The Servant King

Good morning. It's good to see you. I know we've got a team. A whole bunch of people are away today.

Chris and Fiona have taken a team to Taiwan, Franklin and Teresa in Taiwan. So people are

everywhere, but it's good to see you. And what a grand weekend, right? This is definitely the

best weather I've experienced in Hong Kong in the three months we've been here. A beautiful day.

So it's good to see you with us this morning. Now, if you're new, we as a church are going through

this mini-series called Who is This King? And we're going through the Gospels and we're looking at the

life and the impact and the claims that Jesus Christ made. And last week we looked at the chapter

before, John chapter 12, and we looked at how Jesus said this most unusual thing. He spoke about his

John 12 · chapter mention

imminent death as the moment of his glory. And we looked at how Jesus said he's come to

inaugurate a kingdom, but he hasn't done it through a coronation service or by wearing a gold crown.

He's come to do it by bearing a cross. Now this morning we look at another passage of scripture

in which Jesus says some very unusual things. And today we're going to see how Jesus serves his people

by saving them. And how his death on the cross washes them, washes us, not just for all eternity,

but even for today, for right now, for this week as we go into our city. Now this passage that Freya

and Jonathan read to us is a favorite passage for followers of Jesus throughout the centuries.

A passage that talks about humility and Christ-like service. And that's true. But as we look at this

passage, we're going to learn a couple of other things about Jesus. We're going to learn about

Jesus the King. And there's four things in particular I think Christ wants us to see.

We're going to learn about Christ the serving King, or the servant King, Christ the saving King,

Christ the cleansing King, and then fourthly, Christ the commissioning King. Okay? So let's dive in

and Christ the servant King, Jesus the servant King. Now in verse 1, Jesus talks about how he knows

that his hour has come, and he loves his disciples. And then in verse 2, if you look at the first three

words of verse 2, and the first three words of verse 4, it says this, during supper, Jesus got up from

supper. Okay? So Jesus is having this meal with his friends, his disciples, and he gets up. But John

wants to tell us far more than just Jesus got up. He wants to tell us something of there's a showdown of

power that's going on here, right? So let's read verse 2 to 4 completely. It says this, during supper,

when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Jesus,

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, that he had come from God,

and that he was going back to God, rose up from supper. Okay? So John is telling us here, verse 2,

that Satan has come and seduced Judas Iscariot. Judas has willingly gone along with that. He wants to

pursue his own glory. And then in verse 3, he tells us that Jesus has come from God the Father. He's

going back to God the Father. And the reason is because Jesus is nothing less than God himself.

Christ left the throne room of heaven and has come to earth, but he's nothing less than God himself.

And so with this imminent showdown of power, what's going to happen? On the one hand, you've got Satan

seducing Judas. You've got Jesus Christ, raw power and status and authority, the God of all creation,

in this showdown of power. And what's going to happen? Well, ordinarily, I'll tell you what I would do

if I was Jesus. I would smite my enemies. I would destroy those that are opposing me, and I would

establish my rule and authority. Right? Am I the only one that would do that? Or is there one or two others?

Perhaps I see that smile on your face, and I know what you're thinking, right? If I were the sovereign

God of the universe, and here is someone that I know is busy calculating how to betray me into my enemies,

I would take them out. But what does Jesus do? What does Jesus do? Well, he gets up from the table,

he undresses, he lays aside his respectable gear. He then does what no respectable man would do.

He gets on his knees, and he washes the feet of his disciples. Now, washing someone's feet is something

that's not very common in our culture, I'm assuming. It's not very common in South African culture,

and I don't think it's very common in Hong Kong culture. But it was something that was very popular

and common in Jesus' day. And if you were a respectable member of society, it was something

that you would have experienced fairly often. It was something that was fairly common. And the reason

is obvious, right? You're walking these long days on dusty roads, hot Middle Eastern climate.

Your feet are getting sweaty and dusty. And at the end of the day, as you go to somebody's house,

someone would be waiting there to wash your feet so that your feet feel clean as you enjoy a meal

with your guests or with your hosts. Now, let me just interject here and say we as a family have

been living in Hong Kong for three months now. Tomorrow will be three months since we left. And for me

personally, it's been probably three of the most exciting, exhilarating, fun-filled months of my

life. I'm absolutely having the time of my life. And there have been a couple of tough days.

There have been a couple of moments where I thought, God, I don't know if I can do this.

But as a whole, I'm having the time of my life. And I think our family, we really feel at home here.

We're really enjoying Hong Kong. It's been amazing.

But there's one thing about Hong Kong which I'm struggling to get used to.

There's one thing that makes me a little bit squirmish. Do you know what it is?

It's not the food. Okay, the food is amazing. It's not the people. People are amazing, right?

It's not the long hours. That I can do with. It's not even the chicken feast that Carlo and Justin

allowed me to order this week without warning me. Okay, even that I can put up with.

Do you know what it is? It's when I walk down the pavement, down the sidewalk, and I get that smell.

That smell that dogs have been there just before me, right? Do you know what I'm talking about?

The smell of dog urine and dog fowl. Has anyone else experienced that?

And sometimes you walk down the pavement and a few minutes later you're thinking,

what is that smell? And you look under your shoe and you know exactly what that smell is, right?

You're looking at me like you've never experienced that. Okay, well I experienced that quite early on

and I'll stay here. Now, think about this, right? What's happening in Jerusalem in John chapter 13?

John 13 · chapter mention

Verse 1 told us, the time for Passover had come. What's happening at Passover?

Hundreds of thousands of animals are being brought to Jerusalem to be sacrificed for the Passover meal,

which is going to happen this very night. So Jesus is having his Passover meal.

Jerusalem is just filled everywhere with animals, mainly sheep, lambs, some cattle, some goats.

Jerusalem is filled with animals, which means Jerusalem is filled with animal fowl, right?

And there aren't cute little signs saying, please clean up after your dogs or, you know,

everyone walking around with a water bottle.

Jerusalem is filled and these people are wearing open sandals.

And so think about it, hot Middle Eastern climate, dusty roads, animal fowl all over the place,

open sandals. How clean do you think your feet are at the end of the day?

Not very clean, right? Don't smell so good.

And so customarily, someone, when they come to your house, what do you do?

Your servant, as an act of service and love, gets a bowl of warm water, a towel wrapped around them,

and they wash your feet.

They wash the dust and the sweat and the grime and the muck off of your feet.

However, this is a job that no Jewish servant would do.

No matter how lowly the servant, no matter how esteemed the master,

this is a job that no Jewish servant was required to do.

Only foreigners would do this. Only Gentiles would wash the feet of their masters.

Remember John the Baptist comes to Jesus, or before Jesus comes, and he says,

after me is coming someone who is so worthy, I wouldn't even be worthy enough to untie his sandals.

What's happening there?

In Jewish culture, you could ask your Jewish servant to do almost anything,

but there are two things they couldn't do.

You couldn't ask them to untie your sandals or to wash your feet.

But here John the Baptist says,

when the Messiah comes, when the King comes,

He is so worthy that if He asked me to wash His feet, to untie His sandals,

I would gladly do it.

But in fact, so unworthy am I of Christ the Messiah,

that I wouldn't even consider myself worthy enough to untie His sandals,

to wash His feet.

So amazingly majestic is this King,

I wouldn't even dare wash His feet.

And friends, this sovereign, amazing, majestic, Messiah King

gets on His knees,

and He washes the feet,

the muck, and the grime,

and the foul,

and the sweat,

and the dust,

off of the feet of His disciples.

Who is this King?

Who is this King that would do such a thing?

You know, one of the astounding things about this passage

is how many people are present with Jesus at this meal?

It's Jesus and His 12 disciples, right?

Now are there 12 of them, or are there 11 of them?

Verse 30, a little bit later on,

tells us that Judas Iscariot is still there.

And later on, Judas gets up to go and consult with the leaders

how to betray Jesus.

But right at this moment,

Jesus Christ, the supremely sovereign God,

the one who holds all power,

the one who the New Testament tells us

will one day destroy His enemies

with a mere breath of His nostrils,

Jesus Christ,

the most supreme act of selflessness,

gets on His knees

and washes the feet of the very man

who right now is calculating

how to betray Jesus

for a few silver coins.

You know, in the Psalms,

there's a Psalm 68,

it says this,

Lord, teach me your ways

that I may walk in your truth.

Oh, friends,

how desperately we need Christ

to teach us His ways.

How desperately we need Christ

to teach us how to swim upstream,

to be the men and women

that are countercultural,

that follow the way of Jesus

in a world which is so fixated

on glory and power

and me and my rank.

Oh, God, teach us your ways.

Teach us your ways.

Jesus Christ,

Jesus Christ,

the servant king.

Secondly,

Jesus,

the saving king.

Now, this idea

that Jesus

is this servant king

is not very new, right?

I think if we were

to really understand it,

it would blow our minds.

But the fact that Jesus

is this selfless,

humble,

servant-hearted king

is something

that's not very new.

It's one of the reasons

why Jesus

is somewhat respected

in culture,

especially in Western culture.

People think of Jesus

as a good moral man.

But there's a problem

with separating Jesus' actions

from His claims,

separating who Jesus was

from what He claimed

to do on the cross.

Because look at what happens

in verse 5 and verse 6.

Verse 5,

Jesus gets this bowl of water

and He starts to wash

His disciples' feet.

And then in verse 6,

Peter says to Him,

Lord,

You shouldn't wash my feet, right?

Peter's like John the Baptist.

He's seen something

of the majesty of Jesus

and He says,

It's not right

that You wash my feet.

And Jesus says to him,

Peter,

you might not understand

what's going on now,

but afterwards,

you'll understand.

Now, after what?

After the meal?

After He's washed their feet?

No,

after I've been crucified.

So Jesus is specifically linking

what He's doing now,

the washing of feet

with what He's about to do

in 24 hours time,

which is be nailed to the cross,

right?

But Peter still doesn't get it.

And so He says,

Jesus,

You will never wash my feet.

And what does Jesus say?

He says,

Peter,

if I do not wash you,

you have no share in me.

You have no part of me.

Friends,

the reason why we can't just

admire Jesus

as a good moral man

or as a good moral teacher

is because Jesus tells us

He never came to be

a good moral teacher.

If you think of Jesus

as just a respectable man

that we can look up to

and learn some good things from,

you don't understand

who Jesus is

and what He came to do.

You see,

what Jesus says to Peter

is actually what He says

to each of us.

He says,

I didn't just come to wash your feet.

I didn't just come to demonstrate

humility or servant-hearted leadership.

What I came to do

is nothing less than

to wash you of your sin

and your self-glory

and the self-awareness

which has marred your life.

I've come to wash you

of the sin that clings to you

even though you try everything

to eradicate it from your life.

The stain which marks

every thought,

every motive,

every ambition,

every word,

every deed that you do.

You see,

in this story,

if you're anything like me,

it's so easy

to look at Judas Iscariot

and think,

there's someone

that needs Jesus, right?

There's someone

who's self-centered,

self-righteous,

living for his own glory.

If there's one person

that really needs

to understand who Jesus is,

there it is.

Cole Truman writes this.

He says,

we must be careful, friends,

at pointing the finger

at them.

In fact,

if we're honest,

most,

if not all of us,

feel the attraction

of self-glory.

And that's not surprising

given that self-glory

is the default position

for fallen human nature.

See, friends,

in a sense,

there's a little bit of Judas

inside all of us,

isn't there?

And Jesus Christ

is trying to teach his disciples

what he's trying to teach us.

He says,

I haven't just come

to give you

a leadership lesson.

I haven't just come

to tell you

to be servant-hearted

and to be humble.

I've come to show you

that the way

I've come to serve you

is to wash

not just your feet,

but to wash your hearts.

I've come to wash

the inner motivation

of your lives.

We sang it earlier.

Jesus has paid it all.

All to him I owe.

Sin had left

a crimson stain.

He washed it

white as snow.

Remember,

Paul,

the Apostle Paul

writes in 2 Corinthians,

and he says this

in chapter 6.

He says,

Don't you realize,

friends,

brothers and sisters,

that our sin

is an affront

to God.

Our unrighteousness

is offensive

to the holiness of God.

Don't you realize

that idolaters

and adulterers

and the sexually promiscuous

and thieves

and the greedy

and drunkards,

such people

have no place

in the kingdom of God.

He says,

if that's the trajectory

of your life,

you haven't met God yet.

And then he says this.

He says,

But such were some of you.

Such was I.

But Christ has washed us.

Christ has sanctified us.

That means cleanse us.

Christ has justified us.

He's given us

his righteousness

in the name

of the Lord Jesus Christ

and the Spirit

of our God.

Peter says this.

Peter,

Jesus says,

Peter,

unless I wash you,

you have no part of me.

Friends,

this is why Jesus

is washing his disciples' feet.

He's showing that

he came to wash them

of their sin

and their unrighteousness.

He came to atone

for the sins

of those who

would believe in him.

This is why Jesus

came to die

for the sins

of the world.

As the prophet Micah

says in Micah chapter 7,

Micah 7 · chapter mention

he came to wash our sins

into the depths

of the ocean.

Friends,

what Jesus says to Peter,

he says to each of us,

unless I wash you,

you have no part of me.

And I think we need

to be careful

about moving on

too quickly.

We ought to examine

ourselves

because as we said earlier,

here in the midst

of this table,

as they stand around

and Jesus washes their feet

is none other than Judas.

And as we said earlier,

there's a little bit

of Judas inside all of us,

right?

But here is Judas.

Judas,

isn't it astonishing

that Judas,

who had walked with Jesus

for three years,

listened to all

of his teachings,

seen the miracles,

Judas,

Judas,

who had handed out

fish and bread

to the 5,000

and then collected

up the scraps afterwards.

Judas,

who had given money

to the poor

and helped serve

those that were struggling.

Judas,

who had walked

in the feet of Jesus

and yet Judas

would not come to Jesus

to be washed by him

and so still carried

his own sin.

Friends,

Jesus makes it abundantly clear.

He didn't come

to be merely a role model.

He didn't come

to initiate

a religious right

or an institution.

He didn't come

not just to say,

hey,

follow me

as a humble,

servant-hearted leader.

He came

as the perfect Lamb

of God,

as the ultimate Passover Lamb

to wash away

the sins

of the world.

Jesus,

our serving,

sanctifying,

saving King.

Third thing is this,

Jesus,

the cleansing King.

Now,

this is very important.

Look at what happens

in verse 10 here.

If you've got your Bible,

look here.

Jesus says to him,

to Peter,

in verse 8,

he says,

if I do not wash you,

you have no share in me.

And Peter then,

in his very,

you know,

exuberant self,

Peter's always the guy

that says these crazy things,

right?

Peter says,

okay,

Lord,

then have all of me.

Wash my hands,

my head,

my feet,

take it all,

right?

Which is a good response.

That's how we should

respond to Jesus.

But then Jesus says

something very interesting.

Look at what he says

in verse 10.

He says,

Peter,

the one who is bathed,

does not need to wash again,

except for his feet.

But he's already

completely clean.

Now,

I want us to think about this

because Jesus is saying

something very important.

Scripture tells us

that sin

is not so much

about our behavior,

you know,

lying,

cheating,

stealing,

et cetera,

et cetera.

Those things are sinful,

but actually the Bible tells us

the root of all those

is far deeper.

It's actually our heart,

right?

It's the motivation

of our hearts.

It's the fact that we live

for our own glory.

It's the fact that we don't

love our maker like we should.

We don't trust our maker

like we should.

And the motivation

of our hearts

is actually the essence

of sin.

And that plays itself out

in a whole lot of behavior.

But what that means

is that

actually,

we probably,

each one of us,

sin many times a day.

And maybe not

an outward behavior,

but the motivation

of our hearts,

many times a day,

we are self-seeking,

self-glorifying,

self-justifying.

Now the question is this,

if we all happen

to sin many times a day,

what do we do

with that sin?

Do we need to be baptized

freshly every time?

Do we need to freshly

come to God

and be born again?

Do we need to be justified

by Jesus

every time we sin?

Otherwise,

you know,

our eternal safety

security is in danger?

Well,

you know,

Martin Luther,

one of the great reformers,

before he discovered

the gospel,

he thought this was the case.

He was a monk

in Germany

at a monastery.

And he had a very acute

sense of conscience.

And so every time

he used to do something wrong,

he thought,

I'm in danger of hell.

And he used to drive

the priests mad

because he would go

to the confession booth

and he would stay there

for hours.

And they would be looking

at their watches thinking,

dinner time's coming.

How long is this guy

going to hold us here?

And he would say,

you know,

Father,

I think I probably

didn't have the right attitude

towards that person.

And he would just spend

there for hours

confessing every tiny

little thing.

And then he would leave

the confession booth.

He'd be walking back

to his room.

He'd think of something.

He'd run back and say,

Father,

Father,

I've forgotten something.

And there's one more thing.

And the monks

used to try and hide from him.

They saw Martin Luther coming.

They would hide out the way

and say,

you know,

don't let him see us.

Otherwise,

he's going to ask

to go to the confession booth again.

And there are even stories

of sometimes

he would wake up

in the middle of the night

and you'd think of something.

And they go,

no,

what happens if I die

between now and the morning?

And you go and wake up

the priest,

Father,

Father,

I've got to confess my sin now.

And you'd wake them up

in the middle of the night.

Well,

friends,

is that what we need to do?

Every time we sin,

we need to quickly make men's

in case our hearts,

our souls are in danger.

Well,

look at what Jesus says here.

He says,

unless I wash you

of your sin

and your self-glory,

you have no part of me.

Peter says,

okay,

then wash all of me.

Quickly,

take it all.

And Jesus says,

don't worry,

Peter,

you are really clean.

The one who's been cleansed,

who's had a bath,

doesn't need to wash himself

again and again

and again.

You are really clean.

Friends,

when you come to Christ

in faith and repentance,

when you come

and you bank your life

on him,

you say,

Jesus,

have all of me.

Jesus doesn't just

wash away your sins

that you are now

morally neutral

until the next time

you sin.

It's not like you've got

a chalkboard

and then he wipes it clean

and the next time you sin,

he writes up

the next sin again.

You know,

the reformers spoke

about this

great exchange.

You give your sin

to Christ

and Christ puts

his righteousness,

his perfect track record

of obedience

onto you

and so when God

sees you,

he sees you

nothing less

as holy and righteous

and perfect in his sight.

It's this dual exchange

that takes place.

We give our sin

to Christ,

Christ gives us

his righteousness.

Jesus makes

a covenant,

an eternal commitment

based on his own character

that we are forever

his beloved,

his sons and daughters.

So think about it

like this.

Claire and I got married

10 years ago or so

and when we got married

we made a covenant,

an eternal commitment

that as long as we both live,

I'm hers,

I'm hers,

she is mine,

right?

And when we have

a disagreement

or when I'm being

a lousy husband

or I say something silly,

is my marriage in jeopardy?

No,

of course not.

We're together,

our union is intact,

right?

Signed,

sealed,

on the dotted line

for better or for worse,

she's stuck with me,

okay?

No options.

We end this thing together.

But when I'm being an idiot

and when I say silly things

and when I'm self-centered

and when I think about myself,

our marriage is in jeopardy

but is the relationship

as good as it could be?

No,

of course not.

What happens

when I'm being self-centered?

It robs some of the sweetness

out of the relationship.

It erodes some of the joy,

right?

It corrodes some of the grace.

It takes away

some of the gentleness.

It means we get defensive

to each other quickly

until such time

as you utter those

fateful words.

You know what they are?

I'm sorry.

Oscar,

you've had to do that

once or twice,

right?

I'm sorry.

Will you forgive me?

Right?

Now friends,

Jesus is saying

exactly the same thing.

He's saying

when you come to Him,

you are clean.

He's washed you.

Your marriage to Christ

isn't in jeopardy.

He's not going to kick you

out of the kingdom.

You've been born again.

You don't need to be born again,

again and again

and again every day.

He saved you.

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Right?

Remember the Apostle Paul?

He says,

if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creation.

The old has gone

and the new has come.

Every time we sin,

we don't need to be born again.

But Jesus says,

you do live in a real world

and there is still

a sinful nature inside of you.

And the world in which we live

is still broken.

And the self-glory of the world

and the brokenness of the city

in which we live,

it starts to rub off on us.

And it starts to,

as we walk the streets of our city,

it starts to rub off on our feet.

And we pick up some of the grime

of our city

and some of the foul

and the muck

starts to attach itself to us.

And it corrodes the grace

between us and God.

It affects the sweetness

of our relationship with Jesus.

It starts to erode the joy.

Does it affect our union?

Is God going to kick us

out of his kingdom?

No, of course not.

But it does affect

our communion with him.

Until we come to Jesus

and we say those faithful words,

Father,

I'm so sorry.

Won't you forgive me?

Friends, my guess is that

some of us here today

feel the effects

of the sin in our lives.

And most of us

are probably aware

of the brokenness of our world.

And we may have been washed by Jesus.

We may have been saved.

We may have been born again.

Christ maybe has given you

his righteousness.

But I guess that for many of us now,

we know that we're saved,

but we probably don't feel that clean.

We probably still feel

the guilt of our sin.

I guess there's some of us here

that still feel the shame

of having lived in a broken world

and our sinful nature

is still inside of us.

Jesus says there's a day coming

you'll be in heaven

where every sin will be wiped away.

Every tear will be wiped off your face.

There'll be no more sin,

no more wickedness,

nothing wrong.

But until that day,

you live in a broken world.

Friends,

Christ our King

comes to us

and he says,

if you've come to me

in faith and repentance,

if you've banked your life in me,

you're clean.

I've washed you.

You are forgiven.

But then he says,

come to me afresh today.

Let me come and wash

the muck

and the grime

and the sin

and the dust

and the sweat

from off your feet.

Come and let me wash you.

Let me apply

the blood of Jesus

to your life today.

Friends,

if you're a follower of Jesus,

I hope you have

a sharp conscience.

I hope that you feel

acutely

sin

and the pangs of sin

whenever we do sin.

But friends,

don't let that

stop you coming to Jesus.

Come to Jesus

freshly today.

Come and let him wash you.

Come and let him

set you free.

Come and let the blood

of Christ

cleanse your conscience

from a guilty conscience

and let him restore

the sweetness

and the joy

of your relationship.

Psalm 32

is the great psalm

of confession

and in it,

David writes

and he says this.

He says,

when I kept silent

about my sin,

my bones wasted away

even though I groaned

all day long.

He says,

my strength dried up

as the heat of summer

and I was no longer,

he says,

until such time

as I acknowledged

my sin to you.

I no longer covered

my iniquity.

You've become

a hiding place for me.

You preserve my soul

from trouble.

Friends,

Jesus Christ calls us

to live a lifestyle

of confession

and repentance.

to live a life

where day in

and day out

we come before

his throne of grace

and say,

Father,

forgive me.

Father,

come and wash me.

Jesus,

I acknowledge

my shortcomings.

Truly,

we come and admit

our sin.

And friends,

this is something

that the modern church

doesn't do very well.

We don't like

to admit our sin

but Jesus says,

come to the throne room

of grace

and there you will find

healing

that you so desperately need.

Friends,

may we come to Jesus

day in and day out.

Come confess our sin

and find the healing

that we need.

Fourth thing,

finally,

Jesus,

the commissioning king.

Now this is short.

Now look at what happens

in verse 12

of John chapter 13.

John 13 · chapter mention

Let me just go there.

Verse 12,

Jesus says this.

It says,

when he had washed

their feet

and put on his

outer garments,

he resumed his place

and he said to them,

do you not understand

or do you understand

what I've done to you?

You call me teacher

and Lord

and you are right

for so I am.

If then I,

your Lord and teacher,

have washed your feet,

you also ought to wash

one another's feet.

For I've given you

an example

that you should do

just as I've done

to you.

So Jesus now

commissions his disciples.

He says,

go and do what I've done.

Now is Jesus saying,

you disciples

need to go and die

on the cross

for one another?

Do you need to save

one another?

No,

of course not.

There's only one

saving king,

right?

There's only one

perfect sinless man.

There's only one

God man.

His name is Jesus.

Jesus did for us

what we could not

do for ourselves.

But Christ does call us

as his followers

to go and wash

each other's feet,

to serve each other

by washing one another

with the gospel.

In Hebrews chapter 3,

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

there is one of the

most important verses

in the Bible

for anyone that is

part of a local church.

Okay?

It says this.

It says,

take care,

brothers and sisters,

lest there be

in any of you

an evil,

unbelieving heart,

a hard heart,

which leads you

to fall away

from the living God.

So he says,

in a church family

like ours,

Watermark,

hey,

some of us,

the brokenness

of the world,

the sin of our lives,

it causes our hearts

to get hard

before God.

And that causes us,

if we're not careful,

to fall away from God,

to get hard towards Him

and to slowly drift away.

So he says,

be careful of that.

Then he says this,

and I'll put it up there.

Therefore,

encourage one another

every day,

as long as the day

is called today,

right,

which is every day,

as long as it's called today,

encourage one another

so that none of you

become hardened

by the deceitfulness

of sin.

Watermark,

I want to issue

this challenge to you.

If this is your church,

if you consider

Watermark your home,

I want to issue

you this challenge.

Can you make it your goal

that every single day

as long as the day

is called today

to find one person

in the church

that you can

send a text message to,

give them a phone call,

write them an email,

write them a note,

somehow find somebody

that you can wash their feet

with the gospel

of God's grace.

Find one person

that you can wash them

with the word

of God's grace

and encourage them

and help them

to fix their eyes

on Jesus

and to lay aside

every sin

so that they can run

with endurance

the race that is set

before them.

Friends,

Jesus looks at each

one of us in the eye

and he says,

I've washed you

white as snow

but not only that,

I've come to wash you today.

I've come to remind you

of my grace

and my gospel.

I've come to remind you

of the good news of Jesus

to wash your feet today.

He says,

what you've seen

I've done for you

now do for one another.

If I then,

your Lord and teacher,

have washed your feet,

so you also

ought to wash

one another.

Watermark,

I want to call us this.

Can we love,

whoa,

sorry.

Can you love,

really love,

can we love Christ

our servant king?

Can we worship

and honor Christ

our saving king?

Can we revel

in the wonder

of Jesus

our cleansing king?

and can we obey

Christ our commissioning king?

Let's do that together.

Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father,

Lord,

when we look at this passage,

we revel

and we marvel

at the wonder

of who you are.

God,

thank you

that you didn't remain

in heaven.

Thank you

that you didn't leave us

to our own devices.

thank you,

Jesus,

for not just sending us

the prophets

or your scriptures,

but you,

God himself,

came to earth

to wash us,

God,

not just of

the dirt of our world,

but the dirt

of our hearts,

God.

You came to wash us clean.

Jesus,

we celebrate you.

We revel in you.

We are in awe of you.

We worship you.

We thank you.

Jesus,

thank you

that you set us free.

And Jesus,

thank you

that you still wash us.

Every Sunday

as we come to church

and we sing the gospel

and we demonstrate

the gospel in communion,

you wash us afresh.

Thank you,

Jesus,

that every morning

when we come to your word

and devotions,

you wash us

with the gospel.

Thank you,

Jesus,

that as we gather

in CGs together,

you wash us

with the gospel.

God,

we're so grateful

for you.

Thank you,

God,

for not only being

the most magnificent

role model

and example

of a humble servant king,

you also are saving king.

You are cleansing king.

Jesus,

as a church,

we want to obey you.

We want to follow you

and we want to wash

one another

with the gospel.

Help us,

I pray.

God,

I pray for Watermark Church.

Won't you make us

a family

and a community

that washes

one another

with the word of grace,

with the good news

of the gospel.

people.

We ask you this

in your name.

Amen.