Love that Serves (John 13:1-17) Myles Holmes | November 30, 2025

Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast.

We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the Spirit of the Great Commandment.

Thanks for joining us today.

Well, this morning is a special morning in the life of our church.

We are dedicating not only children this morning, but their parents to the Lord as they raise these children.

I want you to know before we participate in this dedication that this has nothing to do with salvation.

Child dedication doesn't promise anything about salvation, but it's also more than just a cute ceremony.

I trust it's gonna be that.

But it's more than that.

It really is a commitment.

It's a declaration, not only of these parents, but us as a church, declaring that these children are a gift from the Lord, that they have been given to these parents to be stewarded as a gift.

That they have been entrusted to these parents to be raised not for their purposes, but for God's purposes.

And it is a commitment from these parents and from us as a church to passionately pursue Jesus together.

And so this morning, during this child dedication, we have the opportunity to stand with these parents as they dedicate these children to the Lord and make this commitment to raise their children in the love of Christ.

And we commit to them to surround them and pray for them and partner with them in this endeavor so that one day these kids may follow the Lord.

That's our desire here.

With that in mind, I'd love to invite the following families up this morning for our child dedication: Dom and Lori with little Philip, Brandon and Chantel with Sayla, and Amber and I as we dedicate our little Lucy.

You guys can come up here and stand over here.

And we've asked each of these uh parents, wow, all these babies are doing so well.

It's a competition now.

All right, Lucy, let's keep it together, alright.

We've asked each of these uh parents to pick a verse from the Bible really as a as a prayer over these children.

And as we begin with Philip, here's a really cute picture of Philip coming up on the screen.

And uh I'd love to have you read the verse that you've chosen.

Awesome.

That's an amazing, amazing prayer.

You look stunned up here.

Why are all these people staring at me?

Why is this guy talking to me?

And what's on your shirt?

Is that a shark?

Man, with a bow tie?

I wish they made that in the adult size.

That is an awesome sweater.

And here we have Selah.

And here's a cute picture of Selah.

Yeah, there you go.

Um we should do like a noise meter for each baby, see which baby.

And the the name means to reflect and praise.

And Brandon, I'd love for you to read Psalm 71, verses 5 to 6.

Psalms 71:5–6

For you, O Lord.

O Lord, from my youth.

Upon my mother.

From before my brother.

You are heading from my mother's will.

My praise is continually.

That is an amazing prayer as well.

And this is little Lucy.

And Lucy's wearing her pink.

What's it called?

She pooped in her other open.

Come on, Lucy.

This, of course, is a hand-me-down for little Lucy.

It used to be mine.

And here's a picture of me wearing it.

No, I'm just kidding.

Lucy means bringer of light, and our prayer for Lucy is from Matthew 6 16.

In the same way, Jesus said, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

That's our prayer for you.

Lucy, and as these parents stand to commit their children to the Lord and themselves to the Lord as they raise these children, would you stand with me as we pray for them on that behalf?

Father, we thank you for these children.

They truly are a gift from you.

God, they are a gift to be stewarded.

And I pray, Lord, that you would protect each of these parents from wrapping their identity around these children and thinking that they are something other than a gift that has been given by your hand.

God, we thank you for this gift and we pray, God, that you would provide for us the strength and the wisdom, Lord, all of it that is needed to raise children.

God, we know that we need wisdom from outside of ourselves.

We know that we need biblical counsel.

We know that we need the support of your church, God, that this can't be done alone.

And so, God, as these families commit themselves not only to you, but also to fellowship in the church and the care of the church, God, we pray for your help, Lord.

God, knowing that we can do everything right, knowing that we can check all the boxes we are supposed to, but apart from your supernatural intervention, God, nothing could happen of eternal significance in the lives of these children.

And so we lift them up to you, God, and we ask for each of them.

God, that from a young age, maybe that they would never even remember not believing in you, that they would never remember not following you, that growing up in these Christian households and being instructed in the gospel from such a young age, Lord, they would turn to you and find salvation in your name.

And God, we thank you that the words that we sung that our God saves certainly are true.

And God, we long to see that.

Salvation that can only come through Jesus Christ and faith in Him.

We long to see that in the lives of these children.

And so, God, ultimately we dedicate them to you.

And God, we pray this all in the name of your Son.

Amen.

Amen.

Can we praise the Lord?

Thank you, guys.

You can you can go now.

Unless you and you can sit too.

Unless you guys want to be like the old-time choir, which would be kind of cool.

We can do that.

If you have your Bibles, I hope that you do this morning.

You're gonna need it.

And so you can open it up to John chapter 13.

John 13 · chapter mention

And if you don't have a copy of God's word, our ushers are coming down the aisles, and you can just flag one of them down.

They'll get a copy into your hands.

We're in the Gospel of John chapter 13, and we'll be reading verses 1 to 17 this morning.

John 13 · chapter mention

And as you turn to John 13, I want to remind you of something that I don't think I need to convince you of, and that's that the human longing of every heart really is to be loved and to know love.

Isn't it?

And by that I mean to be really loved, to be genuinely loved, that we are on a quest really for true love, not love that's given to us because of what we do or or how we act or how we perform, but love that that really just loves us for who we are.

We want that kind of love.

Let me give you an example.

Imagine a husband walks in to the door one day holding flowers behind his back, and his wife is amazed, right?

Wives, nudge your husbands right now, amazed.

This is amazing.

And says, Why did you do this?

Why today?

To which the husband says, Well, you always make me dinner.

Now immediately that husband has lost all the brownie points that he had earned.

That would not go well, and and we know why, because that's not the love that a wife deserves from her husband.

It's it's transactional, it's an exchange of services, it's a worker paying his wage.

And as we consider that kind of transactional love, something in us rejects that, and and rightly so, because real love, love that we want, love that we want to delight in, love that many of us search our whole lives looking for, is not something that we should have to work to earn.

It's it's not transactional.

Instead, love should be something that flows from delight.

And so, how how different is that story when the husband pulls out the flowers and says, says, I mean, I got you these flowers.

Again, husbands take note.

I got you these flowers because I just could not think of another way to express my love for you, my delight in you.

It just overflows from me.

Now, loved ones, if if we recoil at that kind of transactional love that the first husband showed, well then how much more is God seeking the kind of love from you that is not transactional, that doesn't serve him in order that you might get something from him, but that is genuine, that that serves him, that praises him in light of who he is.

How much more is God glorified from a love that flows from already having received everything from him, rather than a love that works to earn something from him?

That's what our Christian love is to be.

It is to be a love that flows from the love that we have received from God, not a love that or a service that is done to earn the love of God.

Now, this is incredibly important.

This distinction is important.

First, I want you to know that it's important because every other worldview says it's the other way.

Every worldview on the planet, every religion says do this, work harder, perform better, and then maybe the gods will accept you.

Even secular worldviews.

They say that you have to prove yourself, that you have to build yourself, that there's a certain set of habits you need to take on if you are going to achieve your worth, if you're gonna be something.

And the same message is the same, whether it's secular, whether it's a religion, and that is that love is to be earned, that acceptance is to be worked for, that identity must be proven through action.

In these worldviews, love is something that must be worked for, and Christianity comes and turns that on its head and says that love does not flow from uh for something, but from something.

Secondly, I want you to understand that this is important because as Christians, our hearts naturally drift to legalism.

Do you know that?

That when you shift your soul into neutral gear, you know where the car starts rolling?

It's towards legalism, it's it's it's towards believing and imagining that God might be disappointed with you, that you might have to work to get back to his favor, that you might need to do something to prove that you're worthy of his love.

And I would not be shocked.

In fact, I'd be shocked of the opposite if there were not many here today who maybe the very reason you're here is because of guilt.

You just said, Well, I mean, God, it's been so long since I've been to church, and maybe if I don't go to church this week, I'm gonna feel guilty all week.

And so I better go, I better earn your love, I better show up and prove something.

And we stop resting in the love that God has already poured out through His Son.

Neutral gear in the human life is to start striving to think we have to earn it.

And when we do this, I mean, this is why so many in our day and age are experiencing burnout.

Ministry to burnout.

Because when we're working for something, and we're not receiving the reward of that thing that we are working for, then serving becomes exhausting.

Ministry becomes a burden.

Worship becomes work.

Delight becomes duty.

Now, this is exactly where John 13 speaks to us because before Jesus ever calls his disciples to serve, he shows them where true service flows from.

I want you to see this this morning.

This is our big idea for the morning.

This is what we see in the text that the gospel frees me to serve from love, not for it.

The gospel serve frees me to serve from love, not for it, so that you don't have to serve to earn Jesus' love, because in Christ you've already earned it.

So that you don't have to serve to secure your identity, because if your faith is in Jesus Christ, your identity is already secure in him.

So that you don't have to serve, you don't have to love to fill yourself.

The scriptures say that if you are in Christ, you are like a sponge in the ocean, that you are full and overflowing.

With that in mind, let's read John 13, verses 1 to 17 together.

John 13:1–17

And as we do that, would you stand with me?

John 13.

Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him.

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper.

He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.

Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet?

Jesus answered him.

Peter said to him, You shall never wash my feet.

Jesus answered him.

If I do not wash you, you have no share in me.

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

Jesus said to him, The one who has bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean.

And you are clean, but not every one of you.

For he knew who was to betray him.

That was why he said, Not all of you are clean.

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, Do you understand what I have done to you?

You call me teacher and lord, and you are right, for so I am.

If I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.

For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you.

Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

This is the word of the Lord.

You can take his feet.

Now, before Jesus picks up a towel and gets to the familiar and perhaps we could call it famous part of this passage, John wants to show us something critical that's happening inside of Jesus.

That Jesus is doing this from a deep place of security and identity and a settled assurance of exactly what the outcome of this will be.

And I think if we miss these first few verses, we actually miss the whole point of the passage.

Because many people have actually read this story and turned it primarily into a command, which misses the heart of what Jesus is after here.

Many have read this story and say, well, then we need to go and wash some feet.

We need to try harder, we need to do more, we need to serve better, just like Jesus did.

Here he gives us the model, and so we better do it.

And while certainly it is true that the command here is to wash feet, if that is all you've done, you've simply turned this command into another rule to obey.

And what Jesus here isn't doing is adding something else that we need to do for love.

In fact, it's quite the opposite.

What Jesus does by washing the disciples' feet, and we're gonna see this morning as well, washing our feet, is he shows us where true love and service actually flow from.

Not by saying, earn my love by serving, but by receiving his love, by being served by him, and then being freed to therefore serve.

We see this all throughout the text, but it really sets the foundation.

And the first thing I want you to see in our text is this that the gospel frees us to serve from security, not striving.

The gospel frees us to serve from security, not striving.

Notice again, just like in chapter 12, verse 1, that John reminds us that we are approaching the Passover.

After John 11, the Gospel of John is on a speedy race to the cross.

And here John shows us we're even closer to the Passover.

Verse 1, now before the feast of the Passover, and the movie track now is ominous.

The shadow of the cross is on Jesus Christ.

We know this because look at the next phrase in verse 1.

Look at your copy of God's word.

John tells us Jesus knew, he knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father.

John gives us a window into the mind of Jesus, what is happening inside Jesus that leads him to this action.

Now it's startling because Jesus knows it is his final day.

You probably played this game before, maybe not verbally, but at least in your head.

If you had one day to live, what would you do?

And you know, you dream of I you know you know, I'd fly everyone I know into my place so I could see them, and I'd I go skydiving, I do all the things that I never got to do in life, and love one.

It's fascinating that when Jesus sees that day approaching, he does exactly what he has always done.

He loves, he loves those around him in the simplest way.

So John tells us, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

In fact, what Jesus does is anything but extreme on his final day, he lowers himself to really the most despicable, dirty act.

The washing of feet.

He loves.

And what John wants us to see before anything else is the place of security that Jesus stands in.

He doesn't want to rush us to what Jesus did, he wants to slow us down and see what Jesus knew, what was happening inside of him.

That's why, again, look at verse 3 with me.

Look down at your copy of God's word.

Jesus knew, again, here's what Jesus was happening inside.

Jesus knew that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God.

Jesus was secure in the Father's love.

He was secure in the outcome.

He was secure in his mission, he was sent for love, and he would love them to the end.

So that his identity as son and his destiny as the savior were unshakable.

Nothing could diminish it.

And he's not going to spend his final day in some luxurious trip to serve himself.

He will spend his final day pouring himself out for others, knowing that for all of eternity he will get to delight in the infinite and eternal love of his Father in heaven.

It is this place of security, knowing that even though my life is about to be taken from me, I will never be abandoned.

Never ultimately be betrayed.

I will not be denied by the Father.

Now it's fascinating because John, throughout this passage, is giving us a hint about why this is so ridiculous.

It's because of the people that Jesus is serving.

John highlights Judas, who in verse 3 we are told would betray him.

He highlights Peter, who would deny him.

He washes the feet of the disciples who, when Jesus hung on the cross on that day, all would abandon them.

And yet, something, Jesus is receiving something that obviously is not from these people.

He's receiving something that allows him to pour himself out for them.

What is it?

It is the love and security of the Father for Him.

He is not striving to seek something from these disciples.

He's secure in the love of the Father.

Now the world has no category for this kind of love.

The love of the world is always seeking something in return.

And I'm not talking about that in the way that, you know, maybe we think about like a slimy salesman who you know they're always really, they're they're only out for themselves.

The worldly love we're talking about here are it's much more subtle than that.

Worldly love gives with an expectation.

Worldly love pays into a relationship like it's an investment account.

It says, I will love and invest into this person or work or the church so long as this investment gives me something back.

So that we will love to feel approved.

We will serve and make the investment of service and time so that we are made to feel valuable.

We make the investment of sacrifice to gain the return of feeling needed.

We invest in things to gain influence.

We give affection to gain control.

We pursue closeness to people to gain comfort.

Worldly love is always trying to purchase something through the currency of service and love, whether it's affirmation or attention or identity or comfort or power or approval.

This is how worldly love works.

And it certainly can mask itself as selfless love, as though it needs nothing in return.

But subtly it is looking for these things.

Now, once you start understanding worldly love like this, it starts to make sense of how we see love in this culture.

It starts to make sense of really what you could call the divorce epidemic that is happening in our culture, that so many marriages are ending in divorce.

What do you hear when these marriages end?

Well, the love just ran dry.

Well, you start to understand how that makes sense from a worldly framework.

The love runs dry because the emotional return that you were once getting in that relationship no longer is there.

The investment of effort and sacrifice and service no longer pays back what it used to.

Maybe there was once affirmation, and that affirmation has slowed down.

The supply has dried up.

It's transactional love.

And I want you to know that apart from Jesus, this is all we have.

Apart from Jesus, we have nothing else.

We are looking for a reward.

We are giving in order to gain a return.

So often so subtle that we don't even know it.

And so, can I ask you to consider your life for a moment and to look at your relationships?

Maybe it's in your family, maybe it's at work, maybe it's at church, whatever it is, to look at your relationships and ask, where are you loving and serving with strings attached?

You know, if if you are bitter in your relationship, they they just don't give enough back to me.

They don't do this for me.

Can I tell you that that's a worldly love?

Where are you giving in order to get something back?

Where are you expecting a return on the investment of service and love that you are pouring into other people?

Is it in your marriage?

Is it in your parenting?

I mean, this shows you the absurdity of worldly love, doesn't it?

That we'll love our kids, expecting them to give us something in return.

Isn't that kind of absurd?

I mean, my kids don't have any net worth.

They have a treasure box in their bedroom.

It's got a peanut shell in it that they're, you know, holding on to for some reason.

I don't know why.

And yet we'll love our children, thinking that they can provide something for us, whether it's affirmation or this feeling of worth.

Maybe you're serving in the church because you're hoping for a return, whether it's recognition or people to look at you a certain way and think, well, that's a mature person.

And maybe what we could ask ourselves as we consider these things is this what if the approval dried up?

What if you were never noticed?

What if no one ever said thank you?

I mean, I ask myself this all the time because the prophet Isaiah was called to preach to a people who would never turn to God.

And I asked myself that question.

You know, if if no one was ever thankful for another sermon you preached, if no one ever responded, one ounce of response to an application you gave to Scripture, would you still do this?

What if you never get credit?

What if you always feel unseen?

Would you keep serving?

Would you keep loving?

Would you keep giving yourself?

Now, how we respond in these moments, and as we consider these questions, reveal something, it's whether we've been serving from love, from the supply of love we have through Jesus Christ, or for love, for something in return.

As we look at this text and we ask ourselves this question, why can Jesus love like this?

Why can Jesus love people who will deny him, who will betray him, who will abandon him?

It is because he is utterly secure in the Father.

His identity, his worth, his approval, his belonging, it is all rooted in the eternal, secure love of God.

This is what happens when you have a heavenly inheritance.

The earthly paycheck no longer matters.

Well, everyone, this is the good news of the gospel.

The good news of the gospel is that if you are in Christ, the same security is yours.

That your eternity is sealed, that your worth is determined, that your approval is finished, that your belonging is secure, that in Jesus Christ, there is nothing else you can earn.

You have been given it all.

So that Paul says in Ephesians 1 in Jesus Christ, you have been lavished in love.

It is overflowing in Jesus.

Love one, have you ever let that think in?

You woke up this morning fully loved.

And when you go to bed tonight, no matter how much you serve today, or no matter how far off the tra the tracks you fall today, you will be loved just the same.

You could serve every minute of today.

You could do everything right, or you could do everything wrong, and nothing will change but the Father's love for you.

And you know, maybe even as I say that, you know, you get your theological backup and you say, okay, well, something gotta must be off here.

I mean, that just does not make any sense.

And I want you to know this is how you know when you're understanding the gospel, because it doesn't make sense.

It doesn't make sense that Jesus would love such an unworthy people like this, and yet the good news is that he does.

Gospel frees us to serve from security and not striving.

Not for love, but from love.

Well, there's tension here, and Jesus doesn't wrestle with this tension being perfect, but Peter certainly does.

So that we come to understand as we see Peter respond to this love, that even though we are secure in Christ, we don't always live like it.

The tension is that serving from love is impossible if we don't first receive that love in the first place.

And Peter's reaction to Jesus' act of service and love really highlights our human tendency to and how we respond to grace.

We often refuse to be served by Jesus.

We resist his grace, we cling to self-sufficiency.

Is that not true of you, loved one?

Can we not say this past week that it's very likely that self-sufficiency and self-dependence have stuck to you like a magnet?

That it's just it is so easy to be self-sufficient, it is so hard to depend on the Lord, is it not?

This is the human condition.

We want to be self-sufficient.

Naturally, we resist the grace of Jesus Christ.

And so, what I want you to see secondly, then, is that the gospel frees us to serve from abundance, not anxiety.

To serve from abundance, not anxiety.

Now look what happens next.

After grounding us in the security required for true love, John moves the scene forward.

Look at verse 4.

Jesus rose from supper, he laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, he tied it around his waist.

Notice the language here that Jesus willingly lays aside his outer garments.

These are garments of honor.

And what you wore on the outside really was indicative in those days of your place in society.

And taking off his outer garments, he takes up a towel, the uniform really of a servant.

He ties it around his waist.

And theologically, what is happening here is massive.

The eternal Son of God, who is not just the king of Jerusalem, he's the king of the universe.

He takes off his outer garments and lowers himself to do what only slaves did.

This is the king who John told us in John 1 spoke the universe into existence by the power and authority of his word, and here he is laying aside his garments.

And look at verse 5 at what he does, taking up the towel, then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

Now you can imagine that washing feet was the lowest and most degrading task in the ancient world, that it was reserved for the least valuable, the lowest ranking servant.

And yet here is Jesus taking off his outer garments and washing the feet of every one of his disciples, including Judas, who is currently plotting his betrayal.

And what John wants us to understand is that this story is not just about dirty feet.

And many preachers have made it about that.

And at this point they talk about, oh man, could you imagine how stinky feet would be?

Could you imagine what it would be like to take your boots off right now and with your wet socks have someone wash them?

And that is that is not what this is about.

This is actually about something far larger and eternal than that.

It is a picture of the incarnation itself.

This is not the first time that Jesus had taken off royal robes and descended into humility.

In fact, what is happening in John 13 is really a parable of what Paul tells us in Philippians 2, where Paul says, Christ Jesus, though he was the form of God, in heaven he did not count equality with God, a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and humbled himself.

This is the gospel.

That the glory of heaven takes on flesh, that majesty, the royal majesty of Jesus Christ takes up the humility of human flesh, that Jesus lays aside his rights to take up the cross.

What we're seeing here in John 13 really is a microcosm of what we're beginning to, well, we should be beginning to celebrate in society.

Some of us started like three months ago to celebrate Christmas, right?

And so you're way ahead of the rest of us.

It's a microcosm of Christmas.

And I by the way, I didn't mean to make that a rule.

If you want to celebrate Christmas in October, you do it, okay?

I'm not about legalism here.

But it's this is a picture, a microcosm of Christmas.

Heaven here is bending low.

God is putting on flesh, the exalted one here is kneeling in the dirt.

Why?

Because he came to seek and save the lost.

And he needed to descend from the exaltation of heaven to the lowliness of earth, taking on human flesh to die for us.

And what what Jesus is doing and washing the disciples' feet is nothing compared to what he has done for you in descending from heaven and washing the filth of your sin.

I mean, listen, feet as dirty and disgusting as they get.

Now, there are some people who are like, you know, they have phobias of feet and they're really squirming in their chair right now, and that's a great thing, I think.

But as disgusting as they can get, you know, I just cannot help but to think that that any day you would take showing someone your dirty, disgusting foot over the filth of your soul being revealed at any time.

Over the shame of the sin that you have acted on in your life, of the guilt that you carry on your shoulder.

How much worse is the dirt of our soul?

And what Jesus came to do from heaven was to cleanse you of that filth, knowing each and every thought, knowing each and every fall, knowing each and every slip.

Him coming, his incarnation is all the proof that we need, that we are already loved, that we are already secure, that we are eternally cared for.

Because before we could do anything to receive it, Jesus was already kneeling before us in his humanity.

Offering us his love.

But I want you to understand the human heart naturally rejects the grace that Jesus came to offer.

Look how Peter responds.

Can you look at your Bible at verse 6?

When Jesus comes to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet?

Or do you wash my feet?

Why does Peter have such a strong response here?

Why is Peter resisting this?

Now, now Peter's problem is not humility.

Peter's problem is pride.

It's disguised as humility.

Because if Jesus washes his feet, then Peter has nothing to offer Jesus.

He has nothing to prove, he has nothing to contribute, he has no negotiating power.

And to do that, to be in that position, is to be in an incredibly vulnerable position.

Receiving the grace of Jesus Christ requires confessing your need for it.

It requires confessing that there is nothing that you can do to earn it.

And that is the hardest confession of the human soul.

That's why naturally it's ingrained in each of us, isn't it?

To resist help.

Someone offers to help you move.

No, no, no, no, I got it.

Someone offers to help you lift something heavy.

You know, it's not heavy, it's just awkward.

We've all said that, right, man?

It is heavy.

But we don't want people to know.

Someone offers to pay, and I'll get it, I'll e-transfer you.

You know, we naturally resist the offer of help.

Why is that our instinct?

It is because receiving exposes us.

Receiving admits that we are not self-sufficient.

Receiving lets go of control and says, I can't do this myself.

And that is exactly what is happening with Peter.

Peter, I mean, this should shock us.

He takes a step back and he says, listen, Jesus, you know, I don't need you.

I don't need you to wash my feet.

Jesus, you need me to wash your feet.

It's it's clothed as humility, but it is pride.

And that, loved ones, that is exactly what we do.

When we think we can earn the approval of God, when we think that we can make ourselves worthy before God, we say, listen, God, I don't need anything from you, but let me show you what I can do.

Let me show you how I can be for you.

You need me.

Can I give you this humbling thought?

Maybe this could be the most thought you take away from the sermon.

God doesn't need you.

I mean, I could fall dead right now, and it would be the most powerful illustration ever known, you know, in the history of preaching.

And so, you know, I probably shouldn't test fate, but I could fall dead right now, and in a moment, I promise you there would be another preacher here.

We are not needed by God.

The God who spoke the world into creation does not need your pitily service on a Sunday.

You need him.

You need him.

And Jesus' words to Peter and to us in verse 8 are sobering.

If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.

If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.

No portion.

That word means no participation, no inheritance, no fellowship, no, no union.

What Jesus is speaking to the legalistic part of our hearts here is so important.

If you won't receive my grace, you cannot participate in my life.

It is so important that you let me fill you.

Otherwise, if you are not filled with the overflowing service and love of Jesus, you cannot live from his fullness.

Jesus does not need your service.

Jesus came.

The writer of the Gospel of Mark says, He came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom.

As a ransom.

Again, John, now Jesus presses into the life of Peter in verse 10.

The one who has bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean, and you are clean, but not every one of you.

Peter, Jesus is saying, you are already clean.

You already belong.

You are not washing yourself to get in.

Your feet are being washed because you already are in.

So then, live in the fullness of that abundance, Jesus says.

What Jesus is inviting us to this morning is all about abundance.

It is the abundant life Jesus gives to those who belong to him.

So that where we run about in anxiety so often, fearing that we're not enough, feeling that we don't have enough, feeling like our strength is going to run out, like God is going to be disappointed.

Jesus comes in and offers us the abundance of life and says that if you receive the love I have to offer, you will already be more than enough.

That you are loved.

That through Jesus Christ you are filled with all the fullness of God.

So that you can afford then to serve when nobody notices.

To love your spouse when you don't get their approval or affirmation or affection because you already have all that you could ever receive in Jesus Christ so that you then become a vessel filled with the fullness of Jesus Christ able to pour out and so loved one it starts right here can can you can you rest in the reality of all that Christ has done for you can you rest in the humility of knowing that if you never did another thing for Jesus Christ if your faith is in him you are fully secured can you rest in the reality that the primary marker of a disciple of Jesus Christ is not that they serve Jesus as important as that is but that they have been served by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I mean the most important question it is the eternal question.

It's it's really like you know we can get into such practical application here but I think we missed the point if the point of you know today's message is hey you should go serve in kids' ministry I mean that's great okay go serve in kids' ministry you should serve on the setup crew you should you know you should make dinner for your family tonight you know I mean that's those are all great applications.

You should give yourself for service.

But but loved one you will never get there if you have not first been served by Jesus Christ.

You will love in little spurts but eventually the what you are receiving from the people that you are loving will run dry and you will be empty and burnt out and you will not be able to sustain it.

And so the most important question we can ask is this has Jesus served you?

Have you received his grace?

Have you let him wash you have you come to Jesus and said I have nothing to offer and received what cannot be earned this is the heart of what we're talking about here in point two that if we don't let Jesus love us we will never be able to serve others like Jesus serves.

This is where it begins before Jesus says go and do likewise for others he must wash the feet of the disciples and until your soul is cleansed by Jesus Christ you cannot serve except to receive something from others.

You cannot serve from the fullness of Jesus Christ.

And I want you to see that thirdly I want you to see that the gospel frees us to serve from fullness not fear.

Notice here notice in verse 12 what Jesus does immediately after washing their feet when he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place he said to them Do you understand what I have done to you?

To you do you understand what I have done to you not for you that that when these disciples' feet were washed there was an internal transformation that happened that made service possible so that now they could serve out of the fullness that is Jesus Christ.

So that in verse 14 Jesus is now able to say now that this has been done to them if I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you get what he's saying out of the fullness of me washing your feet, you also ought to wash another's feet.

It is why I love in this church that everywhere you look there are people longing to serve other people longing to bring meals longing to pray longing to text and say hey I want to encourage you and pray for you it's not just an action you copy it is an action that flows through you because Jesus has washed your feet because you have been cleansed because you have been loved because you have been served you are now able to wash the feet of others the the the command here is not a burden it's not another assignment it is a transformation that happens once Jesus has washed your feet so that the takeaway of this message is not try harder do better serve more what Jesus is saying here is now that you have been served go serve.

Now that you have been filled go pour out now that you have been loved go love.

Why?

Because fullness overflows if you are falling Jesus Christ that fullness will overflow from you to other people now in a message like this is where the rubber meets the road maybe more contextually we can say the basin meets the floor this is where we get practical.

This is the difference between admiring Jesus and imitating him this is the difference between belief and obedience the difference between information and transformation the proof that you have received his love is that it begins to overflow from you into the life and relationships around you so that you can think about every category of your life and see how the fullness of Jesus Christ should categorically change that relationship.

Think about your home for a moment if you aren't full of Christ in your home then you will be patient so long as you are appreciated for your patience so long as someone notices.

You will help so long as people help you.

And some of the ways that we serve in homes you know so often we're grumbling in our mind well nobody does this for me.

I'm always the one who cleans the dishes I'm always the one who takes oh you know whatever it is give affection so long as you get attention for doing it.

You serve so long as you someone notices.

But if you're serving from fullness from the secure and abundant love of Jesus Christ it means that you can do these things without announcing it you can love even when you get nothing in return you can reconcile with people even when you've been wronged and you're in the right you can still pursue reconciliation you're filled in the fullness of Christ and so you don't need an earthly return.

You have a heavenly inheritance in Jesus Christ.

What about work?

What about the way that your uh relationship with work is transformed when you're filled with the fullness of Jesus Christ I mean if you're not filled with the fullness of Jesus Christ at work can I tell you how dangerous it is you will work hard for the approval of your boss you will fight tooth and nail for credit for the things that you have done for recognition for a reputation that measures well against other people in your workplace but but when you are serving from the fullness of Jesus Christ knowing that you need nothing from these people that you have it all in Jesus Christ you don't need to climb over other people to be feel valuable.

Other people can get promoted even sometimes wrongly and you don't you you can say you know I don't get my approval from that I don't get my worth from that you're not using your work to build an identity you are working from this identity that is secure in Jesus Christ what about the way that it transforms the way we serve in church all of a sudden service becomes an instrument a blessing a thing that we get to steward to express our love to Jesus Christ.

We don't serve to to be recognized we don't serve so that people think we are mature we don't serve to get brownie points from from God we we show up seeking to serve in the hidden places where there is no reckon where there is no recognition we show up to church and you know what we do?

We talk with the awkward person or we talk with the person who who maybe they're new here and they just don't know anyone and we dive headfirst in that in that conversation because we're not here to get anything we've already received from Jesus Christ and so we're looking for every opportunity then to give as an overflow of what Jesus Christ is doing in us we are not here to consume.

We are here to pour out and Jesus in washing his disciples' feet and providing salvation for you has given you everything you need to be able to serve and so before we rush out to try to do any of this in our lives we need to ask this this question where does this love come from filled with the love of Christ am I seeking the love that can only come from him because unless Christ has poured into you his fullness you cannot serve him.

And so we started talking today about our longing to be loved not for what we do not for what we accomplish but for who we are and here's the truth every one of us in this room is is either serving for love or from it and it's possible this morning that you you come in and you know you've been working hard who here hasn't been working hard and yet you're you're filled with such exhaustion and resentment and you feel unappreciated and you feel unnoticed you're trying to keep it up you're trying to hold it all together and maybe what the Lord is doing this morning is telling you like Peter you need to sit down you need to sit down and recognize that everything you're trying to earn you have already received in me.

That everything you're trying to earn I have already given you freely that you don't have to earn my love that you don't have to perform to keep a place in my family that you don't have to impress me that you don't have to hide things from me so that I think you're strong that you already are received in me.

That I Jesus Christ is kneeling before you to wash your feet and to cleanse your soul at the cross he served you he loved you he forgave you so that from the overflow of his love you might be free to do those things this is the love of the one who has paid it all have you received it church let's pray together Father we thank you for the love that you have shown us in Jesus Christ God we know that this is a transforming love God that the cross and resurrection and all that you have done that your son has done on our behalf is not simply something that has been Lord accomplished in time and history but Lord has been done for us and in our place.

And it's not just a fact Lord it is something that once we believe it transforms us entirely so that we no longer need to serve and and love in order to earn something Lord we can now wash others' feet as we've commanded to do from this position of fullness knowing that first our feet have been washed knowing that first we have been transformed by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ.

And so God it all starts here it all starts at the cross we pray Lord as we respond now God that this would be an opportunity for us to stand and declare Lord that the ransom has been paid that the one who came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many has come for us.

And God we give you all the praise and we pray this in the name of your son Amen.

Would you stand and sing with me?