standing, for a teacher, for a leader, for a Jewish rabbi to stoop to this level. This would have been completely, not only countercultural, but completely against everything that they thought should have been done by someone of a high position. It was a radically different thing that Jesus did. But here he was, the God of all creation and human flesh, taking the role of a slave to wash the disgusting feet of the disciples who followed him. [00:32:36] (34 seconds)  #ServantKing

When we're paid to serve others, when we're paid to provide a service to others in any form, we do it because it's our job, and we get our reward for it. It comes twice a month or every other week or once a month, depending on your pay schedule. Right? You get the due reward for that. But Jesus shows us right here that true service, true acts of service, are not done out of compulsion. They're not done out of guilt or a sense of duty or even a sense of compensation. The motivation of true service is love. [00:34:36] (28 seconds)  #ServeFromLove

So let's make that connection, church. Jesus tells them where we're told in in the beginning that he loved them to the end. He demonstrates his love for them by serving them, and then he tells them a new command I give you, love one another. People are gonna know you by your love for one another. The connection to that is service. The way that we demonstrate our love one for another is the way in which we serve. Just as Jesus loves his disciples, they are to love each other, and that commandment is true for us. Just as Jesus loves you, you are to love others. [00:35:23] (33 seconds)  #LoveThroughService

Jesus says, the rabbi, the teacher, the Lord could have looked at Peter or John or James or any of the disciples in the room and said, go grab this stuff and wash your feet. And you know what? They would have lovingly, willingly done it because Jesus said, do it. But Jesus didn't do that. He got up and did it himself to show them that no one is greater than the other. And if he can stoop solo to serve, who are we? Who are we to say, I'm too good to serve? [00:51:52] (32 seconds)  #NoOneAboveService

See, when Peter refuses Jesus washing his feet, Peter shows us that he doesn't understand grace. Jesus tells him that without accepting the service Jesus offers, Peter has no part in him. Well, that tells us that if we can't accept the love, humility, and obedience of Jesus serving us to the point of death, even death on a cross, then friends, we are not part of his body. We aren't following him. Because following Jesus starts with allowing him to serve us. Before we can offer Jesus service, we have to receive it from him. So let me ask you, have you? Have you accepted that Jesus has served you more than you can possibly imagine? Served you to the point of dying for you on a cross? [01:00:59] (49 seconds)  #ReceiveHisService