Introduction:
The Humility Assessment (John 13:1-20):
- Do I show love for people despite my own Problems ? (John 13:1)
- Am I Secure in my identity? (John 13:3)
- Do I serve Indiscriminately ? (John 13:5)
- Am I willing to do the dirty Work ? (John 13:13-20)
➡ 3 Reasons to Do the Dirty Jobs (John 13:16-20):
- You aren't Better than Jesus. (John 13:16)
- There's Blessing in doing the dirty jobs. (John 13:17)
- Serving wins the Hearts of others. (John 13:18-20)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
-
00:55-00:58
Open up your Bibles with me please to John chapter 13.
01:01-01:13
And as we turn to God's Word, we have a huge shift happening here, because John chapters 1 through 12 is about how to get eternal life.
01:14-01:22
But now we're entering into John chapters 13 through 17, and these chapters talk about how to develop that life.
01:23-01:27
In other words, the first part of John 1-12 is how to become a disciple of Jesus.
01:28-01:35
And now, we are going to be sitting around the table with Jesus as He tells us what it means to be a disciple.
01:36-01:38
How that life develops.
01:39-01:43
So look at John 13, we're going to pick up in verse 1.
01:43-01:56
It says, "Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come to to depart out of the world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world.
01:56-01:58
He loved them to the end.
02:00-02:45
During supper, when the devil had 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 back to God, from supper. He laid aside his outer garments and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
02:46-03:05
Let's stop here for a second. Now this obviously is not something that we are familiar with in practice, but this was a common thing in this culture. Washing feet. Because it was a culture of dirty roads and sandals and lots of walking.
03:07-03:18
And by every Jewish front door was a pitcher of water. And it was actually the of the lowest slave, okay?
03:18-03:21
You didn't necessarily want to sign up for this job.
03:23-03:26
Lowest guy in the pecking order got that.
03:27-03:31
But interestingly, this job was usually done before supper.
03:32-03:37
But the Bible is very clear here that this happened during supper.
03:40-03:41
Well, what's the point of that?
03:41-03:45
Well, that's showing us that this is something that is very intentional that Jesus is doing.
03:48-03:50
So we see he dressed down.
03:50-04:01
Jesus took basically the attire of a slave to wash his disciples' nasty, filthy feet.
04:04-04:08
If you're not feeling uncomfortable enough about this already, can we put that picture up here?
04:10-04:11
It would have looked something like this.
04:13-04:26
I just want you to imagine for a second, if you can kind of put yourself in the scene, imagine how the disciples felt when they saw Jesus do this.
04:30-04:34
Stripped down, getting down in front of them.
04:37-04:54
I mean I'm sure there's a lot of people sitting in the room or watching the stream at home uncomfortable even seeing this picture. True or false? True. Some of us are uncomfortable looking at it like, "That's..." But just imagine being one of them.
04:58-05:07
And here comes the Messiah of Israel, picking up your foot I'm washing you.
05:09-05:14
Well it seems from the text that there was silence until Peter speaks up.
05:14-05:14
Right?
05:15-05:15
Look at verse 6.
05:17-06:03
It says, "He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, 'Lord, do you wash my feet?' Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand." Peter said to Him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." Now, not surprising, Peter speaks up.
06:03-06:05
He is usually the one that does, right?
06:05-06:08
And he actually gives like the strongest negative possible.
06:09-06:16
Peter is basically saying, "You absolutely will never, ever, ever do something like that to me, Jesus.
06:17-06:30
That is not going to happen." And before we criticize Peter here, you know, the truth is, we think like he thinks.
06:33-06:39
Authority means the person at the top has everyone serve him.
06:39-06:40
That's what authority means, right?
06:40-06:42
I mean, isn't that how authority works?
06:42-06:51
I mean, you know, Jesus is God, so he's obviously at the top, so we serve him.
06:53-06:56
That's just not how it works, right?
06:57-06:59
Jesus shouldn't be serving me.
06:59-07:26
Peter's like, "No, this isn't going to happen. Absolutely this is not going to happen." Because isn't that how authority works? The one at the top gets served, right? In the home, in the school, in the military, in politics. The person that has the most servants is obviously the one that is at the top. Isn't that how it works? Isn't that how it works? Jesus says No.
07:28-07:29
That's not how it works in the Kingdom of God.
07:33-07:42
Jesus was saying, "Peter, you have to humble yourself to allow me to clean you." And you have to see that Jesus jumped to the spiritual application.
07:43-07:47
I want you to look at this statement because this is so important.
07:47-08:09
And then in verse 8, Jesus said, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." Jesus said to Peter, "If you won't allow me to clean you, then you aren't really with me." And you have to understand how important this concept is.
08:09-08:19
Jesus was saying, "Peter, listen, if you're not going to accept me washing your feet, You are never going to accept me laying down my life and dying for you.
08:22-08:26
And you're never going to accept me when I ascend to the Father and my spirit comes.
08:26-08:31
You're never going to accept me being the provider for every single thing that you need.
08:31-08:32
You're never going to accept that, Peter.
08:33-08:43
If you can't accept this, and get it in your head that you need me for everything, and you've got to let me provide everything for you.
08:43-08:48
If you can't get this, then you don't have any part of me.
08:52-08:56
If you're familiar with the Bible at all, you probably can guess what happened next.
08:57-08:57
Look at verse 9.
08:59-09:06
"Simon Peter said to Him, 'Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.'" Peter totally went to the other extreme, right?
09:09-09:10
And look, give him credit.
09:10-09:16
Peter was saying, "Jesus, whatever it takes to be with You, Whatever it takes to be with you, sign me up.
09:18-09:19
I need cleansed.
09:20-09:20
Do it all.
09:22-09:40
And it's kind of funny when you think about it, because here comes Jesus to watch Peter speak, and at first, He's like, "Never!" And then like three seconds later, He's like, "Everything!" And I'm like, "Wow, Peter, would you please just let Jesus do what He wants?
09:41-10:11
please, could you let him be God? But you have to see that verse 10 says Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean." He says, "And you," look at this, he says, "And you are clean." Not every one of you.
10:13-10:16
For He knew who was to betray Him.
10:16-10:23
That was why He said, "Not all of you are clean." Okay, now it's time for the theology lesson.
10:25-10:33
Jesus, once again, as He does throughout His entire ministry, He uses the physical to illustrate the spiritual.
10:35-10:37
I'm going to give you a little cultural context here.
10:37-10:41
In this context, everybody took their bath in the morning.
10:43-10:45
All right, you bathe once in the morning.
10:46-10:47
So you're clean.
10:48-10:57
But as you're walking through the dusty roads and sandals and all of that, you would have to get your feet washed several times a day.
11:01-11:06
And Jesus was pointing out here, catch this, this is the theology lesson here.
11:06-11:26
Jesus says, "Once you're clean, you don't need a new bath just because your feet get dirty." I mean, let's be honest, wouldn't that be a little weird if you lived in those days and you showed up at your friend's house and you're like, "Yeah, can I use your shower real quick?" Why?
11:26-11:33
"Because my feet are dirty and I would just feel better about using your shower." Jesus is like, "Obviously that's silly.
11:34-11:35
You don't need a new bath.
11:35-11:37
you just gonna get your feet scrubbed.
11:39-11:42
You're clean, but your feet are a little dirty.
11:43-11:45
And here's the spiritual application.
11:45-11:46
Here's the theology lesson.
11:48-11:51
Listen, 'cause a lot of people don't understand this.
11:51-11:59
Once you are cleansed by Jesus Christ, you do not need another bath every time you sin.
12:01-12:09
A lot of people think, Okay, I believed in Jesus, I received Jesus, I'm a follower of, I believe in him, but I messed up.
12:10-12:11
I need to be forgiven again.
12:11-12:14
I need to come to Jesus and ask for his forgiveness again.
12:15-12:21
I need to be born again again, or I'm out of the family, I'm back in the family.
12:22-12:31
Some people look at their salvation as being this, such a fragile little transaction between me and God.
12:31-12:36
And when I sin and mess up, I've got to receive salvation again.
12:36-12:38
And that is completely untrue.
12:40-12:45
Once you truly come to know Jesus Christ, once you're truly saved, nothing can take that away.
12:46-12:47
Nothing can change that.
12:47-12:48
We've talked about that.
12:48-12:49
We've seen it all through John.
12:51-12:57
You don't need to be forgiven again every time you sin.
13:00-13:07
But, occasionally, we still need Jesus to get the dust off our feet.
13:09-13:10
Meaning what?
13:10-13:13
Meaning this, positionally in Christ we're clean.
13:14-13:25
But practically, as we walk through this dirty world, on a regular basis we still have to go to God to get our feet washed.
13:26-13:37
meaning daily confessing the dirt on our feet of bad attitudes and anger and lust and crass words and whatever.
13:39-13:44
But I think we can all readily admit that, "Yeah, I believe in Jesus and yes, I'm forgiven.
13:46-13:48
Sometimes I need to get my feet washed a little bit." You know what I'm saying?
13:50-13:56
I need to go back to God to...
13:56-14:31
clean up my feet." So the disciples were clean, Jesus points out, not every one of them. Just make a mental note of this, Jesus calls out Judas here. Now understand that at this moment Judas knew, and Jesus knew, and as we are reading this the way John writes this, we the readers know what's going on, but But understand that none of the disciples at this point knew that Judas was going to do what he did.
14:31-14:58
So imagine these words of Jesus when he's like, "Not every one of you are clean." It's like, "Who's he talking about?" So verse 12 says, "When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you?
15:00-15:06
You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
15:09-15:15
If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
15:17-15:34
For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you." So after Jesus takes His place back at the table, sits down and He says, "Okay, did you learn anything?
15:37-15:46
You understand what I'm trying to show you?" And the lesson of the moment, and for us the lesson of the day, is humility.
15:49-15:58
If the Lord will do this for you, you should do this for each other.
16:00-16:02
And church, this is where it has to start.
16:03-16:05
It has to start with humility.
16:07-16:17
As Jay said in the video, humility is the most important characteristic that God is looking for in His people.
16:19-16:22
You need to think of humility like the foundation of a house.
16:22-16:26
You can't build until there's a foundation.
16:27-16:30
Or anything you build will not last.
16:32-16:33
And it's the same with humility, church.
16:34-16:36
Nothing happens without humility.
16:38-16:38
Nothing.
16:39-16:43
Coming to Jesus Christ in the first place, what does that require?
16:43-16:44
Humility.
16:45-16:53
Recognizing that I'm a fallen and lost person and I'm desperately in need of the love of God because I bring nothing to the table spiritually.
16:53-16:54
That requires humility.
16:57-16:58
To embrace Christ.
16:58-16:59
Growing in Christ.
16:59-17:00
That requires humility.
17:01-17:03
That's saying, "Look, I don't have it all figured out daily.
17:03-17:07
I go to Him for wisdom and discernment and to get my feet washed.
17:07-17:10
And I need Him every hour.
17:12-17:14
That doesn't happen without humility.
17:14-17:20
Serving Christ in whatever capacity you serve Christ in this church requires humility.
17:22-17:26
That it's not about me and my talents and my creativity and my whatever.
17:27-17:30
It's about God's Holy Spirit alive and at work in me.
17:31-17:39
of everything in the Christian life is built on the foundation of humility.
17:42-18:10
Like, all right, well what is humility? It's just simply this. It's absence of self. It's not thinking less of yourself. It's thinking of yourself less. It's that you're not absorbed with the usual sinful, selfish, self-centered, self-interest, promotion of self, what's in it for me?
18:10-18:15
You're so outward thinking, like, you know, what does God want me to do?
18:15-18:16
How can I serve others?
18:17-18:20
You're not thinking about what's in it for me.
18:22-18:29
But I got to tell you, when it comes to humility, very clearly in God's Word, it is a command repeated over and over and over and over.
18:30-18:32
Humble yourself.
18:33-18:34
Humble yourself.
18:34-18:44
When God commands you to humble yourself, He's saying forsake your pride, forsake your selfishness, forsake your self-sufficiency, and humble yourself.
18:44-18:45
It's a command.
18:49-18:51
But there is a huge problem with humility.
18:53-18:53
That is this.
18:55-19:10
just as everyone thinks they're a good driver, just as everyone thinks they're a great singer, no one greater than me, at least how I think.
19:13-19:14
Aaron will tell you that is definitely not true.
19:17-19:23
Just as everyone thinks they're a great driver or a great singer, everyone really thinks they're humble.
19:24-19:24
Truly.
19:26-19:33
If I went around the room and just said, hey, stand up, tell everybody who you are, are you a proud person or are you a humble person?
19:33-19:37
I guarantee you almost everyone in this room would say, I like to think that I'm a humble person.
19:40-19:40
I'm with you.
19:42-19:44
That's how I would respond too.
19:48-19:51
We think that we are humble.
19:55-20:16
But we get to a passage like this, and we see the words of Jesus, and we read of the actions of Jesus, and we're like, "I'm not as humble as I thought I was." Because you see, there's a lot of things that Jesus did that we cannot imitate, right?
20:17-20:19
Like feeding of the 5,000.
20:19-20:21
I mean, how epic would that be?
20:21-20:23
If I'm like, "You all just stay here.
20:24-20:38
You know, I got my son's lunch and I'm just gonna feed you all with it, that would be awesome to imitate, but I can't do that." Or calming the storm, like my dogs won't go outside when it rains.
20:38-20:44
So how epic would it be if I could just step on the porch and be like, "Shh," and it stops storming?
20:44-20:47
'Cause Jesus could do that, but I can't do that.
20:49-20:50
or turning water into wine.
20:51-20:58
I would be invited to everybody's house many times a week if I could do that.
21:00-21:01
And I can't do that.
21:02-21:05
So obviously there are a lot of things about Jesus that I cannot imitate.
21:06-21:14
But here is something, not just we can imitate it, here's something that we are commanded to imitate.
21:17-21:21
The humility of Jesus that moves us to lovingly serve people.
21:23-21:25
And you're like, well, how am I doing there?
21:26-21:27
Well, that's on your outline.
21:29-21:31
We're gonna take a little humility assessment.
21:32-21:33
You ready for this?
21:33-21:34
Because it might sting a bit.
21:35-21:36
You ready for this?
21:37-21:41
You ready for an honest examination of yourself in light of the word of God?
21:43-21:46
Or did you come for somebody to blow smoke?
21:47-21:49
All right, well this might sting a little bit.
21:50-21:51
Listen, I don't care.
21:52-21:53
I'm going to tell you why I don't care.
21:54-21:55
I had to study this all week.
21:55-21:56
Do you know how many times it stung me?
21:58-21:59
Feel my pain, people!
22:02-22:04
Those of you sitting at home watching this stream, feel my pain.
22:08-22:26
But conformity into the image of Christ, sometimes it stings a little bit when we've got to knock off some selfishness. The humility assessment, you can ask yourself these questions in light of this passage. Number one, am I humble like Jesus?
22:26-22:38
Number one, do I show love for people despite my own problems? Do I show love for people despite my own problems? Bible says that Jesus loved them to the end.
22:39-22:45
You know I used to think that that meant like until his dying breath, until the The last minute, he loved them, and that's really not what that means.
22:45-22:46
It means to perfection.
22:47-22:51
He loved them totally, thoroughly, 100%.
22:53-22:54
That's what that means.
22:54-23:01
It means that everything that Jesus did for the disciples and everything that Jesus is doing in your life comes from love.
23:02-23:07
Jesus will never do anything in your life motivated by spite or anger or bitterness.
23:07-23:11
Everything Jesus wants to do in your life is out of love.
23:12-23:13
That's what this means.
23:13-23:19
In verse one, it says, Jesus knew, Jesus knew what?
23:21-23:24
Says he knew, look at your text, verse one, his hour had come.
23:26-23:29
And this sets the stage here 'cause you need to think about this.
23:31-23:37
Jesus was about to suffer the wrath of God for the sin of the world.
23:38-23:39
Wrap your head around that.
23:39-23:45
Jesus knew that we're talking literally at this point hours away.
23:46-24:12
Jesus knew, "I'm about to be separated from my Father and bear the sin of the world." And most people at this point would have been so consumed with themselves and their problems be thinking about other people, true or false.
24:14-24:27
I'll tell you what, if it was me sitting at that table, knowing what was coming, I would have said to the disciples, "Don't bother me now.
24:28-24:29
Don't you know what I'm about to do?
24:30-24:32
I don't care about your dirty feet.
24:32-24:35
You go wash your own filthy paws.
24:35-24:39
I got bigger problems than your nasty feet.
24:42-24:50
But instead of being distracted by what was ahead, it's incredible.
24:50-24:53
Jesus was concerned with the needs of his disciples.
24:56-25:02
It's like, yeah, I'm about to bear the sin of the world, but nobody washed their feet.
25:02-25:04
I'll get that taken care of right now.
25:05-25:07
This is our God!
25:09-25:10
So how are you doing there?
25:12-25:13
Needs pop up.
25:15-25:18
You see opportunity to serve others in the church.
25:21-25:30
How quickly are you tempted to say, "Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, but I got my own problems." You know, the church has these spring cleaning days that are coming.
25:31-25:32
What's that called?
25:32-25:32
Project Blitz?
25:35-25:43
Like, "Yeah, I know the church is doing spring cleaning and finishing up some things and just some housekeeping, maintenance kind of stuff.
25:43-25:46
I know the church is doing that, but look, I got a mess of my own at home.
25:47-25:48
I mean, why should I be going down to the church?
25:49-25:59
I got my own problems." Or someone in your small group needs help with something and you're like, "I have bigger problems than she does.
25:59-26:02
Why would I take my time to go help her?
26:03-26:04
Why would I do that?
26:06-26:08
Because I got bigger problems than she does.
26:09-26:13
And if that's your mindset, I wanna say you're not thinking like Jesus.
26:15-26:23
Because that certainly wasn't his attitude, about to bear the sin of the world, but absolutely refused to pass up a chance to show love.
26:25-26:30
Knowing his example, the humility assessment, how are we doing so far?
26:33-26:41
You're like, "One question in, and maybe I'm not as humble as I thought I was." Number two, am I secure in my identity?
26:43-26:45
Am I secure in my identity?
26:47-26:50
Verse three tells us that the Father gave Jesus all things.
26:52-26:55
He inherits everything because of who He is and what He's done.
26:56-26:59
Jesus knew that He came from God, He was returning to God.
26:59-27:00
Here's the point.
27:00-27:01
Here's the point of verse three.
27:04-27:06
Jesus knew exactly who he was.
27:11-27:32
See, Jesus was never worried about what people thought about him. Have you noticed that? And when you get here, Jesus was not worried that such an act of stooping down and washing the feet of his disciples, Jesus wasn't worried that doing that might make people think negatively about him.
27:33-27:34
Never crossed his mind.
27:34-27:42
Like you and I, we might think, well, if I stooped down to do that, they might think, oh, I thought he was kind of somebody important.
27:42-27:47
I thought he was, you know, kind of above that, but he's doing like the worst slave labor.
27:50-28:00
You realize the text basically says here, to paraphrase it, Jesus knew who he was, so he did the work of a slave.
28:02-28:03
That's what it says.
28:05-28:08
Jesus knew who he was, so he did the work of a slave.
28:10-28:15
And I just need to tell you, church, if you're not there and we're all a work in progress, aren't we?
28:15-28:15
Amen.
28:17-28:17
Are we a work in progress?
28:18-28:18
Amen.
28:18-28:19
Don't leave me up here.
28:20-28:22
I'm not the only one that's a work in progress.
28:24-28:26
I know who I am in Jesus Christ.
28:26-28:28
He established my worth.
28:28-28:33
I know what God has called me to do, and I'm not afraid of what people might say or think.
28:34-28:35
That's security of identity.
28:37-28:39
Have you ever been around an insecure person?
28:40-28:42
Have you ever been around somebody that's insecure?
28:45-28:48
Aaron and I know somebody from our time in Chicago.
28:48-28:50
I'm not gonna mention their name in case they're watching this stream.
28:52-28:54
But Aaron and I know somebody.
28:56-29:06
Anytime you're in any kind of a group setting, he was always looking around to see how everybody else was reacting, because he wouldn't react until he knew how everybody else was reacting, so he knew how to react.
29:07-29:08
He'd look around, oh, people were clapping?
29:09-29:09
(claps)
29:09-29:10
(laughs)
29:10-29:11
Oh, he'd look around, people were shaking their head?
29:12-29:13
(moans)
29:15-29:24
He'd look around, and he was constantly thinking this thought, how do I think people want me to react?
29:25-29:25
Right?
29:27-29:29
What am I expected to do here?
29:29-29:33
And there was just a complete lack of confidence in just being himself.
29:36-29:37
That's how insecure people are.
29:40-29:44
And something else about insecure people is they're unable to lower themselves.
29:47-29:55
Like if I said, hey, we really need somebody to help clean the bathrooms at the church, who's willing to do that?
29:56-29:58
And you think in the back of your mind, well, I can't do that.
29:59-30:05
Like what if, like I invited some people from work to church, what if they came in and saw me cleaning the bathroom?
30:05-30:06
Like what would they think?
30:08-30:12
Like, you know, I'm Dr. So-and-so and I'm scrubbing the toilets, like what would they think about me?
30:15-30:24
Or, hey, this year at VBS, we want you to wear the gorilla suit and jump around and help entertain the kids.
30:25-30:26
You're like, I can't do that.
30:26-30:32
'Cause I invited some of my kids from my neighborhood to VBS, what if their parents come and see me in the monkey suit?
30:33-30:35
And what are they gonna think about me?
30:35-30:37
And I can't do that.
30:39-30:41
And I would just tell you, well, this wasn't Jesus attitude.
30:42-30:45
Jesus was like, hey, God defines my identity.
30:46-30:48
Regardless of whatever you think, Jesus said, I know who I am.
30:50-30:57
So for me to stoop down and serve hasn't even crossed my mind what people might think of me.
30:59-31:01
Am I securing my identity?
31:01-31:02
How we doing?
31:02-31:05
Number three, do I serve indiscriminately?
31:07-31:08
Do I serve indiscriminately?
31:10-31:11
You're like, how do you spell that?
31:12-31:17
Just write down without showing favoritism or impartially.
31:20-31:21
Do you serve indiscriminately?
31:21-31:22
Here's what I mean.
31:22-31:29
It would have been profound enough if this story says that Jesus was washing the feet of all super Christians.
31:30-31:32
Everybody sitting around the table, they all had their acts together.
31:33-31:36
They were perfect, holy, absolutely.
31:36-31:41
Their conduct, their speech, their attitudes were always above reproach, no matter where they were, what was going on.
31:42-31:46
These were the greatest, most pure, perfect people in the world.
31:47-31:51
If Jesus was washing the feet of such a group, I would still be pretty impressed.
31:53-31:59
But the fact that it was people like us really makes it much more impressive.
32:01-32:08
Because not only did we see Peter being a little slow in the uptake, but did you notice the other disciple that was singled out?
32:09-32:11
Three times another disciple was mentioned.
32:13-32:16
Verse two, verse 11, verse 18, shout him out if you know his name.
32:18-32:19
Judas, do you notice that?
32:20-32:22
Like, wait, wait, wait a second, hang on.
32:22-32:28
Why in the world in this passage about Jesus washing feet, why does Judas come up three times?
32:30-32:36
I think it's because Jesus' love shines brighter when you have Judas as a backdrop.
32:38-32:40
To know that Jesus even washed Judas.
32:43-32:44
Think about that.
32:45-32:49
Jesus knew exactly what Judas was going to do.
32:50-32:57
Pretending to be BFFs, selling him out by identifying him with a kiss.
32:57-32:58
Jesus knew all that was coming.
33:00-33:05
If that was me, when I bent down to wash Judas' feet, I would have at least ripped a toe off.
33:06-33:07
At least.
33:10-33:10
Not Jesus.
33:11-33:13
Everything Jesus did was from this platform of love.
33:15-33:17
I know, I know deep down you hate me.
33:17-33:18
I know deep down you're pretending.
33:21-33:25
I'm going to wash you just as much as any of these other guys.
33:26-33:34
All of them, whether they were ignorant or hateful or fearful or prideful, Jesus indiscriminately, lovingly served them all, and that's not easy to do.
33:36-33:41
It is so easy to serve people that we like, people on our team, people we think like.
33:41-33:44
It is so hard to serve otherwise.
33:45-33:50
I remember years back serving in community meals in downtown Butler.
33:51-34:00
And you think when we open the doors to serve a community meal, the people that are coming in are all going to be like, "Thank you.
34:00-34:02
I appreciate this.
34:02-34:03
I'm so hungry.
34:04-34:13
I don't have anything." And you think in your mind, "I'm going to serve them and I'm going to meet a real need in the name of Jesus." That's sort of how you think the community meal's gonna go.
34:13-34:16
And you know what usually it looked like a lot of times?
34:17-34:22
Is people standing in line on their iPhone complaining about the menu.
34:23-34:26
Like, "Ugh, like spaghetti again?
34:28-34:30
"Like, are we complaining about the free spaghetti?
34:31-34:39
"Like, I'm sorry, we're only serving people "that are needy and appreciative." But we certainly didn't.
34:42-34:45
Take that attitude because that's not the attitude of Jesus.
34:47-34:54
You can serve the people you like, but can you serve the person who annoys you to no end?
34:56-34:58
Can you serve the person that you know has criticized you?
35:01-35:04
Can you serve the person that you know hates you?
35:07-35:53
here's the truth church most people are lousy ungrateful self-centered evil little goblins especially me you're like you know what pastor Jeff I really only want to serve nice people good luck with that because that wasn't Jesus attitude Jesus says hey you know Peter you don't understand but I'll serve you and I know Jesus was thinking Judas you hate me you want me dead. You're gonna sell me out for a handful of coins, but I'm gonna serve you. Do you serve indiscriminately? And number four, am I willing to do the dirty work? Am I willing to do the dirty work?
35:56-36:26
Jesus clearly stated the point of all of this, right? He says this is an example, do what I do you're like even stuff that I don't prefer to do well if the Lord of the universe will wash filthy feet you should wash each other's filthy feet you still not sold on that is there somebody sitting here like yeah I'm not sold I I can start over.
36:28-36:38
Or why don't we just look at the next couple of verses because these are three reasons to do the dirty jobs, okay?
36:40-36:41
Not sure I wanna do this.
36:41-36:44
I'm gonna give you three reasons to do the dirty jobs.
36:45-36:47
Letter A, write this one down.
36:49-36:51
You aren't better than Jesus.
36:52-36:58
This is going to be a shock to some people here this morning, but you're not better than Jesus Christ.
36:58-37:17
Look at verse 16, Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him." This is a verse that every single one of us should get tattooed on our forearms, or at least highlight it in your Bible, okay?
37:21-37:24
Because when you approach something and you're like, well, that job's beneath me.
37:24-37:27
You want me to run the garbage up to the dumpster?
37:28-37:31
You want me to clean up the mess that the baby made in the nursery?
37:32-37:33
That job's beneath me.
37:35-37:38
And my response is, oh, oh, you're better than Jesus.
37:39-37:40
Didn't get the memo.
37:41-37:43
Because Jesus never thought any job was beneath him.
37:44-37:49
And he demonstrated that by doing the absolute nastiest, grossest job of the day.
37:50-37:57
Jesus is like, "I'll do that." And we have to remind ourselves, church, we are not better than Jesus.
37:58-38:03
If Jesus is willing to do this, who are we to turn down any job?
38:05-38:06
Three reasons to do the dirty jobs, letter B.
38:08-38:10
Write this down, there's blessing in doing the dirty jobs.
38:12-38:13
Look at verse 17.
38:15-38:22
Jesus said, "If you know these things, "blessed are you if you do them." If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
38:22-38:24
Get that one tattooed on your other arm.
38:25-38:28
In other words, don't just idealize the teaching.
38:29-38:46
Don't just hold this teaching as a mental principle that we come to church, we go to Bible study, we're like, yes, service is a grand old idea, and I really think that that's a wonderful thing that we should all definitely really ought to think about and embrace and applaud Jesus for.
38:47-38:50
and do you see Jesus' clear application?
38:50-38:51
Like do it!
38:53-38:54
If you know it, do it!
38:57-38:59
Jesus said there's blessing.
39:00-39:03
You're like, okay, help me connect the dots here.
39:03-39:10
What possible blessing could I get from doing the nasty lowest, most menial job?
39:10-39:13
What's the blessing that could possibly come from that?
39:14-39:17
How about being like Jesus?
39:20-39:27
How about God's promise to exalt the one who humbles himself?
39:27-39:28
How about that one?
39:29-39:33
How about we do it and find out?
39:36-39:37
'Cause here's a blessing.
39:37-39:38
Last thing today.
39:41-39:43
Serving wins the hearts of others.
39:46-39:49
Jesus said, "I am not speaking of all of you.
39:49-39:50
I know whom I have chosen.
39:52-39:54
But the Scripture will be fulfilled.
39:55-40:01
He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me." That's from Psalm 41.9.
40:02-40:09
That figure of speech, lifting your heel, It's about deceptively, aggressively kicking somebody.
40:11-40:12
We would say backstabbing.
40:13-40:13
That's how we would say.
40:15-40:22
I am telling you this now before it takes place, that when it does take place, you may believe that I am He.
40:23-40:27
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me.
40:28-40:31
And whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
40:33-40:35
Serving wins the hearts of others.
40:36-40:43
Because I totally believe that this event changed the disciples in more ways than getting clean feet.
40:45-40:48
The disciples saw who Jesus was in a whole new way.
40:49-40:52
Because he served them in the most radical way.
40:55-41:02
and they willingly obeyed because he's sacrificially loved.
41:04-41:07
And you're like, well, what does this have to do with me?
41:08-41:10
Verse 16, Jesus made it very clear.
41:10-41:11
He goes, I'm sending you.
41:13-41:15
Do you get the connection here?
41:16-41:18
Jesus says, God sent me.
41:19-41:21
Now I'm sending you.
41:24-41:28
And Jesus says in this last verse, hey, I'm sending you out.
41:28-41:32
He said, if they receive you, they receive me.
41:32-41:35
And if they receive me, they receive my father.
41:37-41:40
And it's a reminder, church, that you are sent to win people.
41:42-41:43
Like, well, how do I do that?
41:43-41:45
Well, Jesus gives us the example to follow.
41:47-41:53
When you love people through humble service, you win their hearts.
41:54-41:55
Let's pray.
41:56-42:13
Father in heaven, I don't know Father, this passage to me is almost more staggering than some of the big miracles like feeding the 5,000 or healing the lame.
42:16-42:19
This passage just seems almost more amazing to me.
42:20-42:25
that the God of the universe would serve His people in such a way.
42:28-42:39
Even reading it and studying it and preaching it, there's still a part of me that's just like, "What?" But Jesus made it so clear that this is an example.
42:40-42:54
And I just pray, Father, for myself, and I pray for my brothers and sisters here, And I pray for my brothers and sisters who are watching this stream, that you would give us the faith to obey the command to humble ourselves.
42:56-43:01
That we'd stop thinking so much of ourselves, or so highly of ourselves.
43:03-43:06
But to Father, we would find our identities in Jesus Christ.
43:07-43:09
We would find our joy in imitating Him.
43:11-43:15
We find the blessing of being a servant.
43:18-43:30
Thank You, Father, that You could have just given us a dissertation on humility, but instead, You showed us.
43:33-43:35
Praise You in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
43:36-43:37
Amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read John 13:1-20
What was your big “take-away” from this passage / message?
How did you do on the assessment? Where do you personally struggle in serving people lovingly and humbly?
Define humility. Why is humility the most important characteristic God is looking for in people?
How does being secure in your identity help you humbly serve others (John 13:3)?
Explain Jesus' spiritual application of foot washing from v10. What was He referring to in talking about “bathing” and “foot washing”? What does this mean to us as Christians?
Breakout
Pray for one another.