Christian Community
Serve One Another
Teaching t07928
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Introduction
We're continuing our study of the book of Romans. Let's begin with a brief review of where we are in the book.
In the first half of the book (chapters 1-11), if you recall, Paul gave us the most in-depth explanation anywhere in scripture of what is called "the good news", that although we all stand alienated from God due to our many moral failings, yet through Christ's provision who satisfied God's justice for us, we can become reconciled to God, as a gift, merely by expressing to God our desire to receive his forgiveness, and to have relationship with Him.
In chapter 12, Paul begins to focus on living life within the context of this new relationship with God, a "transformed" life, life lived according to God's purposes. As Gary pointed out last week, the central element in this transformed life is that within the context of the community of people learning to follow Christ, which is the church, each of us has certain gifts, abilities, and roles of service that we can learn to use to serve one another. This dynamic of the community of believers is really summarized in a command Christ himself gave to those who follow him, in John 13:34, love one another as I have loved you.
So this week we start a series on this topic, tracing it through the remainder of Romans 12 and following in the weeks to come. But this morning we're going to go to John 13, where this phrase comes from, and get an understanding of just what he means when he says "Love one another as I have loved you". We find that the distinguishing element in this kind of love is something we'll call "Servanthood"
What is Servanthood?
Huge area; rich and complex, and challenging; daunting to teach on it feeling as I do that I have so much yet to learn in my own life in this central area; we'll go to the master here to learn, in John 13:1.
Verses 1-5, Christ's situation and their situation
Now consider this situation for a moment...knew he was coming to the end of his earthly ministry. In just a couple hours he would be at Gethsemane, waiting to be arrested, full of so much dread and anxiety over the prospect that lay ahead of him that it says that his sweat became like drops of blood. It wasn't just Roman crucifixion, which is a fearful enough prospect; it was the knowledge that he was going to be facing the fracturing of the love relationship he, God the Son, had with God the Father, that he would be identified and take on himself all of the evil of humanity, and as our substitute, he was going to experience the righteous anger of God against that evil...begging to be let off, but relenting for our sakes. So that's the immense, pressing burden on his mind as he comes into this situation...Lk. 22:15 tells us he had been looking forward to this meal as a last shelter from the coming storm, a chance for some friendship and comfort from these last 12 who hadn't turned against him yet...
At the same time, think about the state of mind of the disciples here. They're sitting at the table for the meal with dirty feet. Now this was an unusual situation, coming to a dinner with unwashed feet, because of two facts, first that most people wore sandles, and second that the streets were filthy, due to the use of animals for transportation. So in the culture of the time it was expected that the owner of the house would provide a servant whose job it was to wash the feet of the guests before they came to the table for a meal. Christ and the disciples were borrowing this room, and the host was apparently not around, and so in such situations we are told that it was common for one of the guests to wash the feet of the others. This question, which of us is going to take the lowly role on himself and wash the feet, seems to have precipitated another round of one of their favorite debates (Lk. 22:24), as the parallel account in Luke 22 tells us: which one of them was the greatest!
As you read through the gospels, its striking how often they had these discussion...being with Christ was no doubt extremely exciting, and they seemed to be unable to resist kind of jostling for the vice-president slot or high cabinet position in what God was going to do through him. So there they sat at the table with dirty feet because no one wanted to lose face and serve the others!
They're like metaphor for the world system...the way God sees human society, with each person waiting to be served by others, wondering why don't people treat me right, don't give me the respect I deserve? With the result that no one's needs are met...and it must have been a most unpleasant dinner party, reclining at table you're right next to the other guys feet! Pretty unappetizing!
So what a contrast! Christ, on the one hand trying to gather his courage to go to the cross, for these very guys, as well as the rest of us that same evening And them, on the other hand riveted on themselves, am I getting the respect I deserve? Is the other guy trying to outmanuever me and take what I want here? How can I get these other guys to respect me the way I deserve? Christ is preparing to literally give his life away; they, on the other hand can only think about how to push the other guys down for the sake of enlarging themselves! So its in this situation that he surrenders his expectations, takes the clothing of the slave himself, and starts to wash their feet.
Verses 6-11, symbolic washing
And as he puts on the towel of the slave and starts to wash their feet, they're stunned and very uncomfortable. When he gets to Peter, as we read, Peter refuses: read 6-8. Christ is the one person they would have all agreed should NOT do the job, and its really Peter's pride that, knowing he didn't deserve this refused to accept it! Why this strong response from Christ? As usual, he's able to accomplish multiple things at once.
Clearly the washing is symbolic, of the forgiveness Christ is going to provide for all of us, to wash away our sins. Christ is saying that the one requirement he has of us is to set aside that very pride and consent to be served by him!
Maybe some of you feel this way as you've been hearing about what the Bible calls the grace of God...feel a bit uncomfortable about simply calling out to God for the gift of acceptance through Christ, and feel that you'd prefer to earn it, come with some set of good works in your hand, some justification that at least you're better than alot of other people you know! This reaction is our pride, and it is the one requirement for God's acceptance, as Christ signals here, the one non-optional cost of salvation: the humility to let Christ serve us by washing away the moral debt we owe God in a way we don't deserve!
Peter shows his true heart of faith...give me a bath!
Verses 12-17, this incident defines servanthood for us
This is the kicker...he points to this demonstration of love as being an example for us...this incident really contains what he means when he says at the end of the chapter love one another as I have loved you.
Clearly, its a very different kind of love, this notion of servanthood, than usual concept of love in which its about what the other person gives to me, especially what they make me feel. Christ is showing us something very different...it really isn't about how the other person makes me feel at all...these guys at this point were no doubt making him feel bad! Probably let down, and disappointed and maybe angry. Instead, its a commitment...and to meet needs in every area...he met the immediate physical need with washing their feet so they could relax and enjoy the meal together, but of course goes much further in also sitting them down and meeting the deeper spiritual need, instructing them, as we'll try to unpack some here this morning. And it was serving according to God's purposes...setting aside his own agenda, not for theirs, in some kind of co-dependent way, to get their affirmation or something else from them, but something quite different...setting aside his own agenda for the sake of furthering God's purposes in their lives!
So that's what it is...Christ has illustrated it for us...now the question is...
Why Pursue Servanthood?
Good question; Christ addresses it, giving us two answers in this passage.
First: serving is true fulfillment
Verse 17 contains the first reason... Blessed means fulfilled. There is a principle, a causal connection between exercising this kind of serving love and our happiness, fulness, fulfillment...very practical point that is critical to lay hold of.
Its counter-intuitive...as a kid I remember hearing Acts 20:35 around Christmas time; it kind of bounced off...where are the rest of the presents! We are naturally pre-persuaded that when we're feeling empty and unhappy, what we need is for people to give us the various kinds of love that we need and want...
But consider the way relationships actually work, for example. What impact does selfishness have? Disciples are a perfect picture of it! They're having a miserable time, with no one's needs met, waiting for someone else to serve each other, and backbiting each other. Big part of why genuine fulfillment is a result of living a life of this kind of serving love: relationships prosper! And we were designed to live in a community of thriving relationships based on this kind of serving love.
But he's arguing more than that...that even without anything back from the other, we will have a blessed life if we love effectively this way. We feel loved not from taking, but from effectively loving this way.
Christ makes the promise that if you know these things, you'll be blessed if you do them. Many of us, myself included, have experienced how true this is...but how easy to forget. But there are always plenty of opportunities to turn around and begin serving again.
True fulfillment...but that's not the only reason Christ gives us here...and this second one may be a bit of a surprise, especially considering the mentality of the disciples at the time!
Second: servanthood is true greatness
Verses 12-16 make this point in compact fashion...since I'm the teacher and therefore the greatest, you should be able to deduce that my example of effective servanthood is true greatness. But he argues more fully in other passages.
Mk. 9:33-35...hillarious...what have you guys been talking about?
Mk. 10:42-45 Servanthood is true greatness, basically because God himself is this way! God, arguably the greatest being by whatever standard of measurement you wish to use, comes to us with the intention to serve. He is personally inviting us to partake in a love relationship with himself, which he made possible for us at the cost of his own son's suffering. He is not a tyrant, grabbing for himself! And when God evaluates history, and our lives, what impresses him is this same quality of taking the resources we have and using them for the benefit of others according to his purposes.
Again, this is counter-intuitive. We work with a different definition of greatness. Think about Alexander the Great! Weeping at the end of his life why...that there was no more good he can do for people in the world? No...that there were no more cities to conquer, nor more possibilities for enlarging the realm of his domination! Or the contrast between the coverage in Newsweek of the deaths of Mother Teresa and Princess Diana.
An analogy...Jim Marshall running the wrong way for a touchdown, and an older college film of almost doing the same thing...that's what Christ is saying to these guys, and to us! Pour your life's work into getting to the RIGHT endzone! Pursue the real thing, a life that is honored by God, because by serving others according to his purposes, eternal good has been done to other human beings!
Lk. 22:27-30...saying I want you guys to take advantage of the opportunity to put your lives into something that will be honored for all eternity! Quit running the wrong direction, and start running for the right endzone!
We need to be clear that its not just the occasional Christian that has such a significant role to play. See Paul's excitement in I Tim. 1:12-13. C. S. Lewis's quote from The Weight of Glory gets at this idea:
“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization--these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendours...our charity must be a real and costly love.”
True fulfillment and true greatness work together...we were created to have a purpose greater than ourselves, and this is the one we were created for...pursuing God's role for us in this world, which will be genuinely good for other people and for us as well.
How to Become an Effective Servant
Christ models some practical points here, which is part of what he means when he says "love one another as I have loved you", and form key distinctives between this kind of servanthood for Christ and other types of service.
In dependence on God vs. by your own resources
Verse 3 is rich. As he enters into this situation, his focus is where? Through his own relationship with the father, its on his identity as God's son, the resources God had richly given him, and the tremendous assurance of hope in the future....he's modeling a focus of dependence on God that we can apply directly. In this context it actually becomes practical to love this way...kids ex;
Denying self vs. self-protection
The standout quality of Christ's example is his willingness to set aside his own agenda, not acting out on what he felt like doing at the moment, but instead, as he himself often called it, denying himself in favor of God's purposes in the situation. Its obvious, but needs underscored here, because we're up against a culture in which self-protection is held up as the highest ideal...especially in many notions of spirituality today, the central goal is on cultivating self, focusing on nurturing self, and God is calling us to really critique that viewpoint, and build into our lives the category for coming to hate self-protection and pursue this kind of servanthood which definitely involves self-denial!
Jn. 12:24 Of course, there are legitimate needs we have...and God knows better than anyone else how to meet those needs, for relaxation, enjoyment, etc. The point is, if the core, organizing controlling principle in our lives is to protect self, we'll live a dry and lifeless, fruitless kind of existence!
Have you developed your own critique of self-protection? I would say it should be normal to be aware of very specific areas where God is leading us to greater freedom from self-protection.
Conclusion
If you're a Christian here, and perhaps wondering where to get started really developing this area of servanthood in your life, perhaps having difficulty seeing what your own gifting and calling might be, let me make a practical suggestion: if you aren't already. And if you are going to a home group, double-check that as you go to each meeting, you make it your explicit goal, in prayer to God, that you come to find and take advantages of the opportunity to serve, and to become better equipped through more experienced members of the group to be effective in your service!
If you're investigating Christianity, let me make this practical suggestion to you. So much of what we've been discussing this morning is based on having a personal relationship with God through Christ. This is the first order of business! God wants to serve you...through providing complete forgiveness, the hope of eternal life, and through his ongoing relationship with you, making this notion of a tremendous, good purpose for life possible to you.