WATCHWORD:
12 After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? 13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 16 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. 17 Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them. John 13:12-17
Meditation:
Do As I Have Done
If you listen to the news too much about the election you get the impression that our top candidates are vying for the role of king or queen, with too little emphasis on serving “We the people.” Somewhere I got this old fashioned idea that the leadership of this country should be serving us, to protect us, to make our lives better, not the other way around.
This snapshot of Jesus that we have in scripture, has him washing his disciples feet as a lesson on how they should serve one another, and how they should lead others. Jesus was also preparing them to receive the hardest lesson that he is about to teach them on the cross. This is the same lesson that lays before us, time has not watered it down. We are not greater than our master Jesus and we know in our hearts that we should serve others as he demonstrated in that upper room with a basin of water and humble spirit. Knowing that we should serve one another isn’t enough, as defined by whatever measure you use; we must actually serve one another as Christ did for his disciples.
Friends that is a heavy lift. It’s hard for us to think about taking on the lowliest job in the world for another person as an act of love. One of my dear friends exhausts herself as she reaches out to others, with visits, meals, and with the kind of hospitality that some of us have a hard time mimicking. While she may not consciously think this way, I see her as a disciple, following the example of her Lord, as best she can.
Do you remember those discussions that you had when you were in school about the teacher grading on the curve, where the grade cards were filled with A,B,C,D and F, and often with pluses or minuses. In the Kingdom of God you either serve or you don’t. It’s a yes I do or no I don’t. My friend might exhaust herself by doing all the things that she does but if she is committed to doing ten things, while I can do only one, we are both saying yes to Jesus. Our Lord and savior does not grade on the curve.
In John 13:34-35, Jesus tells us “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Let me paraphrase that without changing the meaning: Serve one another. As I have served you, so you must serve one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you serve one another.
As long as I have had an understanding of that passage, I have marveled at the difficulty that this new command of Jesus gives us to actually live out. We should all pray that the Lord will give us the strength and the discernment to love others, to serve others, as he loves us, as he serves us. Amen.
By Our Love:
A song from 1960s — “They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love” — expresses how the world looking on will know that we are believers in Jesus by the way that we love others.
Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, help us to learn to be more aware of the lessons you are teaching us. Holy Spirit, open our eyes to see and our hearts to receive those opportunities to serve. Give us boldness to speak your word, to extend your hand to heal, and do miraculous things in the majestic name of Jesus. Help us to live our lives, Lord, doing our part to extend your Kingdom where we live. It’s in the name of Jesus, amen.
