Make Your Life Count // Serving Others

We are in John 13, and we just started a brand new series last week called Make your Life Count.

And here's what we're seeing that to make our life count.

It's actually not that complicated, it just takes some simple practices.

But if you're anything like me, I can take something simple and make it complicated.

Have you ever taken something simple and made it complicated?

Yes, yes, I'll give you an example of this.

If I had a list of things I dislike doing, on the top of that list would be going to the dentist.

Somebody help me in the room.

You know what I'm saying?

Oh, my goodness, yes, I mean it's like get your hands out of my mouth, dude.

Like come on.

Yeah, number two, very close.

Second, going to the DMV.

Doctor's third DMV, and for the longest time.

I mean we all know going to a DMV, and for the longest time.

I mean we all know going to a DMV is like you know, it's like basically human torture.

But I made it even more complicated than I ever had to because I didn't realize they had something available called online appointment.

Now, if you're not familiar with an online appointment at DMV, it's basically like fast track at Disneyland you get to bypass all the line and for the longest time I made going to the DMV even more complicated than it needed to be.

Here's what we're doing in this series.

We're just looking from the book of John, the simple practices of what we need to do to make our life count, and last week we saw.

The first thing was this it was we make our lives count by living for eternal purposes.

When we what Jesus says in Matthew 6, 33, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, we make our lives count.

And then today we're going to see the second thing, and it's this the second practice is we make our life count by serving others.

Now, here's the thing about serving others and this is something that a lot of us don't realize is that serving others can actually be dangerous, because we can serve others from a wrong heart.

We can serve others from a place where it looks like we're serving others, but it's actually masqueraded selfishness.

It is bro and it's real.

But here's the thing it's like subtle.

A lot of times we're not even self-aware enough to realize that it's possible that we could be serving people, but really what we're actually doing is we're serving ourselves.

In fact, what we can do is we can serve people from this place of insecurity, where in our hearts, I need somebody to think something about me.

So, because I need this person to think something about me, so because I need this person to think something about me, what I'm going to do is I'm going to serve that person because I want them to like me and my insecurity is causing me to want their approval.

In my life, sometimes what can happen is our insecurity causes us just to and I get it just to want to feel some type of way about ourselves.

So what we do is we go about serving everybody else all the time, because if I serve everybody else all the time, then I'm going to feel good about me.

And then I run myself ragged going all these places and everybody's like man, you're such a servant, and I'm like, yes, I feel so good about me and the reason why I'm serving you is not to serve you, but so I'll feel good about me Been there.

Sometimes we can serve from a place of guilt.

I have to do this, I need to do this, and I'm filled with shame and guilt and I'm trying to run from this.

So I just I'm serving.

Sometimes we can serve from a place of a misunderstanding of God.

I want God to love me.

So, because I want God to love me, in my mind I have to do things for God, because if I don't do something for God, then God's not gonna love me.

I want God to accept me and God to affirm me.

So, god, I'm going to serve other people.

But it's a misunderstanding of God.

God loves us because we're made in the image of God, not because of anything we do for him.

Sometimes we can serve because of pride.

Sometimes we can serve because of pride.

In my family, we serve people.

This is what we do.

I was raised in the church.

No, no, you don't serve me, you don't help me, I'm good, I serve other people.

And what could happen if we aren't careful is we can serve from a less than healthy place.

That at best is dangerous and at worst can be completely detrimental for our spiritual health and the spiritual health of people around us.

But when we serve from a healthy place, from a love that we have for god because god loves us, and when our cup is full, where we can flow out and serve people, this is what's going to happen and this is what you're going to see.

Serving others is so joyful.

Serving others is the greatest gift.

Serving others is something that's completely amazing, but we got to have the right heart in it.

So this is what we do.

We look at Jesus because Jesus served somebody and some people in an absolute, radical, crazy way, but he was able to do it because of his relationship with the father and because he had a right relationship with the father.

He served out of the overflow and he made his life count.

And here's the good news you can too.

Let's open up the scripture to John, chapter number 13, and let's see how we can serve from a healthy place and if you're ready for it, would you say amen.

John, chapter 13, verse number one.

John 13 · chapter mention

It says this before the Passover festival.

Now, you remember we talked about the Passover festival last week.

If you missed it, you can catch up on YouTube or Spotify or one of the podcasting things.

Whatever we have going on these days.

We learned about the Passover last week, so Passover is about to happen.

Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world to the father.

Let me translate it he's about to die.

He got 24 hours.

He's about to die.

He got 24 hours.

He's about to die, having loved his own who were in the world.

He loved them to the end.

Now, when it was time for supper, let me pause for a second.

Any of you guys from the south south?

Oh, we have like nobody from the south South.

Oh, we have like nobody from the south.

Okay, come to Okay.

In the south, they use the word supper.

For us Californians, dinner Dinner.

So right here, what's happening?

It was time for supper, last meal of the day, dinner.

That's what's happening here.

When it was time, my grandma, my extended family, would be out there.

I'd be a kid, I'd go out there.

She'd be like it's time for supper, supper, is this a game we're playing or something?

She's like no, my mom would say it's dinner.

That's just what they say here.

Okay, last meal of the day, but it's time for supper.

They're having their last meal of the day here.

The devil had already put it in the heart of Judas, simon Iscariot's son, to betray him.

So it's about to happen.

Jesus is about to be betrayed by Judas and they're eating supper together.

In fact, you probably have seen the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci called the Last Supper.

Painting by Leonardo da Vinci called the Last Supper, and what it's doing is it's painting a picture of what's happening in John, chapter number 13.

And in verse number three we learn a little bit about the relationship that Jesus has with this heavenly father.

It saysesus knew that the father had given everything into his hands, that he had come from god, that he was going back to god.

Jesus had this strong relationship with his father.

We know that he had this strong relationship with this father because in this text, in this verse, he knew his identity in the father.

He knew his purpose from the father and he was resting in the love of the father.

He knew that God had given him everything.

He knew that he was going to go back to him.

How?

Why?

Because he had this connection with him back to him.

How why?

Because he had this connection with him.

So with this connection that he had with this father, this relationship with this father, it led him to do something crazy.

Verse number four tells us what it is.

He got up from supper, he laid aside his outer clothing, he took a towel and he tied it around himself.

Next, he poured water into a basin, that's a bowl, and began to wash his disciples' feet and dry them with the towel tied around him.

Jesus did something unthinkable.

He picked up a towel to wash people's feet.

Now we already probably think that's kind of a little nasty Culturally.

This was a big no-no.

Leaders would never, ever, wash the feet of their inferiors.

They would never get on a knee and do this.

It was abrasive, it was uncomfortable.

They would never take a towel and take a basin and wash somebody's feet.

That's not what leaders do.

That's not what leaders did.

And Jesus takes a towel and does this.

Not to mention, jesus is 24 hours away from dying.

Let me ask you a question If you knew you were dying in 24 hours, from right now, what would you spend the next 24 hours doing?

I don't know, but you probably wouldn't want to give somebody a pedicure.

You probably wouldn't want to wash somebody's feet.

You probably wouldn't want to wash somebody's feet.

And on the last night of the life of Jesus, he picks up a towel and a basin and a bowl to wash people's feet and he gets to good old Simon Peter in verse number six and watch what happens.

Simon says Lord, are you going to wash my feet?

Jesus answered him what I'm doing.

You don't realize now, but afterward you'll understand.

In verse number eight, in a brashness that only Simon Peter could have you will never wash my feet, peter said.

Simon Peter had the gift, the spiritual gift, of putting his foot in his mouth.

Do any of you have that spiritual gift?

Don't answer, okay.

Jesus replied if I don't wash you, you have no part with me.

So watch how Peter's tune changed In response to that.

Verse 9,.

Simon Peter says to him Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.

One who is bathed, jesus told him, does not need to wash anything except his feet, but he's completely clean.

You are clean, but not all of you, for he knew who would betray him.

This is why he said not all of you are clean.

When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothing, he reclined again and said to them Do you know what I've done for you?

You called me teacher and Lord, and you're speaking rightly, since that is what I am.

So if I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet, for I verse 15, have given you an example.

What is this example?

It's an example of humble, ridiculous service that does not make sense to people that are watching Truly.

I tell you verse 16, a servant is not greater than his master and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him.

And if you know these things, you are blessed.

Watch what it doesn't say.

It doesn't say you are blessed if you know them.

You are blessed if you know what it means to serve Nope.

What does it say?

You are blessed if you do them.

And why in the world would Jesus take a towel and a basin and get on his knee and wash the feet of people that all of them, over the next 24 hours, would either betray, deny or abandon him?

Why would he do that?

I'll tell you why.

Because number one of his relationship with his father, because of his relationship with his father, because of his relationship with his father, his relationship with his father, knowing his purpose, knowing his identity, knowing his calling and resting in that, allowed him to serve those disciples that were so fickle.

When I look at my life, if I'm honest, I haven't always served with the healthiest of motives.

I remember one time, specifically, where my motives were not healthy in serving, but to other people it looked like look at Nate.

It happened when I was 19 years old.

I was in Bible college and our small Bible college of a thousand students would take a yearly pilgrimage to Dodger stadium to watch a Dodgers game.

That was the first problem.

That was the first problem watching a Dodgers game.

Anyways, she just got it.

Yeah, but you guys, I digress Anyways.

So we would, we would go to Dodger stadium and we would sit way at the top.

I'm talking like the cheap seats.

They must have got them for like $2 or something.

Dodger Stadium has four decks.

I remember one time my ticket was the second to last row on a four deck stadium.

I'm like are you kidding?

Like binoculars won't even help at this point.

Right and like and what.

What we would do and this is like college tradition.

I look back, it was kind of random, is some point in the game as a college, in the middle of a baseball game, middle of Dodger Stadium, we would sing an old hymn.

So what would happen is you would have four or five dudes, leaders in the college, whatever.

They would walk down the steps and they would turn around to the you know the couple sections that we're in and then we would all sing.

I think it was like Victory in Jesus, or we would sing something, and it was kind of like.

It was almost like a choir.

You got a thousand people in a stadium singing and people around us are looking like what's going on.

So we'd always do this the first week of school, first week of school.

So I was going into my sophomore year and I'm like it's the first week of school.

If I go down there and lead, be one of the people that are leading the rest of the college in singing, then people in the college will look at me and they'll say, wow, he's so bold, wow, he loves Jesus.

Wow, he's such a servant.

Now, if any of you know me, I cannot sing myself out of a wet paper bag.

If I was on the worship team, none of y'all would ever come back next Sunday.

You would say God is leading me to another church.

No, nate, just can't sing.

That's the problem, right?

But I went down there as a 19-year-old with all this confidence that only an insecure 19-year-old that doesn't know what he's doing can have, deeply lacking self-awareness, and I go down there and I help lead the college in singing this song.

And a dude next to me knew how to sing and he looked at me and I could tell he was like what in the world are you doing down here, bro?

And the reason that I did that was not because I wanted to serve this fellow student body.

It was not because I wanted to serve this fellow student body.

It was not because I wanted to be bold in all in my faith, because I love Jesus so much and I just wanted to serve him.

It was because I wanted the fellow student body to look at me and give me affirmation.

I wanted them to look at me and say, oh, nate, look at you, man, you're a servant.

And I did this from a place of insecurity.

Now, here's the reality for all of us.

It's, to some degree, all of us have some insecurity in our life.

We can be insecure.

And for me just to say that some make some of us insecure because we're insecure about our insecurity.

Can I say we all have it.

We can be insecure about all kinds of things in our life and, to make things worse, what can happen is we, in our life, many of us have experienced wounds and rejections and deep, deep things that have caused insecurity just to raise up and be even worse.

And what so many of us are longing to hear, because we're humans, and what so many of us are longing to hear, because we're humans, is for somebody to say you matter and I love you and you're doing all right and I'm proud of you, and somebody to affirm us that's what we desire, that's what we long for.

And when we understand that God says all of these things about us, that we are known, that we are accepted, that we are loved, that we are firm, that we are cared for, that we are made whole, that we are healed, when we have all of these things in him, when we find our security in him, what we'll see is that our insecurity in life will go down, because we realize that our security is found in him, not in all these other things.

Insecurity's real and if we don't fill ourselves with God and our relationship with God, we'll never be able to serve others, at least from a right heart, at least from a right place.

Let me give you an example of this Pastor Cody, he brought this up a couple weeks ago.

But if this cup is our life, if this cup is our life, we have to be people that are filling ourselves up with our identity in Christ, with the word of God, with the worship of God, with prayer.

And guys, can somebody tell me what's going to happen if I keep pouring, filling this up?

What's going to happen eventually?

It's going to do what it's going to overflow.

And the way we serve others from the right place get this is by serving out of the overflow of our walk with Jesus, out of the overflow of a very real and vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ.

Now, here's the problem.

A lot of us, our lives, are like this, but we've learned how to manufacture.

Serving other people out of guilt or out of will or out of this is the right thing to do.

And then we serve from an empty cup.

And when we serve from an empty cup, you know what happens Burnout.

Life just blows up.

We do crazy things.

It's like whoa, why did I even do that?

Because we were serving from an empty cup.

And you can serve from an empty cup for a little while, but after a while it's going to turn out bad.

Here's what I say to some of us in the room.

Some of you are like this right now and I don't say that to criticize anybody or to have any judgment.

Some of us, we've experienced some really hard things in life.

We're walking through some very deep waters.

We're walking through some challenging things and we're like this right now.

Can I just say you might be in a place where this is what you need to do.

You just need to receive and this might sound ironic during a message about serving, but some of us need to stop trying to serve others so much and just receive from God and receive from the people of God and receive from others.

And it is okay to do that.

For a lot of us, we don't have a framework to do this.

If you're like me, I'm a type A personality, I'm like let's go, I do, I help you, you don't help me.

Where's the mountain?

Let's go climb it.

The framework for receiving that.

It's really hard for me, but can I just remind all of us in the room this morning that God made us human beings, not human doings, not human doings.

And if you're in a place where your cup is empty, can I just say let Jesus fill your cup, let the people of God fill your cup.

Rest in who God says that you are In Matthew 11, verse 28,.

Matthew 11:28

Jesus says come to me all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you.

What's that word?

He'll give you rest.

He'll give you rest and, friend, we care more about how you're doing than what you're doing and let Jesus fill your cup, and when your cup is full, this is what you're going to be able to do You're going to be able to pick up a towel and serve the people that are right in front of you.

Number two you realize in the text what Jesus could have done is he could have said okay, instead of picking up the towel and washing these guys' feet, I'm going to leave the towel right here and I'm going to go up to the Sea of Galilee, which is a few hundred miles away, and I'm going to serve the people over there.

Y'all stay here and eat dinner.

I'm going to go all the way up here and I'm going to go serve these people over here.

Didn't he picked up the towel and served people right in front of him?

Sometimes what we can do is we could watch a video of people that are serving overseas and they're serving orphans and they're serving widows, and we're like man, I want to do that.

That's amazing.

I want to go there and I want to serve and I want to help out those people and, man, I want to get a passport and do all that and, by the way, that's amazing and that's noble and that's incredible.

But can I just submit to you this morning that serving others doesn't always mean crossing the ocean, and sometimes crossing the room is a lot harder than crossing the ocean, because we know the people across the room.

Crossing the room requires me to humble myself, it requires me to take my device and turn it off, and that gives me anxiety.

To think about that.

And in a world where we can be so connected to these devices, what could happen is we can miss out serving people right in front of us.

And here's how, here's how we do this, here's how we pick up the towel when it comes to people that are right in front of us.

This is all we do.

We see them and we meet them right where they are.

We listen to to them, we hear them, we look for opportunities, and sometimes they're as small as just opening up the door for somebody.

Sometimes it's as small as when you go through the line you ask the clerk hey, how's your day going?

It's pausing for a moment and serving the people that are in our families, that are around us, that are in our church family, and when we do this.

This is what's going to happen.

We can make a difference.

We can make our life count.

We can make Jesus known when we simply pick up the towel for the person that's right in front of us.

I want to end with a story about one of many, many people in our church that do this so well.

It's a lady named Joan Parker.

Is Joan in the room?

Can we clap for Joan Parker?

I know Joan's in the room.

Joan is a retired school teacher.

She taught school for almost 40 years and I don't know about you, but if I fought kids I mean taught kids for almost 40 years and I retired, I'd be done.

But Joan has chosen to use her retirement years to serve other people.

Joan's not somebody that's out in front of people.

She's not on the stage.

She actually will be on the stage for our Grow conference in a couple weeks and you'll hear her remarkable story of how she was healed from cancer and some incredible things.

But this is what she does.

She leads a community group, the caring community of crafters.

On Thursday, which ladies are in that group?

Here we go.

That's right.

They're in the group, right.

This is what they do.

They get together, they craft, they make things for cancer patients, for all kinds of people.

It's just remarkable what you ladies do.

It's just amazing, it really is, and there's so many ladies doing it now.

I was here this past week and I couldn't even get to my office because you ladies were blocking the way.

There were so many of y'all.

She leads a ministry serve team here on Wednesday.

It's called the Acts team.

Some of y'all are in that team.

Yeah, that's right, we're in this.

This is what they do.

They do acts of service, helping behind the scenes things here.

They help people outside of the walls of here.

It's just incredible and this is what I've seen Joan do.

She's picked up the towel and this is how she's picked up the towel.

She just serves people right in front of her.

She's not cocky and prideful and look at me, no, she just wants to do her part.

She sees people where they are and now there's probably 30 other people in our church that are serving because of her.

Because one person picked up the towel and one person said I'm going to make my life count.

And one person said I'm going to selflessly serve other people.

And one person said, instead of spending my retirement years sitting on a rocking chair and relaxing, which she's deserved.

She said I'm going to pick up the towel and serve people in front of me.

And what would happen if we'll be a group of people that will pick up the towel and will serve people right in front of us, that we will see people right where they are.

We will love people just as they are.

This is what we will do.

We will help people know Jesus and we will make Jesus known.

Why us and we will make Jesus known why?

Because we are serving, just like our master has served us.

So this is what I want to challenge us to do this morning.

One, to look for opportunities to serve people right in front of us.

Who's the person right in front of you?

Maybe you look past them all the time.

Maybe we need to stop looking past them and start looking towards them.

Who's the person right now?

Or man you spend?

The neighbor, the, whoever it is?

I don't know.

Who's the person in our church family, like you know what.

I just want to serve them and listen to them and hear them.

Guys, who is that?

Number two, I invite you to attend our Grow Conference coming up in just 10 days or so from now.

This is what we're trying to do.

We want to equip you and inspire you to do this, to pick up the towel, so you can better serve others.

This is going to be a conference, guys, where you're just going to receive, where your cup is going to be full.

We're bringing in a top-notch speaker from across the country.

We've got all kinds of breakout sessions on mental health and all kinds of things.

Listen, this conference is for you.

It's for you.

I want to invite you to come because we want to better equip you, to grow deeper in your ability to serve other people.

Also, some of y'all ask about these t-shirts.

You register, you get one of these t-shirts.

Together is what we can do.

We can be like Jesus.

It doesn't matter, like the song we sang a few minutes ago.

It doesn't matter if people don't know our name.

It's all about the glory of his name and let's serve and let's let God use us and let's make an impact to the people near us, around us.

Ultimately, for the glory of God and with his power, work through his people, let's bow our heads and close.