The full extent of his love ...

“It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 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 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.”
John 13:1-5

If you were there at the meal, in the room with Jesus, the Messiah, the miracle worker, the Master, think about how you would feel if you saw…

Jesus is getting up from the meal…Should we get up too, does he need help with something, where is he about to go?

Jesus is now taking off his outer clothing…

Jesus just wrapped a towel around his waist…Is he about to clean something? Can I do it before he gets to it? Where is the problem? The master shouldn’t be doing this type of work.

Jesus just poured water into a basin…What’s going on? Isn’t that the basin that they use to wash guests feet when they come into the house? Why is Jesus filling up the basin?

Jesus is washing John’s feet! He is coming for me next…What is he doing? That is a servant’s job. Why are we all sitting here letting him do it? I don’t deserve to let Jesus even touch my filthy feet.

How did you feel as you read each of these happenings? I put in some of the things I would be thinking in that moment. The next thing that Jesus did was to dry their feet with the towel wrapped around him. He lowered himself to the position of a servant. Was that really it? I know that it was more than that. Jesus was practicing service to those he loved. When we serve, what goes through our minds? What goes through our hearts? Service should be an outpouring of our love for God. It is just something that comes so naturally to us, because we have been served by the Master ourselves. He daily washes our feet by forgiving us our sins.

Today, maybe even right now, I want you to grab a towel and just sit there and hold it. Pull it in and out of your fingers and pray to God that he helps you think of ways you can selflessly serve someone in your life today. Think of your wife, husband, children, one of the boys in your care, our office staff, our minister, the principal, and just find a way to serve in secret. Bless their life, by symbolically washing their feet today. I know that for many of us, our job is in itself a life of service. But what would happen if you did something that one of the boys never expected as a way of serving them? What would happen if you husbands did the job in the house that your wife gets so sick of, and you did it secretly? Jesus showed his disciples what the towel was for and challenged them to use it as well. He set that same challenge to us. Happy serving!

Jason

For you were strangers ...

As Moses prepares to part from his people the last time, he speaks
these words to help them understand how to serve the Lord.
His words still speak wisdom to us today:

So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you?
Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him,
to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God
and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being.

Although heaven and the heaven of heavens
belong to the Lord your God,
the earth with all that is in it,
yet the Lord set his heart in love on your ancestors alone
and chose you, their descendants after them,
out of all the peoples, as it is today.
Circumcise, then, the foreskin of your heart,
and do not be stubborn any longer.
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords,
the great God, mighty and awesome,
who is not partial and takes no bribe,
who executes justice for the orphan and the widow,
and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing.
You shall also love the stranger,
for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

You shall fear the Lord your God; him alone you shall worship;
to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear.
He is your praise; he is your God,
who has done for you these great and awesome things
that your own eyes have seen.
Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy persons;
and now the Lord your God has made you
as numerous as the stars in heaven.
Deuteronomy 10:12-22 – NRSV

Grace and peace,

Ron