Treasury of Sermons
Lord, Make Me a Servant!
By Rev Charles Seet
Preached at / Published Life BPC 10:45am Svc, 2010-01-24
Text: John 13:1-17
Many people aspire to leadership, fame and success, but very few aspire to servanthood. This world has too few servants. In many cases those in high management demand service from others. And if there are people who do serve, they serve only to be paid well for their service. That’s the way things are done in the world. It is considered demeaning to serve others and it is considered foolish to serve for nothing.
But God wants us to be different from the world – we are to be servants! The heart of a servant is something that every Christian ought to have. But it is not easy to cultivate a servant’s heart especially when we live in a world that calls us to do everything we can to get to the top. One way to overcome this difficulty is to look at the example of our Lord Jesus.
In fact, there is no better example of humble service than Jesus Himself. He was a humble servant throughout His life on earth. When His disciples were arguing among themselves who is the greatest Jesus rebuked them by saying, “Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)
From the beginning our Lord Jesus had always enjoyed the supreme honour of being equal to God, for He is God Himself. And that honour was rightfully His to retain at all times. And yet Philippians 2:6,7 tells us that “being in the form of God, [Jesus] thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant.” That means that He deliberately set aside for a time the equal honour He received with God the Father in order to join the lowly, common ranks of humanity. What honour is there in being born into this world, as a helpless babe in a manger? What honour is there in being the son of a carpenter from an obscure town called Nazareth?
What honour is there in having fishermen and tax collectors as one’s closest associates? And what honour is there in being condemned like a common criminal, to die a painful death on a cross? None at all. When Jesus “took upon Him the form of a servant” He willingly demoted Himself down to the level of a lowly servant. This truth was highlighted in a most dramatic manner on the night when the disciples of Christ were gathered together for the Last Supper. Let us read John 13:1-17 to see what happened. (Read)
Let us try to imagine the scene as vividly as we can. It was Thursday evening. Jews from all parts of Israel had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of the Passover. Likewise Jesus and His 12 disciples gathered in a large upper room (Mark 14:15) for their Passover meal. The table was all filled with roasted lamb, unleavened bread and wine. And so they were about to have the meal together. (Please note that the words “and supper being ended” in v.2 is better translated “and when it was time for supper.”)
But there was something which had not been done yet. Their feet had not been washed since they came in from the street. In those days it was customary for the host to assign a servant to wash the feet of his guests when they came into his house for a meal. But at that supper, no one had done this. The equipment for washing was all there: a basin, some water and a towel. Perhaps the disciples were all looking at each other hoping that someone would do the dirty work for them. But none of them was willing to get up and wash the feet of the rest.
Then something quite unexpected happened. Since none of the disciples were willing to do it, their Master did it for them! Jesus rose up from the Supper table, laid aside His garments; took a towel and girded Himself and then proceeded to wash their feet. This must have taken them all by surprise. Perhaps they thought that Jesus would appoint one of them to do the work. But now they were stunned when they saw Him doing it! How can the Master be washing their filthy feet? They should be the ones washing His feet!
That is why Peter objected at first when Jesus came to him – “Thou shalt never wash my feet.” (v.8) Actually the Greek words from which this is translated is more emphatic – “Never to all eternity shall Thou wash my feet!” It was only after Jesus indicated that there was a deeper meaning to His act of footwashing that Peter agreed to it. Then when Jesus had washed all 12 pairs of feet as their servant, He put His garments back on and resumed His position at the table as their Master.
There is an unmistakeable parallel here between what Jesus did here and what He did to save us from sin. And perhaps that is what Jesus intended it to be: A picture of His entire ministry of redemption – the footwashing signified the removal of the sins of His people, who were represented by the 12 disciples. The laying aside of His garments in v.4 represented the laying aside of His heavenly glory to become a humble servant on earth. The pouring of water in v.5 speaks of the outpouring of His blood that can wash us whiter than snow. And the putting back on of His garments in v.12 would then stand for the resumption of His heavenly glory after He had completed His redemptive work on earth. Therefore just as Jesus humbled Himself to cleanse their feet, He humbled himself on the cross to cleanse us from all our sins.
But what Jesus did to the disciples was intended to be more than a picture of how He humbled Himself to cleanse us from our sins. It was also intended to provide an example for us to follow, as He stated in vv.13-15 – “Ye call Me Master and Lord: and ye say well: for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.”
How do we apply this example today? Since the 4th century AD some churches have applied this literally – they turned foot-washing into a sacrament that is carried out during worship, just like the Lord’s Supper and Baptism. But what our Lord did here was not for the purpose of instituting a new sacrament. He washed the feet of His disciples to emphasise the principle of humble service. And in this event Jesus demonstrated 3 characteristics of a true servant. And these are 3 characteristics we need in order to have the servant’s heart that Jesus had. Let us consider the first one:
I. He serves without any thought of his own comfort
Awhile ago I mentioned that foot-washing is regularly practised in some churches. But in many instances when this is done, those whose feet are to be washed are instructed to come to the foot-washing service with clean feet in clean footwear, and the wearing of sandals is discouraged. In contrast to that, sandals were the chief footwear used in the time of Christ, and people wore sandals without any socks or stockings.
Thus, we can be sure that the feet of His disciples were all dirty and smelly from walking on the crowded and dusty streets of Jerusalem. The duty of removing sandals from the feet and washing off the dirt from the feet was usually relegated to the lowest-ranking servant of the house because it was quite an unpleasant task. The smell of dirty feet is certainly not very helpful to one’s appetite at supper-time! From this we can see that Jesus must have had no thought for His own personal comfort when He washed His disciples’ feet. Our Lord was willing to forego His own personal comfort and convenience to serve them. Can we, His disciples, do any less then, in serving others?
Actually any kind of Christian service should have this characteristic. There are some Christians who do not serve because they claim that they have no time for it. They think that service is only for those who have time, effort and resources to spare. The truth is that service always involves sacrifice. It has to cost us something. We cannot offer God that which costs us nothing. Service means that we will have to stretch ourselves a little bit, sacrifice some or our precious time, and even endure some personal discomfort.
One reason why people dislike service is that the menial work involved is sometimes unpleasant, tedious or boring. I thank God for one dear brother in our church who works as a professional with a successful practice in the outside world, but every Friday afternoon he would come without fail just to help our office staff to insert all our weekly bulletins with all the inserts.
When I was a Bible college student 20 years ago I was assigned some cleaning duties. And my weekly job for 1 whole year was to clean up the gents toilets next to the Greek and Hebrew classroom. This was one of the dirtiest toilets on our premises (and it wasn’t renovated yet) and whoever had been assigned the duty of cleaning it before me had not done his work. The stains on the walls were thick. When I surveyed the toilet I thought to myself, “This is not going to be a pleasant job.” Whenever it came to Friday afternoon, I would get all the cleaning equipment, hold my breath and spend hours scrubbing the walls, floor and toilets. There were occasions when I found the toilet really dirty and messed up. But by God’s grace I was able to keep it clean and even to smell clean for 2 semesters.
When we face unpleasant tasks in our service, some of us may think, “I wish I did not have to do these things. Why should I get my hands dirty when I don't even have to do these things at home?” When you feel like this, you need to remind yourself, that this is really an area where a humble attitude toward service must be cultivated and exercised. We have no excuse for not doing the meanest of tasks assigned to us, since our Lord Jesus did not disdain the unpleasant servant task of washing His disciples’ feet. To do only what we are most comfortable with is absurd, as this would only make us greater than our Master (v.16).
How then can we be willing to serve without any thought of our own personal comfort? The way to do this is to serve with love. This was apparent in our Lord’s example. The first verse introduces the whole account of His footwashing by saying that Jesus loved His own disciples unto the end. It was love that led Him to drink the bitter cup of suffering for us. And love can do the same for us. When a mother has to clean up her little son who has messed himself up by playing with mud, she does it willingly, because she loves him. When an adult care-giver cleans up his ailing mother who has just vomited all her food he does it willingly because he loves her. So love enables us to overcome our unwillingness to serve others the way that our Master did.
But we often tend to limit our love only to certain people. What makes our Lord so remarkable was that He loves those who do not deserve His love. This brings us to the next characteristic of our Lord’s servant heart.
II. He serves those who do not deserve his service.
Actually what the disciples deserved from Jesus was rebuke, because according to Luke’s account of the Last Supper, they were arguing among themselves about who was the greatest among them (Luke 22:24). And despite the fact that the Lord had done so much for them, they proved to be a disappointment. While He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, and asked them to watch with Him for an hour, they fell asleep. Throughout the ordeal of the trials that Jesus went through, they were all scattered except for John and Peter. And even Peter who followed from afar, denied that he knew Christ not just once but thrice!
What a great disappointment it is to be treated like this by the ones you have loved and served so well. Perhaps you too may have experienced being disappointed like this. You did so much for others, but no one takes any notice of what you are doing. There is not a single word of thanks.
And worse than that, somebody comes along and criticises everything you have done. And so you say, “That does it. I am not going to serve anymore.” Dearly beloved, whenever you feel like this, please remind yourself that when you serve others, you should not expect anything in return from them. When those whom you serve return nothing but criticism and complaints, do not bear any grudges against them. Keep on serving them, and serve those who do not treat you well just as well as you serve those who treat you well.
And besides that you must be willing to serve those you do not feel like serving, because they have offended you in some way – they said or did something terrible against you which you cannot forget. But if you want to be like Jesus, you have to overcome your feelings and serve them. When He was washing the feet of His disciples Jesus already knew all that was going to happen after that. Verse 11 tells us that He knew that Judas Iscariot would betray Him for 30 pieces of silver. And yet Jesus still humbled Himself to do this loving act of washing the feet of Judas. This is really astounding.
Dearly beloved, if Christ did not mind serving those who did not deserve His service, why should we? Are we greater than Him? We have no excuse for not being willing to serve any brother in Christ by doing the humblest and lowliest tasks for him. It does not matter if this brother has disappointed you, irritated you or caused you much grief. Every soul that is precious enough for Christ to die for, should be precious to you as well, and worthy of your attention, interest and care. Let this mindset control your attitude to others, and you will soon see a change in the way that you relate to them.
Thus far in our study of this passage we have seen that our service to others should not be restrained by 2 things: Firstly, it should not be restrained by the task involved in service – whether it is comfortable to us or not. Secondly, it should not be restrained by the people we serve – whether they deserve it or not. Now as we proceed to our third and final point, we will see that our service to others should not be restrained by our own needs. The third characteristic of a true servant is that:
III. He serves others despite His own needs.
Our Lord Jesus had great needs. The Last Supper took place on the day before He would go to the cross of Calvary. The first verse tells us that “Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father.” The appointed time had arrived! In a short while He would be led like the passover lamb to the slaughter. The ordeal of the next few hours was now looming right before Him: He knew of the 6 humiliating trials He would have to face. He knew about the cruel scourging with studded whips that would leave His back torn in shreds. He knew about the excruciating pain of being nailed to the cross and dying a slow painful death, shamefully exposed to crowds mocking and cursing Him. But despite knowing all that, Jesus did not consider His own pressing need to be comforted, strengthened and encouraged by others. He could have focused on His own needs and demanded to have all His disciples serve Him. But instead of doing that, He served them by washing their feet.
Would you have done what our Lord did if you were in such circumstances? If you are burdened with many personal problems, would you be able to forget your own needs and serve others? How would you overcome the intense longing to withdraw into yourself and crave to receive comfort and strength from others? There is only one way that you can do this – it is by denying self for the sake of others. Jesus said, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24). To deny self is to willingly surrender all that we claim as our own personal rights – Our rights to honour and recognition, our rights to success, and even our rights to personal well-being and security.
Some of us may feel apprehensive about denying self for the sake of others – because we fear that it will rob us of our sense of personal well-being and security. But contrary to that, Jesus said that we will be happy. Look at verse 17 – “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” This is a blessed happiness that the world and all its attractions can never give. It is a happiness you can never experience until you are willing to deny self for the sake of others. It is a happiness that comes from bringing life, comfort and happiness to others rather than to oneself. It is the happiness that belongs to those who have the heart of a true servant, which is actually the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
Let us therefore cultivate a servant heart and be like our Lord. We have seen 3 characteristics that we should have in order to do this: To serve without any thought for your own comfort. To serve even those who do not deserve your service. And to serve others despite your own pressing needs.
Ask the Lord to work these characteristics into your life. Make this your prayer today – “Lord, make me a servant! You are a servant, please make me like You.” And the Lord may answer your prayer by providing opportunities for you to serve others. Perhaps He may even give you opportunities to serve in ways you have never served before. Please don’t say no to such opportunities. You are saved in order to serve. Do not be content to be a pew-warmer every Sunday just sitting and being ministered to while the work of the Lord is left in the hands of a faithful few who are struggling to keep it going. If everyone is willing to do their part, the Lord’s work will make much better progress.
Our sinful tendency is to make excuses, and to say “I have never done it before, and I don’t think I can do it.” This was what Moses did when God called him to lead Israel out of Egypt. God will provide challenging opportunities for you to be trained for a life of service to Him and to others. Your part is to be willing to serve the Lord and others in any way that you can.
Even those who are no longer able to come to church because of old age or infirmity can serve God and others well in their own way. I knew one dear sister in her 70s who was staying in a retirement home in Australia but she still served the Lord by writing encouraging letters to her friends and loved ones, as well as to missionaries who are serving God in other lands.
A veteran missionary once told me that he attributes the success of his ministry to the prayers made by a dear aunt in his home country. Although this aunt of his had never been to the mission field, and was confined to her room all the time because of the infirmities of her age, she knew all about his ministry, and even all his coworkers and native Christians who had come to know Christ through his ministry. All their names were written in her Bible, which she used daily in her devotions. She prayed for all of them as if she knew them personally, and thus she served the Lord effectively even from the confines of her bedroom.
How about you dear friends? How does God want you to serve Him? And where should you serve? May God give us all a servant heart that will make us like our Lord Jesus Christ who was a Servant.
