On A Mission to Serve
Several years ago I was on a mission trip with a group of people in Baja, Mexico where we had gone to serve for a week. Each night, we would have a time of worship & reflection on the day.
On the last night we sat in a large circle. In the middle of the circle was a basin, kind of like this, filled with water. Beside it there was a towel.
Every day over the past week, each person in that circle had been serving their heart out. It was the last night. Tomorrow, we would return home. So I asked the group to take turns sharing one way they had seen someone else in the group serve like Jesus during the week, & as they shared, I asked them to serve that person by washing their feet.
Power is at the Top, Right?
For a lot of people, that might sound like a very bizarre thing to do.
Partly because we live in a world that is very self centered. We live in a culture that tells you to climb the corporate ladder, get all you can for yourself & for your family.
We live in a world where everyone is trying to get to the top.
If I can just be at the top of my department…
If I can get to the top of the org chart…
If I can be the president of my class…
the quarterback for the team…
If I can be the head coach of my kid’s team…
If I can be in charge of the board…
If I can, fill in the blank…
Everything we know & everything we’re taught tells us to work hard, rise to the top & we’ll be happy.
And this is the temptation we face. We’re taught at an early age that leadership rises. That power begins & ends at the top!
The Temptation
This is how Satan tried to tempt Jesus. We don’t know every temptation Jesus encountered. We do know that Jesus was tempted in every way, just like we are (Hebrews 4.15).
After Jesus is baptized & is about to start his ministry, He is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness.
Satan appears on the scene to tempt Jesus. He begins by tempting Jesus to turn rocks into bread. Jesus had been fasting for 40 days. I don’t know if you’ve ever fasted, but you can imagine that if you haven’t eaten for 40 days & you had the power to turn a pile of rocks into fresh baked bread… that would be a real temptation.
But Jesus wouldn’t do it.
Then Luke says that Satan took Jesus UP & reavealed to Him all the kingdoms of the world. Then Satan says something interesting.
“I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. Luke 4.6
The devil says that he has all authority over the kingdoms of the world & that if Jesus would worship him, then he would give Jesus the authority over these kingdoms.
Jesus doesn’t do it.
Then the devil takes Jesus UP again to the highest point of the Temple in Jerusalem.
With each temptation… Satan takes Jesus higher.
This time he challenges Jesus to jump, to let the angels catcth Him so that He would be revealed immediately as the Messiah to Israel. Skip the next 3 years of ministry. Go ahead & reveal who you are now to the people! Take the power & start your reign now!
But Jesus is able to overcome each temptation of the enemy.
What was the temptation?
At every turn, Satan took Jesus higher & offered Him more power.
Why?
Because the Enemy thinks that leadership rises. That power begins & ends at the top!
But Jesus knew something Satan didn’t understand, that true power isn’t power over, it’s power under.
That true power doesn’t ASCEND. True power DESCENDS.
[Tweet “That true power doesn’t ASCEND. True power DESCENDS.”]How Power Really Works
So fast forward to the end of Jesus’ life.
Moments before Jesus is arrested & nailed to a cross, Jesus is found in an upper room. It’s Passover, the time of year when every Jew remembers that God delivered them from death when the blood of a lamb was painted on the doorpost of their house in Egypt. That night, the angel of death came through Egypt & the life of every firstborn was taken, except for the Jews. Because they were the people of God. God had told them that they would be saved by placing the blood of the Lamb over the doorpost of their house.
Jesus is sitting in a room with His 12 disciples. The Passover meal has been prepared & they are about to eat.
It’s at this point that John tells us something interesting. He says, “Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.” – John 13.3
Now Jesus has all authority. He has what Satan once offered. What does He do with it?
It’s been a long day. Back in those days they walked around in sandals. The roads were dirty, dusty & after a long day, your feet were disgusting.
Whoever was the lowest servant on the totem pole had the responsibility of going around to all the guests at the table & washing their feet so that people could enjoy the meal. It was literally the worst job!
But, there’s no servant in the room. No one to preform this task. One of Jesus’ disciples could have done it. But they’ve spent most of their time over the last 3 years arguing about who was the greatest.
So Jesus gets up, takes off his outer garment, puts a towel around his waste… He literally dresses like a servant would be dressed in this moment… & then he starts to wash the feet of His disciples.
Follow My Example
Peter can’t believe it. Jesus? What are you doing? You can’t wash my feet!
Jesus responded, If I can’t wash your feet, then you have no part of me.
When Peter heard Jesus say that… he told Jesus, Wash every part of me!
After explaining to Peter that he didn’t need a bath, Jesus finished washing the feet of every one of his friends in that upper room.
He even washed the feet of Peter who would deny him.
He even washed the feet of Judas who would betray him.
He even washed the feet of the other 9 who would abandon him.
As far as we know, only John was at the cross of Jesus holding His mother as she grieved the death of her firstborn son.
After washing their feet, Jesus, the most powerful person in the room, said these words:
“Since I, your Lord & Teacher , have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.” – John 13.14-15
Everyone was speechless. What Jesus had just done defied everything they knew.
Like Satan, the disciples thought that power rises. That the higher you get, the more power you have. And the more power & authority you have, the more those under you serve your needs.
That might have been true in a world where the Empire was the model for how the world worked. Where Caesar was king.
But that’s not the way it works when your King is a Shepherd.
When Your Leader is a Shepherd
Jesus, the King of kings & the Lord of lords was no ordinary leader. He was a Shepherd first.
He said, I AM the Good Shepherd. And He said, the Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Jesus’ actions might have seemed strange through the typical lens of power & leadership, but they were not out of the order for a shepherd.
Shepherds don’t expect their sheep to serve them. Shepherds don’t expect their sheep to provide for them. Shepherds don’t look for their sheep to meet all their needs. Shepherds don’t complain when sheep aren’t doing their job. Shepherds don’t lord their power over their sheep from a high place. They don’t order their sheep around.
Shepherds use the power they’ve been given to serve their sheep.
So when Jesus got in a room with his 12 disciples, with his sheep, & they needed their feet washed before dinner, Jesus did what any shepherd would do. He washed their feet.
He used His power to serve His sheep because He loved them.
How are you using the power God has given you?
Here’s the best part. Peter never forgot what Jesus did that night. Years later, Peter writes to the early church. At this point, Peter is an elder, a shepherd, in God’s church. Not surprising since Jesus told Peter to “take care of His sheep!”
And you know what Peter tells the church? He says this…
“And all of you, dress yourselves in humility (LITERALLY — TIE A TOWEL AROUND YOUR WAISTE) as you relate to one another…” 1 Peter 5.5
We’re not on a mission trip this week, but we are on a mission this week. Who’s feet do you need to wash? Who can you serve?
How can you use the power God has given you to serve those around you?
[Tweet “Use the power God has given you to serve those around you.”]This is the call for all of us… to take up the towel, to clothe ourselves in humility, & put our power under others for their good & God’s ultimate glory.
