Humble Service

Would you all stand? Good evening. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. Welcome all of you who are joining us online. Would you join me in prayer? Father, we thank you for this opportunity, Lord, to gather this evening to worship in song and study your word. Father, be glorified. May we be encouraged, built up in the faith tonight. We pray that your word would do exactly what you intended to do tonight

as we hear it, Lord, that we'd be instructed if necessary be corrected, reproved, exhorted, encouraged, strengthened, Lord. We come just as we are tonight, Lord. We thank you that you are in control in this world, Lord, in which we're living right now. We're in this world, but we're not of it. But we're faced with a lot of it, Lord. And so we ask that you would strengthen us, Lord,

to look to you, the author. And finish your work just as we are.

Cast down.

Give us clean.

Fellowship with others. It's so good to come together.

Mercy.

You in the service.

I can't tell if it's... Okay, there we go. Howdy, guys. How's everyone doing? Well, as you can see, I'm not Ryan. He is busy. He's actually packing for a trip. He's going to go do a wedding this week. So he asked me to come up and teach. And therefore, we're going to be in John 13. Verses 1 through 17. I wanted to start a little bit just talking about Jesus.

Let me backtrack a little bit. I'm a really big fan of MMA. UFC type stuff. Fighting. And they say that the athletes come into the prime of their life around 30. 30 to 35 is the absolute athletic prime of... MMA fighters' career. And with that being said, Jesus spent his athletic prime serving people. Loving people. Going out of his way, right? We see him causing the blind man to see.

We see him healing up a lame man. We see him calling out Zacchaeus from a tree and saying, Hey, let me come eat with you. We see him sitting with a Samaritan woman. And going out of his way. Or what seems to be out of his way. But spending time with a woman who was ostracized from all of her community. Who had to go get water when no one else was around. Because she wasn't welcomed by anyone.

And so, Jesus set the example. Set the tone for what it looks like in the life of a believer. Or what it should look like in the life of a believer. He spent the little bit of time that he had on this planet. Serving. Loving. Healing. Really giving all of his time. And with that being said, we see one of the most beautiful displays of his affection and his love.

And his humility for his disciples here in John. In John 13, he washes the disciples' feet. For even if he flipped the script, it would have been highly inappropriate for him to ask his disciples to wash his feet. And they probably would have done it. But to flip the script completely and him being their master, their lord, their leader, their teacher, their rabbi.

Removing his garments and putting on a towel and humbling himself in a way that is just not, one, it's just not normal to have that kind of humility in life when everyone wants to be in charge and everyone wants to be seen and everyone wants to be in control of their own lives. There's that great parable. There's that great poem that I like to reference. But the end, it says, I am the master of my fate.

I'm the captain of my fate, the master of my destiny. And it's what the world projects on society. It's what the world tells us we need to do, right? You need to go out, get yours while the getting is good, right? Go make your money and you're going to have a nice, satisfied and fulfilled life. When your time comes. And for Jesus, that wasn't the case. It wasn't going after the gold.

It wasn't going after the girls. It wasn't going after the glory. It was serving the body, serving his people, loving his people up until the very end to the moment he went up on the cross. He spent it loving those in the body and outside of the body. He loved the people who were nailing him to the cross. And he loved the people who were mourning about him being on the cross.

He spent his life doing what was important. And I think this day and age, the enemy, Satan, the prince of the power of the air, is doing his best to distract us from what our lot from, from living a life of real fulfillment. With the Lord for, for living a life of full satisfaction in Christ. He's doing everything he possibly can to distract us. And I've noticed that in my life recently.

And so my goal tonight, if I can be honest and Frank with you guys is to exhort all of you. To get back on the, on. On the ship, get back on the boat. And if you've been like me and you've gotten distracted a little bit, it's okay. Let's get back on it with the Lord. And so I'll go ahead and read it. And then we'll go back over it. John chapter 13 verses one.

It says 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. He loved them to the end. And I'm sorry, I'm reading new King James. I haven't been able to make the transition to new American standard yet. I'm sorry. But it says verse two and supper being ended.

The devil having already put 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? Jesus answered and said to him, what I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will know after this. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him. If I do not wash you, you have no part in me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.

Jesus said to him, he who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not all of you. For he knew. Who would. Betray him. Therefore, he said, you are not all clean. So when he had washed their feet, taken his garments and sat down again, he said to them, do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am.

If I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. Well, Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your word.

And we ask now that you would speak to our hearts, Lord, that you would soften our hearts to your word, Lord, that you would empower us by the power of your Holy Spirit. To be what you want us to be, Lord, to become the men and women that you've called us to be. Lord, to be able to love those around us like you did and do to be able to serve those around us like you did and do. Lord, would you meet us here in Jesus name?

Amen. So verse one, he says. Now, before the feast of the Passover. 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. So it sets the stage for where we are here. They're getting ready for the Passover. The Passover haven't hadn't quite happened. But he gives us a little bit of an insight into the heart, into the heart of Christ, into the heart of Jesus, our Savior and our Lord.

And. Jesus, one knew that his time was short. He knew that his time was short. And the second point is that he spent the rest of the time that he did have loving on the disciples who were closest to him.

Let me ask you something. If this is your last day. You're on death row. No, I'm just kidding. You're not on death row, but it's your last day. You know that you have two to three weeks left. How are you going to spend the last bit of time here on earth? Are you going to spend it like Tim McGraw? You know, go skydiving, go Rocky Mountain climbing. Or are you going to spend the last little bit of time in your life?

Loving and serving those around you.

Jesus did that. And he was headed to the cross. The most gruesome death that could happen to a person. And he thought my time would better be used and served. Loving these, these young men that were around me.

And so verse two, it says, and supper being ended. The devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son to betray him. The enemy, like I said, knows how to distract. And he knows he's been at it. A lot longer than we have. And. He knows what gets men and women going. He knows what will tempt men and women away from God. And here. That temptation was to betray Christ.

Judas, we know he was the, uh, the treasurer of the group. And we also know that he was stealing from the group. Every time they were giving him money, he's like, no, we need a little bit more and then he'd pocket it. Right? So what, what did, what did that give the enemy insight into? It gave him insight into the fact that he was money hungry. And if he dangled just a little bit of gold or silver in front of his face,

then he'd be willing to betray the son of God, the very son of God, the Messiah, the one who he said he was following. And that's what he did. And. Um, verse three, it says, Jesus, knowing that the father had given him all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God. Rose from supper and laid aside his garment. I mean, yeah, his garment 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 a towel, with which he was. So this gives us a little bit more insight. He realizes and, or he knows rather that God had given him all of the authority. If you guys can flip with me to Philippians chapter two,

and I'm going to be reading a verses five through seven. It says, let this mind be in you, which also was in, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of all men. Basically, Jesus had all of the authority in the world to say, no, he had the authority to call out the betrayer, call out Judas. I mean, I don't know about you guys.

If I knew one of you guys was going to, turn me in for something, I'd be like, come on guys, get them. But Jesus, knowing that this was all a part of God's plan, knowing that this was part of God's bigger plan in order to show the world how much that he loved them, knowing that the death on the cross needed to take place, knowing that this betrayal needed to take place in order to get him to where he needed to be. He chose not to call him out, but rather to take, basically take his clothes off and humbly cover himself and wash their all of their feet.

This it's hard for me to wrap my head around what kind of I can't imagine any person doing that anyone that I've ever met. I'm only I've met quite a few people in my life. Um, and I've, I've met a lot of humble guys, but I don't know anyone who would have in his last moments, last few days have done this.

So he, uh, rose from supper, laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself. I don't know about you, but I'm not very body positive. I'm not very comfortable in my own skin. So I'll usually wear, I'll usually wear a shirt or like, you know, I'm not fully completely comfortable in my own skin yet because it's, it's humiliating. It's revealing. And Jesus removed his garments and said,

there's nothing for me to hide. And he took the low place, the lowest place you can think that of a bond servant. And he got ready to serve. He poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with a towel with which he was girded. Then he came to Simon Peter and Peter said to him, Lord, are you washing my feet?

I think Peter would have asked, asked the question that most of us would have asked in this moment. Like they had just spent all this time eating together. Um, um, right. And I don't know about you guys, but I get sweaty feet usually. And with the kind of shoes that they were wearing, um, and the area that they were walking in was very dirty. And I'm not saying like gross dirty,

but like literally dirt E. And so their feet would have been disgusting. My feet would have been disgusting. And, in my own opinion, right. Muddy and gross. And they had all sat around the table eating the Passover meal together. No doubt seeing each other's feet. And I probably would have made jokes like your feet are gross or something, you know, and yet comes to Peter and starts,

uh, getting down, getting low and washing his feet. And Peter doesn't get it. He doesn't understand the example that Jesus is setting for him right then and there. I mean, I wouldn't have got it then there either. Either. It would have, I mean, it, it would have taken me a while to understand what he was doing, but he took his question to the Lord. I didn't just keep it in his mind.

It didn't just pass it to his boys. He took it directly to the one who could give him an answer. And I want you to, to take a look at Jesus's reply. He doesn't scold him for it like I imagine some teachers get when you question what they're doing or when you question their methods, when you question the way that they're going about some sort of lesson that they're teaching oftentimes in this day and age in this world, it seems to be like you're attacking their pride.

And yet Jesus is not. Insecure in who he is. He's not insecure in the things that he's doing. He knows what he's doing. So he answers, answered Peter and said, what I am doing, you don't understand now, but you will know after this. And Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. And Jesus answered him and said, if I do not wash you, you have no part with me.

This phrase alone can take many. We could take many, different avenues. Um, one, if, if we don't, but Jesus being the way, the truth and the life, the only way to the father, the only way to heaven. And if we don't get washed by the cleansing blood of Christ, there's no way into heaven. He's the only way if, if heaven is a place that you want to go. Um, but here he's just letting Peter know,

but this is something that needs to be done. This is something that I'm doing. And if you want to be in the group with me, it has to take place. And Peter said, Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. And Jesus said to him, he who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but it's completely clean. And you are clean, but not all of you for he knew who would betray him.

Therefore he said, you are not all clean. So, contrary to popular belief, the disciples did take baths. They were at least a little bit clean. And so, um, he said for those, for you guys, it's a, it's a lesson that I'm teaching you. And for the point of this lesson, for the point of, of what I'm trying to teach you, I need to take your feet and I need to clean your feet.

And that is all that needs to be cleaned. But make no hesitate, make no mistake. There's, there's one among you that isn't clean here showing us that he knows, uh, who will betray him. He knows that there's a, an imposter in the mix.

Uh, there's a, another portion in the gospels where he says, um, basically that there's a betrayer in the mix and all of the other disciples start going, is it me, Lord? Is it me? Is it me? And, and the one who's actually a betrayer stayed silent, but he doesn't do anything. He, he lets them know that they are not all of them are clean. So when he washed their feet and taken his garments and sat down again,

he said to them, do you know what I have done to you? Do you understand the lesson that I've, I'm trying to teach you that I, the, the things that I'm trying to show you in this, in this, um, display this, this, uh, uh, lesson for you guys. He says, you call me teacher and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. And the role of the teacher in, in those days was a pretty, um, respected role, right?

These, these rabbis of the day, they were respected by the people that followed them. And so he's saying, you're calling me, this man who you respect. And then he takes it a step for further. You call me Lord, basically the ruler of, of, of a place. It's what a servant would call, um, their master, the one who has complete control, the one who is, has the authority.

And he's saying, you call me these things and you're right to do so. I'm not arguing there, but he says, if, if I, then your Lord and teacher have washed, your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I've given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. So is he saying that? All right, guys, I got down. I, I put water in the basin.

I grabbed your feet, put it in the water, wash the dirt off. Now, this is something that you need to do as well for each other. Was he saying that, that that they physically had to to do that?

What he was getting at with them was, uh, a message that he said that we, we have in Matthew where he says that if you desire to be great, become the servant of all that in this body, in this group of people,

the things that we should be known for, is humility and service that it takes a very humble person to this robe and clean someone else's feet. And he's calling the disciples into the same kind of service for one another.

The kind of service that, that puts another's, uh, um, another's life above one's own. He tells them most assuredly, I say to you, a servant, is not greater than his master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. So there's two things, um, from this that I want to talk about that I, I really think should apply to each one of our lives.

The first one is that we see in, in, in verse one, Jesus recognizes, recognizing that, uh, his time was short. So should we, we should recognize that time is short. And in Matthew, um, chapters 25, 24, 25, uh, Jesus gives us the parables of the faithful servant and the unfaithful servant. He gives us the parables of the, the, the widows with the lamp, the oil in their lamps, and the ones who, who used up the oil in their lamps.

The idea of being, and a message that he repeats a few times in those, that, that portion of scripture is no one knows the day or the hour that Christ is returning. And so when I say time is short, I'm not saying we're all going to die tomorrow. What I'm saying is we don't know when Jesus is coming back. But, I can promise you. I mean, I'm, I'm pretty confident in the scriptures and I know that he is coming back.

How do I know that he's coming back? He told us he's coming back.

And I've been distracted way too long. I've been putting my mind on other things. I've been trying to do other things, build up my own little kingdom that I don't want to be caught doing things that I'm not, I wasn't supposed to be doing when he returns. And my encouragement to you is time is short. Jesus knew his time was short. What did he do with that time?

He loved people. He loved people. What does it look like to love people in the life of a believer? There's two forms, two different aspects. We're going to talk about first to those outside of the body of Christ. How do you love someone who is not a believer in Jesus Christ? You come to them with grace and with truth. Just like Jesus came to us, came to this world.

What does that mean? That means if they're in sin, if they're walking and talking and acting like someone who's not a believer in Jesus Christ, don't get upset with them. They're doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing. But that is an opportunity and a gateway to share your testimony. If what their life looks like now looks some sort of any part of like your life before,

it gives you a bridge, an area, a place to talk to them about, about the gospel, about how you had, for me, how I had once been this way. And then I met Christ. And now I'm this way.

Grace and truth. The truth is going to hurt. No one likes to hear that they're a sinner. I still don't like to hear. I still don't like to hear that I'm a sinner. I still get butthurt sometimes. When, when my good friends look me in the eye and say, well, bro, you're screwed up. You're all sorts of jacked up, but I can receive it from them because I know they love me.

Right. And I'm sure you've heard the, the, the phrase. No one knows how much, you know, until you, they know how much you care.

So loving people outside of the body of Christ. One is sharing the gospel. Using every opportunity to preach the gospel, but serving them too. Right now, I think the world has a perception of Christians as, as their perception of Christians rather. Is that of a bigot? Is that of a someone who is, you know, knows up judgmental, someone who doesn't understand the way that they're living,

doesn't understand the, the struggles that they're going through. And, and if I'm being honest, I think they have a point there. Sometimes, sometimes we do take a place of judgment over someone who is not walking with the Lord. But as we know, if we've read scripture, that's not how Jesus responded to those outside of the body of Christ. He did not judge those outside of the body.

He judged those inside. He judged the, who the religious leaders, the, the, the Pharisees. Those are the ones he judged. He did not judge the Samaritan woman. And so time is short. Love people inside and outside of the body. How, what does it look like to love those inside of the body? It means fellowship. It means making relationships within the body of Christ a priority.

It means, uh, taking the humble route and going out of your way to that one person that you've never talked to on the opposite side of the congregation and introducing yourself and inviting someone to, to lunch, not living in, in, in, you know, good Christian isolation. I don't know about you guys, but I've, I'm an introvert. I have a tendency to just live in my own lane, do my own thing. But that's not being loving in the body of Christ because there's someone in the body of Christ that needs to hear something from me or that needs to share something with me who has a word of encouragement for me or a word of not discouragement.

Um, you know, to fix me something, uh, conviction. Yeah. Word of conviction for me.

But it takes, it takes just doing it. You just got to do it. It's not comfortable. I don't know about you guys. Talking to new people is not uncomfortable, not comfortable at all. And then forcing yourself to hang out with someone you have nothing in common with other than Jesus. Not easy. Like, what do you talk about? I, I'm sick of talking about the weather.

I know tomorrow's going to be cold. It's going to be okay. Whatever. But making, uh, friendly conversations about what God is doing in your life, where you're struggling, what you need prayer for. How can I, Hey, how can I pray for you? What can I pray for you? Can I let, let me go out of my way to serve someone else in the body. And I know I could be struggling with,

with something. I know my life might not be good, but whatever. Let me go serve someone right now. Let me go pray for someone. I would encourage you to take these little step, take a little step and, and I haven't made an exhaustive list, but take a little step in loving those inside and out, outside of the body. If you're not comfortable preaching the gospel,

start off small. Just talk to people. Honestly, that's just talk to people. It's not that hard. It's uncomfy, but not hard. So time is short. Love people. Jesus is coming back guys. And then humble, humble service, humble service. What it doesn't look like is wanting to be seen, wanting to be in the spotlight, wanting to be on the stage, doing what I'm doing now.

Humble service is being the person who's willing to go clean the toilet. After one of the kids did a dirty humble service is going over to one of your friends' houses and saying, Hey, is there anything around the house I can help you with? Humble service is using your own time, your own resources and your own things to serve someone else.

It's not waiting for the church to front you some money to go out and do it. I don't know if you know this, but you are, we are the church and we have the Holy spirit and we have all that we need for life and godliness. And we have the Holy spirit and we have all that we need for life and godliness. And therefore taking the little steps in humble service and just going for it, whatever it looks like.

If it's, there's a lot of trash out in the, in the back, um, grass area. That's a, that's something you got neighbors. I got a bunch of neighbors out here, but you got neighbors who are unbelievers who might need a little help with their yard, might need a little help with whatever. But humble service is not to be seen. It's, it's simply an act to show the love that you have for someone.

And so my encouragement to you guys is remember that time is short. Jesus is coming back soon. And to use the little bit of time that you have, that God has allowed you to love people inside and outside of the body. And to take your part and, and, and, and humble service. I'm not saying, you know, you gotta go serve in all of the different ministries. There's something you can do.

There's something God created you for that you can do today. And I, I wrote a little something to me, uh, to, for me to remember, um, as I was studying and the Lord really put this on my heart for myself, but I want to share with you guys is, time is short. Build his church. We've spent a lot of time building our own stuff. It's time to build this church. Uh,

let me pray for you, everyone. And we'll go ahead and get going. Heavenly father. Thank you for sending your son. Lord. Thank you for the, the plan that you have made since before creation, Lord, the desire to, to reveal to the world how much you love us, that you would send your only son for that, to pay the price that we could not Lord. And father, thank you for the example that you've given us through your son,

the example of, of complete obedience for the example of, of the humility, the example of the love, the love, the love, and father, I ask for myself and for my brothers and sisters all over, not just in this congregation, Lord, your body as a whole, Lord, ask that you would just refresh us with your Holy spirit. Lord, give us a new desire for you, Lord, a fresh desire for your word, Lord, a fresh desire to, to, to be active, in whatever it is that you've called us to do. Lord, help us to not waste another day. Help us to use today as the day, uh, to serve you, Lord.

We love you. And we praise you in Jesus name. Amen.