Serve - Part 1

John 13:1-8 “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?”

Last Sunday, we had the CEO of our denomination, Dr. Willie Nolte, preach a sermon on “Serving”. He said that it is commonly agreed upon that we respect “status” (the position or rank of someone or something when compared to others in a society) will always be recognized and will open doors to benefit personally. Ever hear the old adage: “Rank has privilege”? A retired California Highway Patrol officer that I went to High School with once told me a story about pulling over a car that was going over the speed limit. He pulled the car over and asked the driver for his driver’s license, car registration and proof of insurance. The driver said, “Do you know who I am?, because he was a V.I.P. in status and thought that the officer would let him go without a ticket. The HCP officer replied, “Sir, if you do not know who you are, you can find it written on your driver’s license”, and wrote him a speeding ticket.  

Matthew 20:28 “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

 

In the opening Bible passage, Jesus knew that his hour had come (that the end was near). The Lord washed the Apostle’s feet to convey a message about life. In that culture, a servant was supposed to wash the feet of guests, who walked it the dust to get there. For us, understanding what is going to happen in the end, when status no longer matters, what do you want everyone to know for sure? What matters in this secular humanist world is different than what matters in the next, eternal life. What matters to God is the same in both. There is a stark contrast between the one who serves and the one being served in status. It was shockingly unbelievable for the Master to do servant work. Does anyone have more status then Jesus? No! But Jesus was trying to make a heavenly point about serving.

Let’s stop right here and pick up Dr. Nolte’s message on “Serving” on the next post.

In Christ, Brian