Only Our Feet

Read John 13:1-17

In Bible times the streets and roads were dusty and dirty.  It was common for people to pick up dirt and mud on their feet and so, when they came inside a house they had to take off their sandals and wash their feet.  Well-to-do households would have a servant wash the feet of the guests.  In this passage of scripture we find Jesus taking the role of a servant and washing His disciples' feet.  Peter took offense and said, "No, you will never wash my feet!"  Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."  then Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and head as well!"  Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean."

True followers of Christ have been washed in the blood of Christ.  They are clean.  We are righteous in Jesus Christ.  But we pick up stuff every day that cakes dirt on us that must be washed off.  We go out into the world, whether to work, school,  marketplace,sports, movies, tv, or just general talk with people we see.  We hear words and see situations that are un-Christ-like.   We see and hear behavior that can damage us and later our testimony.  We are still clean--we are saved by Christ's blood.  We need our feet washed metaphorically so we can be clean, to feel clean, and to be a good witness for our Lord.  For, out in the world, we hear and see things that, if left on our heart are going to make us ineffective.    In those situations we have a need to allow Jesus to wash our feet.

The Bible says that we can be holy and pure when washed by the water of the word.(Eph. 5:26)  The daily reading of scripture along with meditating on it can wash us clean of the filth we pick up as we go through the dusty and muddy road of life.  We are clean, but not all of us.   As we read His word, Jesus will wash away all those thoughts and attitudes that try to drag us down and damage our christian walk.  "Thy word I have hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee."

Jesus Has Something To Say

Jesus was having dinner with a Pharisee named Simon.  An immoral woman came in with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume.  "Then she knelt behind him at his feed, weeping.  Her tears fell on his feet and she wiped them off with her hair.  Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them."(Luke 7) Simon was indignant, thinking that Jesus should not let a sinner touch him.  "Then Jesus answered his thoughts, 'Simon...I have something to say to you.'" 

So often people sit in church services thinking all kinds of thoughts.  Some people are looking at others and wondering why such sinful people can came to church an act so religious.  Some are thinking about what's for dinner or who will win the game that day.  All those kinds of thoughts and many others are either anti-God thoughts or non-God thoughts.  They take us away from an opportunity to truly worship the risen Savior.  They rob us of our chance to hear from God and grow in Christ.

I can just hear Jesus saying to so many of us as we sit in church thinking thoughts other than God-thoughts or even as we go through life ignoring God's command to pray without ceasing, "I have something to say to you."  Christ wants to speak to us and guide our lives.  Corporate worship is one of those great times to hear from God, through the singing, the praying, the scripture reading, the sermon or just a still small voice.  I think most of us know of our need to hear from Christ but we are unaware that He actually wants to say something to us. 

In the story of dinner at Simon the Pharisee's house Jesus' word is that the more we understand God's forgiveness, the more we will love and worship Him.  The sinful woman expressed her faith in Jesus by loving Him.  Even as we pour ourselves out to Him in love, we are opening up ourselves to hear another word from Him and grow in our faith.  "Faith come by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."(Rom. 8:17)  Jesus answers our wondering thoughts and says,   "I have something to say to you!.

This Is Not All There Is

Reality does not consist only of that which we can see, hear, taste, smell, or feel physically.   There is another world--a spiritual world that we can only see by faith.  But it is there and it is really more real than what we can experience with our five senses.   Everyone has a little inkling of this world(which we will call, "eternity").  Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has placed eternity in our hearts.  We all have a sense that there is more to this world. One of the great proofs of the existence of the God of the Bible is that almost every society values things that one cannot see, hear, taste, smell, or touch.  Qualities such as love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, patience and godliness are admired and sought after by people from every generation and nation.  We know them to be God-like qualities that come to us as fruit of the Spirit.

One day the disciples were walking in the Temple area with Jesus and pointing out the magnificent buildings.  Jesus said, "Yes look at these great buildings.  But they will be completely demolished.  Not one stone will be left on top of another."(Mark 13:2)   One day all of humankind's accomplishments will be gone.  Only what
is spiritual will remain.  Our world is temporary.  God's kingdom is forever. 

In Jesus, Eternity entered into this temporal, sinful world.  As he healed the sick, set free the demon-possessed and forgave sins Eternity Himself demonstrated that His world is more powerful and real than the one we experience in our bodies.  Ultimately He yielded to all that drags us down by dying on our behalf.  He took the sting of death and rose triumphantly to open up the other world to all who would place their trust in Him.    When you connect with Christ you plug in to another world--eternity and it changes you forever.

The Will of God

The one question I get asked(and ask myself sometimes) is; "what is God's will for me?).  The specifics can be murky at times for sure, but, in general, the answer lies in Mathew's Gospel, chapter 25.  In this discourse by Jesus, just before His crucifixion, we find a simple path to how we are to spend our lives.

The discussion really begins with chapter 24 when the disciples ask the question the signs of the end of the world.  Jesus makes it clear that He will come again and that we will be held accountable for doing His will when He comes.  Jesus is ruling now and will, some day, rule for all to see.  In this kingdom we are to be His faithful servants now and forever.  Faithfulness in the current rule of Christ will assure more duties in the next.  Being faithful involves making certain investments.

The act should be an investment in God Himself, (Matt. 25:1-13:  The parable of the 10 bridesmaids) In looking at these parables we learn that there is usually  only one main point.  The foolish bridesmaids were not prepared for the coming of the groom and so they missed the wedding celebration.  The wise bridesmaids kept their lamps filled with oil and were ready when the groom came.  This parable tells us that we should maintain our relationship with Christ--investing our time in Him and things about Him.  There are two very telling thoughts in this story:  The foolish girls ran out of oil which indicates their lack of interest in the groom and stands for our not remaining filled with the Holy Spirit.  Secondly, in verse 12, the groom tells the foolish bridesmaids that he does not know them.  Getting to heaven is not about some glorious future event (though there will be one).  It is more about enjoying the Person of heaven now by investing in knowing Him and being filled with His Spirit so we can serve Him.

The act should also be an investment of our time and talent for God.(Matt. 25:14-30 The parable of the three servants)  In this parable three different servants are given certain amounts of money.  The first two make wise investments doubling their money while the third hides his money.  When the Master returns he rewards the ones who invested and throws the do-nothing into the outer darkness.  The lesson is clear.  God wants us to invest our time and talents in His kingdom.  Being a disciple of Christ starts with a Spirit-filled relationship with Jesus which results in our dedicating all that we have to serving him.  It is better to try and fail at something for God than to not try at all.  We all have different talents and abilities but we all serve the same mighty God who will multiply what we do for him in obedience and in the Spirit's power.  This is a Christ-centered activity that ultimately is helping others.

The act should be an investment in people.(Matt. 25:31-46: The parable of the last judgement)  This parable talks about the separation of sheep and goats at the last judgement.  The sheep are rewarded with the inheritance of the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world.(vs.34)  They are blessed because when they took care of the needs of people, especially the poor, they were ultimately doing it to Jesus.  The goats were sent into the eternal fire prepared for the devil because they did not look after the needs of people.  Our investment in God soon leads us to an investment in people.  Using our talents and time for him involves serving others.  And when we do that, we are doing it as unto Christ. 

This parable, taken by itself, can lead to a works-righteousness belief.  But it must be connected to the other two.  A social gospel alone is no gospel at all.  The good news is that in accepting God's free offer of a relationship with Him, filled with His presence and power, we can serve Him by serving others.  First we commit to Christ; then we commit to serving Him; which results in serving others. 

Let the Church Be the Church!

I have had the privilege of teaching a Wednesday night class at a local Church on the book of Ephesians.  I have learned a lot (as one usually does when teaching) about this letter by the Apostle Paul dealing with the Church.  It is so easy to take promises from the Bible as personal--and most of them are.  But Ephesians is for us more than it is for me,  There is not question that God wants to do amazing things in my life and in your but He is going to accomplish most of what He does through humans with the church.

We are described in Ephesians as a body, a building and a bride.  These are great metaphors but really more than that.   We are (not are like) a body--the body of Christ.   As such we need to work with each other under the headship of Christ.  We are building--the temple of the Lord.  We are God's house--living stones that need to be shaped to fit together with Jesus being the Cornerstone.  We are the bride of Christ.  We must all be committed to allowing Jesus to cherish us and sanctify us that He may present to Himself the church, holy and blameless, in all her glory without spot or wrinkle.

Wow!

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Read Luke 2:25-35

I'm not a good waiter.  One of the longest waits I ever had was when my youngest son was born.  Back in the olden days when fathers had to wait in..well, waiting rooms while mothers had all the fun.  That day(and night!) I waited almost 24 hours as several other husbands came and went to see their new babies.  

We spend a lot of our time waiting for something good to happen and fail to enjoy the moment we have now.  A child can't wait to be a teen.  A teen can't wait to drive, then vote.  A young adult looks forward to finishing school, then beginning a career, then having a family.  From there it is waiting for that big break, big promotion, then retirement.  Each time we think when we reach a certain goal that we will be content.  But, ultimately we are not because we are bound by the milestones, events, or things we are anticipating.  They rarely, if ever, satisfy.

Simeon was a good waiter.  He was not waiting for a thing; he was waiting for a person.  Simeon was a godly man who had the Holy Spirit and was promised by the Lord that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah.  He was looking forward to having something more in life.  He didn't want his life to end until he met the Christ(Greek for Messiah).  He had come to realize that all his hopes and dreams were tied to a person.  In promising Simeon that he would not die until he saw the Messiah, God was guaranteeing he would never die!

All that we ever need or really want is tied to Jesus the Christ.  All our hopes and dreams are answered in a personal relationship with Him.  When Simeon saw the baby Jesus, he took him in his arms and "praised God, saying, 'Sovereign Lord, now let your servant depart in peace as you have promised.  I have seen your salvation which you have prepared for all people."  Simeon had found what he was waiting for.  It came in the person of Jesus.  From the time of Adam's first sin the world had been waiting for a savior.  Their hopes and ours have been let down many times by failed promises of false messiahs.  There is only one who can break the bondage of sin and self, and give us lasting peace.  


Simeon could now die in peace.  The word used here for "die" can mean "depart", "release", or "set free".  It is in experiencing the Christ that we are set free to be all the Lord wants us to be.   Each milestone in my life has left me wondering what all the fuss was about.  I have only found true joy and contentment in my personal relationship with God's Son.  I have been set free and I can now depart from all those false hopes and dreams.  

Resurrection Life

Read I John 1:-2:1

As the Apostles met in that upper room on the first day of the week(Jn. 20),  they were scared out of their wits.  "the doors were locked...for fear of the Jews".   Jesus had been executed and they thought they might be next.  They were afraid despite the fact that the women had reported that Jesus' tomb was empty,  Mary Magdalene, and two other disciples had told them that they had talked with Him, Peter and John had also seen the empty tomb, and Christ had predicted that He would rise from the dead!  

Jesus suddenly stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you."  This wasn't the first time that Jesus had brought peace into a difficult situation.  After all, He is the Prince of Peace.  I suspect the disciples thought back to the time they were in a boat on the lake when a storm came up.  Jesus was sleeping, they awakened him and said, "Master, don't you care that we are perishing!"  He rebuked them for lack of faith and said to the storm, "peace, be still!"--and it was!  Whatever troubles we may be having, Jesus wants us to relax and trust Him.  He not only gives peace, He gives us something to do.  In that upper room He breathed on the disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit."  He was giving them, just as He gives us, His resurrection life.

Later, John would write, "We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked at, and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life--this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us--we declare to you what we have seen and heard...This is the message that we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him there is not darkness at all."(I Jn. 1:1-5)  They must have said something similar to Thomas who had not been present at that meeting.  Thomas said would not believe unless he could see and touch Jesus himself.  One week later, Jesus came again and let Thomas touch His wounds.

In that encounter, Jesus said that the most blessed ones were those who did not see and still believed.  He knows that if we will just hear the word of the gospel and believe, we will be blessed beyond measure.  Let us understand that God is all about bringing light into our darkness.  When we take John and the other New Testament writers at their word we begin to discover that "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all."   The root cause of almost all of our problems is sin--either ours or someone else's.   John reminds us that we have an advocate in the risen Christ who is the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.(I Jn. 2:1)  The cross of Christ is a constant reminder that our sins are forgiven and He is on our side.  His blood atones for our sins, and His resurrection life brings us salvation.  Remember, John speaks of experiencing life("what was from the beginning, the word of life, eternal life") and this is what he declares to us.  We can have Christ's resurrection life as we receive His word(a word spoken is a breach breathed) by faith.

Those first disciples were constantly bearing witness to the resurrection of Christ.   Early on, after some very trying times (Acts 3 & 4) they prayed and we are told that they were "filled with the Holy Spirit and preached the word of God with boldness and testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ."  


The secret to the victorious Christian life is hearing with faith.  We hear the word about Christ and receive it by faith(Eph. 1:13).  When that happens my life is changed and I begin to demonstrate resurrection power as Christ, via the Holy Spirit expresses Himself through me.  The proof of the resurrection is a changed life.  The disciples' changed lives changed the world!  It's our turn.  There is a world to change--lets go!


I have this idea in my mind that after the day of Pentecost, when Peter preached that great sermon and 3,000 people got saved, the next day they all showed up to find out more about this Jesus.  In my mind I see Peter, seeing the throngs of converts, asking John, "Look at all those people!  They're expecting me to say something.  What do I say?  John says, "Hmm----- I know. Tell them this:  "We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we heard, what we saw with our eyes, what we looked at, what our hand handled, concerning the word of life--this life was revealed and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us--we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.  This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all."  Amen!