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Christlikeness in One Word · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: He who dwells in the secret place of the Most
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Speaker 1: High will abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I
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Speaker 1: will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and
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Speaker 1: my fortress, my God in whom I trust. Oh God,
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Speaker 1: you are our hiding place, our special refuge, often our
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Speaker 1: only hope. And today, as we remember this war-torn country,
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Speaker 1: its courageous president, It's brave fighters. It's many, many broken
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Speaker 1: people driven from their homes with babes in arms and
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Speaker 1: children by their side. They need your power, your presence.
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Speaker 1: the hope that only you can bring, Father, bring an
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Speaker 1: end to this slaughter. There are times, our Father, we
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Speaker 1: confess that your patience seems too long-suffering, that your grace
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Speaker 1: seems too extensive, when wrong rules the throne and truth
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Speaker 1: fights for its place on the scaffold. Intervene, Father. Do
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Speaker 1: what only you can do and we cannot. Give continued
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Speaker 1: courage to those who defend their land and may it
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Speaker 1: become again their sovereign country. Remove the invaders. Intervene and
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Speaker 1: bring hope to the brokenhearted and the grieving. We pray.
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Speaker 1: Remind us, our Father, as we sit at our full
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Speaker 1: table today to eat our meals, that there are those
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Speaker 1: just across the way who have nothing. No place to sleep,
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Speaker 1: no food to eat, no fresh water to drink. no
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Speaker 1: promise of relief. So all of this, our Father, we
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Speaker 1: lay before you that you might rectify. We pray for peace,
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Speaker 1: for justice. May it roll down.
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Speaker 2: Amen.
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Speaker 1: And may we be able to step back and say
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Speaker 1: only the Lord, under whose wings we rested and waited,
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Speaker 1: came to our rescue. You were sovereign, our God. Oh,
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Speaker 1: the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and
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Speaker 1: the knowledge you have. How unsearchable are your judgments. Unfathomable
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Speaker 1: are your ways. So we trust in you and we
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Speaker 1: wait upon you. We lean hard in confidence and hope.
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Speaker 1: In the name of our Savior, our victorious Lord, we pray.
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Speaker 1: All God's people said, Amen. I'm reading for us today
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Speaker 1: from John 13, verses 3 through 15. I invite you
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Speaker 1: to turn in your Bibles to the 13th of John.
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Speaker 1: Beginning our reading in verse 3, I'll be reading from
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Speaker 1: the New Living Translation today. Please follow along as you
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Speaker 1: stand with me for the reading of the scriptures. Jesus
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Speaker 1: knew that the Father had given him authority over everything
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Speaker 1: and that he had come from God and would return
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Speaker 1: to God. So he got up from the table, took
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Speaker 1: off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and
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Speaker 1: poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash
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Speaker 1: the disciples' feet, drying them with the towel he had
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Speaker 1: around him. When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said
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Speaker 1: to him, Lord, are you going to wash my feet?
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Speaker 1: Jesus replied, you don't understand now. what I'm doing, but
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Speaker 1: someday you will understand. No, Peter protested. No, you will
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Speaker 1: never wash my feet. Jesus replied, unless I wash you,
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Speaker 1: you won't belong to me. Simon Peter exclaimed, then wash
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Speaker 1: my hands, my head as well. Lord, not just my feet.
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Speaker 1: Jesus replied, a person who has bathed all over does
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Speaker 1: not need to wash except for the feet to be
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Speaker 1: entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all
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Speaker 1: of you. For Jesus knew who would betray him. That
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Speaker 1: is what he meant when he said, not all of
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Speaker 1: you are clean. After washing their feet, he put on
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Speaker 1: his robe again and sat down and asked, do you
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Speaker 1: understand what I was doing? You called me teacher and Lord,
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Speaker 1: and you are right, because that's what I am. And
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Speaker 1: since I, your Lord and teacher, have washed feet, Your feet,
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Speaker 1: you ought to wash each other's feet. I've given you
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Speaker 1: an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.
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Speaker 1: You may be seated. I have a friend who left
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Speaker 1: the business world and became a part of a small
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Speaker 1: Christian college. The college was struggling a bit to get
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Speaker 1: on its feet and to make its mark in the community.
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Speaker 1: The desire was to become a qualified academic institution, of course,
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Speaker 1: and to graduate students who were competent in various fields
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Speaker 1: of study along with a knowledge of the scriptures. They
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Speaker 1: also decided that since they were not large enough to
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Speaker 1: field a football team, they would focus on and highlight
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Speaker 1: a basketball squad. They had a small gym where they
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Speaker 1: could practice and their hope was the ability to develop
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Speaker 1: a team of players that would be competitive in the
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Speaker 1: athletic realm. So they were searching for good players and
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Speaker 1: Very few were drawn to a school this small, since
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Speaker 1: the larger schools got the better players, as always. My
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Speaker 1: friend was at his office one day when the phone rang,
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Speaker 1: and the receptionist who had received a call from an
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Speaker 1: older gentleman knew no one else to connect the call to,
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Speaker 1: since the coach was not there that day, so she called.
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Speaker 1: plug the phone and call in to my friend who
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Speaker 1: was in his office in the finance department. So the
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Speaker 1: man identified himself as simply John. and he said, I've
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Speaker 1: followed the game of basketball for a few years, and
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Speaker 1: I really like it, and I also am very impressed
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Speaker 1: with your school, and I know you're not one of
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Speaker 1: the larger schools, but I appreciate the desire of the school,
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Speaker 1: and Since I live not far from where you're located,
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Speaker 1: I've attended some of your games and I happen to
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Speaker 1: sort of keep my eye out for various players and
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Speaker 1: I happen to know of one young man that might
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Speaker 1: work out for you. For some reason, the bigger schools
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Speaker 1: have bypassed him and not offered him a scholarship. He
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Speaker 1: may have tried out and they did not ask him
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Speaker 1: to come, He said, I'd like to pass his name
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Speaker 1: on to you if that would be okay. My friend
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Speaker 1: took the name down and thanked John for the call
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Speaker 1: and passed it on to the coach. Long story short,
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Speaker 1: the coach got a hold of this young man and
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Speaker 1: he came to try out for the team. He was fantastic.
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Speaker 1: Really a great young basketball player and he He, of course,
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Speaker 1: made the squad and soon became the star of the team.
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Speaker 1: And immediately their popularity grew as their win column increased.
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Speaker 1: And they were thrilled, especially to have this new young
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Speaker 1: man that they would not have known about without this
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Speaker 1: call that came. As the season came toward the end,
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Speaker 1: my friend decided it was time to get back in
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Speaker 1: touch with the older gentleman who had recommended the player
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Speaker 1: and thank him. And so he happened to have found
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Speaker 1: in his notes the man's private phone number and he
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Speaker 1: called him. And he said, I just want to thank
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Speaker 1: you for recommending this athlete. He's a terrific ball player.
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Speaker 1: And we have, and The man on the other end
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Speaker 1: of the line said, I've noticed, he said, I've been
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Speaker 1: to some of the games, and I agree with you.
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Speaker 1: He's really doing well, isn't he? And he said, yes,
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Speaker 1: he is. We want to do an article on him
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Speaker 1: in our school paper, and I'd like to tell about
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Speaker 1: your phone call to me. He said, but you know what?
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Speaker 1: I never even got your last name. So if you
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Speaker 1: don't mind, please provide that for us. He said, of course.
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Speaker 1: It's W-O-O-N. D-E-N. My name is John Wooden. My friend
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Speaker 1: on the other end of the line about dropped his
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Speaker 1: upper plate when he heard that. He said, you're John Wooden.
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Speaker 1: You know, the UCLA, yeah, yeah, but he said those were,
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Speaker 1: that was then, this is now. And there was no
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Speaker 1: attention drawn to that Here is this winningest basketball coach
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Speaker 1: in the history of college basketball. Maybe he's being surpassed now,
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Speaker 1: but back then his name was known all over the country.
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Speaker 1: John Wooden. It's my pleasure to have met him and
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Speaker 1: to have observed the one quality that marks his life
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Speaker 1: more than any other. He's now gone from us, but
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Speaker 1: I remember him as perhaps the most humble person of
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Speaker 1: well-known coaches I've ever known. He was never significant to himself.
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Speaker 1: It was always about the team or the boys that
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Speaker 1: played on his team or the school where he coached.
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Speaker 1: I love that quality. Part of the reason is it
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Speaker 1: so represents The quintessential quality of Christ-likeness. Humility. We're short
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Speaker 1: on it these days, aren't we? How few in high
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Speaker 1: positions and prestigious titles on their jobs and their work
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Speaker 1: walk in humility. but of course Jesus did. It was
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Speaker 1: the one thing that caused others around him to wonder
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Speaker 1: about him. Many expected Messiah to arrive with power on
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Speaker 1: a white horse, flashing a sword, taking charge. Here comes
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Speaker 1: this This individual born in an obscure village to a
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Speaker 1: peasant woman. And they never could understand his birth. They
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Speaker 1: never could explain how this unknown could have done those miracles.
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Speaker 1: Especially this one who couldn't even trace his birth. his
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Speaker 1: genealogy to an earthly father. In fact, those who ultimately
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Speaker 1: hated him, despised him, saying, you're of your father, the devil.
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Speaker 1: He was forever a mystery. I mean, if he's Messiah,
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Speaker 1: surely there would be some earthly grandeur and that could
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Speaker 1: be seen, evident in his life. But Jesus was wrapped
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Speaker 1: in authentic humility. Right up to the end. Right up
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Speaker 1: to the end. At the very last supper he has
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Speaker 1: with his disciples, His mind must have been preoccupied with
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Speaker 1: a few hours ahead when he would be arrested in
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Speaker 1: the garden, put through a series of illegal trials, all
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Speaker 1: of them illegal, pushed through times of questioning and torture
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Speaker 1: and ultimately nailed to a cross. And here he is
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Speaker 1: serving the bread and the wine at the last meal
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Speaker 1: with his 12. It's interesting when you see him here
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Speaker 1: that though he doesn't call attention to it, he has
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Speaker 1: on one occasion in his ministry revealed the truth of himself.
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Speaker 1: I don't know if you've made a study of Jesus,
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Speaker 1: a serious study of his life, but I, in my research,
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Speaker 1: have found only one place, only one place where he
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Speaker 1: lifts the veil of his makeup to tell us what
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Speaker 1: he was like. He said to a group of people
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Speaker 1: gathered to hear him preach, Come to me, all you
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Speaker 1: who are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Take
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Speaker 1: my yoke upon you and learn from me, for here
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Speaker 1: he comes. For I am gentle and humble in heart.
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Speaker 1: My yoke is easy. My burden is light. Unlike the
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Speaker 1: religious authorities around them, here was Jesus offering an easy yoke,
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Speaker 1: a place of rest from one who calls himself humble.
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Speaker 1: The Greek word translated humble is an interesting term. It
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Speaker 1: means to to bow low, to stoop, to serve. It
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Speaker 1: doesn't refer to shame and humiliation because one has nothing
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Speaker 1: to offer. It has to do with an attitude of gentleness.
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Speaker 1: Here is the significant second member of the Trinity in
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Speaker 1: human flesh, known on earth as one who is bowing,
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Speaker 1: serving right to the end. Did you notice in what
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Speaker 1: I read that he demonstrated this unusual, spontaneous act of
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Speaker 1: humility without a word. In fact, I would like to
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Speaker 1: point out in the brief time we have together four
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Speaker 1: characteristics of true humility. They're all foreseen right here in
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Speaker 1: this passage. Before I get to the first one, let
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Speaker 1: me remind all of us why he did this. Why
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Speaker 1: did he wash their feet? First, because their hearts were proud.
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Speaker 1: When you read Luke 22, you get the other side
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Speaker 1: of the story of what went on at the Last Supper.
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Speaker 1: Do you know what they were conversing about? You know
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Speaker 1: what the conversation was? Who would be the greatest among them?
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Speaker 1: That's right. Who would come out on top when the
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Speaker 1: kingdom came? Who would be first? Who may come in second?
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Speaker 1: this petty argument over their own greatness. He heard that
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Speaker 1: without interrupting. He listened to it. There's another reason he
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Speaker 1: washed their feet. It may seem obvious, but I do
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Speaker 1: want to mention it. It's because their feet were dirty.
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Speaker 1: They came in the house, in the room, without ever
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Speaker 1: washing the feet at the door. You see, back in
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Speaker 1: the first century, The streets weren't paved. Oh, the Romans
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Speaker 1: paved a few with stones, but those were the significant roads.
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Speaker 1: The main roads of a city or of a town
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Speaker 1: and the back roads were all dirt roads. If it rained,
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Speaker 1: they were instantly muddy. If it was dry, they were dusty. Dusty.
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Speaker 1: People wore loose-fitting sandals for their shoes, and so when
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Speaker 1: they walked to their destination, if they came to the
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Speaker 1: home of the wealthy, there would be a servant there
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Speaker 1: with a pail of water, and the servant would wash
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Speaker 1: each person's feet after slipping off the sandals. Sandals would
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Speaker 1: be left at the door, and they would go in
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Speaker 1: in bare feet that were clean. The custom is still
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Speaker 1: the same in the Far East. When I was on Okinawa,
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Speaker 1: we had to get used to going into homes and
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Speaker 1: rooms where there were tatami mats and you never walked
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Speaker 1: in in your shoes. You took your shoes off at
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Speaker 1: the door. But these were shoes. Back in those days,
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Speaker 1: they were sandals. So feet needed to be washed. Now,
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Speaker 1: if it wasn't a wealthy home, those who arrived would
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Speaker 1: wash their feet and would often turn and wash another's feet.
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Speaker 1: No one in this crowd had washed anybody's feet, not
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Speaker 1: even his own. Jesus noticed that. The first characteristic of
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Speaker 1: true humility is that it is unannounced. We read that
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Speaker 1: he simply disrobed, wrapped a towel around his waist, drew
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Speaker 1: water in a bowl, and then stooped hands and knees
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Speaker 1: to begin washing the feet. Perhaps beginning on his right
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Speaker 1: would be John, the beloved disciple, and then around the
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Speaker 1: circle of the table. No announcement was made. I love
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Speaker 1: it that he doesn't stand up and say, now because
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Speaker 1: of your proud hearts, I'm going to demonstrate true humility. Well,
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Speaker 1: that's what the Pharisees would have done. always bringing shame
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Speaker 1: to others as they display their own self-righteousness. None of that.
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Speaker 1: Not a word is called to the attention of the master.
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Speaker 1: He simply slips away from the table, begins to wash
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Speaker 1: their feet. You see, for him to call attention to
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Speaker 1: it is to contaminate the humility with pride. Not even
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Speaker 1: a hint. He simply started washing the feet. You see,
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Speaker 1: the way the others knew about it, they could hear
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Speaker 1: the splashing of the water. But they were used to
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Speaker 1: that being done out at the door. Here he is
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Speaker 1: doing this in the room. Ruth Harms Calkins says it
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Speaker 1: best in her poetic piece she titles, I Wondered. You know, Lord,
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Speaker 1: how I serve you with great emotional fervor in the limelight.
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Speaker 1: You know how I eagerly speak for you at a
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Speaker 1: women's club. You know how I effervesce when I promote
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Speaker 1: a fellowship group. And you know my genuine enthusiasm at
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Speaker 1: a Bible study. But How would I react, I wonder,
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Speaker 1: if you pointed to a basin of water and asked
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Speaker 1: me to wash the calloused feet of a bent and
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Speaker 1: wrinkled old woman, day after day, month after month, in
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Speaker 1: a room where nobody saw, And nobody knew. I wonder.
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Speaker 1: As we hear a message on this timely and delicate subject,
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Speaker 1: begin by reminding yourself if it's humility you're after, No
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Speaker 1: words are needed. Not even a hint. We have a
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Speaker 1: very interesting family that lives in our neighborhood. In fact,
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Speaker 1: they live right next door, have a house full of children,
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Speaker 1: two mothers-in-law live in the house, mom and dad, the grandmothers,
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Speaker 1: and I think five or six children It's a busy place.
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Speaker 1: It's a Jewish home. We've really admired them time to time.
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Speaker 1: The secret of the home, I believe, is the dad.
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Speaker 1: Gentle man that he is. We've watched him do the
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Speaker 1: greatest things when birthdays come. They'll sometimes bring in a
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Speaker 1: zoo out front. They'll fence the front yard. Out of
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Speaker 1: the trucks come all kinds of little animals, and the
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Speaker 1: kids are jumping up and down and just having the
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Speaker 1: best time. And here are the chickens, here are the dogs,
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Speaker 1: here are the donkeys, and here are the ponies, here
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Speaker 1: are the little calves. It's really something. It's just a birthday,
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Speaker 1: you know. I mean, a cake would do. Not for
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Speaker 1: this dead. When the storm, the ice storm, overtook us
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Speaker 1: not long ago, We were all socked in and our
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Speaker 1: walkways were covered with a layer of ice and a
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Speaker 1: smidgen of snow, but mainly ice, which is hard to
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Speaker 1: get off a walkway. Cynthia said to me, honey, honey,
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Speaker 1: come here. Look. And I looked out front and here
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Speaker 1: was my neighbor scraping my sidewalk. and my walkway, getting
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Speaker 1: it free of the ice so we could walk in safety.
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Speaker 1: I spoke and I thanked him for doing that, and
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Speaker 1: he just could hardly respond. Oh, there's nothing to it.
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Speaker 1: I figured, hey, I've done mine. Why don't I do
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Speaker 1: this for you? It may help you. True humility. Not
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Speaker 1: a word, no doorbell ringing, not even a little bill left.
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Speaker 1: That'll be 50 bucks, please. Just a random act of
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Speaker 1: an hour and a half of kindness on a very
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Speaker 1: cold day. Which brings me to the second, because I
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Speaker 1: have a confession to make with this one. True humility
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Speaker 1: is being willing to receive. without embarrassment. I get that
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Speaker 1: from Peter's response. Lord, are you going to wash my feet? See,
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Speaker 1: I think Jesus had washed John's feet and then another
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Speaker 1: disciple or two and he got to Peter and by
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Speaker 1: now Peter has pulled his feet out up from display
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Speaker 1: and slid those filthy things under his romp so that
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Speaker 1: Jesus couldn't reach him. He said, you're not washing my feet,
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Speaker 1: are you? And Jesus said, you don't understand what I'm doing.
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Speaker 1: Someday you will understand. Peter protested, no! You will never, ever,
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Speaker 1: ever wash my feet in a million years without quite
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Speaker 1: so much drama, but that's the essence of the way
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Speaker 1: he said it. No, never. Not mine. What's wrong here?
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Speaker 1: What's wrong? Peter's embarrassed. Peter's proud. It's hard for Peter
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Speaker 1: to receive. You see, it takes humility to receive. Jesus said,
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Speaker 1: if you don't let me wash your feet, there's the door.
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Speaker 1: You're not a part of our group. I'll get to
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Speaker 1: that part in a moment. Let me talk about receiving.
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Speaker 1: It looks humble. At first glance, it sounds like Peter's, no,
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Speaker 1: Peter's I'll take care of my own feet. Thank you
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Speaker 1: very much. I'm a grown man. I'm able to do that.
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Speaker 1: And you don't have to do it. I mean, John's
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Speaker 1: are awfully dirty. And Andrew's, as always. But I'll take
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Speaker 1: care of mine. That's pride. That's just stinking pride. That's
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Speaker 1: why he protests like he does. And here's my confession.
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Speaker 1: I'm not I'm not very good at receiving. I have
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Speaker 1: many faults. This is a glaring one. I feel awkward
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Speaker 1: when people want to do real nice things. I felt
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Speaker 1: awkward that day. My neighbor was, my first thought was,
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Speaker 1: why didn't I scrape my own sidewalk? Shoot. In another
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Speaker 1: place at another time, we had a, friend in our
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Speaker 1: church show up a little before Christmas and I drove
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Speaker 1: up toward the end of the day and I saw
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Speaker 1: his car out front. So I went inside, I said, honey,
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Speaker 1: it's Bob's car. Is he okay? She said, yeah, yeah,
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Speaker 1: he's washing our windows. I said, washing our windows? Why?
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Speaker 1: She said, well, they're dirty. And I know, but what
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Speaker 1: am I thinking? I'm able to wash my own windows.
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Speaker 1: And so I walk out on the patio. I say, Bob, hey,
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Speaker 1: how are you? He says, great, man. This is a
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Speaker 1: great day. This is my gift to you. I said, Bob, hey,
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Speaker 1: why don't I get the inside and you do the
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Speaker 1: outside windows? We had a two-story house. And I said,
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Speaker 1: I'll tell you what. In fact, he said, no, I
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Speaker 1: want to get the inside and the outside. This is
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Speaker 1: my gift for you this Christmas. I said, I'll tell
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Speaker 1: you what. I'll go upstairs. I'll do the upstairs and
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Speaker 1: you do the downstairs. How's that? He said, Chuck, I
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Speaker 1: want to do inside, outside, upstairs, downstairs. It is a gift.
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Speaker 1: Can I just please give you a gift? It was
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Speaker 1: my protesting that revealed my pride. I mean, I can
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Speaker 1: wash my own windows, but that wasn't the point. First
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Speaker 1: of all, how gracious of my friend, Bob Patterson, to
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Speaker 1: wash my windows, and how foolish of me to resist it.
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Speaker 1: Do you receive what people want to give? Without feeling,
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Speaker 1: you have to take turns, like pay them back? It
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Speaker 1: would have been just as bad if the month later
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Speaker 1: I went over to the Patterson's house and said, well,
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Speaker 1: I'm not here to wash your windows. Same thing. True
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Speaker 1: humility is able to receive without embarrassment. And then Peter
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Speaker 1: goes to the extreme. Wash my hands, wash my head,
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Speaker 1: give me a bath. I mean, if it takes that,
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Speaker 1: I don't want to leave. Jesus said, no, you don't
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Speaker 1: need everything washed. It's just your filthy feet. I'll just
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Speaker 1: do your feet. That's the plan today. Once bathed, always bathed.
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Speaker 1: You're all clean, except for one of you. I'll get
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Speaker 1: to him in a moment. I wonder if Peter ever
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Speaker 1: really learned I'm still trying to learn it. It's a
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Speaker 1: hard thing to accept someone else's kindness. The third characteristic
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Speaker 1: is humility is not a sign of weakness. Did you
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Speaker 1: see what Jesus did when Peter resisted? If you do
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Speaker 1: not allow me to wash your feet, you're out. out.
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Speaker 1: You're not one of us. That's a strong response. You see,
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Speaker 1: humility is not some kind of shameful humiliation. I have
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Speaker 1: nothing to offer. I'm just trying to get along in life.
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Speaker 1: I'm just trying to be a little lowly servant. It's
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Speaker 1: not that. You may have a lot to offer, and
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Speaker 1: you may be the wonderful kind of person that is
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Speaker 1: willing to offer it without calling attention to it or
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Speaker 1: sending a bill for it. You just want to do
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Speaker 1: this because you love someone else. I love it also
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Speaker 1: that when he got to the last one in the group,
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Speaker 1: he still washed his feet. The fourth principle is that
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Speaker 1: humility does not discriminate. Hold on here. Don't answer out loud.
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Speaker 1: Would you have washed Judah's feet? Knowing that in a
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Speaker 1: matter of really hours, he's going to kiss you on
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Speaker 1: the cheek with that deceitful kiss, and he's going to
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Speaker 1: sell you into the hands of your enemy. When you
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Speaker 1: know he's a traitor, Would you have washed his feet?
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Speaker 1: Humility doesn't discriminate. You know what I'm impressed with? Jesus
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Speaker 1: didn't draw blistering hot water to wash Judas' feet. Stick
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Speaker 1: them in! Like a payback. Nope. When he got to Judas,
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Speaker 1: he said, let me have your feet. By the way,
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Speaker 1: Shortly after this, when he said to Judas, whatever you're
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Speaker 1: going to do, do it quickly. Judas went out into
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Speaker 1: the night. Ever thought about this? He slipped on his
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Speaker 1: sandals and his feet were clean because Jesus had washed them.
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Speaker 1: When he got to the chief priests and the scribes
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Speaker 1: and those who were putting the crucifixion plan together, his
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Speaker 1: feet were clean. because Jesus had washed them. To the
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Speaker 1: very end, he got the same treatment that the other
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Speaker 1: disciples had gotten. No discrimination. Good place to pause. It
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Speaker 1: would be a wonderful thing if we could throw away
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Speaker 1: our list of people we don't like, it would be
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Speaker 1: a great thing. In every church, there are folks that
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Speaker 1: we don't like. There are people we really do like.
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Speaker 1: We usually sit next to them or near them. We
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Speaker 1: always speak to them. We have a friendly word. When
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Speaker 1: we're on our way to the car, they're friends. We
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Speaker 1: get along well. We like them. They like us. Then
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Speaker 1: there are others who may have done something or said
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Speaker 1: something or revealed a strain of depravity that runs through
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Speaker 1: you just like it does through them but when you
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Speaker 1: see it in others it always looks worse so you
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Speaker 1: don't sit next to them You never save them a seat.
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Speaker 1: If they had a flat, maybe I shouldn't go there.
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Speaker 1: I doubt that we'd stop. Help them. I was speaking
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Speaker 1: on this subject in another place at another time, and
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Speaker 1: I remember a man who listened closely all the way
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Speaker 1: through said to me, boy, this is really, it's really convicting,
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Speaker 1: especially with what Jesus said. And he made a good
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Speaker 1: point because Jesus didn't say what you would have expected
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Speaker 1: him to say. When you go back to the sentence,
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Speaker 1: He says, do you know what I've done to you?
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Speaker 1: Sounds almost like what you'd ask a kindergarten class. Of
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Speaker 1: course they knew what he had done to them. That
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Speaker 1: wasn't the question. The question went deeper. You realize what
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Speaker 1: was involved in this? You called me teacher and Lord.
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Speaker 1: And you should. That's not pride. That's the truth. That's
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Speaker 1: who he was. He said, and you're right. That's what
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Speaker 1: I do. That's who I am. Now, if I have
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Speaker 1: washed your feet, being your teacher and Lord, now don't
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Speaker 1: read ahead. Let's say you're one of the 12 and
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Speaker 1: you're hearing this for the first time. if I wash
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Speaker 1: your feet as your teacher and Lord, you ought also,
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Speaker 1: what would you expect? You ought to wash my feet.
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Speaker 1: But he doesn't say that. That's easy. We get in
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Speaker 1: line to wash Jesus' feet. Who wouldn't want to wash
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Speaker 1: his feet It's the most natural feeling in the world
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Speaker 1: when I get a chance. I'll do anything for my master.
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Speaker 1: That's not the point. This is not what would you
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Speaker 1: do for the Savior. It's what would you do for
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Speaker 1: the one in the room, which is what makes it
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Speaker 1: so significant. You ought to wash one another's feet. like
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Speaker 1: the neighbor you don't like? Ever thought about when you've
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Speaker 1: washed your car, washing his? Has it ever dawned on
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Speaker 1: you that you'll have a door wide open in that
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Speaker 1: other person's heart When you do what is unexpected for
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Speaker 1: all the right reasons, simply because you care. And they're
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Speaker 1: a fellow human being. Right now in Ukraine, it's loud.
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Speaker 1: Bombardments going on. Buildings are destroyed, are being destroyed. They're empty,
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Speaker 1: hollow shells of what they used to be. Rifles are
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Speaker 1: being handed out, even to some wives of husbands that
43:49
Speaker 1: want to stay back and fight alongside their mate. Do
43:53
Speaker 1: you think they care who gets a rifle? Do you
43:58
Speaker 1: think they're discriminating? No, no, no. I remember what it
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Speaker 1: was like living there. No, they give that person a weapon.
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Speaker 1: No discrimination whatsoever. Why? Why? We're fighting for the same cause.
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Speaker 1: They may kill the man that was about to kill me.
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Speaker 1: I need him. I need her. Get it? Of course
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Speaker 1: you do. This man went on to say, you know,
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Speaker 1: I realize when we get to heaven, I mean, we're
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Speaker 1: going to all be there These fellow believers that I
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Speaker 1: haven't spoken to in months, maybe years. We're all together.
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Speaker 1: Maybe I ought to start with kind of a head start.
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Speaker 1: Start here. Exactly. That's the whole point. Jesus has left
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Speaker 1: us with an example of authentic humility. Why wait till heaven?
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Speaker 1: Why wait? When he came, he declared, I've come to
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Speaker 1: give and to serve. Those are the two main verbs.
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Speaker 1: to give and to serve, to give and to serve.
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Speaker 1: That's why I'm here. And he died for all. All.
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Speaker 1: He wasn't picky. He didn't have a list. God is
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Speaker 1: not willing that any should perish, but that all should
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Speaker 1: come to repentance. God so loved the world that That
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Speaker 1: he gave his one and only son. That whoever believes
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Speaker 1: in him should not perish. Isn't that grand? I can
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Speaker 1: say to anyone I ever meet on this earth, he
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Speaker 1: died for you. He could be your savior. Because in
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Speaker 1: absolute humility, he gave himself. He served you by dying
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Speaker 1: in your place. That's it, folks. That's it. Christlikeness in
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Speaker 1: one word, it's overdue. So let's do it. Start in
47:17
Speaker 1: the parking lot. Let her go first. Let him have
47:25
Speaker 1: that space that looks like just the one you had
47:28
Speaker 1: in mind for you to park in. Pause and let
47:31
Speaker 1: them take it. It's simple things. Simple things. It's a
47:41
Speaker 1: kind word. It's a gracious, I forgive. I'm not willing
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Speaker 1: to drag this grudge any longer. Maybe your ex-husband or
47:57
Speaker 1: your ex-wife. You're going to let that eat you up?
48:08
Speaker 1: Let it go. Maybe it's that child that has never
48:16
Speaker 1: been very grateful and now they've made a mess of
48:20
Speaker 1: their life. You're going to write them off? I don't
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Speaker 1: think you want to do that. Neither do I. Okay,
48:39
Speaker 1: let's bow together. This is a special day, Lord, where
48:47
Speaker 1: we've paused to remember a brokenhearted people in a broken
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Speaker 1: country trying to survive as a way of sort of
49:05
Speaker 1: stripping us down to the basic part of life. We
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Speaker 1: need one another. We're not meant to make it on
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Speaker 1: our own Thank you that we have other people that
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Speaker 1: gather here at this place where we worship. Thank you
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Speaker 1: that their voices blend with ours when we sing. Thank
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Speaker 1: you that their smiles encourage us and their lives represent
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Speaker 1: people who care. So help us, we pray, not to
49:54
Speaker 1: call attention to our humility, not to think of it
49:57
Speaker 1: as weakness, to realize that there's strength in it. Help
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Speaker 1: us to receive love, freely and without embarrassment. And Lord, please, please,
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Speaker 1: deliver us from the habit of discrimination, prejudice. Start with me.
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Speaker 1: Please do this work in my life deeply, permanently, in
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Speaker 1: the lives of my family and others in this church.
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Speaker 1: May we be known as a church that walks humbly
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Speaker 1: with its God. In Jesus' name I pray.
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Speaker 2: Amen. The preceding message, Christlikeness in One Word, was copyrighted
51:14
Speaker 2: in 2022 and 2023, and the sound recording was copyrighted
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Speaker 2: in 2023 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are
51:24
Speaker 2: reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is
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Speaker 2: strictly prohibited.