Serve

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Jesus rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.  John 13:4-5  

Serve
What does it mean to be a servant? True servants can only serve when self is out of the way. Service takes humility and sacrifice and the ability to see value in everyone – to see everyone worthy of your personal time and efforts. Otherwise, you are only going through the motions, and though there will be benefits to those receiving, they will not receive the full benefit, and neither will you.  In the passage above, we see with great humility, Jesus poured out the water and began the menial servant task of washing feet.  It surprised everyone that night … but it shouldn't us who sit on this side of the table. 

Serve in spite of your circumstances. Jesus was a servant in spite of His circumstances. – How many times has your heart been broken to the point that you don’t even want to see anyone? We can actually miss some opportunities that God sends our way when we are too wrapped up in our own circumstances. Most often serving is a healing balm to a broken heart, and maybe two broken hearts, depending on the circumstances of the ones you are serving. Jesus was very close to his death at this point and He knew it. But He put it all aside to serve – to model to us how we should serve. Serving others takes our minds off our hurting heart and focuses on others and their needs. We may have a whole new perspective on our own problems when we spend time really serving others and see the hardships that others go through. 

Serving is sometimes dirty work – In this story Jesus got up from His supper and took off His garments. He had to get down on the floor to get to the disciples’ feet to wash and dry them. Feet are one of the most humbling parts of our bodies, right?  Who wants to take off their shoes and let someone else clean their feet?  They are sweaty and smelly, and it is a real sacrifice to want to serve someone by rubbing or cleaning their feet.  It is also a beautiful gift. In Jesus’ time, they walked the dusty roads all day long and it was necessary because they would get so dirty. Feet were considered the dirtiest part of the body.  

Sometimes serving is really dirty work, like cleaning out buildings, cleaning up after disasters, or helping homeless people who may have not bathed in quite a while.  All are precious in God’s eyes and that means that they should be precious in our eyes too.  They need to know that they are valuable and worthy of care and help.  This is what being the hands and feet of Jesus are all about – sometimes doing the work no one else wants to do. We must always remember that God does not love us anymore than He loves anyone else – all people are the same in His eyes and heart.

Serving takes time.  Jesus took His time with each disciple while washing their feet, and not only did Jesus wash their feet, He took the time to wipe them dry. He could have had them all line up and pour water over their feet, and then tossed them a towel.  But He didn’t.  They deserved His time and attention, and those we serve deserve out time and attention too. 

Service is a choice we make to give something of ourselves to others, strictly for the benefit of others. Self-centered service performs an act of service to get something in return – even if it is just to be noticed. True service from the heart can never be about ourselves.  Self has to be removed from the equation.  Even though service is about others, our hearts will be blessed and our lives so much richer for serving others. God is always glorified when we serve others.  Jesus knew this so He made sure He modeled this form of boundless love for us. 

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,
and to give His life a ransom for many. Mark 10:45