Our questions today discuss “humbly serving.” While I believe we are called to humbly serve, I think we are called to more than that. There are a number of people and organizations that “serve”. Some do it for a living, such as waitresses and waiters and care givers in hospitals and nursing facilities. There are some that do it financially. Some as part of a community organization. Some who do it as a requirement for community service hours. But, if we really look at Jesus act of washing the disciples feet, it was more than humble service… it was making a connection.
Jesus didn’t just place himself at their feet. He reached out and touched them. He cleansed them with his hands. He stripped himself down of his outer garments and became personally connected with them. I think this is a big part of why this act resonates with us so much. We don’t need a God who spends His time washing our feet – we don’t need a God who serves us. We do desire with all of our hearts a God who connects with us, who is intimate with us and fills our souls with love.
This is the difference between true Christ-Like service and most of the service men provide, it is the connection. It is far more than drive-by service. It is not just a service penance that makes us feel better because we help those people, them, over there. To be truly Christ like there isn’t a them and us, there is just a connected unity of us, the church, children of God. It has to build connections, build communities that we are a part of not separate from. Not just something we do to help but something we do with love for our God and for the person we are serving.
Think about where the disciples’ eyes would have been throughout this. They would have been watching their Lord, the Messiah, tendering loving them and gazing back up into their faces, not in pain or disgust over their gnarly feet, but in an overflowing of love and compassion. Psalm 145:8-9 says, “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.”
Could you use a little more grace, love and compassion in your life? You know exactly where to look. He is waiting with a towel around him, waiting to wipe away your tears and your sins.
My Answers:
5.
He is God. He is their teacher. He is the Lord, the Messiah, the center of all prophecy, and He got down and scrubbed the grime from their feet- a job for the lowliest of servants. I learn that humility and service is the model of Jesus. That our place as His followers is not to stand on and above others to oppress them for our gain, but to get down and lift them up
6.
a.
To children. To wait patiently for His direction and calling. To be anonymous in some actions.
b.
It brings me closer to the Lord. I see insights in the scripture I would not see with a lofty chin and stiff neck. I see more and more of Jesus’ love. I see how much He humbled himself and how low I truly am (no boasting).
The Notes are Good 