Sermon

Click here to print this Sermon

March 5, 2003
Midweek Lent
John 13:1-17
Pastor Joel Zank

The Upper Room: A Place of Service

(John 13:1-17) It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus.3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"7 Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."8 "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."9 "Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"10 Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you."11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them.13 "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am.14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.16 I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

In Christ Jesus, whose grace is sufficient for us and whose power is made perfect in our weakness, dear fellow redeemed,

Have you ever gone back and visited the house where you grew up? I grew up in a little town called Schofield not very far from here. Our house was on Spring Street. I haven't been in it for years, but I get to drive by it fairly often. It's painted blue now instead of white. I suppose the inside looks different too. I often wonder what it would be like to see my old bedroom or sit in that livingroom again. Would the place seem the same? Or would it somehow seem a little smaller than I remember it, or maybe a little larger?

I wonder such things because I've come to realize that time has a way of changing our perspective on the places we've been, even memorable places like the houses we grew up in. We revisit such places and discover they bring back good memories or maybe bad ones. We spend a little time in an old familiar place and then we leave with a different understanding of our roots. Going back helps us remember what we were like back then and how we're different now.

Over the span of the next six weeks, you and I are going to visit some places where most of us have been before-in spirit that is. We're going to visit the places where our Lord Jesus spent the most important 72 hours of his life on earth. We're going to some streets inside Jerusalem and to a hill outside that city. We'll be visiting a courtroom and a cemetery. We're going to call these places "Places of the Passion." And we'll find that every place we visit will have a memory and a meaning for us; and every place will make a difference in our lives, a difference in respect to what we are now and to what we hope to be after we die.

So let's get started. Our journey begins right now as we pay a visit to a house located in the old city of Jerusalem. Actually, we're going to visit a room in that house. The Bible calls it the upper room. We will call it a place of service where Jesus shows us the full extent of his love and where Jesus urges us to imitate his example.

Can you picture the upper room? The Bible describes it as large and furnished; there were tables and couches too, on which Jesus and his disciples reclined as each one leaned back on one elbow to eat the Passover meal. Keep in mind it was Thursday. By the time everyone arrived, it was night-but no ordinary night. John tells us, "Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love" (vs. 1).

What an amazing statement! For we know of great love that Jesus had been showing these 12 disciples throughout the 3 years he had been with them. He had taught and trained them. He had fed and provided for them. He had even saved their lives. Having given of himself for so long, no one could blame him, then, if he were to spend these last few hours before his death tending to his own needs. But that's not what Jesus did. He couldn't. After all he had come to be God's love in the flesh; and right now love had work to do. There was a traitor to love and a room full of conceited sinners to care for.

So love springs into action and during the course of this one evening, Jesus reviews for us the purpose and importance of his entire life on earth. He came to our world as God's own Son-all knowing and all powerful. John says in verse 3, "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God." Jesus knew that as God he was the guest of honor at that and all such occasions. More than that, he was literally the founder of this Passover feast. But he sets aside that title and his right to claim it; and instead before our very eyes he becomes a servant, actually a slave as he gets up from the meal, wraps a towel around his waist and, in love, sets out to wash twelve pairs of dirty feet.

The fact that Jesus got up from the meal to do this means that he had waited for a time to see if any of the men he had trained would volunteer for this task. Typically a servant would have performed this courtesy for each arriving guest, but no servant had been hired. So any one of the disciples could have taken on the job and regarded the upper room as a place of service, a place to serve his fellow disciples. But none did. Can you guess why? In stubborn pride no one, by his actions, wanted to appear less important than the others. Instead it was easier for each man to think up reasons as to why his neighbor ought to be the one performing such menial work. So in stubbornness all the disciples took their seats, willing to put up with the sight and smell of each other's dirty feet rather than play the part of the slave.

But Jesus had no conceit in him, no selfishness, no sin of any kind. And so in the same humility that had brought him from the glories of heaven to this sin-ruined world, he went about washing the disciples' feet one after another until he got to Peter. Remember, Peter too had declined the opportunity to serve. He didn't want to wash feet, but he also didn't want Jesus washing feet, at least not his. He said: "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" {7} Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." (vv.6-7).

How thankful we can be that Jesus loves us sinners even when we don't fully understand the depth of his love or what it seeks to do for us. In such love Jesus tries to allay Peter's concern, promising that in time all would be clear to him. But Peter refuses to be consoled. Instead he takes on the role of the master and tells Jesus, "No you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me" (v.8).

Just like that Jesus turned the conversation from physical concerns to spiritual. This night found him a willing servant washing dirt from his disciples' feet. The next day would also find him a willing servant on the cross, washing away the sins of the world with his own blood. If Peter found such humble love distasteful, or embarrassing, or unnecessary, it would mean that he was looking for a different kind of Savior than the one Jesus came to be. And if that were the case, Peter would have no forgiveness, no share in heaven, no Savior at all. The same is true of us. Jesus wants to wash us clean every day. But how often we respond like Peter, denying him the opportunity. It happens for different reasons. Some days we feel no need for his services-at least we find no sin to confess to him-no guilty conscience for him to cleanse. At other times we just don't want his help. We don't want to admit our sin. We'd rather make excuses for it so we can keep on doing it. Like Peter and the others, it may be stubborn pride that grips our hearts. Instead of being the first to apologize after a disagreement, or the first to volunteer for some menial task at home or at work, we sit back and wait for others to serve us, telling ourselves we're too important for it to be any other way. That's conceit and it's a dirty, damning offense before God. Now, if we prefer to live with the dirt of our sins, then we have no need for Jesus and therefore no part in his salvation-no forgiveness, no heaven. That thought ought to terrify us. It sure frightened Peter to the point where he told Jesus, "Then don't just wash my feet ... but my hands and my head as well!" {10} Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you" (vv.9-10). Jesus was talking about Judas. He wasn't clean. He was still hiding and holding on to his sin. In love Jesus speaks this word of warning to him, in hopes that he may be brought to repentance just like Peter who now recognized how foolish he had been. He wanted to make sure that he enjoyed the cleansing power of God's love, so in effect he told Jesus, "Do whatever you have to do to make me clean." Jesus told him, "You are already clean-you have my forgiveness."

Friends, you have that same forgiveness. Whatever sin it is that you bring to the Lord tonight, however many you may have, you are clean, purified by the blood of Christ. In just a few minutes, Jesus will again assure you of this when he gives you the very body and blood by which he secured your forgiveness and earned for you life eternal. At his table, as in the upper room, Jesus will show us the full extent of his love.

Something else will happen at his table. With the Savior's forgiveness we will receive power, power to live as the holy people he declares us to be. This power will prove most useful, for as we visit the upper room tonight we learn that it is a place of service not just for Jesus, but for all of us because the upper room is the place where Jesus urges all of us to imitate his example.

Jesus says, "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. {14} Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. {15} I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. {16} I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. {17} Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them" (vv.13-17).

Jesus has freed us from the guilt of our sins. Our hearts, once ruled by stubborn pride, have been made thrones of Savior's love and forgiveness. Jesus has done this for us. What better way is there to thank him for his grace than to imitate his example? To live in any other way would mean to think ourselves better than Jesus and too important to serve others in humble love as he did. Just think, every person God has placed in your life represents an opportunity to serve Jesus who will one day say to you: "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40). It may not involve washing their feet, but are you willing to put the needs of others above your own? How about the needs of your family? Can you spend some more time with your children? Your parents? Is there some chore your spouse or sibling just dreads, something that you would be willing to do in love? How about at school or at work? Is there someone who needs your friendship, maybe someone who seems a little different or a bit difficult to get along with? What can you do for that person that would reflect the love of Christ? Think about it. Pray about it and then do it. As an ambassador of Christ's love, Jesus is waiting to bless your efforts in ways you can't possibly imagine.

But what if you make a mess of things? What if you should grow impatient or tired? What if sinful pride should again get the better of you? What then? Well then you have reason to go back don't you, back to the upper room-back to the Savior who does more than offer you a perfect example to follow. He offers you his perfection to wear. He actually counts his whole life of service as yours, even as he forgives your failures again and again. Yes, in the upper room, in that wonderful place of service, you will always find the Savior's peace and all the power you need to thank him for it. Amen.