Sermon Tone Analysis

Text

Introduction:

A Reminder of His Humility

So Christ has just demonstrated for us the ultimate in humility, he has condescended to the lowest degree.

He has bowed down to the ground, girded himself and washed the disciples feet!

A Reminder of our Need - continual cleansing

Of course we can be reminded that as we walk this world below our feet will get dirty and dusty.

The mercies of the Lord are new every morning and we can rise from our beds and experience that mercy.

We can call to remembrance that mercy and rejoice!

We can then walk out of our door and be confronted with a world that hates Christ and is infected with the disease of sin.

It will not take long for the Christian to be infected with such filth.

So we are instructed to come to the Savior and as an advocate he will cleanse us with his Word.

The blood cleanses us from sin completely and positionally we are clean, but practically clean is another matter.

For that we must constantly go to Christ and to his word!

------------

I. Christ’s Concern

“know ye what I have done to you?”

His Question:

What had he done unto them? - he had demonstrated humility and servitude and lowliness

The Lord was concerned with what these disciples had learned from the experience they had just participated in.

How often do we experience a lesson from the Lord and we fail to comprehend its significance?

What is a Disciple?

Disciple - Websters 1828

1.

A learner; a scholar; one who receives or professes to receive instruction from another; as the disciples of Plato.

2. A follower; an adherent to the doctrines of another.

Hence the constant attendants of Christ were called his disciples; and hence all Christians are called his disciples, as they profess to learn and receive his doctrines and precepts.

A Disciple is simply a student.

I believe the Lord is asking the same type of question to us today - Do we pay attention to his teachings, do we attend to his voice and listen to his gentle instruction?

Illustration: The Hazards of Going on Auto Pilot - The New Yorker Sep 4 2014 - By Maria Konnikova

At 9:18 p.m. on February 12, 2009, Continental Connection Flight 3407, operated by Colgan Air, took off from Newark International Airport.

Rebecca Shaw, the first officer, was feeling ill and already dreaming of the hotel room that awaited in Buffalo.

The captain, Marvin Renslow, assured her that she’d feel just fine once they landed.

As the plane climbed to its cruising altitude of sixteen thousand feet, the pair continued to chat amiably, exchanging stories about Shaw’s ears and Renslow’s Florida home.

The flight was a short one and, less than an hour after takeoff, the plane began its initial descent.

At 10:06 p.m., it dropped below ten thousand feet.

According to the F.A.A.’s “sterile cockpit” rule, all conversation from that point forward is supposed to be essential to the flight.

“How’s the ears?” Renslow asked.

“Stuffy and popping,” Shaw replied.

Popping is good, he pointed out.

“Yeah, I wanna make ’em pop,” she assured him.

They laughed and began talking about how a different Colgan flight had reached Buffalo before theirs did.

As ground control cleared the flight to descend to twenty-three hundred feet, the pilots’ conversation continued, unabated.

There was the captain’s own training, which was, when he first got hired, substantially less than Shaw’s.

There were Shaw’s co-workers, complaining about not being promoted quickly enough.

There was the ice outside.

Renslow recalled his time flying in Charleston, West Virginia, and how, being a Florida man, the cold had caught him doubly off guard.

As the plane lost altitude, it continued to decelerate.

At 10:16 p.m., the plane’s impending-stall alert system—the stick shaker—kicked in.

Renslow was alarmed and in his panicked confusion, he pulled the shaker toward him instead of pushing it away from him.

Seventeen seconds later, he said, “We’re down,” and, two seconds after that, the plane crashed, killing everyone on board and one person on the ground.

In its report about Flight 3407, the National Transportation Safety Board (N.T.S.B.) concluded that the likely cause of the accident was “the captain’s inappropriate response to the activation of the stick shaker, which led to an aerodynamic stall from which the airplane did not recover.”

The factors that the board said had contributed to Renslow’s response were, “(1) the flight crew’s failure to monitor airspeed in relation to the rising position of the low-speed cue, (2) the flight crew’s failure to adhere to sterile cockpit procedures, (3) the captain’s failure to effectively manage the flight, and (4) Colgan Air’s inadequate procedures for airspeed selection and management during approaches in icing conditions.”

All but the fourth suggested a simple failure to pay attention.

Its not enough to simply show up.

We must be paying attention and concerned about what the Lord is teaching us.

Far to many Christians are simply on auto-pilot.

We have looked at Christ’s Concern, now notice...

II.

Christs Credentials

It is quite amazing that our Lord would spend time teaching us.

If you think about it, what business do we have learning anything from a Holy God? ....we must remember who it is that is doing the teaching.

Illustration: Have you ever had a teacher that you did not respect?

A. Notice the Initial Order

“Ye call me Master and Lord”

This was what they called Him - it was the confession of their own lips

We must first be taught who He is before we can call him Lord

This is the initial order

B. Notice the Experiential Order

Why does the Lord reverse the order here?

Because now that he is Lord, we must bow and surrender before he can teach us anything

Simply… we say He is Lord and Master.. are we listening to him?

Are we learning from him?

Is your heart surrendered to Him?

We have looked at Christ’s Concern and Christ’s Credentials, now notice...

III.

Christ’s Command

“ye also ought to wash one another’s feet”

What is foot washing - is it a church ordinance?

Feet washing in this instance simply pictures ministry toward one another.

There are some who have turned this into a literal church ordinance and for the following reasons we believe this to be misguided.

The Lord’s words to Peter “thou knowest not now” - certainly Peter knew his feet were literally being washed

The Lord’s words to the disciples- “know ye what i have done unto you” - certainly there was a more profound spiritual meaning

The Lords words in verse 15 - He did not say “ye should do what I have done unto you” - He said....”as I have done unto you”

Johns Gospel is primarily the one which treats spiritual relationships under various figures - bread, water, Shepherd and sheep, vine and branches, etc...

As a picture of our ministry to one another, there are several important aspects we must consider:

A. Consider the Posture

In order to wash another’s feet we must be on our knees, we must lower ourselves to the ground.

Humility is a constant theme in the Word of God and one that cannot be overstated.

The only thing God does with pride is resist it.

Arthur Pink-

Yes, a most needful word is this for us all, ever ready as we are to lift up the skirts of a brother and say, “See how soiled his feet are”!

But much exercise of soul, much judging of ourselves, is needed for such lowly work as this.

I have to get down to my brother’s feet if I am to wash them!

That means that “the flesh” in me must be subdued.

A Spirit of meekness-

Considering thyself - it will always do us well to consider ourselves - Paul said he was what he was by the grace of God!

Bear One Another’s Burden- To bear a burden one must be under it not above it!

B. Consider the Plan

The plan is the Word of God

We need to be reminded that the washing is done by the Word of God and not our own ideas or opinions.

So it would make sense that we must be intimately familiar with the Word of God before we can attempt to wash another mans feet.