WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:05.440 John verses chapter 13 verses 1 through 17. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:11.199 It was just before the Passover festival. 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:17.280 Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. 00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:22.079 Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:32.880 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:41.920 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God. 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:49.039 So he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:59.520 After that he poured water in a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:05.280 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, are you going to wash my feet? 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:12.159 Jesus replied, You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand. 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:16.159 No, said Peter, you shall never wash my feet. 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:22.079 Jesus answered, Unless I wash you, you have no part with me. 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:29.040 Then Lord Simon Peter replied, Not just my feet, but my hands and my head as well. 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:40.159 Jesus answered, Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet, their whole body is clean, and you are clean, though not every one of you. 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:47.920 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not everyone was clean. 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:54.319 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:57.200 Do you understand what I've done for you? 00:01:57.359 --> 00:01:58.480 he asked them. 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:04.640 You call me teacher and lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:12.479 Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you should also also wash one another's feet. 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:17.360 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:27.120 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:31.840 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. 00:02:54.879 --> 00:03:03.599 For those of you who don't know me, my name is Brian Farone, and I serve as the district superintendent for the Evangelical Free Church here in the North Central District. 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:07.840 Uh put another way, I'm a pastor for men like Dave and John and others. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:11.360 And uh privileged to be with you today to do two things. 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:15.199 Um even before I jump into that, I'm here with my wife Terry. 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:18.719 Uh, and uh she and I would both love to greet you at any time. 00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:21.520 Well, maybe not right now, but at any other time. 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:23.919 Uh today, we'd love to connect with you. 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:25.360 I'm here to do two things. 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:30.800 Most of what I do today will be to open God's word uh among us for us as we worship today. 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:32.319 And that'll happen in just a minute. 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:36.319 But prior to that, I'm gonna share just a little bit about sabbaticals. 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:48.159 Uh, your pastor John has invited me, and I feel privileged to get to do this, to share a little bit about why we encourage churches like yours to grant sabbaticals to pastors like John and Dave and others. 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:56.960 And so uh let me just take a minute, uh, shouldn't take too long, um, and talk about why sabbaticals are so good, so helpful. 00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:01.360 Uh first, I I want to say again, I want to say a genuine word of thanks. 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:06.719 Uh, thank you for granting John and Dina and his family this time. 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:09.680 Uh it is such a good thing. 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:12.560 I've been in vocational ministry a long, long time. 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:20.720 And I've had one time in my ministry uh where I was granted, and it was by the North Central District in 2020 and 2021 and 2022. 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:22.160 I divided my sabbatical out. 00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:24.319 It worked a little better for a guy like me. 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:30.480 Um, but the rest I experienced on that sabbatical was such a joy for Terry for me, uh, for us. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:34.879 So I want to say thank you in advance for this thing you're planning to do next year. 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:36.800 And you may or may not know this thing's happening. 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:38.959 I hope, I hope I'm not the first one bearing this news. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:42.480 If I am surprised, uh, but I don't think I am. 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:45.759 Uh I want to also share a little bit of a rationale. 00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:48.160 Why do why do churches do these things? 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:52.879 And I've given three words uh that I want to kind of hopefully get lodged in your mind. 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:56.639 We believe sabbaticals are really three things. 00:04:56.879 --> 00:05:06.399 We believe that they are uh wonderfully kind, that they are very wise, and that they are candidly, they're pretty shrewd, they're quite shrewd as well. 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:07.920 So let me explain that a little bit. 00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:14.480 First, they're kind in that you are not required to grant John a sabbatical. 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:17.040 Uh he doesn't deserve it. 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:18.800 You don't owe it to him. 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:21.199 They're not earned, they're not a right. 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:23.600 Um, they are a generous gift. 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:28.160 Um, they're a way to support, encourage, and care for your pastor and his family. 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:31.600 They foster things like rest and restoration. 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:37.120 They're a means to acknowledge the very difficult task of being a pastor. 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:43.759 Being a pastor has uh, it is a wonderful calling, but it's not simple or easy. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:45.439 It's not simple or easy. 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:47.600 Uh it never really stops. 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:49.040 Sort of like parenting. 00:05:49.199 --> 00:06:00.639 Do you remember that marvelous moment for some of you when you uh when your child was born and you had this simultaneous feeling of this is the most wondrous thing I've ever experienced, and I may never sleep well again? 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:01.680 Right? 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:03.680 Being a pastor is kind of like that. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:06.399 It's it's always there, it's always present. 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:19.040 Um, it's filled with burdens, it has a huge load, and sabbaticals are wonderfully kind because they allow you to lighten the load, to give them some space, to ease some of the burdens that are on John. 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:23.680 But more than that, more than being wonderfully kind, they are very wise. 00:06:24.079 --> 00:06:30.240 One of the reasons I encourage churches to do sabbaticals is because it is smart for you to do them. 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:33.120 They are very wise for a congregation to do. 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:38.000 Almost all of the outcomes from a typical sabbatical are very good. 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:39.600 And not just for John. 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:45.199 John and his family, in measure, will experience a new kind of rest they haven't experienced for a long time. 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:46.319 It's very good. 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:52.639 Pastors, when they go through sabbatical, are refreshed and encouraged in ways that are hard to duplicate with other means. 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:53.600 That's very good. 00:06:53.680 --> 00:07:02.240 But even more, you as a congregation will get to grow in Christ as you have a key part of your church absent for a little bit. 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:11.360 You will pick up the burdens he's had, you will exercise the gifts you have, you have, and and even some that John has that are not present at that time. 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:22.720 You will get to learn by experience again the beautiful truth that the body has hands and fingers and noses and ears, and that every single part of the body is important. 00:07:22.959 --> 00:07:26.800 And sabbaticals actually, they will do this for you in a way few things can. 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:34.639 So I have witnessed and observed time and again churches, especially church leaders, grow in Christ as they grant sabbatical. 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:35.839 So it's very wise. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:44.879 And then a final word I want to say before we really do what we're here to do, which is turn our attention toward God's word, is they are wonderfully kind, they are certainly wise, but you know what? 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:46.639 Candidly, they're pretty shrewd. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:47.439 They're shrewd. 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:52.160 And Jesus told us, there's a whole story in the Bible about how shrewd isn't always bad. 00:07:52.319 --> 00:08:02.959 It's actually pretty good, and in this case, it is pretty good because sabbaticals will help you avoid some of the things that often happen when churches don't care well for their pastors. 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:05.680 Pastors, we all know, can burn out. 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:06.560 They can. 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:07.279 They do. 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:08.000 They do. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:10.160 Sabbatical will help you avoid that. 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:13.199 It's not a guarantee, but it's good preventative medicine. 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:26.240 Pastors, as you may know, sometimes will experience the hardship of pastoring in their congregation, and then another greener pastor's congregation down the road will appear and they'll think, man, it looks a little easier over there. 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:26.879 You know what? 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:33.840 Sabbatical actually will help you avoid your pastor being hired away by a fantasy greener pastor. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:39.279 Now, my job is giving me so much perspective that I'll just admit there's no easier church out there, right? 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:44.799 You guys are simultaneously the easiest and hardest church that could ever exist for your pastor, right? 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:46.399 That's what churches are. 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:49.759 Um they are good preventative medicine. 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:54.159 They're like a little exercise that prevents a major injury. 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:58.799 Uh, they're like a little medicine that prevents a full-blown surgery. 00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:04.159 And honestly, uh in light of things like burnout, can I just say they this is why they're shrewd. 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:06.960 Like candidly, they're so much cheaper. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:10.000 So much cheaper than pastoral resignation. 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:14.720 Uh resignation includes things like search, interim, move, installation. 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:16.879 It is painfully expensive. 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:20.159 And anybody who's led through that knows the experience. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:26.399 And so sabbaticals are a smart way to keep that at bay just a little while longer. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:28.639 So I hope you I hope you hear me today. 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:32.480 This thing that you're doing uh is clever. 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:33.919 It's clever. 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:35.039 More than that. 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:36.399 It's wise. 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:40.159 Best of all, it's it's wonderfully kind and good. 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:43.360 And your pastor will be blessed and encouraged. 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:45.679 Now, I'm here today, I'm gonna stick around afterward. 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:51.360 If you have specific questions about sabbatical that you would like to ask me, I'd be happy to answer those. 00:09:51.440 --> 00:10:00.480 Um but I hope you hear from me as someone who's been charged uh with the care and encouragement of John, that this thing you're doing is such a good thing. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:10.320 It will pay such good dividends for you, and the long-term outcomes are such a blessing that in some ways it's, as the kids would say, a cheat code. 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:12.960 It's a cheat code in caring for your pastor. 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:26.080 Now, that's that's our little bonus sermonette that I intentionally didn't put Bible passages next to, because I'm not trying to do that today, but something I do want to put Bible passages next to is our time in God's Word. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:29.919 So if you would pause with me, we're about to pivot to our time in God's Word. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:38.799 And if you would pause with me and pray that God would speak to us through this powerful story that is in the ballpark of the thing you're doing for your pastor. 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:39.440 Let me pray. 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:46.000 Father, we as a group of people, Lord, as a family in Christ, we pause. 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:53.120 We pray, Lord, in these next moments, we're gonna pay careful attention to your word. 00:10:54.639 --> 00:11:00.639 Father, we're gonna see in your word a story of when Jesus exemplified servant leadership. 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:04.000 And I pray, Lord, that our hearts would work. 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:07.919 Not just our minds, I pray our minds would work, but I pray, Lord, our hearts would work. 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:09.679 I pray our ears would work. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:13.759 Lord, stories like this often bring up all kinds of resistance in me. 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:30.720 I pray, Lord, that I would and we would, as brothers and sisters in Christ, be able to hear this story afresh, see it for what it is, and be moved by you, uh, encouraged by you, and take up your example. 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:36.399 So I pray, Lord, in these moments ahead, that you would use this passage in our lives in Jesus' name. 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:37.279 Amen. 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:40.960 Well, if you have a Bible, I'd invite you to turn to John 13. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:49.440 And to help us get uh sort of in the footwashing spirit, if you will, I want to tell you a story of a time when I experienced genuine service. 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:55.200 I was once upon a time a youth pastor at a church in California on the far coast of California. 00:11:55.360 --> 00:12:03.840 In fact, if you were from here, if you were to walk toward the Pacific Ocean, about nine blocks before the Pacific Ocean, you would hit my old church, my old, actually, my old house. 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:05.759 My old church was a little farther off. 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:07.440 And I was brand new in this town. 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:10.080 Terry and I had moved, we were renting a house. 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:15.840 Uh you won't be surprised by this, but houses in California are expensive to rent if you get near the water. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:24.320 About 20 miles off the water, California is like everywhere else in the world, but but within 20 miles of the water, it's very, very agonizingly expensive. 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:33.039 And we had moved there, our young family, our kids were super tiny, we're going there, we're excited as could be about what the Lord might do in us and through us in this town. 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:35.919 But we were a little uh strapped for cash. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:38.080 And we moved there with our one car. 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:42.639 And uh, it's pretty hard to do a one-car life in a town like that when I was a pastor. 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:50.480 And so we're in this, we're in this house and we're saving up to get a car, and we have our one car, and I'm trying to navigate life. 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:54.879 And I was blessed, uh, in this case, by my senior pastor. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:13:04.799 My senior pastor, greatest mentor I've ever had in my life, a man named Joe Bubar, who I who taught me so so much of what we're gonna do today, learn about today, he taught me by example. 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:09.919 And very early on in our time there, we were like looking for a car, trying to navigate. 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:10.799 How do we find a car? 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:15.120 I ended up buying a fun little truck, uh, a Ford Ranger back in the day when they were really tiny. 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:16.399 Remember when trucks were tiny? 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:17.519 I had one of those. 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:26.799 Um, but before I got that truck, Joe looked at me, and Joe had a truck of his own, and he had a scooter, like a little tiny 35 mile an hour scooter. 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:31.039 And Joe comes into the office one day and he said, Hey, hey, I hear you're looking for a truck. 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:33.840 Uh, do you want to just borrow my car for a while? 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:36.480 And I never had anybody do that. 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:42.240 And uh and he said, Yeah, here, and he literally, like the conversation went, do you want to borrow my car for a while? 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:45.200 Here's the keys, give it back when you don't need it anymore. 00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:49.440 And it was just, I just couldn't really process that right. 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:57.279 It was this just bizarre, gracious, generous act of kindness that to Joe it didn't seem unusual. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:13:59.600 It wasn't like he thought it was a big deal. 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:07.840 But to me, bridge, we had about two weeks, and we were able to function as a family because of this simple, genuine act of love. 00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:19.039 Now, I learned that day, what I would learn later is that that that kind of love was normal for Joe, and it's because of the story that we're gonna look today that it should really be normal for all of us. 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:24.559 And in fact, Joe was living out what I think should be true, and this is the main idea I want to share with you today. 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:26.399 If you hear nothing else, hear this. 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:42.559 From our passage today, from John 13, I think we learn this that all Christians, every single believer, but especially Christian leaders, should follow Jesus' love-based, gospel-shaped pattern of servant leadership. 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:48.240 All Christians, the thing we're looking at today is not extra credit Christianity. 00:14:48.879 --> 00:15:03.840 All Christians, every single one, but especially those who step forward in Christian leadership, should follow Jesus love-based, and we'll see that in this passage, gospel-shaped, we'll see that in this passage, pattern for servant leadership. 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:05.279 We'll come back to this idea. 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:09.600 But to begin, before we get there, I want to take just a minute and share a little backstory with you. 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:11.600 You're not in a series on the Gospel of John. 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:16.399 You probably, I mean, show of hands, who's washed another person's feet this week? 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:17.120 Anybody? 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:19.759 No, it's well, a couple people maybe have. 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:21.679 It's not particularly normal. 00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:23.279 It's not particularly normal. 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:27.600 And actually, in that culture, it had a different meaning, maybe, than it even would have in our culture. 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:32.720 But in New Testament times, foot washing was often done after a long journey. 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:36.639 Uh dusty roads, long walks, simple sandals. 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:38.879 Like raise your hands if you love socks. 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:40.720 I I love socks. 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:42.240 And all that they provide for me. 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:44.720 Socks were not common in the ancient world. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:48.240 And so uh foot washing was intended to show hospitality. 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:49.679 It was a normal custom. 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:53.360 It's almost like when you invite people into your home and you let them get settled or wash up. 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:54.720 It was it was kind of like that. 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:56.480 It had that function. 00:15:56.720 --> 00:16:01.120 Now it's important to note this is a the important detail you need to know about footwashing. 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:09.759 The host would provide water, the welcomer, but the task itself was always carried out, always by those of lower social standing. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:14.080 It was not an honorable task in that culture to wash somebody's feet. 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:18.720 And you only have to wash people's feet a couple times to know why it was not an honorable task. 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:25.120 And we might look back and think, oh, we don't we don't do social standing in our culture, but we do. 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:26.240 We do. 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:29.120 It's I managed a restaurant for a number of years. 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:32.159 It was not honorable to do the dishes at that restaurant. 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:36.080 Super important, not a high status job in our restaurant. 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:38.080 And the list could go on and on. 00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:44.000 Being the garbage man, super important, not something we tend to honor in our culture. 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:48.399 Though if if if it stopped as a service, you know what, we'd probably honor it a little more. 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:52.159 So, put another way, as we come into this story, it's important to remember this. 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:59.759 The disciples would have found it appropriate for them to watch Jesus' feet, their teacher, their master, their Lord. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:03.200 But they would have been not so comfortable the other way around. 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:06.559 And that's the dynamic that we get when we encounter this story. 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:21.440 It's a normal custom, a time of ancient roads and dusty things and long walks, a normal practice, and then uh a group of men who were serving under the leadership of someone they so respect but were not ready for what happened to them. 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:26.480 Let's next, if you have a Bible, I'm gonna invite you to really walk through this story with me. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:31.279 And it's it's it's easy to hear these New Testament stories and not catch them. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:32.640 It is. 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:34.400 Words on a page. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:40.480 And yet, uh, I want to remind you that this event really happened. 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:41.839 It really happened. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:50.079 And and if if you were there to witness it, you would have found it startling and scandalous and unbelievable. 00:17:50.240 --> 00:18:07.680 And I bet if you had seen it, if you had seen it, and we have this on good authority, because those who did see it, it reshaped everything they thought about leaders, about people, about loving one another, and gave them an example even over there, they're heading. 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:09.440 So if you have a Bible, turn to verse one. 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:12.000 We're gonna walk through this foot washing story. 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:15.839 And you see, this foot washing story starts before their last supper together. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:21.519 If you look down at verse one, uh it's set during the final week before Jesus' crucifixion. 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:39.839 The community is preparing for the Passover meal and Passover, if you don't remember, was that special meal uh among the Jewish people that commemorated God's mercy and rescue during the times in Egypt and right before the Exodus. 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:41.119 That's what it was. 00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:58.480 It was a very special meal, among the most important meals for them, uh, commemorating what God had done to protect their children in the midst of a terrible, terrible plague on all the children, so that the people of Israel might know that he was their God, he was their rescuer, he was their deliverer. 00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:02.079 Put another way, it's the right meal for this act. 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:10.319 The text says, if you look at verse one, that Jesus knew his hour had come, and that means that his crucifixion and resurrection and ascension were at hand. 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:11.359 He knew that. 00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:18.799 It also highlights, and this is the important detail to catch, that he all the way up to this point had shown deep love for his own. 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:19.680 For his own. 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:28.000 It says, those who by grace he would set his affection on, those he was giving his life for, those he was living a perfect life on the behalf of. 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:32.400 And the time had come for him to show how far that love went. 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:35.759 The text says in the ESV, it says he loved them to the end. 00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:41.680 In some other translations it said, it was now time for him to show the full extent of his love. 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:43.039 And that's what's happening. 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:44.559 That's how this story starts. 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:51.440 Well, it starts there in verse 1, but in verses 2 through 5, it continues with this humble, jarring act of love. 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:54.240 Try to see it, try to feel it. 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:56.480 Look down at your Bibles again at verse 2. 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:59.279 We're told the meal is begun, and we can picture them. 00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:01.920 You know, they didn't have kitchens like ours, right? 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:08.000 So they're reclining at a table, they're leaning on their elbows, and their feet, their feet aren't sticking under, they're probably sticking out. 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:11.519 They're probably sticking out, and that's that's how the picture would look. 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:15.839 And the passage points out, and we should take note, that Judas was among them. 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:20.000 Like, what a startling detail from this perspective that is. 00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:22.880 Judas, if you remember, was Jesus' betrayer. 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:32.960 One among these twelve, among those men he had called to follow him and to promote his ministry moving forward to be his disciples who would become his apostles. 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:35.359 And Judas is there among them. 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:41.759 The text goes to great lengths to point this out, in part because Jesus, we will see, he washes his feet too. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:43.039 What a wonder. 00:20:43.279 --> 00:21:03.279 Jesus, Pastor says, with the confidence of God that is in him, in the midst of his tomb betrayer, he rises up, he lays aside his outer garments, ties a towel around his waist, he pours water in a basin, and to the embarrassment and confusion of his disciples, he starts washing their feet. 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:06.319 He starts washing their feet. 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:08.720 I mean, just imagine what it would feel like. 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:10.400 He starts, he pours the water in. 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:13.200 They're thinking, oh, it couldn't be what he's about to do. 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:15.279 He's not really about to do this. 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:19.359 Like, isn't there isn't there a servant around who could do this? 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:21.519 Why should or shouldn't we do it? 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:23.279 Should we jump up and do it for him? 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:24.960 They were scandalized. 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:30.319 If you want to get a feel for what this would be like, go ahead and try it next time you're in somebody's house. 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:32.079 Right? 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:38.720 It would be pretty awkward too, but nowhere, try it next time you're with a person of status. 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:41.200 Right? 00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:44.960 It would be so, it would be just so jarring, and it is so jarring. 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:53.279 So this story that started uh with their last supper and it and continued with a humble jarring act of love, it pivots on embarrassment and misunderstanding. 00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:55.359 Look at verses six through eleven. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:58.960 Simon Peter says, Jesus, do you plan to do this to me? 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:00.640 And you know what? 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:07.119 We can think, oh, like Peter's always the sort of uh one to raise his hand and say the wrong thing. 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:08.720 But you gotta know. 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:10.079 You gotta know. 00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:13.119 Every single person in that room is thinking what he said. 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:20.000 Like, aren't you sometimes thankful for that person that says the thing that just, hey, we gotta, somebody should say he should stop. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:22.000 Somebody's gonna stop him, right? 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:22.960 Right? 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:25.039 Please don't let this happen. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:27.920 And Peter says this, they're all thinking it. 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:32.319 Um, Jesus says yes, he says, I could never let you wash my feet. 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:35.279 And then Jesus says this, hey, he says two things. 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:38.000 He says, You don't, you don't really understand. 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:40.319 You don't really understand. 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:43.839 That's one of those places in this passage I can relate to that. 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:47.440 I think if I were in this place, I would think, I do not get what's going on. 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:49.200 I do not feel comfortable with what's going on. 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:51.599 Jesus says to him, You don't understand. 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:56.960 But he also says, hey, if I don't do this, you and I don't have any part. 00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:01.359 I mean, there's a little, there's a little message within the story here. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:02.480 We'll talk about it later. 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:08.799 If you come to God because you're going to be the very best person on his very best team, you miss the whole story. 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:13.519 You miss that's none of us get to be the very best person on his very best team. 00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:20.559 If you're not one to come to God dirty and grubby, needy and broken, there's no, you can't come at all. 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:23.519 You can't come, which is what Jesus tries to say to him. 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:27.680 He begins to explain to him, he corrects his misunderstanding. 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:37.200 See, footwall, he's taking this custom and he's turning it on its head, and it's foreshadowing what's about to happen. 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:39.920 Because they had another custom in this ancient world. 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:42.000 Criminals were crucified. 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:50.799 And Jesus is in short order going to take that custom, turn it on its head, and change literally everything. 00:23:51.119 --> 00:23:52.240 Change literally everything. 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:53.759 And he's hinting at that. 00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:56.319 He's foreshadowing toward that. 00:23:56.640 --> 00:24:01.200 And so Peter, you know, bless him, he says, well, hey, wash it all, right? 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:05.599 I mean, if if I need to do this to have a part with you, let's go big. 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:08.400 And Jesus says, no, no, no, you still misunderstand. 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:16.240 This little symbolic act represents a big thing that's about to happen. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:20.799 And you don't need to keep on doing it, and there's there's metaphors there as well. 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:23.039 But this brings us to the final part of our story. 00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:26.799 If you look at verses 12 through 17, our story concludes. 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:31.200 He finishes washing their feet, each of them, even Judas. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:33.200 Even Judas. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:38.079 He puts on his outer garments, he returns to the table, and he starts explaining. 00:24:38.319 --> 00:24:43.039 He says, This, do you understand what I have done to you? 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:45.279 He asks the question, do you get it? 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:46.799 Do you understand? 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:50.640 He, as their teacher and Lord, he humbled himself. 00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:52.799 He showed sacrificial love to them. 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:55.680 He modeled genuine leadership for them. 00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:59.039 And he says, You should do the same. 00:24:59.279 --> 00:25:01.119 His example's clear, he says. 00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:04.640 I've done this as an example, and you should follow it. 00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:13.039 In their world, like ours, those who have high status rarely see themselves as equals with those of low status. 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:16.079 That was, it was like that for them. 00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:17.039 You know what? 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:18.880 It's like that for us. 00:25:19.839 --> 00:25:24.960 And in the gospels, you see the disciples trying to figure out who are we supposed to be? 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:28.480 Are we supposed to mirror the leadership structures of this world? 00:25:28.799 --> 00:25:32.240 Do we get to be the important people in the kingdom of God? 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:42.160 And Jesus says, in this world, and it's like our world, those who have high status rarely see themselves as servants of those who have low status. 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:47.279 In that world, like this one, they take their privilege, they enjoy their lofty place. 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:50.799 But not so in the kingdom that Jesus is creating. 00:25:51.039 --> 00:26:01.119 And he punctuates this idea, this notion, with a common saying that I'm sure became common among them: a servant is not greater than his master, a messenger not greater than the one who sent them. 00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:03.119 Here's what he means. 00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:05.680 They are not greater than Jesus. 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:08.640 Imagine he just washed their feet and then he says, you know what? 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:13.759 A servant's not greater than his master, nor a messenger greater than the one who sent them. 00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:19.839 And what he's saying is, um, I'm your teacher, I'm your Lord, I did this. 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:22.240 What do you think you should do? 00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:24.480 What do you think you should do? 00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:27.039 He's making the point, he's trying to get it through. 00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:30.880 You know, I've spent a lot of my life uh working with Christian leaders. 00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:36.400 It doesn't surprise me that he has to do something so jarring to break through their confusion. 00:26:36.559 --> 00:26:40.319 Um I've sat I've sat and pleaded with people like me. 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:44.079 We're hard to convince, we're hard to explain to. 00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:46.720 So Jesus says, hey, I just want you to get it. 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:49.519 If you think I'm great, look at what I did. 00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:51.839 You ought to do likewise. 00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:54.960 And the story concludes with that simple truth that's driven home. 00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:56.480 He says, you know this now. 00:26:56.799 --> 00:26:57.759 You know it. 00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:00.880 And and don't we all know it? 00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:05.519 But knowing it's not particularly important to Jesus here. 00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:10.799 He says, you'll be blessed, not if you know it, but if you do it. 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:12.960 So what do we make of this story? 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:15.440 Why is serving Christ a footwashing story? 00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:20.799 I want to give you three things from the story that I hope you caught that apply to our lives first. 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:23.279 Serving Christ is a footwashing story. 00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:28.640 Because in this story, we see the depth of Jesus' love for all those who put their hope in him. 00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:34.319 We can't miss uh, in fact, the first two are more important than the third. 00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:39.920 Uh if you look back at verse one, he says he loved them and he wanted to show his love, he loved them to the very end. 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:46.480 Uh, this is a story about how much Jesus loved them, and it's no stretch. 00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:53.839 It's in the Bible to be a story that helps you and I know how much Jesus loves us. 00:27:54.720 --> 00:27:57.279 There is no limit. 00:27:58.319 --> 00:28:02.160 It is impossible to exaggerate. 00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:10.880 He doesn't love you because you're skilled or tidy or helpful or gifted or attractive. 00:28:11.359 --> 00:28:14.880 He doesn't see your faults and step away like some do. 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:20.559 Human metaphors at this point are helpful, but they fall painfully short. 00:28:20.799 --> 00:28:22.079 I mentioned it. 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:27.279 Of the moments in my life I felt the most love, I remember when my son was born. 00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:30.559 And I thought, I am never gonna be the same again. 00:28:31.279 --> 00:28:34.720 I have never felt this in my whole life. 00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:36.240 And you know what? 00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:41.680 A pale, weak comparison to what Jesus feels for you and I. 00:28:42.160 --> 00:28:48.000 When Terry and I were married, I knew this changed everything in my whole life. 00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:59.119 And I'd never been connected to a person, but a pale, weak, small comparison of the actual love, the actual Jesus who watched actual feet feels for you. 00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:00.799 It is true. 00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:05.519 It is true, and we'd be fools to read this story and think, oh, we should go help people. 00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:12.240 Like this story is supposed to say, oh, I am loved in a way I didn't fully understand. 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:18.720 But more than that, more than that, this story also reminds us why is serving Christ a foot washing story? 00:29:18.960 --> 00:29:26.400 Because this story symbolizes the cleansing Jesus provides for anyone who trusts in his cross and his resurrection. 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:34.079 The middle of the story, Jesus is saying, before we get to the place where you follow my example, hear this. 00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:36.880 Peter says, You can't wash my feet, it can't go that way. 00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:41.200 And Jesus says, if I can't do this act of service for you, there is nothing here. 00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:42.720 There is nothing here. 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:48.640 If if Peter isn't willing to go to Jesus in need of cleaning, there's nothing there. 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:52.559 There's all there would be is dead religion and empty acts. 00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:56.319 And he's saying to Peter, don't miss it. 00:29:56.400 --> 00:29:58.400 He's saying to us, don't miss it. 00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:03.839 Not only does Jesus love you, but this story symbolizes the bigger story. 00:30:04.160 --> 00:30:10.720 Just like on a real Thursday, somewhere in history, Jesus washed these guys' feet. 00:30:11.519 --> 00:30:15.519 The next day, the next day, he's put on trial. 00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:17.119 He's betrayed. 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:21.279 Over these terrible three days, he's crucified and yet rises again. 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:22.720 These things really happened. 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:28.240 Jesus was pointing forward to them, saying, if you'll put your home in that, you will indeed be clean. 00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:30.799 And he offers it to each of us. 00:30:32.240 --> 00:30:32.720 Right? 00:30:32.960 --> 00:30:34.799 It's a place at his table. 00:30:35.039 --> 00:30:43.119