We started a couple weeks ago on a series called Knowing Christ. And the idea is that if he has saved us and we've been born again to new life in Christ, we get to spend the rest of our days getting to know Him. And the more we know about him, the more we recognize how worthy he is to be praised and worshiped and adored. So the first week as we looked at him, we realized that Jesus Christ is revealed to us and we know him as the Beloved One. That was the first picture we saw of him, that Christ is the Beloved One, and that impacts our relationships with each other.
Last week we talked about him as the awesome Lord, the Sovereign Lord. And that's what Nikki was referring to a while ago. She's talking about he knows stuff we don't know, and therefore we can trust him and just rest in his sovereignty. Today we move to the third of these, and that is recognizing that Jesus is the humble servant.
Very different picture of him than Sovereign Lord. Right? Sovereign Lord reigning over his Creator of all things. Everything is under his control. That's fantastic.
And then we come to him as the humble servant. A lot of the Jewish folks in the community that he came to minister to didn't really accept him as the Messiah because in their minds, the Messiah, when he came, would not be a humble servant at all. He would be a conquering king, and he would come in and just take over. And when Jesus came as a humble servant, they weren't sure what to make of that, except that it was not a model they wanted to follow. We want somebody who wins, not somebody who yields in servanthood.
Well, today we want to talk about what that looks like in practical terms when we actually humble ourselves and become servants of Christ, who is the humble servant. And so we're going to look at John chapter 13. If you have your Bibles with you, turn there. And this is a little backdrop on the story. This is the situation of the Passover feast that Jesus has the Last Supper as we describe it.
And he's gone to a place that has been picked out before, and he sent his disciples go make ready the room. And it's either a barred room or a rented room. It doesn't tell us which, but it's not theirs. And so as they arrive to the room for the Passover feast, it doesn't belong to anybody, so there's no servants there to meet them. And so when they arrive, they all just come in and there's a table and there's food and everything set up and.
And the custom of the time was when you went in to eat. You didn't pull up the dining room chairs and pull out the crystal goblets. You reclined at table so you would be resting on one elbow and your feet were over here. And I'm not sure about you, but somebody's dirty feet in my face while I'm trying to eat. And they're like right there.
This is not a good picture. It's kind of like, hmm, maybe we can have finger sandwiches, but not toes. I mean, this is not what we want. And so there they are. And so nobody's there to wash feet.
And so Jesus, after they're there at the table, gets up from the table and he proceeds to do what the bond servant would normally do. And then we're going to pick up that story in John chapter 13. If you'll follow along with me as I read, we'll see what happened as he did that and how his disciples responded. And then ultimately to figure out what are we supposed to know about Christ as a humble servant that changes things for us. What should be different because we know this to be true about Jesus.
Beginning 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. So he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing and wrapped a towel around his waist. And after that he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples feet, drying them with a towel and that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, lord, are you going to wash my feet? And Jesus replied, you do not realize now what I'm doing, but later you'll understand.
No, said Peter, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered, unless I wash you, you have no part with me. Then Lord, Simon Peter replied, not just my feet, but my hands and my heart as well. 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.
For he knew who was going to betray him. And that was why he said not everyone was clean. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. Do you understand what I've done for you? He asked them.
You call me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that's what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I've set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the Truth. No servant is greater than his Master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
Now that you know these things, you're blessed if you do them. He didn't say you're blessed just by getting the information that information needs to issue forth into transformation. As we know Christ in these various ways, we're going to be looking at him that impacts how we relate to him and what we do as his children. So let's pray together and ask God to give us insight here. Father, there are so many things that we know, but we don't know how to do anything about.
And so we thank you for practical illustrations. We thank you for visible moments of spurring us on to do the right thing. This is one of those occasions where you, Lord Jesus, showed us what humble servanthood looks like in the most practical way. Lord, teach us how to do it well, how to do it right, how to be faithful to what you call us to do and make this a room full of servant minded men and women who live to serve the Master, who lived to serve us. We ask you to take us and make us what you want us to be, for Christ's sake.
Amen. Now Jesus had already told his disciples before he had taught them, they'd been in the teaching sessions. He says, now listen, the Gentiles, when they're in control, when they're lording it over you, they're not thinking in terms of servanthood. That's not what we do, he says, but you, my disciples, here's what happens. If you are to be great in the kingdom of God.
It's not by being somebody who lords it over everybody. That's not what it is. Matthew 20:28. He says, what I want you to understand is it's not to be the same way as the Gentiles. Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. So that's the picture he wants us to understand. Now, John 13 fleshes that out for us. And we have this kind of strange idea that that has hit us about servanthood where we've been taught in our culture and we are by nature inclined to want this to be true, that we are to be served. We have a right to be served.
We have a right to have our way. We have a right to be happy on our terms. We have a right to have things the way we like them. And other people need to take care of that and cater to us. If we can get them to do it.
And Jesus says, no, as a matter of fact, that's the exact opposite of what I'm calling you to now. A few years ago, it kind of became in vogue for this trend to sort of work through the restaurant industry, that when you get to the restaurant, you give them your name, they take you to the table. The host is saying, now, your server today is going to be Billy, or your server today is going to be Sally. And then you sit down, and then Billy or Sally comes there. Hi, I'm Billy.
Hi, I'm Sally. And that's the last. We think of them as a human being.
They are now just the delivery mechanism to get our food from the kitchen to the table.
And we treat them as if they were not a person anymore. They're servants. They are our servers. That's what they're called. You don't call them a waiter or waitress anymore.
No, no, no, no. They're servers. And so they are servers who are there for us. And therefore we treat them as if they didn't matter. Now, all three of our sons worked in the restaurant industry doing different things during high school years and college years.
And they either bussed or were waiters or whatever. Servers. Excuse me. And they said that in their little group of servers and the folks that they work with, what day of the week did they hate worse than any Sundays? Because after church, all those people came.
How embarrassing is that to the body of Christ, that unbelieving men and women who are taking it upon themselves to be servants? Granted, they're doing it for a salary. They're not doing it because they just love us. But they hate when church folks come up because to. To use the language of my kids, they treat us like dirt.
They are demanding, they're rude. They treat us as if we're just, hey, you know, get rid of this. And they just hate for Christian scam. And on top of that, at the end of the day, they don't tip well. The service wasn't good.
So I said, well, this is how they make their living. So point being, if you're going out to lunch today, you better tip somebody. That's what I'm saying. And be nice to them. Pray for them.
Ask when they, hey, listen, we're going to pray over this food before we eat it. Anything we can pray for you about? That'll shock them. You don't even remember my name. Yeah, you're Sally, you're Billy.
How can we pray for you? And they're not just servers. They're people. And Jesus wants us to understand that we have the privilege of being able to represent Christ wherever we are in a way that is so radically different from the way other people treat them. That.
That it is. It is something that sticks out. It's odd in the most wonderful kind of way. Nobody else has been nice to me all day, and why are you being nice to me, Jesus? That's why I can't.
I wouldn't do this normally. I normally ignore you. But the pastor said, today we're supposed to be nice to you today. No, this is. We're servants of Christ.
And so Jesus comes and helps us understand that if you know me as my disciple, if you're my follower, what's going to happen is that if you know that I am the humble servant, it will rebuke all the selfishness in my life, it will change that, and it will lead me to serve others in his name. Now, when we come to this passage that we've just read, it reveals sort of the threefold character of what it means to. For Christ to be a servant. Now. He kind of packages it for us very neatly in this little account of what he did in washing the feet.
So he said, well, that means we're supposed to have foot washing every Sunday morning. That's not what this is about. He takes this whole story and just wraps it in a way so that we understand where it is. Because he starts off just with understanding what we figured out a couple weeks ago, that this servanthood is actually rooted in the Beloved One. It's rooted in love.
We do this because we love Christ and we love what Christ loved, when we love who Christ loves. So this whole servanthood idea is rooted in the idea that we actually care about people, so we love them. That's what it begins in John, chapter 13, verse 1, just before the Passover feast, Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world to go to the Father. And having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. Other translation says he loved them to the uttermost.
That's the starting point here. And then we get to the actual picture here. This servanthood is anchored in this humility that Christ displayed for us. What greater picture of humility can there possibly be than Jesus Christ, the King of Glory, about whom we just sang, seated on his throne in the heavenly places, having created everything in the heavens and in the earth and everything that in him dwells. And he says, yes, I will humble myself and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
He left heaven to come here for us.
That's mind boggling that he would do that and not ask for the Father for a holy bailout. That's not what was going on. No. What happens is that we see this. The sermon is anchored in his humility.
And the example that he shows us is astounding. And several years ago I heard a British pastor by the name, a guy by the name of John Stott was preaching on this particular passage. And I'd read it who knows how many times by that point, but I looked at it and went, I'd never seen that before. In his washing of the feet of his disciples, he just reiterates the Incarnation. He says, what did he do?
He got up from the meal. Everybody else is already in place. He's in his place. He gets up. Well, where was he before he came to the world?
He was seated on his throne, surrounded by all the abundant supply of heaven and all its riches. And he got up from that place. And what did he do when he got up? He comes into this world. He took off his outer garments.
That's what it says in this passage. He took off his outer garments in order to be able to do what he's getting ready to do. Well, what did Christ do when he left heaven? He laid aside his privileges. He didn't become less than deity.
That never happened. But he laid aside his privileges. And we'll see in a minute in Philippians 2 that1 translation says, he laid aside his prerogatives as God. He chose to lay those down just like he laid down his outer clothing to wash the feet. Then it says that he wrapped a towel around his waist.
The Logos, the Son of God, took on flesh. He clothed himself in humanity. Put the towel around his waist. He clothed himself in humanity. Then he poured water into a basin well at the cross.
What did he do? Water and blood came from the cross, poured out.
Why? To do the next thing. To wash the feet of his disciples. The blood was poured out to wash the hearts of simple men and women. And then what did he do when he finished verse 12, got up?
What did he do next? He puts his clothes back on and goes back to take his seat. What did he do in Acts, chapter one, verse eight?
See you, boys. The angels are saying like, why are you standing here gaping into heaven? He's not here. He is risen. He's gone.
But he's coming again. But all that I'm saying, look at this passage, going like, oh, my goodness. How that's been there all this time, and I just. I never saw that. The Incarnation is right there in the.
The washing of the feet, the picture of it so perfectly there. Well, that's a whole nother sermon, but that's a pretty good one right there. We can stop and go home after that, but that's not what we're going to do because I've got a lot more stuff to preach about. But in Second Corinthians 8, it says that he who was the rich king of glory, with all the splendor of heaven at his disposal, he became poor, that we might become rich. He swapped places with us in that way, and he became our sweet substitute so that we might have the privilege of sharing in all of his glory.
Now, the passage I referred to just a moment ago in Philippians chapter two begins in verse six, where it says it this way, who, speaking of Jesus, who, being in very nature, God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, something to be clung to. He didn't demand his rights. I'm God, I don't have to go through this. No, he didn't consider it something to be grasped, but he made himself nothing. Taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.
And then dropping down to verses 15 and 16, that humble heart in him produced lowly servanthood, which is something that prompted us to see in him, something that he wants to be reproduced in us. So he says in verse 15, I've set you an example that you should do as I've done for you. And he's not talking about having foot washing every time we get together. That's the picture of humility. That's nothing wrong with washing feet.
We need to do that sometimes. But that's not what he's talking about here. He said, here's the example I've set before you to humble yourselves. And then the next passage he says, here's the issue. Servant's not greater than the Master.
The messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. I've set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. You should do this. This is what is expected of my followers. You're going to be my disciple.
You love the part about reigning with me forever, right? That's. Oh, great. You love the part about being saved from Condem. Yes, Lord, that's great.
You don't necessarily love the part where he Says, you don't have to get down and dirty, and you're going to have to get your hands calloused and your heart sometimes broken, and sometimes you're going to have to endure all kinds of indignities.
But the servant's not greater than the master, and your master has experienced all of that. Well, what does that mean? That means that we need to have that desire in us. That's what verse 5 in Philippians 2 says. Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider equality.
And it goes from there. We need to have that same attitude. We need to have that desire. Now, he has told them in the past, this is what you're supposed to do. This is how you're supposed to be better.
The Gentiles lord it over people. That's not the way you're supposed to do it. The greatest among you should be like the youngest and the one who rules, be like the one who serves. You are to be servants. That is your identity.
That's who you are. Desire to be that. And so we get to the verses preceding what Paul said about Christ's deity coming, flesh dwelling among us. From Philippians 2. He says, do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit.
Don't do it, but in humility. Consider others better than yourselves. Wait a minute. Consider others better than myself? That's the exact opposite message that I get from the culture.
And that's the exact opposite message that my own heart clings to. I deserve the best. I deserve better. They owe me. I have a right to.
How much does this language permeated our culture? This is my truth. We have to live by my truth. You don't have truth. Jesus is truth.
And the unique thing about truth is that it is exclusive entirely of anything. That's not true. So the whole idea of relativism and all that kind of stuff. No, another sermon. Let's deal with that another time.
But he says, each of you should not look out for your own interests, but also for the interest of others. This is how it works. You become humble, you follow that path. That's what's supposed to happen. So this serpent is rooted in love, it's anchored in humility, and then it's demonstrated in action.
It's not a concept, an ideal to be thought about in the ivory towers. It's something that has to get down and dirty. It's in the trenches kind of stuff. It shows up. He says, you know these things, good.
Now you're blessed. If you do them. Let's step up the game here. So. Well, I'm not sure I really can pull that off.
He says you can't. Never expected you to be able to. But what happened when you were saved from your sin and given your life in Christ? Paul Summarizes in Galatians 1, Galatians 2. I have been crucified with Christ.
That's a pretty important thing, isn't it? I've been crucified with Christ. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, gave himself up for me. So if indeed Christ is living in me, and he is the Sovereign Lord.
Yes. And he is the Beloved One. Yes. I love those. And he is the humble servant.
Well, wait a minute. No, in all of these things I am to manifest that in the way I live, I've got to be a humble servant too.
I can't. That's why Jesus lives in you.
So the opportunities that present themselves, Christ is going like, I can help you with that by doing it through you and for you, and in you. But you've got to humble yourself and yield yourself to me and reckon yourselves as dead to who you used to be and made alive together with Christ. That's what I'm calling you to be about. All right. Well, great Horner, how does this show up in action?
Thought you'd never ask. Four practical applications. You're going like. You mean you're not finished with the sermon? We finished with John 13.
No, no, John 13 was the intro. That's where we get to the practical side of it. First practical point. Here's what it is. That means that no task is too lowly for me to do willingly.
Nothing is beneath me. Nothing is beneath my dignity. My dignity. What happened to it? I have been crucified with Christ and my dignity went down with it.
What does that look like? It means that we have to be particularly careful that we don't think that we're above washing somebody's feet. It means that we're not above changing a diaper in the nursery. It means that we're not afraid to pick up some trash when we're walking in from their cars into the building. It means that sometimes we have to do things that we don't like to do and wouldn't normally be inclined to do, but we don't consider them beneath us.
I promise you. Pastoral ministry. Some people look at pastors and go like, well, that's those Guys are, you know, they're no, some of the worst examples of this I've ever seen were pastors. It's like, I'm sorry, I don't do that kind of thing. And some elders, you know, like, well, that's beneath me.
I'm an elder here. You know, I'm a pastor here. No, I may have actually seen guys who said, well, listen, I get to park here because this is where the pastor. We get to park nearest the building. I have a pastor's parking spot right there.
Yeah, at our church. The pastor's parking spot I think was in Durham. I don't know. I mean it was a long way from the back door. And we just say, look, we'll serve the others and we'll do the walking instead of making them do the walking.
Let's take the low place. Let's find out how we can do that. It's simple things, but we got to be careful that we don't demand preferential treatment because of who we think we are. And that's not just pastors, folks, and you know it, it's any of us. Well, you don't know who my husband is.
Well, you don't know my father. Well, I do know your heavenly father and he's got one son and he's a humble servant. What does that make you? You're not greater than your master. Well, that's way too convicting.
Let's kind of get on by that one. Because what's happening is that no task is too lowly for those whose feet have been washed by nail scarred hands. Does that kind of put it there for you? Okay, second one. No person is too important to serve humbly, no matter who you are.
Have you ever heard somebody say that? Do you know who I am? You know, you want to go, I'll slap you. No, I won't do that. But I just like, you know, yours.
What is. Get a grip. Who do you think you are? Well, I think I'm a whole lot more important than to do that or to yield there or to be humble in your presence or whatever. We see this kind of thing happening and we think it's inconceivable that anybody would know who I am and expect me to do that or to be like that or to accept that kind of behavior or tolerate that kind of demeaning of who I am, you know.
Well, you're saying, well, I'm glad I haven't been guilty of that. I have.
Just when you kind of think you got it figured out and you're modeling it everywhere. The Lord just kind of goes, oh, really? You think you can do this on your own? Do you? Okay, years ago, went into a doctor's appointment, have to go the day or so before to get your blood work done and all the lab stuff.
And so I go in a couple days later, coming back for the doctor to tell me what all is good about me, you know, and. Yeah, and I'm in there, and I walk in and sit down in the lab area, and there are the techs behind there, and they're taking blood and doing all the stuff that they do. And next person comes in, and they go in, and I'm sitting there, and the next person comes in, goes in, and they leave. And I'm still sitting there. 45 minutes, I'm sitting there watching one person after another go in, get their stuff done, and leave.
And I'm thinking, like.
And my mind, in the humility of Christ, is thinking, I've been a patient here for 15 to 20 years, and I'm getting treated like this. Do they not. And I almost said it. Do they not know who I am? So I finally, you know, in the sweetness and kindness of my soul, went over to the Texans going, like, look, I've been sitting there for 40 minutes.
I've seen probably 10, 15 people come through here, and I'm still sitting out there watching, waiting to be called. What is going on? Oh, I'm so sorry. We didn't see your name on the list. List.
There was a sign in list. I didn't sign in. I didn't think about that part of it. And I go, we'll get you in as quick as possible. And I'm going, like, so you have to sign in.
We can.
Never mind. This is totally embarrassing, but I pulled the do you know who I am? Card. How embarrassing is that? So I apologize profusely.
And when I came back a couple days later, I went back to the lab again, going like, y'. All. I mean, the guy that you saw in here a couple days ago, I am so sorry. You know, what I could say is that that was the uncrucified David and I have been slain by Christ and just humiliated by my behavior. That's not the way we do it.
Why? Because no person is too important to take the low place and to not think that we have a right to something because of who we suppose ourselves to be. Now, right now, we're in the middle of a war in Iran. There's about 2 million people in the armed services. We Understand that right now most of the folks who are armed service folks are volunteers.
But back when I was growing up, the Vietnam war was going on. 75% volunteers, but the 25% remaining part of that Army. Again, about armed services, not just the army, there were probably 25% of them who were drafted. They reached the draft age and then they were drafted into the military.
There was a problem with that, that if you knew somebody, if you had connections, that is largely if you had means, you could find a way to get out of the draft. And so the draft ended up being for only those who couldn't get out of it.
These people are too important to go. These people are too inconsequential to go.
That breach, that scar on our nation remains to this day because we did a haves and have nots, and these have to serve and these don't have to serve. Now, I'm not advocating military service or anything. Out. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying this is indicative of the mindset that says I have a right not to have to do the things that I don't want to have to do.
I don't have to serve in ways I don't want to serve because I am too important for such a lowly thing.
No, you're not. Nor am I. Nor to the point was Jesus who said, I'm not too important to take on flesh and come save you. Third, practical application. No deed is more satisfying than serving selfishly.
When you do something good and right to serve another person, it just warms your insides. I mean, you just feel good about that. Now, that's not why you do it. That's a bad motivation. That's like, you know, you want a participation trophy for doing a good thing.
No, no, you do it because it's the right thing to do and you don't do it to get credit for it. Then when you just do it because you and Jesus are the only two people in the world even knew you did it, and you go home, put your head on the pillow that night, and just kind of going, so that's what you're talking about. The satisfaction of knowing that I did what Jesus wanted me to do. I mean, it just makes you feel good all under, you know, it's just that kind of thing. There's something incredibly satisfying about doing that.
And so you say, well, I'm not sure where to find it. Well, just find a need somewhere and then go do it. You don't have to have a committee. You don't have to go get an appointment from some authority somewhere. You just find something that needs to be done, and you just do it.
Did I tell you the story of Glenn at our church in the past, I may have told you this. I haven't been here for a few weeks, but my mind, I can't even remember stuff anymore. After the service one Sunday morning, I'm up at the front talking to people, and they're going back, and there's an older gentleman, probably in his mid-80s, and he's going back and forth, you know, up, up and down the rows. I'm thinking, what is. What is wrong with Glenn?
You know, And I'm talking to people and. And he goes back and forth. You know, he's just going back and forth, working his way toward the front. And finally, when I finished talking about, I said, glenn, what are you doing? He said, pastor, you remember you were talking about servanthood, and you said, find a need that's not being fulfilled and fill it.
I said, yeah. He said, people leave stuff, bulletins and Kleenex and candy wrappers and stuff on the floor all over the place. And so I'm just picking them up after the service. Said, glenn, we've got a custodial crew that comes in and does all that. He said, I know, but how much easier it is for them if I just do some of that in advance for them.
Nobody knew what Glenn was doing. I didn't know what Glenn was doing. Jesus knew what Glenn was doing. And there was a sweet satisfaction in knowing when he went home from church. Jesus, I picked up 10 handfuls of stuff today.
What a blessing it was. Find something that needs to be done. Don't tell anybody. Just do it and let Jesus give you the credit instead of anybody else. Right?
Don't let your left hand know what your right hand's doing unless you're carrying stuff. You really do need to communicate. All right, so now, fourth thing. No message that we can give to anybody is more effective than sharing Christ in a sacrificial way with a servant's heart. You can have all the apologetics explaining the doctrines that you want to communicate, to communicate the gospel, to share the faith.
You can do all those things, and they're necessary. You want to do that, and you can build bridges in all kinds of ways. But there's probably few things in the world of gospel sharing that communicate more effectively than just serving somebody when nobody's expecting it. You sneak up on them and serve them and watch what happens because they'll know that ain't human right there. That's got to be something wrong with that person or somebody has put a bug in their ear or something.
What's going on there? And they ask questions. Well, several years ago, Kathy subscribes to a thing called World magazine. And there was an article in World magazine about a guy who was a missionary with Operation Mobilization in India. And I tried to figure out how to share the story with you without just reading it to you.
And I can't figure it out. I'm just going to read it to you. And I apologize because it gets a little graphic. It's a couple points in there. Not graphic enough that you can't listen to it.
I don't mean that. And it's also hard for me to read sometimes without getting a little choked up. So I told Kathy when I sat down at first service, I said, I forgot how hard that thing is to read. So, you know, just be humble as I humiliate myself by, you know, stumbling through this. But here, what happened?
He starts the article this way. God often uses the simple things to teach the profound. While serving with Operation Mobilization In India in 1967, I spent several months in a TB sanitarium with tuberculosis. After finally being admitted into the sanitarium, I tried to give tracts to the patients, to the doctors and nurses, but no one would take them. You could tell that they weren't really happy with me, a rich American, because to them, all Americans are rich.
Why was I in a government sanitarium? They didn't know that, serving with Operation Mobilization, I was just as broke as they were. He says, I was quite discouraged with being sick, having everyone angry at me, not being able to witness because of the language barrier, and no one even bothering to take a tract or Gospel of John. The first few nights, I would awake around 2am coughing. One morning, as I was going through my coughing spell, I noticed that one of the older and certainly the sicker patients across the aisle was trying to get out of bed.
He would sit up on the edge of the bed and try to stand, but because of weakness, he would fall back into bed. I didn't really understand what was happening or what he was trying to do. He finally fell back into the bed, exhausted. I then heard him begin to cry softly.
The next morning, I realized what the man was trying to do. He was simply trying to get up and walk to the bathroom. Because of his sickness, because of his extreme weakness, he was not able to do this. And being so ill, he simply went to the toilet in the Bed. The next morning, the stench in our ward was awful.
Most of the other patients yelled insults at the man because of the smell. And the nurses were extremely agitated and angry. But because they had to clean up the mess and they moved him roughly from side to side to take care of the problem. One of the nurses, in her anger, even slapped him. The man, terribly embarrassed, just curled up into a ball and wept.
Here we go. The next night, also around 2am I again woke coughing and I noticed the man across the aisle sit up again to try to make his way to the washroom. However, still being so weak, he fell back whimpering as the night before. I'm just like most of you. I don't like bad smells.
I didn't want to become involved. I was sick myself. But before I realized what had happened, not knowing why I did it, I got a clue as to why. But anyway, not knowing why I did it, I got out of my bed and went over to the old man. He was still crying.
He didn't hear me approach. As I reached down and touched his shoulder, his eyes opened with a fearful, questioning look. I simply smiled, put my arm under his head and his neck and my other arm under his legs, and I picked him up. Even though I was sick and weak, I was certainly stronger than he was. He was extremely light because of his old age and advanced tb.
I walked down the hall to the washroom, which was really just a smelly, filthy, small room with a hole in the floor. And I stood behind him with my arms under his arms, holding him so he could take care of himself. After he finished, I picked him up, carried him back to his bed, and as I began to lay him down with my head next to his, he kissed me on the cheek.
He smiled and said something which I suppose was thank you. Well, it was amazing what happened. The next morning, one of the other patients, whom I didn't know, woke me about 4am with a steaming cup of delicious Indian tea.
He then made motions with his hands. He knew no English, but he indicated he wanted a tract. As the sun came up, some of the other patients began to approach, motioning that they would also like one of the booklets I had tried to distribute before. And throughout the day, people came to me asking for the gospel booklets. It included the nurses, the interns, the doctors.
Everybody in the hospital ended up having a tract, a booklet or Gospel of John. Over the next several days, several indicated they trusted Christ as Savior. As a result of reading the Good News. What did it take to reach these people? With the good news of salvation in Christ.
It certainly wasn't health. It wasn't the ability to speak or to give an intellectually moving discourse. Now, health and ability to communicate sensibly to other cultures and peoples all are very important. But what did God use to open their hearts to the Gospel? I simply took an old man to the bathroom.
Anybody could have done that.
Anybody could have done that. I don't think so. Christ's followers can and Christ followers should. What is it that God's called us to do that we feel? Lord, I'm too weak, Lord, I'm too busy.
Lord, I've got these things going. Lord, I've got this. I've been poor. I got, you know, the Lord's just going, like, do you think I don't know all that? I want you to do this.
It may be taking an old man to the bathroom.
It may be being nice to that neighbor who's been yelling at you about property line issues for the last two years. It may be helping an elderly person in your family who's alone in a nursing home or a care center or something like that, who's not seen anybody who cares anything about them in weeks. And you just go and you hear them repeat the stories that may or may not be true, but they're their stories and they want to talk to somebody. And you can be that person. I'm so busy.
Yeah, I know. We all are. And they would just like to be noticed. Couldn't we just serve them? It may be doing Glenn stuff, picking up things, serving somebody, taking a turn in some kind of capacity in ministry that you never thought about doing before.
It could be any number of things. To take on the thankless task that nobody else wants to do.
And it becomes a window for people to see the gospel in a brand new light. Anybody could do that.
So why don't more do that if you know these things? Jesus said, good on you. No, he doesn't say that. If you know these things, you're blessed if you do them. Look around you and see what God has in store for you.
And watch what he'll open up for you if you'll just do what he's called you to do and do it humbly, with a joyful spirit. And watch what the King of glory can do with this tiny opening for the glimmers of eternal light to shine through. Because you were willing to say, I want to be like Jesus, the humble servant who was willing to get down and dirty with us in the human race in order to bring the light of heaven into the darkness surrounding us and break the chains and set us free. You can do that? Oh, I got stories.
But we don't have time. So praise God for the privilege of being servants for Christ and to be able to know that when the selfish finally become servants, we will know without a doubt that Jesus has been involved somewhere to make it happen. Let's pray, Father. Wow. We don't know what we don't know, but what we do know is enough for us to be willing to say, let me be crucified with Christ.
Let me, the person who doesn't want to be involved, be put to death in order that the living Savior Christ, yourself, working, living and moving through me, can show servanthood in the most wonderful, glorious way. Day, Lord. Make it so. For your praise and for our good and for the glory of the name of our God, we pray this as a bunch of servants looking for places to put our hands in Christ's name. We thank you.
Amen.
