The Power of the Towel ⎸ Rich Casanova ⎸ May 6, 2026

FA Admin: Welcome to the Faith Alive Sermon Podcast. This is a replay of a past sermon from Faith Alive Church. Whether you missed it, want to hear it again, or share it with someone you know, we're glad you're here. This sermon is by Rich Casanova. I gotta tell you. Yeah, thank you. I I gotta tell you, this shirt, new shirt, people noticed. ⁓ you got a new shirt. I'm like, hey hey, yeah, I did. They're like, what's on it? So let me tell you, when you buy a shirt for somebody. Right? And you're like, what are they like? What is Rich like? Well, there's ones with fish on ⁓ but he's not much of a fisherman, right? ⁓ there's Hawaii, but he's never been to Hawaii. I got forks. And let me tell you, right? I have to be honest, like I'm I'm intimately familiar with forks, so it was a good it was a good call. Yeah. So thank you, honey. That was wonderful. Hey, tonight as we as we as we dive into the word and we and we study together, I want to encourage you. I want to encourage you to say, ⁓ we're gonna we're gonna talk about leadership. And you might be thinking, well, what's that got to do with me? I don't feel like a leader, but let me assure you, if you're following Jesus Christ, you're a leader. You're a leader in your home, you're a leader at work, you're a leader here, you're a leader everywhere you go. Because we model the perfect leader. And so I want to encourage you, you are a leader. And you might say, well, I'm not charismatic. It's not about charisma. It's not about fancy articulation. It's not about shirts with forks on them. It's about a heart for Jesus Christ. It's about a heart for others. It's about serving others. And that's how you lead. And that's what we want to talk about. This is called the power of the towel servant leadership. And stare with me, stick with me. You'll know what we're talking about. Sometimes we find ourselves. Not wanting to be a leader, but guess what? Jesus Christ expects us to be leaders in our homes, in our businesses, here amongst each other. But sometimes when we pursue leadership, we forget that we have to be a servant first. We have to remember that if we're going to be good leaders, we have to know how to be a good servant. Now we love titles. Maybe some of you don't, but I pursued titles for a long time. United States Marine, Sergeant of Marines, Michigan State Trooper, ES, which is our version of of the SWAT team. All these titles. I pursued them vigorously, hard. If I could just earn that title, United States Marine, I'll be that'll be really something. And it was, but that only lasted so long. And then I pursued personal titles. Husband, father. Papa. ⁓ Yeah. But guess what? The most important title any of us can pursue is servant. Servant of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus didn't chase any of those things. He flipped the script. He was Almighty. He's the beginning. He's the end. He's everything. He flipped the script. He came to us in a world that said, climb higher, overthrow, use force, be strong. ⁓ he came to us and said, Don't climb higher, kneel lower. Don't put yourself high, kneel lower. And in a culture that says make a name for yourself, Jesus says, make a difference for others. And I love that. I love that. I love that model of serving others. Because here's the tension. We can have authority, we can have leadership positions, titles, but still we miss the heart of leadership, of what it's all about. Because in the kingdom of God, leadership isn't about how many people serve you. It's about how many people you serve. And sometimes that can be tough in a world in a culture that says, be number one, strive to be number one, dog eat dog, look out for this, look out for that. We forget that Jesus loved all of us. Jesus loved me enough to allow me to have a wonderful wife, to allow me second chances so many times. I heard a verse yesterday. It didn't break me, but it broke through. It was out of Job. And I and it wasn't, it wasn't the whole verse, it was a little bit. It said the latter half was better than the first half. And I thought about that. Praise God, because everything I've done, all the times I've shot my own self in the foot, done everything I could to push God away, He still welcomed me in. He still welcomed me in. And I want. Anyone here that hasn't experienced that to know, you are welcome in. And that's how leadership begins at the servant level. So if you want to lead like Jesus, you have to serve like Jesus. Because servant leaders choose the towel over the title. Scripture tells us in John chapter 13, verses verses four through five. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples' feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. You know, I want you to think about that for a moment. Think about the act of doing that. It isn't a symbolism, it's a true servant. I want you to think about the times too. People's feet were filthy. They they didn't have sanitation in the streets. They didn't have clean things. They didn't have nice square toe cowboy boots. Sandals, or they went barefoot a lot. And they walked through animal leavings and things like this, right? Their feet were filthy. So to wash their feet, that was true servanthood. True servanthood. I just love that image. Because, see, great leaders don't grab position, they pick up the towel. They pick up the towel, they pick up the mantle of leadership to serve others, not to serve themselves, not to attain a title. That's all of you. That's all of us. You're all leaders. So at home, when you pick up the towel, when you serve your spouse, when you serve your children, you're leading. You're leading. When you put when you I love when when I hear about, and I wasn't always good at this, so I love when I see it, especially with young parents. Let your children see you pray. I love it when. We're all here as a church family, and our pastors are up here and they're praying and they're worshiping, not as an act, not to show off their hearts. They're in it. That's leadership. That's leadership by example. That's opening their hearts. See, Jesus knew exactly who he was, yet he chose the lowest position in the room. Footwashing was not symbolic. It was reserved for the lowest servant. What's powerful in this is that security and identity. produces humility in action. What do I mean by that? I mean Jesus was everything. He's the creator. He's out he's everything. He's the beginning, he's the end. But he comes down in human form, in fleshly form, and he takes up the position of a servant to demonstrate true love. True leader is secure in their identity when they give everything they have to those they're leading. We've probably been around people who were not secure in their leadership position and what they do is they give you just enough to keep you going, but they keep something reserved for themselves so that you need them. And you have to go to them. They tell you just what you need to know to keep you going. A true leader is in is is secure enough to give you everything. They're not threatened by you. They want you to be better than they were. You know, I had the pleasure of working with a guy on our ES team. He was on our team for 30 years. ⁓ fought in Vietnam, was highly decorated there, then came on our SWAT team and served for 30 years. And here's the other amazing part about this guy. He was like relevant till the day he retired. Wasn't like he was there a long time. We just kept him around. He's legitimate. The coolest thing about him, though, was he knew so much. He had been in so many situations. He would take the newest of the new and welcome them under his wing and teach them everything he knew. If you were willing to learn, he was willing to teach. He wasn't threatened by you. He'd done all that. He wanted you to be better than he was. And when I was praying on this and I was thinking about this, he came to my mind. He came to my mind as a person who was completely secure in his position and was not afraid to teach everything he knew. That's Jesus. In other words, when you know who you are in Christ, you don't need to prove anything. You can serve freely. So let me encourage you. You are sitting out there maybe thinking, I don't know if this really applies to me. I don't really lead anybody. Believe me, you are leading people. Your kindness can lead someone to Christ. Your example can lead someone to Christ. How do I know that? Because that's what got me there. God put the right people in my life that were willing to be leaders, even quiet leaders, demonstrating quiet leadership by living their life that way. And that was inspiring. Most people serve when it's convenient, but servant leader leaders serve when it's costly. It's gonna cost you something. It's gonna cost you time. It's gonna cost you effort. It's gonna cost you energy. Not everybody you're leading wants to be led by you. Right? Just because you spread the positive word of the gospel, not everybody's like, I get it. Tell me more. I know a wonderful person. I I I just I just love them. And and I remember one time ⁓ I was led to invite them to to to church and and it was a really a short conversation. But they've come and they've enjoyed. But at first I th I was like, Okay, Lord, I don't know what to say. I've never done this before. And I said, Hey, if you ever want to go to church with Teeny and I, you're more than welcome. And he said he was very polite, but he said, Okay. And then went and went inside. I'm like, excuse me. I'm like, man, I think I did that wrong. But he's been here, which is so nice. And they're just wonderful people. So what can we do with all this information? This week I want you to do one thing. I'll do this too. I want you to intentionally do one unseen act of service for someone who cannot repay you. Cannot repeat. Rake someone's yard. Carry someone's groceries out to their car. Whatever it is. One unseen is help them. Pray for ⁓ Offer to help them. Smile at them. Ask him if the how their day's going and really care. Right? Come on now. We've all done that, right? Hey, how you doing? ⁓ I gotta tell you. ⁓ no, I didn't bargain for this. ⁓ ⁓ well that's wonderful. I'll pray for you as you're scooting out of there, right? You've done that. You've done the shuffle, right? ⁓ yeah, uhhuh. ⁓ uhhuh, uhhuh. As you're kind of moving. Intentionally, do one unseen act of service for someone who cannot repay you. Remember that servant leaders value people over the mission. This is a little bit of a long verse, but we got to get it in. It's important. This is Mark chapter 6, verses 30 through 34. Hear me in this. The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. Then Jesus said, let's go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest a while. He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn't even have time to eat. So they left by boat for a quiet place where they could be alone, but many people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them. Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, here it is, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, so he began teaching them many things. Understand, the mission matters, but the people matter more. That big long buildup was telling you how tired they were. They were exhausted. They hadn't even had a chance to eat. But there were still people to be fed with the word. I love that verse, but he had compassion on them. Think about the times you've been tired. You've been hungry. My wife's gonna amen this really loud. I get a little cranky when I'm hungry. Amen. I don't mean to, right? I just do, right? I don't think I am, but I am. But they're hungry, they hadn't slept. And all of a sudden, all these people are still there. But instead of saying, look, we just gotta have some time. Jesus had compassion on them. Now look, I don't want to talk out of both sides of my mouth. I'm to tell you, you do need rest. You do need to lead from a place of health. You do need to recharge and refresh. But remember, the mission matters, but people matter more. Parents, have you ever used your ability as or authority as a parent? To push away your children. You don't have to answer, just think about it. There's been times when I've been doing stuff, been hungry, crabby. I'm working on a car. I'm doing plumbing. To be easy, right? Air over water, water runs downhill. How hard can this be? Now I'm Krabby, right? And then my child would come up. Can I help you? Have you ever had an eight year old help you with plumbing? You're not gonna get it done quick. So what did I do? I didn't take that opportunity to say, you know what? You sure can. Come here. Let me let me teach you what we're doing. You work the thing and all that. I didn't do that. I said, Hey, dad's very busy right now. I'll get with you in a little bit. So instead of having compassion on him who loved me and needed me, I pushed him away. Right? Now I'm not trying to put guilt on you. We've all done those kind of things. We're human beings, right? ⁓ but I just want to tell you, take the time. Take the time. Remember the people that need you. I joke about this sometimes. If my wife asks you how you are, she wants to know I don't always. I wish I did. I wish I could go through the Walmart and see you and not be like, I hope they didn't see me. I hope they didn't see me. No, I'm kidding. If I see you, I I always think that's so nice, right? But I'm just telling you, right? Sometimes we get so busy. We get caught up in our own discomfort, our own little whatever it is, our own little bubble, and we forget that there are those around us that may need us. And maybe all they need is a little time. We did some pretty crazy vacations with our children. You know what they remember? They remember time. Remember that time? This is I love this about my boys, right? I really miss cutting wood with you, Dad. Like, where was I when you were having all this fun cutting wood with me? And I don't remember that part. But that's what they remember. So take the time. The mission matters, but people matter more. People matter more. Maybe somebody that you work with just needs you for five minutes, two minutes, doesn't have to be a big long thing. Be compassionate. Have compassion on them. See, the disciples had just come off a very successful ministry run. Reports are coming in, momentum's building by every leadership metric. Hello by the world, they were winning. And Jesus says, let's rest. But then the crowd shows up. Here's the moment. Jesus had every reason to protect the schedule, to protect the plan, to keep things on track, to keep the momentum going. Get some rest. We'll start again tomorrow. But he had compassion on them. He chose compassion over convenience and over comfort. He didn't see an interruption. He saw people. He saw people. This is where servant leadership gets a little uncomfortable because systems will tell you to stay on track. Servant leaders say, stay for the one. Take a minute. Take a minute and listen. Have your eight year old help you. Take the time. Listen to what they have to say. Listen to someone you're speaking with here in your church family. Take the time to listen to what they have to say. It's easy to love the idea of being around people, but it's harder to love people that are in the middle of it sometimes. Remember, you were delivered. You were given grace. You were given mercy. You were given kindness. The least we can do is give some of that back to those around us. Not just those we love, but those who need love. Hear me on that. Not just those we love, but those who need love. There's an entire community out here that's never heard the good news of Jesus Christ. There's a whole community out here that's never had anybody really be kind to them. They've had superficial kindness. They've not had genuine hearts. I have a passion for that. They need to be talked to. They need to be, they need to be shown that it's about a relationship with Jesus Christ. If he can forgive me, I want him to be able to forgive them. Because the value of the person always outweighs the efficiency of any plan. So this week, I'm going to challenge you. When your schedule gets interrupted by a person, don't rush past it, lean into it. Lean into it. God God provided you with a a situation. Lean into it. Pause. Listen. Be present. Be present. You know, I talk about this and ⁓ I love the game of football. I do. I wish I was better at other sports. I wasn't, but a pretty good football player. I love that game. And when I watch the game, I watch the game. Right? I'm watching all the little pieces and parts. I love it. I don't want to talk about other things right then. Right. And I've loved the same team for many years, and they have had losing records for many years. So I'm usually frustrated when I'm watching them play football. Yeah, my wife is so awesome and she's so nice and she doesn't care about football. It's not a big thing to her. And she'll come out and she'll say, My sister was just telling me this and that, right? And I mean, I love it. I want to know, but not then, right? So here's what I hear. So I get the keywords, sister. Okay, I don't say that. I'll say again. Hey, are you listening to me? Now I'm at a big moral crossroad, right? Because if I say yes, what's the next question? Mm, right? And then I'm on that mad scramble, right? Well, it was about your sister. I think ⁓ right? But look at this linebacker. He should have been running this way. He went this way. Look at his hips are all on right, right, right. So here's your action step, right? Listen, be present. Be present in the moment. Look someone in the eyes. If you shake a hand, look someone in the eyes when you shake their hand. Show compassion with your with your ⁓ features. Show them compassion. Ask yourself: Am I just managing a task right now, or am I having a chance to minister a person? Because servant leaders lead through sacrifice. Scripture tells us in Mark 10, verses 43 through 45 whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant. And whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. Here's the kicker. Here's why we we this is what God tells us. For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. And you don't lead by what you gain, you lead by what you give. You know, I always said this as an operator, right? When I was a when I was an ES guy for almost 20 years. If I do my job right, when I walk away from the team, they'll miss the guy, but they won't miss the operator. If I've trained people to take my spot the proper way, they'll miss Rich, but they won't miss the team won't miss a beat with an operator. It's that important. It's not about me. It's not about me. If I lead my home properly, and and I don't mean in the way that sounds like like I'm the leader of this home. I'm the spiritual leader of my home. I have a responsibility. My wife is depending on me. I'm depending on her. Marriage isn't fifty fifty, you know that. Marriage is a hundred hundred. There's days I can't give a hundred, but my wife still gives a hundred. There's days she can't give a hundred, I still give a hundred. Think about that. Lead through sacrifice. It's not about you. We used to have a saying on our team. First your teammate, then your equipment, then yourself. That's the order of priorities right there. I take care of my teammate first, my equipment second, I am last. God is first always my wife. Children. And me. And me. It's not about me. So lead through sacrifice. Because again, you don't lead by what you gain, you lead by what you give. See, Jesus doesn't just redefine leadership, he demonstrates it with his life. He didn't serve when it was easy. He served when it cost him everything. Everything. The world says protect your time, your energy, your rights. I love that one. I know my rights. Jesus says, lay it down. That's the tension of servant leadership. See, you can't lead like with like Jesus without sacrificing like Jesus. That's the tension. And sometimes that's very difficult. It's very difficult to make that sacrifice. Because here's where it gets real. Sacrifice isn't always dramatic, like the cross. Most of the time it just looks like this. It looks like choosing patience when you're tired. Hello? That's for me. If you get something for that one, awesome. That one is directly for me. Losing patience when you're tired. Giving time when you're busy. I'm busy. I'm busy. Hear that a lot, don't we? I'm busy. Dad, you got time to play catch? I'm busy. I'll be there in a minute. Hmm. Pretty soon that minute, now there's a teenager there. I'm not saying that to make you feel sad. Just being honest with you, right? Please don't think I'm trying to trying to browbeat you. I'm not trying to do that. I'm just just I just want to encourage you because Giving time when you're busy is not always easy. Showing grace when you're frustrated. It's another one for me. So this really happened. I really did this. I'm ashamed to admit it, but really did this. I'm a grown-up man. This is when I was probably I'm 60 now. I was probably 40. Should know better. Called the book a flight on an automated voice system. What would you like to do? So I said what I thought was very clearly book a flight. I'm sorry. I did not understand that last request. Book a flight. I'm sorry. I didn't understand your last request. Here's where it gets embarrassing. Now I'm a grown-up person. Now I have the phone like this, and I'm yelling at the top of my lungs. Book a flight. And then it says this. Goodbye. ⁓ Yeah. Frustrated, right? Show grace when you're frustrated. You know, if you have if you have something you're working through, show grace. Maybe you're trying to resolve a conflict with somebody. Conflict resolution, it happens all the time. We can't avoid it. We have conflict. We're people. Show grace. When you begin to get frustrated. And here's another one that's that's that's hard. Stay faithful when you feel that you're unseen or unheard. Stay faithful. See these small sacrifices over time, that's what builds great leaders. Stay faithful. You've heard me say it before, and I'll say it every time if I have to, but I will tell you. God is the God of the infinite, but He is also the God of every small detail, the God of your heartbreak, the God of your teardrop, the God of your frustration. He's there. So even if you feel unheard or unseen, stay the faith. Because at the end of the day, servant leadership isn't proven in moments of spotlight. It's proven in moments of surrender. So let's all identify one area this week where we can sacrifice our presence for someone else's benefit. We can give our time, attention, comfort. We can give it intentionally. Ask yourself, what can I lay down so someone else can be lifted up? You know, servant leaders multiply by investing in others. Second Timothy chapter two verse two. You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. Forgive me while I pause. You hear that helicopter? That's life flight. Let's take a moment. Heavenly Father, we just pray for whoever's going on that flight. We just pray for them, Lord, that you will care for them. You will keep that flight safe. You will keep that person safe. We just pray for healing. We pray for comfort for the family. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for doing that. I want to tell you something that happened to us. My mother-in-law had a stroke. My wife found her. She was taken by ambulance to this hospital, and the helicopter picked her up and took her to Saginaw St. Mary's. We hadn't been going here. I mean, we've been here a while, but there was a Bible study going on in that room during the day. And the helicopter came in. They didn't know who was on it. And they stopped what they were doing and took the time to pray for the person on the helicopter. And that was my wife's mother. And I will tell you. has cemented us. Or stay in here. That was amazing. So thank you for indulging that, for following God's nudge in that way. Servant leaders don't build followers, they build leaders. I'm not here as if I'm an instructor, if I'm teaching, I'm not here to have somebody follow me. I want them to lead from what I'm teaching and go out and multiply. That's discipleship, right? I don't have all the answers. We're gonna learn together, we're gonna work together, we're gonna build each other up. Servant leadership isn't just about what you do, it's about who you develop. Paul didn't just preach the scripture that we read. He poured into Timothy. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. He poured into Timothy. Jesus didn't just perform miracles, he invested in the disciples. Here's the shift. Self focused leaders asked the question how far can I go? Servant leaders asked, who can I bring with me? Because real leadership isn't measured by what you accomplished, it's measured by what continues after you're gone. If your leadership ends with you, it's limited. But if you invest in others, it multiplies. How do we invest in others? Small groups. Leadership pipelines, learning. Opportunities taking charge, quiet leadership, leadership at home. Those are the ways we develop it. Pouring into our children. Teaching them that this is where the answers are. Teaching them that they are fearfully and wonderfully made. Teaching them, make your ways known to me, Lord. Teach me your paths, guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation. I wait for you all day long. Teach others that. You don't just lead people, you release them. So right now, this week, let's all identify one person we can intentionally invest in. Encourage them and share something you've learned. Share your testimony. Invite them into what you're doing. Hey, have you been to church? Well, I used to go to church, but I got offended there one time. Well, hey, it's about time you got offended again. Come on with me. Invite ⁓ Love on him. I don't know what to do there. Me neither. Let's go together. Don't you love that? You don't need a platform to lead. You don't need a pulpit to lead. You don't need articulation to lead. You don't need a title. You just need a tower. kingdom of God does not rise on pride, it rises on humility. So here's my question for you Will you chase position or will you choose people? Will you protect your comfort or will you embrace the calling to serve? When you put God first, you lead with a servant's heart. When you lead low, God will lift you high. We're gonna go to prayer. I wanna tell you, prayer is a form of leadership. Praying for other people is a form of leadership. You have your card. Pick it up. Put your heart in the right posture. God, you are worthy. We go to Him with thanksgiving first. Let us go in prayer. Heavenly Father, we come to you. We come to you. We thank you, Lord. We you that you are worthy. We thank you. That's your leader. Lord, we humbly receive your word. Lord, we lift up every need here tonight. Every need. Because we know, we know in our heart of hearts that you will answer our prayers. We declare that. Not by anything we can do, but by everything you can do. You are Almighty. Take the time. Lift that lift that need that you hold in your hand. Lift that knee to Jesus. Take some time. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. ⁓ there's so many needs here tonight, Lord. So many. But you are everything we need. So we lift all these needs, these needs for provision. We lift the need for healing in marriages. We lift the need for the release of bondage of depression, addiction. Lord, we lift it to you because we know. That you will deliver us. We know that you promised never to leave us or forsake us. We lift our families to you. We lift our friends to you. I lift every unspoken need in here tonight to Jesus Christ, the great deliverer, the physician, the healer, the provider. You are everything, Lord. You are everything. You're the beginning and the end. Lord, no one, no one is worthy but you. None are good but you, and yet you still love us enough to lay your life down for us. ⁓ thank you, Jesus. Thank you, God. Lord, before we before we go to you and worship, I just want to agree here together. That all of these requests, we just want to thank you that you hear them all. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ and all of us agreed together and said, Amen. Thanks for listening to the Faith Alive Sermon Podcast. We hope this message encouraged you. If it did, be sure to share it with someone else who may need it. Or if you want to reach out to one of our pastors or staff, go to our website at faithalive.church. Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a message. We'll see you next time.

John 13 · chapter mention Mark 6:30–34 Mark 10:43–45