Sermon: Serve as Jesus Served

The scripture is from the book of John 13:3-5, from the New Living Translation Bible and Chapter 160 verses 21-23 from the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ.

Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into the basin. Then he began to wash the disciple’s feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. Then Jesus sat with his disciples at the table of the feast and said,

Behold the lesson of the hour:
You call me master; such I am. If, then your Lord and master kneel and wash your feet , should you not wash each other’s feet and thus show forth your willingness to serve? You should know these things, and if you do them, blessed thrice are you.”
So ends the reading.

Listening to these scriptures makes one ask the question, "What is the significance of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples"? To truly understand this, let me give you a little background on the period Jesus was living in. Today, we are used to streets that are paved and clean when we need to walk from here to there. Even though now-a-days with the invention of cars, most people don’t walk very much unless they choose to. But 2000 years ago, the streets of Palestine were filthy, dusty and dirty. Walking everywhere wearing sandals made it essential that everyone washed their feet before sharing a meal with others, especially since the tables at the time were low, and the feet were exposed and in close proximity to others. When Jesus rose and began washing the feet of the disciples, they were stunned at this act because he was doing the work of a servant, which at the time was considered the lowliest of all jobs. How could it be that their "Lord, their Master" would dare to wash "their" feet, instead of "them" washing his. Jesus came to Earth, not as king, but as he revealed in Matthew 20:28, he came "not to be served, but to serve." So, there are many significant things that we can take away from his example.

Jesus demonstrated unconditional love by showing us that serving others should be a natural occurrence in our daily lives. He stated in John 13:34," A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you “.The greatest form of charity is to love and serve one another as Jesus so eloquently demonstrated.
Personally, in my own life, I was blessed to have parents who gave me wonderful examples of love, humility, and service towards others.

One such example was that on the weekends, my parents would take time out from their busy lives, gather up us kids to visit the seniors in our family. I remember visiting my great grandparents, aunts and uncles and friends of theirs, who at the time were well into their eighties and beyond. Or they would make an effort to visit those who were sick or bedridden whether it was a friend or a relative. As a kid, I didn’t know why we always had to visit, what I thought was “these old people with no kids for us to play with”. I realize now that my parents knew that by us kids being there, we were lifting their spirits by our visit. In addition, my spirits were being lifted as well just by listening to the stories and tall tales that these elders would enthusiastically share about their adventures from an era long past. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was learning two of the most valuable lessons in life. One, is that we show love towards one another, and two, that we are “all” responsible for each other, and most especially for those who are aging and in need. They are a wealth of wisdom and should be loved, honored, and remembered for all their contributions to all of our lives.

Jesus spoke of loving each other despite what we perceive as differences. Sometime’s to a fault, we get caught up in this mindset of “us” verses “them”. We find differences in race, color; creed, religion, culture; ethnicity, sexual preference and anything the human mind can think of that we see as different from ourselves. When in reality, we are all sons and daughters of the Most High God whom we were made in the image and likeness of, and because of this, we are all one.

Volunteering is another example of how we can serve. Nowadays, there are countless ways we can serve in our communities. Number one on that list is through your own local church. You may also want to serve in your community by selecting a specific cause. With today’s technology and the internet, it only takes a couple of minutes to locate and contact a local group, charity, or community service.
Mother Theresa is one of the most famous charity workers’ that has ever lived. She began her work as a teacher on her first visit to Darjeeling, India for a retreat. It was on this journey, that she said, she found her true calling. She quotes, "I heard the call to give up all and follow Christ into the slums to serve him among the poorest of the poor."

We can also learn from her because she truly exemplifies a true humanitarian that worked tirelessly throughout her life in helping to improve the plight of her fellow men and women.

Another way we can serve is by sharing our talents. Look at yourself and ask ‘What talents do I have that I can share with others? Most people have the misconception that you have to be a talented singer or play an instrument, play a sport, or be a fabulous public speaker, but most people have subtle hidden talents that we never acknowledge. Have you considered sharing your gift of patience, by working with the elderly or sharing your gift of reading by reading to kids or the sick and bedridden? How about the gift of knowledge by coaching a little league team or the gift of wisdom in helping out your neighbor who needs advice on home improvement, or your kids friend who needs advice with confronting their parents about a problem? These are all gifts of our talents that we should look for opportunities to share, because when we share our love with others, we share our love with God.

In the book “The Secret of the Ages”, Robert Collier says, “If you want more of the universal supply, you must use that which you have in such a way as to make yourself of greater service to those around you. “Whosoever shall be great among you, “said Jesus,’ shall be your minister, and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.” In other words, if you would be great, you must serve. And he who serves most shall be greatest of all.”

Robert Collier is speaking about one of the spiritual laws, The Law of Giving and Receiving. It is the law that states that the universe operates on dynamic exchange. Nothing stays static and everything is a flow of energy. Every relationship is a give and take, and giving, breeds receiving, and receiving breeds giving. What goes up, must come down, and what goes out, must come back in. So when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples in order to show them how to serve, he was in reality showing us all that we “reap what we sow”.

Medical studies have been documented showing that there are amazing health benefits that were found when helping others. Stephen Post, the author of The Hidden Gifts of Helping, "says that when he was a boy and was feeling sad or down and at which point he'd "head next door to rake Mr. Muellor’s leaves or go across the street to help Mr. Lawrence with his boat. I always came home feeling better" said Stephen Post.
It turns out that it has been shown that philanthropy is the surest way towards a happy life and here’s why.

First, studies have shown that volunteering and helping others can add years to one’s life and evidence points to a 22 percent reduction in the mortality rate.

Secondly, according to the Leslie Goldman article she states that "One study found that people who completed five small acts of kindness (like helping a friend, visiting a relative, or writing a thank-you note) one day a week for six weeks experienced a boost in overall feelings of well being."

The thirdly, helping others leads to better pain management. It has been shown that when chronic pain sufferer’s who helped others with similar conditions, showed a noticeable improvement with their own level of pain in their bodies.

And the fourth benefit of helping others is that it lowers the blood pressure. The 2013 study that was done in the Journal of Psychology and Aging found that adults over 50 who volunteered at least 4 hours a week were 40 percent “less” likely than non-volunteers to develop hypertension. The co-study author, Rodlescia Sneed says that the reason for this may be because “volunteering offers an opportunity to establish more social connections and form new bonds with people who care about you and motivate you to take care of yourself.”

So in closing, we can see that Jesus really gave us a valuable gift by his selfless example of washing his disciple’s feet. The lesson we should take away from this is that one of our main goals is that we should love one another because it is well documented that by helping others, we in reality our helping ourselves. The Law of Attraction has a way of making this so, and it is up to each and every one of us to live our lives loving and helping one another in order to attract the same.

Starting today, let’s all of us use Jesus’ example of spreading our love by being a blessing to everyone we come across.