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*The Gospel of John XXV: *
*To Serve or Be Served?*
*John 13: 1-35*
*/July 26, 2009/*
 
*Main Point(s) of sermon:*
· Jesus washed Judas’ feet, as an act of love for his enemy.
· Foot washing was the lowest task, yet Jesus did it, showing us that greatness means serving and God is the greatest servant.
· This is the opposite of how we think of greatness.
· Yet it is also vital that we can be served (which is what Peter was avoiding).
· That the greatest is the servant does not mean that authority and hierarchy are removed, rather that the leaders are servants and the followers submit.
*Objectives of sermon:*
Impress on us the fact that our God is a servant and that he calls us to serve and love each other.
*Prep: *
·         079, 039, Leftovers
·         Newbigin, Lewis “Better to reign...”
 
*Scripture reading: *John 13:2-10
 
Intro
 
This is as iconic as John 3:16, and likewise its familiarity can rob us of its impact.
My biggest goal this morning is to install a sense of amazement (and hence worship) at the servant-God.
·         And then we respond by mimicking him, empowered by the Spirit.
This story has three parts (we’ll focus on the first): 1) The washing of feet, 2) Judas going out to betray Jesus, and 3) The giving of a new command:
 
*John 13:34-35 *  34 “A new command I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
That is the whole point of the first part, revealing how Jesus loves us and how we are to love each other.
Prayer
 
Spirit, glorify the Father and Son, as we see the true nature of divinity; what you are like and how different it is from us.
 
·         Confront our ideas of greatness.
·         Show us how to love as you loved.
Setting the scene
 
This marks the end of the public ministry.
At this point in the Gospel we move out of the busy streets into a quiet room.
They would be lying around a low table, leaning on an elbow.
In antiquity, feet got very dirty, so were washed frequently.
Think of wearing sandals while camping (and walking in dog poop).
So hosts at a minimum would provide water for washing.
Ideally a servant would wash the feet, but it was the lowest job, and even Jewish slaves were not allowed to do it, just the gentiles, or the wife and children.
So imagine the shock when:
 
*John 13:4-5 *...[Jesus] got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.
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.
Upside-down serving
 
In the last sermon, we talked about God’s “upside-down” idea of glory (being born in a barn and dying a criminal’s death); this week it’s his upside-down serving.
·         Commentator: no example of a leader washing feet before Jesus.
How does the world do it?
The higher up you get, the more you get to have people serve you.
Ask if he would prefer to “serve or be served,” if he is honest, he’ll say “be served.”
·         That “if he is honest” clause demonstrated how much Christ has affected the Western world.
Throughout the ancient world, glory, honor, and greatness were unabashedly marked by being served.
Any idea of serving as honorable was entirely foreign.
·         This worldview matched that of their gods.
To my knowledge, the idea of a God who serves is also completely without precedence.
The gods had to be *appeased*, *bribed*, or *tricked*.
*Sacrifices* were offered to *feed* and *appease* them.
“The natural man makes God in his own image, and the supreme God will be the one who stands at the summit of the chain of command.
How can the natural man recognize the supreme God in the stooping figure of a slave, clad only in a loincloth?”
·         You don’t make this stuff up, especially if you are the ruling class (discuss in a moment).
Listen to how Paul put it:
 
*Philippians 2:5-8 *  5 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.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!
Take a *moment* for that to sink in: Our God, *Creator* of the universe, all-powerful, all-knowing, became a *humble* *servant*, washing feet, dying on a cross.
·         He didn’t become *less God*, but showed us what *God* is *like*.
God humbled himself precisely because he is God:
*John 13:3 *Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so [he washed their feet].
·         When Jesus *washed* the *feet* of the disciples, he wasn’t *stooping* to our level; he was *raising* us to his level.
Jesus loved his enemy
 
Before we go further, another surprising revelation about God:
 
Q   Did Jesus wash the disciples’ feet before or after Judas left?
Jesus specifically waited to “dismiss” Judas (he was in control the whole time) until after washing his feet.
*Why?*
Not because it would “work,” not because he wanted to teach Judas about serving, but because he loved him.
In this I see God’s love for the lost, even his enemies.
·         To many cultures, this side of God’s character is scandalous.
why did peter refuse?
Back to the scandal of a servant-God:
 
*John 13:6-8 *He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Why did Peter refuse?
I see two main possibilities, both of them that match the world’s response to “Serve or be served?”
 
1) */Be served!
/*Peter’s refusal may have actually be rooted in a desire to be served.
How?
Jesus was overturning the proper order, master serving the servant, which is great if you are a servant, but not so great if you want to be a master.
·         This why you don’t make this up if you want to be in power.
I don’t think this is most likely for Peter, but it fit some of the disciples – James and John asked to sit on his left and right.
They seemed to follow Jesus partially for the status.
They probably had a nice little “chain of command” worked out.
·         It would be like striving to get promoted to earn more, only to find out it would mean a big pay cut.
Turning it all upside down
 
God’s system “perverts” everything we are used to: The person at the top of the world’s org chart is the one who is served but does not serve anyone.
In God’s system, he is at the top as the one who *serves* but is *not* *served* (for *who* *can* *serve* *God* in any real sense), and the *person* at the *bottom* is the person who is so *immature* as to expect everyone to *serve* *them* without serving others.
·         This *doesn’t* *mean* the greatest *saints* *only* *serve*, (more soon).
This *difference* in “*org* *charts*” clearly demonstrates the difference between *ethics* of *heaven* and *hell*.
“Better to *reign* in hell than *serve* in heaven.”
lEADERSHIP: Servants of all
 
Serving must be our pursuit, not being served.
The *church* must mirror *heaven’s* *flow* *chart*, not hell’s, we must always remember “the *greatest* *among* you will be the *servant*.”
·         The problem is *hell’s* *org* chart keep *slipping* back in, both in the *church* as a whole and *individuals* (my main interest).
Working at *His* *Place*, I developed a really *bad* *attitude* about having to *answer* the *phones* and *make* *coffee* (especially when I was the *most* *educated* person there).
·         I think God thought it both *funny* and *sad*, the staff gave me a lot of *grace* (perhaps too much).
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