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Lords Supper The Servant at the Supper

John 13 Jesus had been with his crew three and 1/2 years. Finally, triumphantly they entered Jerusalem. That gang of rag tag, fisherman/disciples had climbed to the pinnacle with their brilliant teacher. Can you imagine the ecstasy they fell. How proud they must have been to, as they walked the through the gate behind their champion. It had to be a pretty heady experience. Normal people probably cant fully grasp what that feels like. The closest I ever heard was when a close friend of mine accidentally got on the elevator with a rock band back in the 70s. They immediately seized their good fortune and started to try to play the part of the band. He said when that elevator hit the lobby floor there must have been 2 or 3 thousand historical females screaming their brains out. My buddy walked off with the band down a narrow isle in a sea of outstretched hands. He said that was the closest hes ever come to what it feels like to be worshipped. The disciples had been through that four days ago. They were still swimming in the residue of that moment. Drunk with the idea of power and fame. Its now Thursday night, they were in the upper room taking the Passover. Jesus turned the supper into the Lords supper. Luke 22: 19 - 24. And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. "But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Me on the table. "For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!" And they began to discuss among themselves which one of them it might be who was going to do this thing.

LK 22:24 And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. In the middle of the Lord supper a debate rose over who would be greatest. Jesus, forgotten in the arrogance, quietly walked over to the bucket, picked it up with a towel, and started to go around the circle washing feet! Go to Johns account of this event and lets take a look this evening at servanthood illustrated. John 13:1 5 1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 2 During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, 4 *got up from supper, and *laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. 5 Then He *poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. The image of the washing is twofold. First, it metaphorically describes forgiveness. So clear in the exchange with peter. Jesus was saying, When you are in a relationship with me you dont need total cleansing. Or forgiveness. The dirt represents the sin that we take on during the course of life. Need daily cleansing and forgiveness. Second purpose was servanthood. You are to serve in kind. Be ready to wash feet. Servanthood was so important that is one of the last valuable truths Jesus gave his men.

Servants Must Be Secure

Why do you think those disciples were debated over who was greatest? They didnt feel secure. They were afraid of missing out. When the rewards came down each man wanted to be first in line. When you arent secure you cant serve. Youre too busy trying to take care of yourself to take care of anyone else. A businessman I know once asked his Bible study group, "How can you tell if you have a servant attitude?""By the way you react when you are treated like one," was the reply. Verse three. This is an expression of the security Jesus had. The kind of security we must have.

We are all going "backed the God." Perspective is the key. Putting today's events on an eternal perspective gives today its proper way. Knowing the where you're going gives you perspective. You have an eternal reward to look forward to, what is 30 minutes of serving someone else. To be a servant you must develop a sense of destiny. Taken together they both spell security.

Servants Refuse to Ignore Need.


What happens when you walk around all day long in sandals? Your feet get dirty. Now picture the scene. They're all reclining -- that's how they ate. Each with his feet near the head of the person beside him. They had to be aware of all those dirty feet, but they chose to ignore them. Each one acted like there was no problem. We do too. People have much worse problems than dirty feet all around us. We ignore it because they come to dress to we pretend we don't see it. The reason of homers is because we always assume that involvement is someone else's responsibility. It a That's what the disciples thought. Making sure to that guest had clean feet was the responsibility of the host. Usually there was a slave who cleaned feet, and usually it was the lowest slave in the house. If there was no slave then it was the lowest Child. If there was no Child then the host was responsible. The disciples were simply ignoring a social faux paux. They all assumed that it was not their responsibility. We are fond of doing that . The Jesus through his actions said, "Serving is everyone's responsibility. Nobody is immune.

Servants are secure because they know who they are.


Jesus knew exactly who he was. He was secure in his position. "Know that the father has given all things into his hands." He knew what things he possessed. And that he had come forth from God. He knew where he was from. He knew his worth. We need to be convinced of that same worth. Secure in knowing who we are in Christ. The key is verse one. "He loved them to the end." Literally, a "to the fullest extent." I once heard Adrian Rogers say, God accepts you, that's Grace. You accept gods acceptance. That's faith. You accept yourself. That's peace. You then accept others. That's love.

Servants are secure because they know where they are going.
Verse, 2, back to god. It would seem that, in this, Jesus had advantage over us. He knew because he had foreknowledge. If we had the same foreknowledge, just think how secure we would be. Imagine that you know what life will be like ten years from now. What a secure thought. Yesterday you wrecked the car, no big deal, because I know that fifty years from now it wont matter. That would create a tremendous amount of security. Knowing in advance your destiny. But we don't have that. Or do we?

Servants Choose to Ignore the Circumstances


6 So He *came to Simon Peter. He *said to Him, "Lord, do You wash my feet?" 7 Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter." 8 Peter *said to Him, "Never shall You wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me."

Why didnt Peter want to get washed? Embarrasment. He couldnt let Jesus do something hed refused to do. This was way too humiliating for Jesus. The Lord had no business washing feet. But by his very actions Jesus was saying the opposite, This is exactly what Im about. You have to be willing to get dirty. Walter Wangarin wrote in intriguing book entitled The Rag Man and other tales of faith. He tells the story of Arthur Forte. Arthur Forte died in the third year of Wangarins ministry at the predominately black inner city church. Arthur lived in a shotgun house, three rooms lined in row, Arthur lived in the front room. In fact Arthur lived in a rotten chair in that front room. He seldom left it the last year of his line. Wangarin said that Arthur Forte had an excellent mind, and as pastor, it was his job to visit Arthur. He said and Arthur phoned often to remind me." Arthur Fortes living room or covered in a damp film. Roaches flowed from my steps like puddles stomped in. Arthur did not want a quick psalm, a professional prayer, or short devotion. Rather he wanted acutely to dispute this young clergy mans faith." By late summer Arthurs health was failing. He would not leave his chair even to go to the bathroom. He despised hospitals and refuse to go there is well. When the August became unbearable the young minister insisted that Arthur go to the hospital. But Arthur had a better idea. He took off all his clothes. Wangarin wrote, "He had raised the level of my sacrifice to anguish." Arthur then asked him if he would help him dress. Wangarin said, "In those moments I came to know a certain wordless affection for Arthur Forte." Wangarin concluded this, I do not suppose that Arthur consciously gave me the last year of his life, nor that he chose to teach me. Yet, by his mere being; by forcing me to take that life, real, unsweetened, barenaked, hurting and critical; by demanding that I serve him altoghether unrewarded; by wringing from me first mere gestures of loving and then the love itself but a sacrificial love, a Christ-like love,

being love for one so indisputably unlovable he prepare me for my ministry. My tears were my diploma, his death my benediction, and failure my ordination. For the Lord did not say, blessed are you if you know or teach or preach these things. He said, rather, Blessed are you if you do these things. Jesus got up and did the most menial thing, right in the middle of the Lords supper! I think theres a message here. 12 So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13 "You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. 14 "If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one anothers feet. The great preacher and pastor of a century ago, Dwight L. Moody once said, Show me a church where there is love, and I will show you a church that is a power in the community.. . . . If only we could make the world believe that we loved them there would be fewer empty churches, and a smaller proportion of our population who never darken a church door. Let love replace duty in our church relations, and the world will soon be evangelized.

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