WEBVTT 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:22.559 As Peter said, we're reading from John chapter 13, verse 1 to 20. 00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:24.960 So do take a minute to get that open in front of you. 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:26.480 John 13. 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:39.280 Now before the peace, the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:55.119 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, rose from supper. 00:00:55.520 --> 00:01:00.399 He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:08.079 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. 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:13.760 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:20.799 Jesus answered him, What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand. 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:24.879 Peter said to him, You shall never wash my feet. 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:30.319 Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you have no share with me. 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:36.879 Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but my hands and my head. 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:45.280 Jesus said to him, The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:48.799 And you are clean, but not every one of you. 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:51.519 For he knew who was to betray him. 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:54.799 That was why he said, Not all of you are clean. 00:01:55.040 --> 00:02:02.959 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? 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:07.519 You call me teacher and lord, and you are right, for so I am. 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:13.919 If then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:19.680 For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you. 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:27.840 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. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:32.240 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:36.719 I am not speaking of all of you, I know whom I have chosen. 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:38.960 But the scripture will be fulfilled. 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:42.879 He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:50.080 I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place, you may believe that I am He. 00:02:50.800 --> 00:03:00.479 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me, receives the one who sent me. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:02.240 And so reads God's word. 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:05.599 Again, it's great to be with you this morning. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:13.199 And if you missed it at the start, if you joined us while we were singing, my name's Mark, and I'm one of the leaders here at the church. 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:21.439 As you can see on the screen behind me, and as we have noted in introducing you to our deacons, we're going through our uh our mission. 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:25.759 This is kind of uh something that we do at the start of every academic year. 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:37.199 September is kind of a new year for us, and it's good to uh to reset and uh and define again uh what we are about as a church, and we do that in slightly different ways in different years. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:41.360 But this way we're going this year we're going through our mission statement as a church. 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:49.520 That City Church exists to connect people to Jesus, to grow them to spiritual maturity, that they might serve the community and go to the nations. 00:03:49.680 --> 00:04:04.479 And so each week we've been uh looking at one of those four verbs, and we're on the uh the verb serve uh this morning, which is why we introduce you to your uh to the deacons here at church, and we're why we've been talking about uh why it is that we serve. 00:04:04.719 --> 00:04:12.960 Let me uh give you two reasons right off the top why you should continue to listen uh over the next little while, why service uh is a is a good thing. 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:17.680 One of them I'll I've already noted that is well, it's good for you. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:23.360 There are seasons and times when you need to be a person who is served by your brothers and sisters. 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:30.560 You have uh particular uh needs or are in a season of life where actually you need to be poured into yourself. 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:36.240 But by and large, generally speaking, one of the things that's good for us is to be thinking outside of ourselves. 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:38.079 One of the things that uh St. 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:42.800 Augustine said about the human heart is the human heart becomes uh very inward-looking. 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:45.920 We become turned in on ourselves. 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:53.279 And part of what being a follower of Jesus does is that begins to uh to unwind that turned-in heart. 00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:55.279 How does Jesus summarize the law? 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:57.519 He says, Well, you keep the law when you do what? 00:04:57.680 --> 00:04:59.680 Well, you love God and you love neighbor. 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:02.319 You love outside of yourself. 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:04.240 And service is part of that. 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:17.439 It's good for you as a human being, it's good for you emotionally, it's good for you spiritually, it's good for you mentally to be considering the needs of others and how it is that you might be a blessing to them, to know that you can be a blessing to them. 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:37.680 Another reason why it's a good thing to be serving others is that when we serve, we show that the relationships that exist that exist within the Christian community, within the church, we show that those relationships are defined not by power, but by love. 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:43.920 You see, power looks to be served. 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:47.040 I am in power over you. 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:50.959 Therefore, you must do this for me. 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:56.399 Whereas love looks to serve the other. 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:09.519 We have serve as one of our four verbs because we want our relationships here at City Church to be defined not primarily by power, but by love. 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:14.000 And one of the ways that we show that is by our service of others. 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:36.079 Some of you, sadly, I am sure, have come here from churches where you have been hurt, where you have been hurt by church leaders who have abused their position and their power, who have abused their authority in order to be served by others. 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:46.000 It is a good and biblical thing for there to be authority, leadership in the church. 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:54.160 But those in authority are called not to exercise power over others. 00:06:54.399 --> 00:07:00.560 Rather, they are called to be the first servants of the community of faith. 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:05.600 At City Church, we seek to embody that in lots of different ways. 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:25.360 And you can particularly see that if you were to become a member of City Church, you would, I hope, would see that the leaders try to have a degree of transparency and accountability where we show that we we want to be the first servants of the community, not simply those who are, quote unquote, in charge. 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:33.680 This passage uh that Owen read for us, I'd encourage you again to have uh open in front of you, John 13. 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:50.319 It's full of intriguing, beautiful things, but chief among them is that the Christian alternative to uh authority is it's not having no authority. 00:07:50.480 --> 00:08:05.759 Jesus is the one who has all authority, he's the Son sent from the Father, and he will send his disciples as his chosen, commissioned, authoritative messengers, down in verse 20. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:11.360 But with that comes a call to serve others. 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:42.399 You see, the difference between the Christian way of relating and the world's way of relating, and that uh, sorry, the difference between the Christian way of relating and the world's way of relating is that in the kingdom that Jesus is bringing in, those who have a high calling of going and spreading the gospel, those who are sent by Jesus, are simultaneously called to go low in service of others. 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:48.480 And this passage illustrates that beautifully in the washing of the disciples' feet. 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:52.799 This passage, I think, is doing two things, which we're going to look at. 00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:55.279 So it's kind of a game of two halves. 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:56.799 That's a sport reference, right? 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:02.480 Um first is that Jesus is giving us an example of how to serve. 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:08.080 He tells us that explicitly in verses 15 and 16, but he's giving us an example of how to serve. 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:17.919 And then the second thing that he's doing is that he's illustrating is how it is he serves us in his death for us. 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:22.879 So let's keep those two things in mind as we uh begin to look at this passage. 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:25.279 So the first half, the example. 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:28.720 So I've entitled that Serve Like Jesus. 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:33.840 What does it look like in this passage to serve like Jesus serves? 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:42.080 First, serving like Jesus means being motivated by love. 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:46.480 John opens this section, John 13, verse 1. 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:58.480 Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:01.600 He loved them to the uttermost. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:04.799 John opens with this reference to the hour. 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:16.080 When we were in John's Gospel uh a little over a year ago, we saw that this reference to the hour in John's Gospel is a reference to the cross. 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:20.559 So right back at the start of the gospel, Jesus says, My hour is not yet come. 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:25.039 Back at the wedding in Cana when he's turning water into wine, he says, My hour is not yet come. 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:27.200 And there's all of this talk of the hour. 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:28.480 What is the hour? 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:31.440 The hour is the hour of Jesus' death. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:35.039 And finally, we find ourselves in the upper room. 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:38.639 In 24 hours' time, Jesus will be dead. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:50.080 And he is saying that the hour has come, the hour for him to serve those who are his sheep by laying down his life for them. 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:54.240 And then John gives us this little editorial aside. 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:59.360 He says he loved his disciples to the very end, to the uttermost. 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:05.279 And what he is going to do now will be an illustration of that love. 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:12.720 You see, the cross is the supreme depiction of the love of God for the world. 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:19.279 And the food washing that happens here illustrates what the cross is all about. 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:25.039 What is the nature of salvation? 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:27.919 What is the nature of the victory that we have in Christ? 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:29.919 What is the nature of the love of God? 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:32.159 Well, it's answered here in John 13. 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:39.519 It's in sacrifice, in service, in going low for the sake of others. 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:46.720 John immediately intensifies the fact that Jesus is so motivated by love by what he says in verse 2. 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:48.080 Let me remind you of it. 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:57.360 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Jesus. 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:00.639 And then he goes on, Jesus knowing, we'll come to that in a second. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:07.519 So John gives us this reference in verse 2 that the devil has done something. 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:11.759 Now that's intriguing because the devil and demons never appear in John's Gospel. 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:15.919 Mark's gospel, you can't chuck a brick in Mark's gospel without hitting a demon, right? 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:16.960 Demons everywhere. 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:18.000 Demons for days. 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:19.600 Not so in John's Gospel. 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:21.600 John's gospel, demons are never mentioned. 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:23.120 Evil spirits, not mentioned. 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:26.399 And so it's intriguing here that this is the first mention of the devil. 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:27.679 And what has the devil done? 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:34.320 The devil has put it into the mind of Judas Iscariot to portray Jesus. 00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:40.320 Jesus or Judas is not seen as some unwilling victim here. 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:52.159 He had already been a thief, and now, like Eve in the garden, he has listened to the lies of the evil one and has chosen to side with him. 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:56.320 And how does Jesus respond? 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:05.360 Does Jesus respond by saying, I'm gonna wash eleven of your feet? 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:08.559 Watch out for the one that I don't wash. 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:09.759 No. 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:13.919 The devil had put it into the mind of Judas Iskai. 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:18.799 Judas had settled in his heart that he was going to portray Jesus. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:21.039 And how does Jesus respond? 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:23.759 He washes his feet. 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:32.879 If that is not a powerful example of love your enemies, then I don't know what is. 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:46.399 Judas is always through his life grasping, greedy for gain, for position, for prestige. 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:53.759 Judas, or Jesus rather, serves, out of love for others. 00:13:54.720 --> 00:14:00.720 You know, Judas portrays Jesus, and he does so with clean feet. 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:08.240 Such is Jesus' love, even for those who would betray him. 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:20.480 So to serve like Jesus is to serve motivated by love, even for those who are opposed to us. 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:30.080 Secondly, in order to serve like Jesus, and this is important, in order to serve like Jesus, you need to know who you are. 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:40.000 In order to serve like Jesus, you need to have a secure identity in yourself, or else you will not be able to serve like Jesus. 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:41.840 Verse three, let's pick it up. 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:43.600 So, follow the logic of verse two. 00:14:43.840 --> 00:15:04.159 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Isariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hand, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper, he laid aside his outer garment, and taking a towel tied it around his waist. 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:12.639 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that is wrapped around him. 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:15.919 Why does Jesus serve his disciples? 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:16.799 Because he loves them. 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:18.559 John's already told us that. 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:37.279 How is it that he is able, as the master of his disciples, the great rabbi, not only that, the Lord of all heaven and earth, how is it that he is able to take on this low position of stripping to the waist, tying a tile around and washing his disciples' feet? 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:42.159 Well, John tells us in verse 3, it's precisely because he knew who he was. 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:47.440 His heart was secure in the Father's love. 00:15:47.919 --> 00:16:01.600 He knew that he had come from the Father, that he was returning to the Father, and because his identity was assured, he could do something so low, so humble, so self-abasing. 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:04.799 Because he knew who he was. 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:10.960 This is hugely significant for many of us. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:32.399 We were all in so many ways, are we motivated to do things in order to establish who we are, or to avoid doing acts of service because we think that that will be somehow denigrating ourselves in the eyes of other people. 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:47.200 And what that betrays is that we're not secure in who we are, we're not secure in the identity that we have as followers of Jesus, as sons of the living God, daughters of the living God. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:17:00.320 That when we when we bulk at the idea of service because of how other people might perceive me, one of the things that we betray is that we're not secure in who we are. 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:15.839 We're told by so many voices in our world that in order to discover who you are, you must go deeper within yourself. 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:22.000 That you must go inward in order to determine who it is you really are. 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:27.039 But not so here with Jesus, and not so with Jesus' followers. 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:35.119 Jesus understands who he is in reference to his relationship with his father. 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:40.960 His father says he is, the son in whom he is well pleased. 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:48.640 And he receives that identity, and that enables him to serve humbly his disciples. 00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:57.680 And so it is for us that in order to have a secure identity, we must not go inward into ourselves, but outward. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:04.319 Our identity is not so much something that is discovered from within, but received from without. 00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:12.240 As the Father speaks words of love over you, brother, sister, and says, You are my child, you are forgiven. 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:17.519 I have adopted you into my family, I will never cast you out. 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:22.559 You are eternally mine, held fast by my son. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:35.440 That unassailable identity, that secure, core, stable identity is what enables you to serve others. 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:46.319 And unfortunately, we act out of our insecurities, even in the church, even leaders. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:55.599 From time to time, imagine a church leader who leads because he wants people to think well of them. 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:00.079 They need to be seen. 00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:08.640 They want to be seen as winsome or influential or powerful or competent or charismatic. 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:19.599 But when we act out of an insecure heart, when we act out of our insecurities, what what happens to us? 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:21.920 Well, our service becomes tainted, doesn't it? 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:25.200 It becomes tainted by selfishness. 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:38.000 It becomes fundamentally performative so that we feel better about ourselves and our egos get bruised when when they're not recognized. 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:46.400 And hey, look, it's good to actually recognize the service of others, particularly those who labor on a Sunday morning and and they go unseen. 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:53.440 It's all well for uh for folks like Peter and myself and the magician, the magicians, the magicians, they're coming later. 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:59.279 Uh the musicians uh who are all up the who are all up the front. 00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:12.240 But to go to the person who is unseen who arrived here at 8.30 this morning to to make sure that the communion bread was uh was cut up into those dainty little squares for you and to say, look, you know what? 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:14.880 Thank you for thanks for getting up early. 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:17.920 Thanks for making it through the rain today. 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:19.440 We really appreciate it. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:21.119 That's not a bad thing to do. 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:22.640 We should have a culture of that. 00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:28.960 That's that is encouraging because it is tiring to be to volunteer and to be giving ourselves. 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:38.720 But if we serve out of a heart and out of our mind, it's like I need that, or I become resentful because I keep on coming and nobody ever says anything. 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:40.799 Nobody ever sees what I do. 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:50.240 Shows that actually there's an insecurity about who we who we are, where our identity is coming from. 00:20:53.359 --> 00:21:02.960 When we act out of an insecure heart, our service becomes about an exercise of power, not of love. 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:14.960 One of the most important things that any of us can settle in our own minds, in our own hearts, is who you are, where your identity comes from. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:18.240 Well where your identity is rooted. 00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:25.680 Is it rooted in something that you have discovered from within yourself, or have you received it from the Father who loves you? 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:34.880 See, Jesus knew who he was, the Son from the Father, the one who has all authority, including over Judas and the devil. 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:42.960 He is the one who had authority over all things, and he knew that tomorrow evening he would be at his father's side. 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:55.759 And that security, that assurance of who he is was the basis upon which he was able to wash the disciples' feet. 00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:56.799 Do you see? 00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:03.759 The world Or anything within yourself, it cannot give you a secure identity. 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:10.720 The disciples didn't instinctively know this. 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:13.039 We don't instinctively know this. 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:15.440 He would never have entered their heads. 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:20.240 That's why Peter has such a problem with Jesus going low and serving. 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:25.359 The social convention was that peers didn't wash one another's feet. 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:30.720 It was such a uh a debasing act, such a low act to perform. 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:38.400 They would never discover the desire to serve in that way from within. 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:50.640 It's only when they receive that identity from without that they understand that to live like Jesus is to live out of a heart that is secure and therefore to serve others. 00:22:51.359 --> 00:23:00.960 And so Jesus gets up and he ties a towel around his waist and he washes the dust and the dirt and the grime from his disciples' feet. 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:02.480 Why? 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:05.440 Because he's the lowest of the low? 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:06.000 No. 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:18.799 Rather, because when you know that you are loved by the Father, and nothing and no one can ever take that away, then no service becomes too low. 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:25.519 So that takes us to the third way that we can serve like Jesus. 00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:37.039 Serving like Jesus, thirdly in this first half, is in response to the high calling of God on your life. 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:39.359 What is that high calling? 00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:40.880 What do I mean by that? 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:49.119 Certainly there's a command in verse 14 to go and do likewise, but I want to draw your attention to the very end to verse 20. 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:49.920 Let me read it to you. 00:23:50.240 --> 00:23:51.279 These are Jesus' words. 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:56.880 He says, Truly, truly I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me. 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:00.880 And whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. 00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:06.319 Now, as with sometimes in Jesus' words, you kind of need to unpick the logic. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:08.000 What is it he's actually saying there? 00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:10.160 Let's let's just make it plain. 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:10.880 Let's follow it. 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:13.519 He says, Whoever receives the one I send. 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:17.039 Now, in this context, in context, he's talking about the disciples. 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:19.839 He's talking about sending them out in the world. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:27.119 So whoever receives the one that I send, whoever receives the follower of Jesus, the disciple of Jesus, receives who? 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:28.720 Receives me. 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:32.240 Welcomes Jesus Himself. 00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:34.799 And then he goes on. 00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:45.200 And whoever receives Jesus receives the one who sent him, that is God the Father, God Himself. 00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:56.400 Put simply, the calling of every follower of Jesus is to bring Jesus into the lives of others. 00:24:56.559 --> 00:25:06.559 And in bringing Jesus into the lives of others, we bring to the invisible God who has made himself known in Christ. 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:22.319 That as they receive the good news of Jesus, as they receive the message of who Jesus is and what he has done, we do not simply bring mere words into their lives, but we bring the very presence of God Himself. 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:26.559 That is the calling that is laid on your life every day of the week. 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:27.359 Did you know that? 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:32.799 Did you know that you're probably the only follower of Jesus that your colleagues know? 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:37.200 That you're probably the only Christian that your classmates know. 00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:40.640 And Jesus is sending you to them. 00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:46.480 And that as you speak words of life and of love, they receive Him. 00:25:49.359 --> 00:25:55.359 This means that the Christian has an extraordinarily high calling on his or her life, doesn't it? 00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:01.200 And how is it that we are to carry that out? 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:11.119 But we go low in service of others because we know who we are. 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:24.480 And then he says in verse 17, he says that we are blessed if we know these things and do them. 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:40.960 That serving others is not just us seeking to be a blessing, but Jesus is promising to us that actually it is how we find that we ourselves are blessed. 00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:50.640 Blessed by God who sees our service, who honors that heart and motivation and disposition in us. 00:26:51.200 --> 00:27:04.720 Jesus promises that as you get up early to come into practice or to set up hospitality or to be about service in your work and in your class, that you find yourself blessed. 00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:09.039 So that's why at City Church we invite people to serve. 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:15.680 As I said earlier, not simply to make the lights turn on, though that's quite important, and we're very glad that that happens. 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:18.960 But it is part of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. 00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:22.079 It's part of what it means to be family together. 00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:32.079 And so I would encourage you actually to grab a coffee immediately after the service and head upstairs to the mezzanine and have a chat to the deacons and go, which team are you again? 00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:34.240 Oh no, that's not who I'm looking for. 00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:35.039 I'm looking for music. 00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:38.559 And you go and talk to Peter or whatever it is. 00:27:39.119 --> 00:27:40.160 Can I get more information? 00:27:40.319 --> 00:27:44.960 You're not, there's no blood contract, there's no signing on the dotted line up there. 00:27:45.119 --> 00:27:47.119 You just go, can I just get more information? 00:27:47.200 --> 00:27:52.400 I'm thinking, I'm praying about, I'm even just praying about whether or not I want City to be my church family. 00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:56.799 But if I do, I'd like to serve like Jesus. 00:27:57.039 --> 00:28:04.480 I'd like to participate in the community, I'd like to be a blessing and find myself blessed as I serve. 00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:10.160 Why don't you do that after the service today? 00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:23.119 In order to serve like Jesus, we must first be served by Jesus. 00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:24.799 And that's the second half. 00:28:25.039 --> 00:28:27.519 So we've looked at what it looks like to serve like Jesus. 00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:35.599 And then secondly, I encourage each one of you to be served by Jesus. 00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:51.920 I'm sure this translates in other uh in other cultures, but one of the things that uh that is particularly true uh of those of us who have grown up uh in Ireland is that Irish people hate the thought of being in someone's debt. 00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:57.039 Uh we do not like to be beholden to someone. 00:28:57.599 --> 00:29:10.480 There's a social convention of wanting to contribute in some way in order to kind of make ourselves feel better. 00:29:10.640 --> 00:29:20.960 So you're invited right, you're invited round to somebody's house uh for dinner, and what and you you text them and you say, What can I bring? 00:29:21.279 --> 00:29:24.559 The worst reply is uh nothing. 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:27.039 Just yourself. 00:29:27.279 --> 00:29:28.480 Yeah, just yourself. 00:29:28.720 --> 00:29:29.359 Like, no. 00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:34.559 That means that that means that everything of that meal is just all grace. 00:29:35.119 --> 00:29:38.559 And I must I must somehow contribute to it. 00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:39.759 And so what do you do? 00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:53.759 Well, you stop at the garage on the way there and you pick up a box of chocolates or a ball of wine or flowers for uh for the for the wife or whatever it is, you arrive with something in order to make yourself feel uh better. 00:29:54.799 --> 00:29:56.960 You you want to contribute something. 00:29:57.039 --> 00:30:02.079 You don't like the idea of just being served as an act of pure grace. 00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:05.279 It makes you feel slightly uncomfortable. 00:30:05.519 --> 00:30:15.440 And if you know that, and if you also come from a culture that feels a bit weird about that, then you know exactly how Peter is feeling in this passage. 00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:18.319 That's part of Peter's protest. 00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:27.759 He doesn't want Jesus to debase himself and to serve him in such a humble way. 00:30:29.119 --> 00:30:30.960 It's not socially acceptable. 00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:35.279 And so he says, You would wash my feet? 00:30:35.519 --> 00:30:37.200 Have you seen them? 00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:39.920 No, not you, Lord. 00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:45.759 Jesus is so kind, Jesus is so gracious to him. 00:30:47.680 --> 00:30:53.599 You don't understand, you don't understand right now, but you will. 00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:11.039 When you see me upon the cross, you will begin to understand that I am the serving savior, that I am the savior who comes to go low, that you might be raised up. 00:31:12.640 --> 00:31:19.519 That the love of God is not shown in displays of power, but in displays of weakness, of love. 00:31:21.359 --> 00:31:25.519 Peter resists, he says, You'll never wash my feet. 00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:29.519 Look at Jesus' response in verse 8. 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:33.599 Peter said to him, You will never wash my feet. 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:40.640 And Jesus answered him, if I do not wash ye, you have no share with me. 00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:54.480 How hard it is for sinners like us to accept that we need a Savior to come and to make us clean. 00:31:54.880 --> 00:32:10.079 You will never, I don't know where you're at with Jesus here this morning, but you will never understand why some people choose to follow Jesus while you do not understand your need of him. 00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:12.000 You say, no, no, I'm fine. 00:32:12.160 --> 00:32:14.799 Like I'll clean my own feet. 00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:16.079 Thank you very much. 00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:18.000 I'll die for my own sins. 00:32:18.160 --> 00:32:19.279 Thanks a lot. 00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:24.160 In fact, I don't really think that I have very many to deal with. 00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:29.279 While you think that you have no need of a savior, you will never come to him. 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:43.920 How hard it is for so many to fathom that salvation require happens when we acknowledge our need and it requires nothing from us. 00:32:47.599 --> 00:32:50.160 Jesus must wash Peter. 00:32:51.200 --> 00:32:55.039 Because only the washed share in Jesus' kingdom. 00:32:55.839 --> 00:33:02.079 You see, you cannot serve like Jesus until you have been washed by Jesus. 00:33:04.240 --> 00:33:13.759 Because you'll not have the secure heart identity, that assurance of his love until you allow him to serve you with gladness. 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:18.880 Or you come to him and have him wash you clean. 00:33:20.960 --> 00:33:24.799 Peter in saying, You'll never wash my feet. 00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:28.720 Is this is this Peter being humble? 00:33:29.519 --> 00:33:37.759 Oh no, Lord, this you know, you're too important, and you know, this is too, this is too abasing, this is this is too low. 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:40.240 Is this Peter's humility? 00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:42.720 No, actually, I don't think it is. 00:33:43.119 --> 00:33:46.640 It's not humility to say, oh no, Jesus, please don't serve me. 00:33:46.880 --> 00:33:49.200 That's that's actually pride. 00:33:49.759 --> 00:33:58.799 It's a pride that doesn't recognize our need of him, that does not willingly submit ourselves to the cleansing that he offers. 00:33:59.519 --> 00:34:06.880 Pride keeps so many from Jesus when he offers to wash us clean. 00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:14.960 And so, in typical Peter fashion, Jesus says, If I don't wash you, you'll have no share with me. 00:34:15.119 --> 00:34:22.079 So Peter, because he just runs at everything head first, he says, Well, Lord, then not don't just wash my feet. 00:34:22.400 --> 00:34:25.760 Wash all of me, wash my hands and wash my head. 00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:29.440 Oh, let's let's have a let's have a bath, Jesus. 00:34:30.159 --> 00:34:34.880 Because that's that's what Peter does, in for a penny, in for a pound. 00:34:35.840 --> 00:34:39.199 This is where the metaphor kind of takes on a new dimension. 00:34:39.360 --> 00:34:48.719 Jesus responds, verse 10, Jesus said to him, The one who is bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean. 00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:52.079 And you were clean, but not every one of you. 00:34:53.199 --> 00:34:54.159 What's Jesus saying? 00:34:54.320 --> 00:35:04.480 Jesus is saying essentially, if you've had a bath, you only need your feet washed after a long day on the dusty uh Judean countryside. 00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:09.039 If you've had a bath, you're clean, though not all of you are clean. 00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:11.519 Not all of you have had a bath. 00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:14.000 What does that mean? 00:35:14.719 --> 00:35:21.440 The complete cleansing, the bath, is the cross of the Lord Jesus. 00:35:22.079 --> 00:35:25.039 Jesus is about to go and to die for them. 00:35:25.199 --> 00:35:28.000 He's about to make them clean, though not all. 00:35:28.159 --> 00:35:28.639 Do you see? 00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:29.840 Not Judas. 00:35:30.719 --> 00:35:33.280 By his death for them on the cross. 00:35:33.760 --> 00:35:37.280 This is the beautiful thing that the cross achieves. 00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:38.719 Did you know that? 00:35:38.800 --> 00:35:40.800 That it makes you clean from your sin? 00:35:41.119 --> 00:35:49.599 I'm sure some of you right now are thinking of things that have happened to you in the past and how it somehow feels like it sticks like a stain on your soul. 00:35:49.760 --> 00:36:04.079 One of the things that the cross does is the cross makes you clean, it cleanses you from your sin, it cleanses you from the shame of your past, it washes your soul like dirt from the body. 00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:09.280 But Jesus says you just need to have your feet washed. 00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:11.519 What's that in this metaphor? 00:36:11.920 --> 00:36:21.599 If a person comes to Jesus, has turned from sin and resolved to live with him, has been sealed with the Holy Spirit as a child of God, they have had a bath. 00:36:21.840 --> 00:36:23.760 They are washed clean. 00:36:24.079 --> 00:36:36.559 That person only has need on a daily basis to come to him and to ask for forgiveness when we still on occasion find that we sin. 00:36:37.440 --> 00:36:40.079 And on this side of heaven, we do, don't we? 00:36:40.239 --> 00:36:46.800 In thought and word and deed, in what we have done and what we have failed to do, as the old confession says. 00:36:47.039 --> 00:36:52.320 And so we come and we have our feet washed as we acknowledge our sin before God again. 00:36:52.400 --> 00:36:57.119 And we say, Lord, thank you for making me clean through the cross of the Lord Jesus. 00:36:57.280 --> 00:37:01.440 There are still ways in which I haven't loved you the way I should have done. 00:37:01.599 --> 00:37:04.159 I should have served this person, I didn't. 00:37:04.400 --> 00:37:08.880 I thought this way and I shouldn't have, or I fail to act in this way. 00:37:09.039 --> 00:37:10.800 Please forgive me. 00:37:11.760 --> 00:37:14.079 It's like having our feet washed. 00:37:14.559 --> 00:37:24.239 We come humbly and confess our sins daily, and in doing so, we find that we are willingly and abundantly cleansed by him who loved us. 00:37:26.960 --> 00:37:37.840 And he says, though not all are clean, and we could take a whole other sermon talking about Jesus' sovereignty over these events and what exactly Judas is responsible for. 00:37:38.320 --> 00:37:41.280 And perhaps we will talk about that more another day. 00:37:41.440 --> 00:37:45.280 Certainly it will come up when we get back into Romans in Romans chapter 9. 00:37:46.480 --> 00:37:52.880 But for now, let me conclude with a word of comfort and a word of warning. 00:37:53.679 --> 00:38:02.800 The word of comfort is that no struggling Christian is Judas. 00:38:02.960 --> 00:38:06.000 You think, ah, have I has he not washed me? 00:38:06.239 --> 00:38:08.159 I'm really struggling with sin. 00:38:08.960 --> 00:38:15.599 It happens, I feel like I just cannot quite get victory over this. 00:38:15.840 --> 00:38:18.239 And you think, well, maybe maybe I'm not a Christian at all. 00:38:18.320 --> 00:38:21.280 And you begin to become fearful. 00:38:22.320 --> 00:38:28.559 Many people fear this falling away, losing our salvation, but that's that's simply not here. 00:38:28.719 --> 00:38:34.239 Jesus' betrayal, sorry, Judas's betrayal, it's really bad to get those two mixed up, right? 00:38:34.480 --> 00:38:36.320 Um happens all the time. 00:38:36.559 --> 00:38:48.320 Judas's betrayal is in part because he was never really a follower of Jesus, and his actions showed that from the beginning. 00:38:49.519 --> 00:38:54.320 He also occupies a special place in salvation history. 00:38:55.199 --> 00:38:56.880 But here's the warning. 00:38:58.159 --> 00:39:04.159 It's possible for you to have clean feet and still no part in Jesus' kingdom. 00:39:04.639 --> 00:39:12.000 It's possible for you now to take the Lord's Supper and still have no share because in your heart you have not repented. 00:39:12.079 --> 00:39:15.280 In your heart, you know that you are not a follower of Jesus. 00:39:15.440 --> 00:39:17.920 You know that you are not living for him. 00:39:18.400 --> 00:39:26.960 And the performance of rituals of feet cleansing or Lord's Supper participation, they cannot be a substitute for saving faith. 00:39:27.199 --> 00:39:28.960 And so what's the answer? 00:39:29.360 --> 00:39:43.519 Be served by Jesus, be made clean by him, and then seek to serve him and others to the glory of God the Father. 00:39:54.960 --> 00:39:57.039 Thank you for listening to this week's sermon. 00:39:57.199 --> 00:40:03.039 If you found this helpful or want to know more about City Church Dublin, please visit our website found in Dublin below.