- Article: Saved to Serve
Article: Saved to Serve
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 round 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..."Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you" John 13:3-15 NIV.
The Apostle John under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit gives us the excellent biographical account of Jesus' earthly life and ministry. This is especially during the preparation of His disciples before he begins His suffering, also known as His passion. It is interesting to note that the disciples at the moment would have been taught by Jesus for around three and a half years and, now He knows He is about to leave them. In John chapters 14-17, we see Jesus teaching them some lessons as He gets them ready for His departure, prior to being arrested by the soldiers in the garden in chapter 18.
These I call the 'last lessons' that Jesus gives to the men who were His disciples. They include the themes of."...I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.1.", "the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send...2.". Jesus also focuses on the theme of unity ultimately praying for His disciples to be as one; "...so that they may be one as we are one. 3.". However, according to John, these final moments actually began in chapter 13 with Jesus showing the great expression of humility by literally washing His disciples' feet. Jesus did this to teach what, I believe, is the first of the 'last lessons' given to his disciples, the lesson that all His disciples are here to SERVE!
On the evening of December 31st hundreds of churches around the world will begin what some call the annual 'Watch Night' meeting to 'see in' the New Year. Whether you know it or not, during some of these gatherings each church will act out exactly what Jesus did in John 13; each member will wash another member's feet! Why? You may ask and the usual reply would be...'because that's what Jesus did'. However a closer examination of our theme text (at the beginning of this article) will reveal the fact that Jesus did this as an "...example..." to teach us about the humility in serving. Unfortunately, not all but many churches have totally missed what Jesus was trying to teach, to the extent that they place all their attention on this momentary annual performance of washing each others feet rather than adopting the continual principle of 'serving with humility'
The issue of serving should be of the utmost importance to every Christian as this is what being Christ-like is ultimately about, that is, trying to find opportunities to serve. If we are going to get the issue of 'serving' right then we need to find out the answer to three primary things: 'What?' 'Who?' and 'How?' are we supposed to serve?
What do we serve?
For some of you reading this, what I am about to say might not make goose pimples stand up on the back of your neck, or make you speak in tongues, but I am just trying to explain my point... Have you ever seen those little 'fast food' places that try to cover everything? You know the ones I mean, in the shop window they will proudly advertise (often in bright neon writing!) that they sell curry, southern fried chicken, kebabs and pizza...all from the same place! Some of you are smiling at this moment as you think of a shop just like the one described, (the rest have probably put this magazine down because what they just read was not 'anointed' enough). Well those of you still reading, like me you might have noticed two major things about this king of food establishment. The first is the fact that none of the food tastes great and, secondly they struggle to survive and have to stay open as late as possible because the only regular customers are those who are desperate for something to eat because everywhere else is closed at that hour. The problem with this kind of business is the fact that they do not specialise in any 'one' thing and generally people like specialists. If you want the best 'sea food' you look for a sea food restaurant, if you want the best chicken you go to a place that you know specialises in chicken.
Most successful businesses are known to do well because they specialise in one thing. They are more successful because there is more credibility with a specialist. Jesus taught His disciples that it is "by 'this' one thing (not 'these') that people would identify them as being His followers" and that one thing was 'love'.4. Today the 21st century followers of Jesus Christ are the church and as the church we should be specialists in one thing, Love. The apostle John further teaches us that love must be expressed with actions.5, therefore the answer to what we serve is Love. This service of love can be expressed through different kinds of actions, but every action wether it is cleaning the church building, working in your church community project or singing in the choir should be expressed as a serving of love.
Today if you ask many Christians if they have love, they would immediately say yes, but if you asked those same people if they serve as part of the church they would probably say no. This is a sad commentary because, unfortunately most people go to church today because they want a 'blessing' rather than to plug into their local church and be a blessing. Many church leaders today have a hard time trying to get people to help out in ministries because many, if not most people have a 'serve-us' mentality instead of a heart for 'serv-ice'. The truth is that real love serves and the church needs to become a specialist in serving love.
Who do we serve?
To answer this question all we have to do now is to find out who we are supposed to love. For that we must seek Jesus who teaches what I call the 'cross' principle. The cross is made up of a vertical and a horizontal beam and that is exactly what Jesus taught His disciples concerning love; He said "love the Lord...and...Love your neighbour..".6. When you serve love to the Lord that is vertical and serving love to your neighbour that is horizontal. Most Christians understand who the Lord is, but who is my neighbour? Your neighbour is anyone who is not you...that includes the people in your church, the people who live in the house next to you and the community who live around your church. The mistake that many people make is thinking that serving God just means doing what everybody else does during the worship service by clapping your hands and singing songs, but actually in serving your community especially those who are less fortunate Jesus said "...you did it for me."7.
How do we serve?
C.I.A or 'Christians In Action', I believe id God's dream for His church on earth, a multitude of His people busy serving as representatives of His Kingdom. Of course the abbreviation C.I.A is also more recognisable as being the intelligence agency in the USA who are also known as the 'secret service'. Interestingly Jesus teaches us that when we are serving, by doing things like giving to those in need, we should also serve in secret, 8. It is this secret service that God says he will reward. In other words those disciples who are serving should do so without needing everyone knowing what they are doing. Today every local church needs people who are committed to serving as secret agents representing God's Kingdom, not just so their name will be called, but rather so God's name will be called and they remain servants in secret until the day He rewards them.
During the 'Wimbledon' tennis tournament in July of 2006, the commentators used the term 'champion' especially concerning those competitors who served an 'ace'. Of course those of you familiar with the sport of Tennis will know that an 'ace' is a serve that is so powerful that it cannot be returned. I believe the Kingdom of God also needs champions who are willing to serve an 'ace' that is to 'serve for no return'. These Kingdom champions are people who do not need lots of public recognition or applause being returned to them, but who rather just want to serve as best they can to do the will of God and bring glory to the name of God.
As 2008 approaches I believe God is looking for some Kingdom Champions who want to 'improve their serve'. So through God's grace next year try and get plugged into the ministries in your local church, or help serve your community, just serve in anyway you can. The ball is now in your end of the court, so in 2008 make sure you 'serve like a champion'.
1. John 14:3 NIV
2. John 14:26 NIV
3. John 17:11 NIV
4. John 13:35 NIV
5. 1st John 3:18 NIV
6. Matthew 22:37-39 NIV
7. Matthew 25:31-46 NIV
8. Matthew 6:2-4 NIV