Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] You're listening to a live recording from Westside Church in Bend, Oregon. Thanks for joining us.
[00:00:06] Hi, everybody. Good morning. We're in the book of John, chapter 13.
[00:00:10] And this portion of the story of the ministry of Jesus is getting close to the end. And as Ben talked about last week, these disciples that have followed Jesus around, there's all kinds of emotions and confusion sometimes with what is Jesus up to? And he seems like he's getting more intense, as now he's going to lead his disciples back towards Jerusalem.
[00:00:36] He's talking about the trouble that he's about to face and potentially his own death. And at the same time, the disciples are arguing over who's the greatest among them.
[00:00:46] And, you know, there's this rivalry, I think, in all of us that wants to know that we're okay and that we're better than the person next to us. And this story came to mind a couple weeks ago. Someone talked to me in the atrium and they said, my granddaughter, she's a toddler and she was riding with her parents in the backseat of their car.
[00:01:06] And as all of us parents know this moment when the young child is crying. And so you don't encourage them to work on the arithmetic, you hand them a device. Come on, parents, you know what I'm talking about. No judgment. And so it was an iPad or a phone, and they hand it back to this little girl and somehow she changed what was on the screen from the kids show or game or whatever to a live stream of Westside church.
[00:01:38] And they're like, oh, let's fix that. But then they realized as she started watching this, she was calmed down watching it. And they looked and it's me preaching.
[00:01:49] And so for the whole 20 minute drive, this is the story I heard. She just contentedly was watching me preach.
[00:01:57] So the next time they get in the car, they don't hand her the game or the kids show. They go straight to Westside Church's livestream and they hand it back to the little girl and she's not content. And so they look at the phone and it's Pastor Ben preaching.
[00:02:16] I'm not making this up. This is the story as I heard it.
[00:02:21] And so the little girl's dad said, no, no, not the bearded one. We want the bald one. Come on, somebody take that. I'll take that.
[00:02:32] I love it, I love it.
[00:02:34] You're like, well, we don't like him preaching, but evidently the toddlers, they really take to him.
[00:02:40] No, but I think there's, in all of us, there's this Sense of we want to know that maybe we're not the best in whatever we are seeking to be in our lives or our purpose, but we want to know we're okay relative to everybody else.
[00:02:56] And it's this jockeying for position that is so common in the story of these disciples who are following Jesus. And it seems like the more popular Jesus has become and the more famous he becomes because of his miracles, the more these disciples are like, okay, I need to submit my position as Jesus Guy.
[00:03:16] And Jesus leads them to Jerusalem in this passage. And we're gonna see that what he does right off the bat In John chapter 13, as they sit down for the Passover meal is going to cut against everything that these disciples think proves their importance.
[00:03:34] And he's going to show them a model for living.
[00:03:37] That doesn't look like showing off just how big of a deal you are. So John chapter 13 says, before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. And he had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.
[00:03:58] Just sit with that line for a second. He loved them to the very end.
[00:04:03] That statement in the beginning of this is so important because it doesn't give any qualifiers.
[00:04:09] And if you know the story, you know that those disciples that are sitting with him around that table include guys like Peter, who's about to deny Jesus.
[00:04:18] Around that table is Judas, who is about to betray Jesus from for silver.
[00:04:24] And the rest of them that are so cowardly that they're going to abandon him in his hour of need as he goes to the cross. And to these disciples, John writes, he loved them to the very end.
[00:04:37] This is an invitation for all of us who feel like if we were following Jesus, we probably would not have been invited into the inner circle around this table.
[00:04:48] That to you, Jesus would say, I loved you to the very end.
[00:04:54] We continue on.
[00:04:56] It was time for supper. And the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. And Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. And so he got up from the table. Now, if you are in the room with your betrayer and your denier and your deserters, and in this moment, as Jesus, you understand and realize that God, your Father, has given all authority in heaven and on earth to you. All the power, all the ability to do whatever you see fit. And you know that you are surrounded by those who will betray you.
[00:05:35] And Deny you and desert you. What do you do with that power? I've got some ideas, Jesus.
[00:05:42] I've got some thoughts on what I would do to those who, although you've poured out your love for them, they will not be able to support you in your hour of need.
[00:05:52] What would I do? I have some thoughts.
[00:05:55] This is what Jesus does in verse four. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist and poured water into a basin. And then he began to wash the disciples feet. Drying them with a towel that he had around them to wash feet. Was something so low in this culture that some scholars tell us that historically not even servants were given that task.
[00:06:22] Only the lowest of the low in this society, the slaves would be given the task of washing feet.
[00:06:30] And here is Jesus, the famous rabbi, now the celebrity rabbi.
[00:06:36] And he's leading his guys into Jerusalem for what some of them suspect is their moment of glory where Jesus is gonna take the crown and he's gonna lead the people in revolution against Rome. And this is the moment they've all been waiting for. And so here's Rabbi Jesus in his teacher's robe with the tassels on the bottom. And the thing that tells everybody this guy has authority.
[00:07:05] And here he is around the table and instead of making plans for revolution, what does Jesus the teacher, the rabbi do?
[00:07:14] He knows all authority has been given to him and so he takes off the very thing that signals his power.
[00:07:22] And I think this is true for any of us who ever deal with insecurity.
[00:07:27] And when we do get influence or authority or power at any level, whether it's in large scale settings or if it's in small relationships. But whenever we get power out of insecurity, we try to raise up the things that signal how important we are.
[00:07:48] And unlike Jesus, we would stand in those places and be like, have you seen the tassels on my rope?
[00:07:54] I'm kind of a big deal.
[00:07:56] Did you see how the people reacted when I fed the 5000? Did you see when Lazarus came out of his tomb? Did you see what people thought of me?
[00:08:06] And it could have been like the greatest hits. You know, let's go around the table and everybody just tell everybody what you love about me.
[00:08:13] Jesus does none of that.
[00:08:16] With all the authority of God resting on him.
[00:08:20] He takes off his robe and he stoops and he gets low.
[00:08:26] And he does not what a rabbi or teacher would do. He does what only slaves in their culture and context would do. And he begins to wash their feet and When Jesus came to Simon Peter, verse six, Peter said to him, lord, are you going to wash my feet? And Jesus replied, you don't understand now what I'm doing, but someday you will.
[00:08:46] No. Peter protested, you will never, ever wash my feet. And Jesus replied, simmer down, unless I wash you, you won't belong to me.
[00:08:57] And Simon Peter exclaimed, well, then wash my head and my hands as well, Lord, not just my feet. See, he is all over the map. This guy needs some emotional regulation.
[00:09:08] And Jesus replied, a person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you. This speaks to anybody who feels like every week when they come to church they gotta start from scratch with God, right?
[00:09:26] This great fear that hovers over you, that the mistakes you've made today or yesterday or this week have completely ruined your relationship with Christ. Jesus says plainly to Peter, who is clearly all over the map, that when you belong to Jesus, you don't have to start from scratch every time because you've made mistakes. Come to Jesus and every day allow him to cleanse those parts of you that maybe have gotten off track, but have this confidence and the security that you belong to Jesus. Amen.
[00:09:59] And so he continues on and he says that not all of you are clean. For Jesus knew verse 11 who would betray him. And that is what he meant when he said, not all of you are clean. And after washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, do you understand what I was doing?
[00:10:17] And what's beautiful about Jesus in this moment is that he is play acting. The whole point of the gospel that he comes in in the glory of his outfit, that signifies his authority.
[00:10:33] Much like Jesus stepping down out of heaven and taking off the glory of that place and his divinity, he takes that off to lower himself.
[00:10:44] And as he lowers himself, he serves and he pours out the water, symbolizing what he's about to do on the cross and giving his life. But that's not the end, because he's going to take up again the robe, take up again his life in resurrection and glory. And then what does he do? He sits down. God, can I tell you that sitting down is a sign that you are at ease and relaxed because the work has been done.
[00:11:09] And here is Jesus about to go to the cross, showing in this small, short moment what he's about to do, that the one who took off the glory of heaven is gonna put it back on again, but not before he serves. And Pours out his life and love in sacrificial serving.
[00:11:27] And so he puts on his robe again. He sits back down. He says, you call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, because that's what I am. And since I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet.
[00:11:40] And I've given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. And I tell you the truth. Slaves are not greater than their master, nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. So he's saying, listen, guys, if I did this, you can do this too.
[00:11:53] If I'm not too important to express love in a way that looks like lowness, you're not too great for this.
[00:12:02] Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.
[00:12:09] There is a, I think, a desire in all of us to find our purpose.
[00:12:17] And I think when we've come here, hopefully many of you are seeking that purpose in the way of Jesus, and almost in every other setting and circumstance. What purpose and success look like in this life is that we get more and more powerful and more and more resourced and better and bigger and on and up to the right and up it goes.
[00:12:42] And the way of Jesus always is subversive to that ideal that we're gonna get better and more successful and stronger and more important. Because the way of Jesus always looks like lowering, lowering, lowering.
[00:12:56] And to follow Jesus. And this is what the disciples weren't catching. And honestly, they wouldn't catch it until long after this, is that to follow Jesus is not to say yes to all the trappings of power and success in this life. It's to follow Jesus, to pour out your life and to find yourself lowering and lowering for the sake of others and trusting that God himself is the one that will lift you up.
[00:13:22] And this is what Jesus is not only teaching them, but he is modeling for them.
[00:13:29] John spends so much time in the Last Supper. That's why we're talking about the Last Supper today, several weeks before we get to Easter, is because John just camps out for three chapters, four chapters in this moment, around the table. It was that important to John, this expression of the closeness of Jesus for his disciples. And it's these disciples that Jesus decides and intentionally serves, even though the room is filled with those who do not support him. And oftentimes I think, man, if I could just choose, like, if I could choose a crew of people, the most supportive and the most loyal to me, the ones I'm most comfortable with, it would look like a room where I would be most available to them to serve and love them.
[00:14:19] You know, if you think about the people in your family or your life that are the easiest to love and to serve, think about those people and be like, yeah, I could serve them sacrificially. Now think about the people that are actually in your family that are actually your co workers, that are actually in this room.
[00:14:39] Right.
[00:14:40] Too soon? Okay, I'll back off on that.
[00:14:44] Oftentimes, it's the messiness of real life that Jesus, he models in this space. Like, it's not the ones that have proven their loyalty to you that gets your love and your service.
[00:14:56] It's the ones that I've put you in the mix of that you are called to serve and to love. And funny story, this past week, Alyssa and I went just overnight to see a concert in Portland. And we like these little getaways to a different city. And it's a little bit anonymous, you know, you don't run into people, you know, and so we can just get away, truly get away. And so we get there in the afternoon, and I'm checking in to the hotel, and as I've been standing there, I. Out of my peripheral, I'm like, I kind of recognized somebody that's standing next to me. And I wasn't sure, whatever. And then I turned to get on the elevator, and the person that was checking in right at the check in stand next to me is standing there face to face. And I realized very quickly, oh, this is one of the pastors of one of the other churches in Bent. And we're now on the elevator together.
[00:15:50] And this isn't what you normally want when you have a romantic getaway with your wife is to, like, go to a pastor's convention, right? That's not the idea.
[00:16:01] And I know this pastor. We go way back, we get coffee together, we're friends.
[00:16:06] And as we're on the elevator writing, I'm remembering this story. And I was kind of annoyed, like, hey, you know, And I'm sure he was too, like, hey, let's stay away from each other so we can have our getaways with our wives, right? And then I realized, and I remember, like, I'm teaching on being in the room with people that you wouldn't choose, and yet loving and serving well. And so I turned to him and I said, I feel like I need to do this. Can you take off your shoes? I'm just kidding. That would be crazy.
[00:16:33] We're in an elevator. I'm not Insane, right?
[00:16:38] Anyway, we had a nice talk and then we went and checked in or whatever. And then we saw him at dinner again and just couldn't get away. And then we go to the concert and this is true. We're looking for our seats and we turn and sitting right in front of is not that pastor. It's not that pastor and his wife. It's another bend Pastor and his wife.
[00:17:01] Whatever this concert was, it has a demographic. I'll tell you what.
[00:17:06] My goodness.
[00:17:07] So we had a lovely pastor's conference and now we're back.
[00:17:12] The rooms we're put in are not always the ones we would choose. And yet we are called, if we follow Jesus, not to see what we can extract or how important we can feel in those rooms, but to enter those rooms and say, how low can I go?
[00:17:29] And how deeply can I model what Jesus has so beautifully done for these disciples and for us and loving those to the end who don't always hold up their end of the bargain.
[00:17:43] That there are times and places where we are called to do those things that no one else would say we have to do. No one was looking at Jesus and being like, okay, teacher, now's the time to lower yourself.
[00:17:59] It was Jesus heart and this subversive new way of expressing love and authority and power that caused Jesus stoop.
[00:18:13] And there's only one other time in the entire Gospel of John where Jesus intentionally lowers himself. And I thought this was really, really beautiful. I'd never seen this connection before. I was studying for this week that as Jesus is lowering himself to wash the feet of his disciples, there's one other time in the entire Gospel where Jesus stoops where he lowers himself. And it's in John chapter eight, and it's in the first section of that chapter where we are told the story of Jesus as he's in the temple and he's surrounded by people and he's teaching and the religious leaders are trying to trap him.
[00:18:49] And so in this instance, they bring before the group a woman who they say has been caught in adultery.
[00:18:57] And they bring her before this group. And there's an angry mob who religious fundamentalists holding stones ready to carry out the law of Moses, which says that adultery is punishable by death.
[00:19:14] And all around this woman who has been thrown in the middle of this group of accusers and condemners, they're holding these rocks ready to stone her. And the religious leaders thinking they could trap Jesus, they say, jesus, what do you say?
[00:19:29] They're hoping he's going to come out swinging against the law with his disgusting compassion.
[00:19:38] And Jesus, instead of responding or having some quick retort, the Gospel of John tells us that Jesus stooped in the dust and he wrote something that we don't know what he wrote, but he writes in the dust.
[00:19:52] And then from that position, as he's kneeling in the dirt, probably next to this woman who was thrown on the ground. So eye to eye with this woman, he turns to the accusers still in the dirt and he says, let the one who has no sin cast the first stone.
[00:20:12] And it says, from the oldest to the youngest, they dropped their stones and they walked away. And then Jesus turns to the woman and he says, where are your accusers?
[00:20:18] She said, they're gone, Lord. He said, well then I don't accuse you either.
[00:20:24] Now go and sin no more.
[00:20:26] And it's in the stooping of Jesus down to the level of the accused and the condemned that we see the heart of God so beautifully expressed. For anyone who has ever felt guilty from their sin, accused and condemned, we have this hope that the God of all righteousness and holiness and perfection stoops in the dirt when we need him the most.
[00:20:50] And it's that position of Jesus, that lowering, lowering, lowering, that is not just some kind of show to prove how humble he is, to prove how he's just one of us. No, the lowering of Jesus is to save us.
[00:21:06] It's to stand in between those voices that would condemn us. It's to lower to that place where the stuff of God can get into the stuff and the messiness of our lives and hearts and change everything.
[00:21:22] If Jesus hadn't stooped in that moment, the woman would have died.
[00:21:27] And if Jesus had not stooped in this moment to wash the disciples feet, we might have a Christian faith that was built on power and title and position.
[00:21:38] And instead we have a Jesus, a Lord, a Savior who has shown us the way that all of our faith and all of our practice and all that we are as church people and churches should be based on this model that we find ourselves wherever we have power, wherever we ever have authority, where we have influence, that instead of lording that over others, we would lower, lower, lower, lower to love extravagantly.
[00:22:06] He would go on in John 13:34. I think this is actually the end of my notes. But he says a new command. I give you. Love one another.
[00:22:14] As I have loved you, so you must love one another. Do you remember the first time he said, I'm giving you a new command? He said, love the Lord your God with all your heart. Mind, soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
[00:22:28] That was the command he originally gave to love your neighbor as yourself. And now, after he washes the feet of his disciples, many who will betray and deny him, he says, a new command I give you. Don't just love your neighbor as you love you. Love your neighbor as I have loved you.
[00:22:45] It's like he just keeps upping the bar for love.
[00:22:51] And for any of us who, in moments of insecurity, have struggled with even loving ourselves, Jesus ups the bar to say, this is what perfect love looks like, poured out for those, even the ones that will betray you, love this way. And I believe that the credibility of who we are as people of faith, as Christians, will not come from our arguments or our stances or our successes. That people would look at us like, wow, they've got it all figured out. They must love God.
[00:23:24] But Jesus would tell us that the way that people will know that we follow after the way of Jesus is because of how we love.
[00:23:38] I've seen this impulse in me and my leadership. I've seen it in the church where we want to make really beautiful pathways and on ramps and to our credit, easy ways for people to get up to where God is right, to figure out your spiritual practices and your behavior and your morality and all the things that cause problems in your life so that maybe you could arrive in this place up here where God is in his perfect ways, you know?
[00:24:10] And as we read today and as we continue through this gospel, I'm reminded that Jesus is always coming down low to find us where we are.
[00:24:18] It's always down in the lowest places, in the dirt and the messiness and the dust of real life, that we encounter the presence of a risen Savior.
[00:24:32] And so my question for us today, and we're going to receive communion in just a few moments, my question for you is, wherever you have power, wherever you have authority, wherever it feels like you're kind of a big deal, are you willing to take off the robe of that to love like Jesus did?
[00:24:57] Are we willing to lay down our pride and our insecurities in order to take up this way of Jesus?
[00:25:05] Paul would write about this heart that Jesus had in Philippians 2. 5. He says, in your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature, God did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.
[00:25:20] Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness and being found in the appearance of a man. He humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.
[00:25:32] Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
[00:25:46] And this is the model we have in Jesus.
[00:25:49] One who was entitled to all the stuff and all the authority and all the glory and all the goodness that comes from being on top.
[00:25:59] And in Christ we see this model, someone who lays it all down and lower and lower and lower. He goes to serve and to love.
[00:26:10] And so this is an invitation for all of us, wherever you find yourself today, to let this way of Jesus get on the inside, to inform how we exist in relationships and in the rooms that we find ourselves, to love not just well and not just to those who reciprocate, but to whatever room we find ourselves in, to lower ourselves and allow that heart of Jesus to come through in the way that we serve.
[00:26:41] For those on the outside of faith today we hear the invitation. Let Jesus wash you as he washed Peter.
[00:26:50] For the important and the proud, let Jesus lower you.
[00:26:56] And for the fearful, for those who are insecure in their place, wondering if you even belong to God and to.
[00:27:06] To Jesus today, let Jesus love you to the very end. Amen.
[00:27:11] I want to pray for you if you'd bow your heads and close your eyes.
[00:27:26] Lord Jesus, it's a humbling thing to stand here in your church this morning and just realizing all those ways and those places where I have as a pastor, allowed a sense of my own importance or my own authority to get in the way of this kind of work of Jesus in our midst. And so, Lord Jesus, I repent today for letting whatever authority or power that I've been given to stand in between me and what you would do. And I pray, Lord, would you continually bring me into a place where that is laid down.
[00:28:18] And Lord, for all of us, I pray, would you bring such a sweet presence of your Holy Spirit today to dismantle those flimsy structures of temporary authority and power that we cling to, that we feel like, make us who we are and make us important and give us security that today, Jesus, we would find all of our security, all of our purpose, all of our identity wrapped up in Jesus that we would love so completely and selflessly in rooms where we're comfortable and rooms where we're not that like you, Jesus, we would at the end of our lives, look back and realize we've poured out our lives, that many would know that we are those who follow Jesus.
