Hearing His Voice, Reflecting His Love

I love this passage from John because I think we finally hear someone ask Jesus the question that we all want to ask him. It says the Jews gathered around Jesus and asked him, how long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Isn’t that what we all want to ask him? Jesus if you are the son of God, just make it clear to us. And then, you have to love Jesus’ response, I did tell you, but you did not believe. Now on face value, I have to call into question Jesus’ answer here, because if you read the gospel of John up to this point in chapter 10, you will not find any place where Jesus speaks directly to the crowds and tells them that he is the Christ. There are two places where Jesus states directly that he is the Messiah, but neither time is he speaking to the crowds. The first time Jesus proclaims he is the Messiah it is to the Samaritan women that he meets at the well. John 4:25-26. So when Jesus reveals that he is the Messiah here the only person to hear him is the woman.

The second time Jesus states that he is the Messiah is in a conversation with a blind man that Jesus has just healed. This is from John 9:35-38… now here there are a few other people around when Jesus makes the statement, further down in John 9:40 it says there were some Pharisees who where there, and they obviously heard part of the conversation, but Jesus is not speaking to a large gathering here and it is not clear to us how much those around him actually heard. So there is no record of Jesus making a public statement that he is the Christ, so on face value, what Jesus says here doesn’t seem 100% true, but don’t worry, Jesus does go on to explain his answer.

I did tell you, Jesus said, the miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me. It is the miracles of Jesus that proclaim He is the Christ. If you stop and think about it, if Jesus had not performed those miracles but just went around and told people point blank that he was the Messiah, no one would have believed him. Anyone can say they are the Messiah, so Jesus doesn’t just say it, he proves it. It is the actions of Jesus, the miracles he performs, that give people the evidence they need believe. For Jesus it has always been his actions that were to speak for him.

When John the Baptist began to have some doubts about Jesus being the Messiah he sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus if he was the one they had been waiting for, and in Matthew 11:4-6 Jesus says, go back and tell John what you have heard and seen. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. What Jesus tells the disciples of John is the same thing he tells the Jews this day in the Colonnade, my actions speak for me. The miracles I do not only reflect the power and love of God, but they should make it clear to you that the Father and I are one.

So here we have Jesus stating clearly that his actions speak louder than any words possibly could, and his actions prove that he is the Messiah, but notice what this proclamation does, it forces people to either accept Jesus or oppose him. Jesus says, my sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. In other words, those who listen and know and follow Jesus, those who are with him, are secure in the hands of God, they have life, but look at what happens to those who oppose him, John 10:31. Those who oppose Jesus are ready to kill him. So we are either with Jesus and have life, or we are against him and on a road that leads to death and it is that choice we all have to make in life.

It was 24 years ago that this reality hit home with me. For the longest time I was somewhat indifferent toward Jesus. I believed in him and knew about him, but then through a whole series of events I came to realize this truth, that with Jesus there is life. When we believe in Jesus as the Messiah and put our whole trust in his grace and power, there is an abundant life for us to live right here and now and there is eternal life to come. With Jesus there is life, but without Jesus there is death. Without Jesus in our lives, without God’s grace working to forgive us and bring us the gift of life, there is simply death. That death may not come for 50, 60 or 70 years, but it will come and it will be complete. In some ways, our faith really is as simple as making this choice, will we accept Jesus or will we oppose him? Will we choose life or will we pick up stones that will lead to death?

I think this was the choice Jesus was giving the people in Solomon’s Colonnade. Look at the day this interaction takes place, it says it was the Feast of the Dedication. The feast of the dedication was the day when Israel celebrated the rededication of the Jewish Temple. In 167 BC, the Roman leader, Antiochus Epiphanes defiled the Jewish Temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar. Two years later, the Jewish leader, Judas Macabbeus regained control of the Temple and when he did he cleaned it out and rededicated it to God. In Jesus time, this cleansing and rededication was seen as God’s last great deliverance of his people. The Temple being restored was a sign of God’s saving power and the feast of the dedication gave people the opportunity to commit themselves once again to God. So it is in the context of people thinking about dedicating themselves to God that Jesus says, I have told you clearly who I am, my actions have proven it to you, and you are either with me or you are against me. It’s as if Jesus is giving the people the same opportunity that Joshua gave God’s people centuries earlier when he called on them to choose that day who they were going to serve.

I don’t know if you remember that story of Joshua, but it was near the end of Joshua’s life and the people if Israel have been settled in the promised land for a while and they have had some good times and some bad times. They had been faithful to God at times, and failed God miserably at times. Joshua knows he is not going to be around much longer and so he calls the people to make a choice. This is from Joshua 24:14-15.

As Jesus is walking through the Colonnade I wonder if he is thinking about this story. You see Jesus knows that he too is getting ready to depart from this world. This story in John takes place just a few weeks before Jesus’ crucifixion so he knows he isn’t going to be around much longer and so he states pretty clearly, my actions prove I am the Christ and if you believe in me and listen to my voice and follow me, you will experience life, and while he doesn’t say it, the other choice seems pretty clearly too. Without me and without the grace and power of God, there is death. I wonder if Jesus sees this as a Joshua moment where he is calling the people to choose who they were going to serve.

As we listen to this story today, we are given our own Joshua moment. Jesus asks us today, as I think he asks us everyday, who are we going to serve? Are we with Jesus, or against him? Will we choose life, or will we walk away from him and pick up the stones that lead to death? Who will we serve, and if we are going to serve Jesus, what will look like? What does it mean to choose Jesus and serve him only? If we just look at what Jesus says here, choosing him means two things; it means hearing his voice and reflecting his life.

Jesus says, my sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. So if we choose Jesus today, the first thing we need to do is listen to his voice, but listening to Jesus isn’t easy and it doesn’t happen instantly. It takes time for a sheep to learn the voice of their shepherd. It takes time for a sheep to recognize, trust and then be willing to follow the voice of their shepherd, but once that relationship is strong, the sheep will follow that voice wherever it goes because it knows it will lead to green pastures and safe and still waters. If we are going listen to Jesus and learn how to trust and follow his voice, it will take time.

Learning to hear the voice of Jesus takes time in prayer where we can silence all the other voices around us and begin to recognize the voice of God. While we may want God to speak in some kind of loud booming voice, the truth is that most often God speaks in quiet whispers. Jesus knew that, which is why he sought out times alone so that he could silence the noise around him and tune into the voice of his father. It takes time in silence and in prayer to be able to recognize the voice of Jesus, but it also takes time reading the words of Jesus and the word of God. God is not going ask us to do something that is not in agreement with his word, so we need to know what he has already said so that when we hear God speak in times of prayer and reflection we can test those words. Choosing Jesus means hearing his voice, but it also means reflecting his life.

Let’s go back to John 10 and look at how Jesus answered the question of the religious leaders. When they ask him if he is the Messiah, Jesus replies, the miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me. We know Jesus is the Son of God because his actions reflected the life of his Father in heaven. If we are going to choose Jesus, then our lives need to reflect his. When people look at us they need to see Jesus, which is exactly what happened in the life of the early church, when people looked at the followers of Jesus they saw reflected in them the life of Jesus.

In Acts 9:32-42 Peter performs 2 miracles that reflect perfectly two miracles of Jesus. First Peter heals a paralyzed man by telling him to get up and take care of his mat which is almost exactly what Jesus said when he healed a paralyzed man. Jesus said, take up your mat and walk. The two miracles are almost identical; Peter is reflecting the life of Jesus. And then Peter raises a woman from the dead. The woman, Tabitha, had died and was lying in her home with many people gathered around mourning her loss. Peter raises her from the dead by saying Tabitha, get up. Again this is almost identical to the time Jesus raised a young girl. She too was lying in her home with a great crowd gathered around to mourn her loss, Jesus raises the little girl by little girl, get up. Again, the miracle Peter performs is just a reflection of the life of Jesus and as he reflects Jesus life, the people place their faith and trust not in Peter, but in Jesus as the Son of God.

Our lives need to reflect the life of Jesus, but I don’t think this means we are supposed to go forth from here today and heal the sick, restore sight to the blind and raise the dead. By an large, that didn’t happen very often in the book of Acts, but what did happen in the life of the early church, and what has happened throughout history and what needs to happen today is that our lives need to reflect the life of Jesus. Our words, our attitudes and our actions need to reflect the words and attitudes and actions of Jesus. What this means is that like Jesus we need to patient with one another and we need to forgive one another. Like Jesus, we need to look at one another and see only the best. We need to love people so much that like Jesus we are willing to place their needs and their desires before our own. If we will do that, if we will reflect he life of Jesus, people will place their faith and trust not in jus, but in Jesus.

Today may not be a special day like it was when Jesus was walking through Solomon’s Colonnade, but really every time we gather for worship should probably be a Joshua moment for us where we can commit ourselves anew to Christ. Will we choose today to serve Jesus? Will we choose to listen to his voice and reflect his life? Let us choose this day who will we serve, who we will listen to and whose life we will reflect.

Yes Lord, You know that I love you.

One of the most amazing things about God is that from the very beginning He didn’t use extraordinary people to accomplish his purpose. God used ordinary people, even troubled and broken people to accomplish his plans. There are very few people in the Bible who didn’t have some moment of colossal failure, but then after that failure came forgiveness, and then after they were forgiven, God used them. Failure, forgiveness, and then being used by God for His future seems to be the way God works in our world. Think about Abraham, when they were in Egypt instead of trusting God to protect him, Abraham lied and told the Egyptian leaders that Sarah was his sister, not his wife in order to save himself, but God forgave Abraham and then God used him to bring about a son who helped give birth to the nation of Israel. Moses failed to follow God’s word when he was leading God’s people through the wilderness, but God forgave him and then God used Moses to bring the people to the edge of the Promised Land. David failed God miserably not only when he committed adultery but when he then conspired to have a man murdered in an attempt to cover up his failure, but God forgave him and then God used David to establish the kingdom of Israel. Jonah failed to follow God, but God forgave him and then used him to help the nation of Nineveh repent and be saved.

It is good to know that our failures are not final because we all experience these moments of failure. Whether we have failed in a relationship, or in a business, or in own personal integrity and commitment to God, we all have and will experience failure, but beyond that failure comes forgiveness and with forgiveness comes the call to be at work in God’s future. This journey of failure, forgiveness and the future seems to be the story of Peter’s life. There were several times that Peter failed Jesus, but he was always forgiven and God continued to use him. This is what we see so clearly in John 21.

As the story begins here, did you notice where Peter is? He is back in his boat fishing. Jesus had called Peter to drop his nets and leave fishing behind to become a fisher of men and women. Jesus called Peter to share the good news of God’s coming kingdom and to invite people to experience the presence and the power of God. With the resurrection of Jesus, you would think Peter would see a glorious new beginning, but he doesn’t. Peter has returned to fishing, and it was totally his idea. When Peter tells the other disciples that he is going fishing, it’s like he has given up on himself and given up on God’s plan for his life, and he does this because he knows that he has failed.

That failure took place just a few weeks earlier when Peter stood in a courtyard around a charcoal fire. It was there that Peter denied not once or twice, but three times, that he was a follower of Jesus. In fact he told the people he didn’t even know Jesus. In Jesus moment of need when Peter had the opportunity to stand with him, he failed and literally ran away. For Peter, that failure was big, maybe too big to overcome, so instead of fishing for men, instead of sharing the good news of Christ’s resurrection, Peter goes back to fishing for fish. He’s casting his net into the water from his boat. What’s kind of ironic is that Peter has gone back to fishing, and yet it seems like he has even failed at that because after fishing for awhile he has caught nothing. I can just imagine Peter saying to himself, great, I can’t even catch fish anymore. I just can’t do anything right.

Do you ever feel that way? We fail in some way and then begin to question whether we can do anything right. Failure can breed that kind of negative thinking – but God makes clear to us that our failures are not final. Our failures do not get the last word, and Jesus begins to assure Peter of this by having him cast his net off the other side of the boat. When they suddenly start hauling in lots of fish, Peter is no longer a failure as a fisherman and maybe that’s exactly what he needed to help him see that there was hope for forgiveness and hope for a future not as a fisherman but as a follower of Jesus and a fisher of men and women.

After Jesus serves the disciples’ breakfast, we have this exchange between Peter and Jesus that makes clear to us that Jesus is specifically forgiving Peter for his failure that night in the courtyard. We know that this encounter with Jesus is tied into the courtyard story because of one particular word – charcoal.
It says here in John 21:9 that when the disciples got to the shore they saw a charcoal fire. Now there is only one other place in the gospel of John that the word charcoal is used and that is in John 18:17-18. Right after Peter denied being one of Jesus’ disciples it says he was standing by a charcoal fire. It is not a coincidence that here he is standing by another charcoal fire. These two scenes are supposed to be read together because around one fire Peter disowned Jesus, but now around another fire Peter will be forgiven.

Peter’s failure was not final, Jesus forgives him, and the way Jesus forgives Peter is important for us to think about. Jesus doesn’t just say to Peter, hey about what happened back in the courtyard – forget about it. Jesus forgives Peter by giving him the opportunity to reaffirm his love and commitment. For every time that Peter denied that he was a disciple of Jesus, every time he denied that he even knew Jesus, Jesus asks him, do you love me? Now Jesus already knows the answer to this, he knows that Peter loves him, so it must be for Peter’s benefit that Jesus asks the question. Maybe affirming his love helped Peter be assured of his relationship with Jesus. Maybe it was to erase any doubt in Peter’s heart and mind that he was forgiven. Maybe Jesus asked the question to just help Peter find the strength to move forward. Whatever the reason, Jesus knew that Peter was going to need this moment to help him overcome his own sense of failure, so he asks him to reaffirm his love and commitment. Peter, do you love me?

I think we need these very same moments when we can answer that very same question. Because we fail God so often, we need these moments to affirm our love and commitment to Him. Verbalizing our love for God helps us know beyond any doubt that we are forgiven and they help us know we can receive strength to move forward. That is one reason why corporate worship is so important. When we come together for worship we have the opportunity to reaffirm our love and commitment to Jesus. The songs we sing help us verbalize our love for our God and our commitment to walk with Jesus and talk with him. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer and say, our father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, we are acknowledging our love for God. When we ask for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, part of what we are saying is that we want God’s will to be done in our lives, we are recommitment ourselves to God. The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer of love and commitment and it is a prayer asking for forgiveness (forgive us our trespasses). When we gather to pray this prayer, we are reminded that God is faithful and in his love and grace, he does forgives us.

Now what’s really amazing about God isn’t that He forgives us, it’s that he is then willing to use us despite our failures. Jesus doesn’t just ask Peter if he loves him, he then says, feed my lambs, tend my sheep. Despite his failure, Jesus calls Peter to once again commitment to the work God has for him. For God, forgiveness is so complete, that he doesn’t hold our failures against us; he gives us new opportunities follow him and serve him. Abraham failed God, but God still used him. Moses failed God, David failed God, Jonah failed God, but God still used them. Peter failed God, but God was going to use him and so Jesus commissions him for a future ministry. Feed my lambs and tend my sheep is a call to watch over the church and care for the people who were going to believe in and follow Jesus.

Again, there is a lesson here for us. God doesn’t just forgive us to make us feel better and ease our guilt, God forgives us in order to lead us into the future he has for us, and God does have a future for us. Last week we heard from Jeremiah 29 that if we search for God we will find him, but God also says in Jeremiah 29, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. God does have plans for us; God has plans for our future and for all of us that future involves at least two things, love for God and service to others.


There can be no real love for God that does not translate into service. This is what it says in 1 John 4:20-21, Those who say, I love God, and hate their brothers and sisters are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have him is this, those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. This is the very same thing Jesus is saying to Peter on the lakeshore. If you love me, Peter, you will feed my lambs. If you love me, you will tend my sheep. If you love me then you will watch over and care for my people who are your brothers and sisters. The future God had for Peter was a future of service, and that is the same future God has for all of us.

The commandment John talks about here is given to all of us, not just some of us or most of us; it is a command for all of us, we must love our brothers and sisters, we must he willing to serve those around us. Now how we love and serve will be different, some may love through physical support and help; others may love through a ministry of prayer and encouragement. Some people may love through financial support and gifts, and some may love through great sacrifice and selflessness. We will all love and serve in different ways, but the call is the same. Reaching out in love to serve and care for others is God’s plan and purpose for our future.

I think this exchange between Peter and Jesus on the lakeshore is recorded maybe solely for our benefit, because it shows us that our failures, no matter how big they are, are not final. God’s forgiveness prevails, and God’s forgiveness is complete, and God’s forgiveness leads us to a future of love and service. So let us reaffirm our love for God, and let us recommit ourselves to a life of serving God and serving others.

What Keeps Us From Seeing Jesus?

I have to say that I always feel bad for Thomas because he wasn’t there when Jesus first appeared to the disciples on that Resurrection Day. Can you imagine his disappointment and confusion when all the rest of the disciples tell him that they have seen Jesus and he is alive? Sometimes I wonder why Jesus did it this way. Why appear to all but one of the disciples and then, why not find Thomas at some point during the week to just reassure him that he was alive? I can only imagine what a horrible week it must have been for Thomas to hear everyone else talking about the risen Jesus while he is left wondering if it is true and if it is true, then why did Jesus leave him in the dark? I’m thinking that the more the disciples talked about it, the more frustrated and confused Thomas must have become, which led him to dig in his heels even stronger until he gets to the point where he says, unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finer where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.

As frustrating as it must have been for Thomas, I wonder if Jesus did it this way for us, for all of us who generations later still struggle at times to see and believe. You see, Jesus speaks to us in this passage, he says, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. This blessing is for us because while we may not see Jesus standing in front of us in bodily form the way the disciples and Thomas did, God still helps us believe by helping us see Jesus in different ways. So what is it today that keeps us from seeing Jesus? What is it that keeps us from experiencing the blessing of Jesus resurrection power and hope and love?

One of the things that keeps us from seeing Jesus is the same thing that kept Thomas from seeing Jesus, and that is doubt. We call him doubting Thomas because he did have doubts that Jesus was alive, but I wonder if there were even stronger doubts that Thomas struggled with. I wonder if the real doubt that plagued Thomas wasn’t about Jesus, but about himself? Can you imagine the guilt that Thomas must have experienced when Jesus was crucified? They had all said that they would stand with Jesus, but when the time came, they failed. They all ran away. But when Jesus appeared to the disciples on that resurrection day, they knew they had been forgiven. Jesus breathed on them and said peace be with you. They received God’s peace and forgiveness, but Thomas wasn’t there and I wonder if that led Thomas to ask himself if Jesus would forgive him? Was that why he had not shown himself to Thomas? Was Thomas not going to be accepted or loved like the rest of the disciples? Was he not worthy? Maybe Thomas didn’t doubt Jesus resurrection, maybe he doubted himself, his own sense of value and worth. It can be this same doubt that keeps us from seeing Jesus. If we doubt God’s love for us, if we have doubts about God’s grace and mercy extending to us, then we will struggle to see Jesus, and we will struggle to experience the fullness of faith that comes with God’s grace and love.

When I was in seminary I worked at a church in North Carolina and I met a really faithful man who struggled to feel worthy of God’s grace and forgiveness. He even had a hard time singing in the choir because to get to the choir loft you had to cross the altar area, and he didn’t feel worthy to even cross that space. He struggled to take communion because he didn’t feel accepted by God, he doubted that God’s grace extended to him and that kept him from seeing Jesus and all the love and power Jesus had for him. He missed out on so much peace and joy.

If it is doubts about ourselves that keep us from seeing Jesus, then what’s the answer? The answer is trust. Can we trust the promises that God has made to us? God promises that we are forgiven. In Psalm 103:12 it says, as far as the east is from the west, so far has God removed our sin from us. In 1 John 1:7 it says the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin. Can we trust God’s word? Can we trust God’s promise which says that we are forgiven by the grace of God and the blood, or the sacrifice, of Jesus?

Can we trust God’s word when it says God loves us? Again from 1 John 3:16 it says, this is how we know what love is, Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And there is no greater love then to lay down your live for a friend. Psalm 103:11 says, for as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is God’s love for those who fear him. So can we trust God’s word which says again and again that God loves us? Can we trust that God welcomes us and accepts us into his presence? Think about Jesus and all the people he welcomed and blessed, there were children, prostitutes, tax collectors, Samaritans, Gentiles, adulterers, and lepers. All those that the world rejected and cast aside, Jesus welcomed, and he welcomes us too. We can trust God’s love and grace, and when we do, God opens our eyes so that we can more clearly see Jesus.

Something else that may have kept Thomas from seeing Jesus was fear, not fear of Jesus being angry with him, but fear of how the resurrection might change his life. Maybe Thomas could begin to see what the rest of the disciples couldn’t, that a risen Savior and Lord changes everything, and the resurrection of Jesus was going to call all of them to step up and step out in a more public ministry. Maybe what kept Thomas from seeing Jesus was a fear of what Jesus might ask him to do, and where Jesus might ask him to go.

Honestly, Thomas might have been right to be afraid because what God did ask of Thomas was big and his life was never the same. We believe that after Thomas saw Jesus he ended up going as an evangelist and missionary to India. Thomas left his home, his country and all that he knew to go to what they believed at the time was the end of the world. This could not have been easy, but Thomas did it, and I think what helped him overcome this fear was faith, faith in God’s purpose and plan, and faith in God’s power to help him accomplish that plan. Maybe what helped Thomas overcome his fear was just faith in God.

There was another time when the disciples were all afraid and Jesus told them to have faith; it was in a boat, on the sea and in a storm. Jesus was asleep in the back of the boat when the storm came up and as the storm grew stronger, it says the disciples became terrified. When they finally woke Jesus, he rebuked the wind and the waves and the storm instantly stopped, and then he turned and asked his disciples, where is your faith? It is faith in God that helps us overcome our fear. If what keeps us from seeing Jesus is fear about what God may ask us to do, or fear of the changes that we know will need to take place in our lives if we follow Jesus, then we need to have faith in the strength and ability of God to help us. The resurrection of Jesus means that God has the power to overcome the grave, which means God can do anything. God can and will see us through all the storms of life if we will place our faith in him. So if it is fear that is keeping us from seeing Jesus, let us have faith that God’s power can and will supply all our needs.

Something else that can keep us from seeing Jesus is pride. If we just don’t think we need Jesus, then we won’t look to him and if we aren’t looking to him, we won’t see him. I know that most of us do look to Jesus in life, that’s why we are here today, but let’s be honest; there are those times when we think we can just do it on our own. There are many today people who believe that they can live a good, happy and complete life without God. I just don’t believe this is true. People may be happy and good without God in their lives, but they are not complete. If we think back to the creation story we hear that we above everything else in creation, we were created to be in a special relationship with God, and if we are not in that relationship, there is something missing in our lives and we are not complete. We may not know there is something missing, but there is. Jesus said, I have come so that you might have life and life abundantly. So without Jesus, life is not abundant life, it is not complete, a complete life is only found when we see Jesus.
Now what helps us overcome pride is humility, simply knowing that we need Jesus will help us to look for him and God has said that if we seek him – we will find him. In Jeremiah 29 God says, when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you search with all heart, I will let you find me. Humility is calling on God and searching for him because we know that we need him in our lives and if we will humble ourselves, we will see Jesus. The Bible says, humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you, he will lift up our eyes so we can see Jesus.

There is one last reason we may not be able to see Jesus, and that is because our eyes and our minds and hearts and lives are simply too full of others things. Let’s go back to Thomas for a moment. What was it that filled Thomas’ eyes, heart and mind at that time? It was the crucifixion of Jesus. Thomas saw Jesus arrested, most likely saw him on the cross and he knew for sure that Jesus was dead. What Thomas had seen filled his eyes and heart and mind and there was simply no room for a risen Jesus. I wonder if we keep our eyes and hearts and minds so full that we have no room to see Jesus. I worry sometimes that we fill every moment of every day with so much that we crowd Jesus out. We can so easily become consumed with work, sports, entertainment, family and worry that we just don’t make room for Jesus.

I was thinking this week how after his resurrection, Jesus just seemed to appear out of nowhere. Remember last week the 2 disciples were on the road to Emmaus when Jesus just started walking along side of them, and I began to wonder if Jesus appeared to Thomas at some point during the week but Thomas’ heart and mind was so full of a dead Jesus that he just couldn’t see the living Jesus in front of him. Or was he so consumed with doubt and fear and grief and shame that he couldn’t see or imagine that Jesus could be alive. I wonder if there are those times in our lives when Jesus is right here for us to see or hear or experience in some real way but our minds and lives are so full that we just don’t see him. Can we make some room in our lives for the awe and wonder and power of seeing Jesus?

One of the things I love about going on vacation is that my mind and my life just aren’t as full so I can slow down and be more open to the movement of God. I often go hiking on vacation and there are days when I’ll just say, ok God help me see you today. One day when I did that I came upon a bear in front of me, that had never happened to me before I just knew that it was God saying, here I am. I felt a warm steady breeze one day almost 10 years ago and I can still hear God say in that moment, Andy, my grace is like this breeze, it is steady and constant and washes away sin. My challenge is to say to myself everyday, God show yourself to me, help me see you, and then to actually slow down enough to listen and look for God. Jesus is risen, which means he is alive and he is with us, will we take the time to look.

What keeps us from seeing Jesus?
If it is doubt, then we need to trust God’s promises and God’s word.

If it is fear, then we need to have faith that God’s power is with us.

If it is pride, then we need to humble ourselves so God can lift up our eyes.

If what keeps us from seeing Jesus is a heart and mind and life that is simply too full, then we need to slow down and empty ourselves to make room for the wonder and the awe of God.

The bottom line is, if we really want to see Jesus, let we need to ask him for his blessing so that we can see and believe.

The Resurrection of Jesus

Luke 24:13-35

When the women went to the tomb on the first day of the week, they had no expectation of actually seeing Jesus alive. We know this because they took with them spices to prepare Jesus body for its final burial. When Jesus died on Friday they did not have time to anoint and wrap his body according to the customs because it was so close to sundown, and then came the Sabbath when they were not allowed to do any work, and so now they went to the tomb early in the morning to get Jesus body ready for his final burial. There was no expectation and no hope of meeting Jesus that day, but all that changed when they arrived at the tomb and found the stone rolled away. Now what happens from there is a little uncertain. While the gospel accounts of the resurrection are all clear about the women going to the tomb with spices, once they get there and see the stone rolled away, the details get a little more uncertain.

From the gospels we hear that angels were there telling the women that Jesus is not dead but alive. The women go and tell the disciples what has happened, Peter and John run to the tomb to find only the grave clothes lying inside, and then at some point after all the others have left, Mary encounters Jesus outside the tomb in the garden. The news of an open and empty tomb and maybe a risen Jesus are so staggering that it is understandable that things get a little confused, and little confused is how we find these two followers of Jesus who were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Remember that Jesus doesn’t appear to all of the disciples until later in the day, and so as these 2 men are walking along the road all they know for certain is that Jesus had died a few days ago, but now his grave was empty, his body missing and there is this story that some of the women had seen him.

What’s interesting to me is that even with all this information these followers of Jesus are leaving the city of Jerusalem. If they had any hope that Jesus was alive you would have thought they would have stuck around to see him, but it says they were leaving the city and on the road to Emmaus, it’s like they had given up. Even their words show that they had given up, they said, we had hoped he was the one who would redeem Israel. They had hope, but they don’t have any hope now. As they are walking along the road in their disappointment and doubts – Jesus appears and begins to walk with them. They haven’t asked Jesus to walk with them, they aren’t looking for Jesus, and they don’t even think Jesus is alive, but Jesus is there none the less and this, to me, is one of the fundamental truths of the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus means that Jesus is here. We don’t have to go search for him, we don’t have to beg Jesus to come to us, we don’t even have to ask him to come and be with us because he is just here. Even if we have doubts about our faith or disappointments about how things seem to turn out, Jesus is here. We may not have come here this morning expecting to meet Jesus or hear his voice or see his presence, but he is here. Just as Jesus appeared along the road to Emmaus, Jesus is here today – that is what the resurrection of Jesus is all about, God coming to be with us.

Now look at what Jesus does when he appears. At first he just listens. Jesus begins just listening to the conversation of these men and then he asks them a few questions to get them to open up even more and they not only share what they have heard about Jesus, but they also share their shattered hopes and dreams. They share with Jesus how they had hoped he would have been the one to redeem Israel. They shared the longing and the desire of their hearts to see the goodness and the kingdom of God, and Jesus simply listens.

The resurrection of Jesus means that Jesus is not only with us; it means that Jesus is here to listen. He doesn’t interrupt, he doesn’t rebuke, he doesn’t laugh or ridicule and he doesn’t reject us as we share, he simply listens. We can share with Jesus today the deepest longings of our heart. We can share our hopes and dreams as well as our shattered hopes and dreams. We can share with God our failures and disappointments, even our anger and our fears. We can even share with Jesus our doubts and questions about him. Isn’t that what these disciples are doing? They are sharing with Jesus their doubts about him, wondering why he did not redeem Israel and save God’s people, and Jesus listens.
But Jesus doesn’t just listen, after he has heard from these two men, he shares with them the truth and the love of God. It says that beginning with Moses and then going through the whole history of Israel, Jesus taught them about the Messiah and his work and the kingdom of God. The resurrection of Jesus shows us that Jesus comes back to speak to his disciples and give them truth that will bring them hope. For us, the resurrection of Jesus means that Jesus is still speaking. Jesus speaks to us today if we will be willing to listen. I believe there are three primary ways God speaks with us today. First and foremost God speaks through his word. The bible is said to be living and active, which means it speaks to our lives and the situations we find ourselves in. If we will take the time to listen to God’s word – we will hear what we need. If we need comfort – it is here. If we need hope – it is here. If we need forgiveness and grace – it is here. If we need guidance and direction – we can find it here. God’s word still speaks which is why it is important to take the time to listen.

God also speaks through his people. God speaks profound truth through the wisdom and experience of his people which is why it is important for us to spend time talking to one another not just about families and jobs and sports, but about how God is working and moving in our lives. Together we are called the body of Christ, and as the body of Christ we have a mouth to share the word of God with one another. And the third way I believe God still speaks is simply through the power of God’s Holy Spirit, and this can be experienced in so many ways. We can hear God speak through the world around us, through a still small voice in the depth of our heart, or through a conscience that gives us direction. Through the Holy Spirit, God speaks in a variety of ways. In different ways God spoke to Abraham, Moses and Elijah as well as Peter, and the apostle Paul and while we don’t know how God spoke, but we know he did, and I believe God still speaks to us clearly through his spirit.

So we see from this Emmaus road encounter with Jesus that the resurrection means that Jesus is with us, and that he listens to our hearts and hopes and dreams and speaks words of encouragement, grace and truth, and then comes the crucial moment in the story. As the disciples come near to the village where they are staying Jesus walked ahead of them like he was going to keep on going, but it says the disciple urged him strongly to stay. Let me put this another way, the disciples invited Jesus to enter into their lives.

The resurrection of Jesus isn’t just about Jesus overcoming sin and the grave. It is that, and that victory assures us of eternal life but the resurrection of Jesus opens the door for us to invite the living Christ into our lives so that our eyes can be opened to what real life is all about. That’s what happens to these men on the road to Emmaus. It is after they invited Jesus to stay with them that their eyes and hearts were opened in the breaking of the bread, and it was after seeing Jesus clearly that their lives changed forever.

It is only after we invite Jesus into our lives and accept for ourselves his love and grace and power that our eyes will be fully opened to the power of Jesus and the potential of new life. It is when we accept Jesus as our savior that we begin to experience the healing touch of God’s grace and feel the power of God helping us overcome sin and the failures of our lives. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, it means we are trusting Christ for complete forgiveness and with that forgiveness comes a wholeness and freedom that allows us to experience a new life, and when we accept Jesus as our Lord we begin to live into that new life by following Jesus where he leads us. When we accept Jesus as our Lord we are giving him the opportunity to work in our lives the way God wants to, and I can tell you right now that what God wants for you and for me is new life. God wants us to experience the full measure of life and love and joy and peace and all of that is possible because of the resurrection of Jesus, and all of that will come if we will invite Jesus to enter our live and then be willing to go where his spirit leads us.

New life is what the two disciples experienced after their eyes and hearts were opened. The day began with doubts and fears, they walked along the road hopeless and confused, but after they experience the Risen Jesus, they are changed. They are filled with hope and joy – it says their hearts burned within them, and they have a renewed sense of purpose – they returned to Jerusalem to share this good news with others.

The resurrection of Jesus is all about new life, not just a new life for Jesus, but new life for each and every one of us. The resurrection of Jesus is about experiencing hope and joy and possibility because God is with us. Whatever seems hopeless and impossible today – the resurrection of Jesus can change. If our financial and job situation is hopeless, God can open up for us doors of new possibilities. If our relationships, marriages and families are going through difficult times, God can bring healing and grace and love and teach us how and who we need to forgive. If we struggle to see the value and the worth in our lives, God can open our eyes so that we can see ourselves the way God does. If Jesus died and rose again for us, then God must see something good in us. God sees in us value and worth and potential and the resurrection of Jesus can help us see all of that as well. The resurrection of Jesus can change everything because it tells us that there is no power or force greater than God. If God can raise Jesus from the dead, then there is no situation, no relationship and no person beyond God’s ability to heal, restore and transform.

These followers of Jesus were different when they returned to Jerusalem, and we can be different when we return home today if we will invite Jesus into our lives and allow his power and love to bring us life. That’s what the resurrection of Jesus is all about.

Easter Sunrise Worship in Zion

One of the reasons I enjoy outside sunrise services so much is because by getting up while it is still dark and gathering with others in some quiet location,, I actually feel like I am part of the resurrection story. While it’s wonderful to be with all of God’s people in church singing hymns to the organ, seeing the Easter lilies decorate the sanctuary and hearing the gospel message that Jesus is alive, the first Easter didn’t take place that way at all. The women got up while it was still dark and made their way to a garden where Jesus had been laid in a tomb. When the women saw that the stone had been rolled away, they ran to find the disciples and then together they raced back to the tomb. And when Mary first meets the risen Jesus it’s not in church, or even in the upper room with the rest of the disciples, it’s outside in the garden. So by gathering early in the morning outside, I feel like I am somehow part of this great story. But the truth is I don’t want to be part of this great story of Jesus resurrection, I want the resurrection of Jesus to be part of me. I want the power and the hope and the joy of Christ’s resurrection to permeate my life so that every morning I am filled with the power and hope and joy that Jesus brings. As the sun rises today and the light around us grows stronger, it’s my hope that together we can experience the power and the hope and the light that the resurrection of Jesus brings.

One of the things I noticed about the resurrection story this year is that it is filled with great anticipation and it builds slowly. As we read through the story there is a growing sense of hope and joy that comes as the followers of Jesus take each step. Again, the story starts with the women making their way to the tomb while it is still dark, but it’s not just dark outside; it’s dark inside. They are in despair because they know that Jesus is dead. They had watched him die and they were the ones who watched from a distance while he was laid in the tomb. If there is one thing they know for certain when they wake up that morning it is that Jesus is dead. So without any hope they take their spices to the tomb to prepare Jesus body for the grave. But when they arrive at the tomb, the grave is open suddenly there is a glimmer of hope, it’s like the first rays of light that precede the dawn. They know that something is happening, but aren’t sure what.

As the news of an empty tomb spreads, the sense of anticipation grows. While the women had walked sadly to the tomb they ran to find the disciples, and after they share with them that the grave is open and empty, the men race to the tomb to see for themselves. They may have doubts about the women’s story, they certainly have a lot of questions and yet they must also have that glimmer of hope. Something is happening, things are changing and the excitement and anticipation grows.

After all the people leave, Mary stays in the garden to try and make sense out of what is happening and out of nowhere Jesus appears and speaks to her. It’s another ray of hope, this one maybe the break of dawn, and in light of the risen Jesus, everything changes. Sorrow is replaced by joy, doubt with hope, death with life, despair with possibility, everything has changed for Mary and this change spreads. Mary goes and tells the disciples that she has seen Jesus. Later in the day Jesus appears to the disciples and offers them peace and breathes on them the Holy Spirit and in those moments their hearts and lives are changed. As the news of Jesus resurrection spreads, lives change and soon the world changes, but it all takes place slowly.

I have often wondered why Jesus did it that way. Why not appear in the temple and show himself to the religious leaders who crucified him? Why not rise from the grave and immediately go to the disciples and share with them the victory of the resurrection, or go to Rome to proclaim himself king of kings and lord of lords. I don’t know why Jesus did things this way, but I do know that the hope of new life that comes with the resurrection of Jesus doesn’t turn everything in our lives around instantly. Sometimes the power and the love and the joy that comes with the resurrection of Jesus takes time to grab hold of us and make changes with us, but if we will give ourselves over to God’s love, those changes and new life will come.
That’s really what we celebrate today, that the power of Christ’s resurrection which can change our lives. The resurrection of Jesus turned the despair of the women into hope and it turned the disappointment of the disciples into possibility. I think this is what God wants to do with us today. If there are disappointments we have – God wants to open new doors of opportunity for us today. If there are broken dreams and broken relationships, God wants to bring the hope of new life and restored love. If there is uncertainty about our future, God wants to bring a renewed sense of purpose – that’s what the appearance of Jesus did on that first resurrection day, and that is what Jesus still wants to do today if we will allow his love and light into our lives. There is no one beyond the touch of God’s grace and there is no life that God can not redeem and use for his glory.

We don’t want to just hear that message today, we want to actually take part in it with the hope that it will take hold in our lives, and we are going to do that with all the candles that you see. As the sun rises, it reminds us of the open tomb and that first moment when the women knew something new was taking place. When we see that sun break forth we are going to light the Christ candle as a symbolic way of saying, Jesus is not only alive, but he is with us. Then as we see in the resurrection story, the light of Jesus spread, first to Mary, then to the disciples then to many in Jerusalem, and slowly across the world. We will take the light of Christ and begin to share it with all the tables and allow the candles in front of you to come to life. The candles represent our lives, we are all different, we are at different places and have different hopes and dreams and needs and desires, but the one thing we all have in common is the need for the power of Christ’s resurrection working in our lives. So as the candles are lit in front of you, ask the love and the light and the life of Jesus to enter into your heart and life and make you new.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The real challenge of Easter is to not allow this light to stay here, but to take it into all the world. That is part of the resurrection story. Jesus told Mary to go and tell the disciples that Jesus was alive. She was to share this good news, and so should we. We need to share with others that the resurrection of Jesus has changed our lives and that every day it brings us hope and joy. We need to share with others that the risen Jesus gives us strength and guidance for living life today and we need to share this good news with a growing sense of joy and excitement. It was from a little garden outside Jerusalem that the light of the risen Jesus first broke through, but that light changed the world and it still can, if we will take it with us. So take forth this light of Christ, and share with others that Jesus is alive and that his power and love is here to save.

Good Friday

John 19:17-30

For seven years I was the pastor of St. Paul’s UMC in Lewisburg, and in the sanctuary of that church is a very large and beautiful stained glass window of Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane. One Sunday I was talking about that story and how Jesus asked God to find another way for forgiveness and salvation to be offered to humankind. Jesus prayed, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but your will be done. I talked about how hard it was for Jesus in those moments to surrender himself to the will of God, in fact, it was so difficult that in Luke’s gospel it says in anguish his sweat become like great drops of blood falling to the ground. It was a difficult decision Jesus had to make that night because to say yes to God meant saying yes to a real cross and facing the physical horrors of the crucifixion.

After worship that Sunday a woman came up to me as she was leaving and you have to understand, she had been a faithful member of that church for years, her children were raised in that church and she had served in leadership of that church but she came up to me and said, wow, I never knew that story about Jesus in the garden. I’ve always seen that stained glass window and thought it was beautiful, but I never knew the story of what Jesus struggled with in the garden of Gethsemane.

I was a little surprised when she told me this because it seems like that is such a familiar story and it also surprised me because for years she had looked at that stained glass window but had never really thought about what it meant. I was sharing all of this with a friend recently and said how surprised I was that she didn’t know this story when she said, I’m not surprised, Andy. Lots of people may not know that story because they come to worship on Palm Sunday and hear about the triumphal entry and Jesus riding on a donkey, and then they come back on Easter Sunday and hear about the resurrection of Jesus, but they don’t really understand all the events that took place in between. I had to admit that she was right.

Now, because we are all here today, we have heard in scripture and in song the events that took place in those hours leading up to the death of Jesus. We know about his betrayal, arrest and abandonment. We know how Peter denied that he even knew Jesus and how the crowds turned against him and called for Barabbas to be released and Jesus to be crucified. We know about the suffering Jesus endured as he was not only whipped and beaten, but how he was mocked and humiliated with a crown of thorns. We heard again how Jesus made his way to Golgatha and how he was crucified between two thieves, and maybe we heard again the pounding of the nails and the taunts of the crowds and the anguish of Jesus as he says, it is finished. We heard it all again, but how did we hear it? Did we hear it as a bystander just interested in hearing the story one more time, or did we hear it as the one for whom Jesus died? It makes a difference.

For years I simply heard this story as an interested bystander. I knew about Jesus and I knew what he did. I knew that after he washed his disciples feet he offered them bread and wine in the upper room. I knew Jesus had prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, not my will but yours be done, and I knew Jesus was betrayed by Judas with a kiss. I knew Jesus died on a cross, I knew it all, but it was years before I understood that he did it all for me. It wasn’t until I was in college and read a little book called Basic Christianity by John Stott that I began to understand that everything Jesus did – he did for me. He paid the penalty for my sin, he died my death, so that I could be forgiven and experience not just eternal life with God in heaven when I die, he did it all so I could experience a free and full life right here and now. What Jesus did, he did for me, and he did it all because God loves me.

But I have to tell you that the reality of what Jesus was willing to do for me didn’t hit home until I started to think about the events of Jesus death and hear in a new what Jesus said on the cross. It’s not recorded in John’s account of the crucifixion but if we look at Matthew and Mark it says that in a loud voice Jesus cried out, Eloi, Eloi, llama sabachhtani, which means,
my God, my God why have you forsaken me. This line is the first verse of Psalm 22, which is a Psalm that talks about the suffering that Christ would have to endure, but the psalm also talks about the glory that God’s chosen one would experience in the end. The end of Psalm 22 includes lines like, For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. Posterity will service him, future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it. Of all the verses in Psalm 22 that Jesus could have chosen to quote at that moment in time, why did Jesus chose that one? Why didn’t Jesus choose to talk about the victory that was to come?

Here’s what John Stott has to say, Jesus quoted this verse of scripture, because he believed he was himself fulfilling it. He was bearing our sins, and God, who is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and who cannot look on wrong turned away his face. Our sins came between the Father and the Son. The Lord Jesus Christ who was eternally with the Father, who enjoyed unbroken communion with him throughout his life on earth, was thus momentarily abandoned. Our sins sent Christ to hell. And let me say that hell is not the eternal fires that we read about in Revelation, hell is as John Stott says, the torment of a soul estranged from God. Hell is being separated from God and that is what Jesus experienced in that moment on the cross. Jesus paid the price for our sin, he endured separation from God for our sake, which is why he cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me.

I remember so clearly the moment when I realized that it was my sin that made the father turn his face away. It was my sin that broke a relationship between the Father and the Son, my sin that broke a bond of love and communion that had always been there. My sin caused Jesus more pain and anguish than any nails could have caused. Have you ever noticed that Jesus doesn’t cry out when he is being beaten or as the nails are being pounded into his hands and feet, he cries out when our sin separates him from God? That is what we have done, but God loves us enough to endure that pain so that we can be reconciled to him. Jesus loves us enough to pay the price for our sin so that we can enter into a relationship with God the Father that brings forgiveness and love and joy and peace for an eternity.

It’s important to reflect on the words of Jesus from the cross and really think about what they mean for us both personally and as a community. Jesus cries of anguish are because he loves us enough to take on our sin and endure a separation from God so that we could be reconciled to God. That is what Jesus did for us, but from the cross Jesus also spoke to us a community, did you hear it? Look back at John 19:26-27.

Here is Jesus looking down from a place of incredible pain and suffering and in these moments he is not thinking about himself, he is thinking about others. He is thinking about those he loves. When Jesus looks down from the cross he sees the 2 people who perhaps he loves more than anyone else, his mother and the beloved disciple, and in them he sees the 2 people who will take his death the hardest and the 2 people who will need the most love and support in the days to come. Taking all of this in, Jesus reaches out in the midst of his own unimaginable suffering and calls these 2 to reach out to each other and to care for each other in the days to come. What Jesus is doing here is what Jesus did his entire life on earth, he was creating community. He was bringing people together.

From the moment of his birth to the moment of his death, the work of Jesus was to create a healthy relationships and a strong community. Think back to what happened on the night of his birth, lowly shepherds found Mary & Joseph & they worshipped together. A little congregation was formed. One of the first things Jesus did when he entered into public ministry was to create a new community; he chose his team of disciples who became his family. Everywhere he went Jesus brought people together, he restored relationships by offering forgiveness. He healed lepers so they could return to their families and their communities of faith. Those on the outside of society like prostitutes, tax collectors & children were welcomed by Jesus into a new community of grace and love. The work of Jesus was the work of building a new community and that work continued until the very end. His very last act was to calls his mother and his most beloved disciple to care for one another in a deeper and more profound way in the days to come.

This work of bringing people together was so important, that it didn’t end on the cross. John and the mother of Jesus was not the last community Jesus formed and strengthened. On the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit comes upon the disciples, it didn’t just bring them power, the Holy Spirit created the church. It was the Holy Spirit that convicted people of sin, led them to repentance and brought them into a new community of faith. On the day of Pentecost it was the spirit of Jesus that brought 3,000 people into the life of the church.

In Acts 2 we see that the early church really was a new family that was formed and shaped by the spirit & power of God. In Acts 2 it says, All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. When Jesus looked down from the cross and called John to take care of his mother, this is what he had in mind. John was to take care of Mary physically, financially, emotionally and spiritually, and I think this is still what God has in mind for us today, not just for us in our own individual local churches, but for the Christian Church of Bellefonte. We need to spend time together in worship and service and give witness to the love of God and the grace of Jesus Christ and power of God’s Holy Spirit. Can we hear that call of Jesus from the cross? Will we follow that call of Jesus from the cross?

Today we remember and give thanks for all that Jesus has done for us on the cross. Through Jesus Christ we have been restored into a right relationship with God, but we are also being called to live in right relationships with one another. God is calling us to be part of a new family of faith, and today we give witness to the work of Jesus on the cross by coming together as God’s family to remember and reflect and worship. We gather from different denominational, theological, social, political and economic backgrounds to be God’s people, and together at the foot of the cross we hear once again just how deep the father’s love is for us, and we ask God’s holy spirit to help us truly love one another.

Maundy Thursday ~ The Towel

The churches I have served have never held their own Good Friday services, so I have always felt the need to make sure that our Maundy Thursday worship service included all the readings for Good Friday, but this year is different. I am very grateful that Drew was willing to put together a Good Friday service for us and I hope you will come back and hear once again the story of Jesus death told through scripture, drama and music. That service tomorrow means that tonight we have the opportunity to spend some time looking at the event that starts the whole thing off. Before the cross, before the trial, before the garden of Gethsemane and even before the Last supper we hear this amazing story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. It is this story that really sets the tone for all that is to come, and it is an important story for us to understand because after Jesus finished washing their feet he said to his disciples that what he just did for them was to be an example that they needed to follow.

As we heard, the story begins with Jesus getting up from the table, taking off his outer robe and tying a towel around his waist. It seems like these words might just be a description of what Jesus actually did that night, but if we stop and think about it, that simple act is really a reflection of how Jesus lived is entire life. Listen to this description of Jesus from Philippians 2:5-8.

5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Do you see the similarities here? In many ways, this whole passage from Philippians is seen clearly in the story of the foot-washing. It says, Jesus did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped or held on to. What Paul means here is that Jesus as the Son of God didn’t remain in heaven and demand his own rights and privileges. Jesus didn’t demand that all of creation serve him; he got up from the heavenly banquet table and came into this world to serve and save us. When Jesus arrived at the home where they were going to celebrate the Passover, he was the master, he was the leader and it was someone else’s job to wash his feet, but Jesus didn’t hold on to his rights and privileges as the master and demand that someone serve him. Instead, he did exactly what he did in heaven, he got up, took off his robe and began to serve.

In Philippians it says Jesus made himself nothing, and was born in human likeness. Again, Jesus took off his heavenly robes, his divine nature, and was willing to be wrapped in flesh and blood. And when Jesus entered this world he again wasn’t wrapped in the finest linens which he deserved as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, instead he was wrapped in strips of cloth and laid in a manger where he was wrapped by straw and hay. This action of taking off one set of robes to put on another is common for Jesus; it’s who he was and it is what characterized his life and ministry. He takes off his divinity to put on flesh. He gives up royalty to be laid in a manger. He gives up wealth and fame to heal and forgive, and in the upper room he takes off his outer robe and wraps himself in a towel, a symbol of service and humility.

Again from Philippians it says Jesus humbled himself and took the nature of a servant and that is exactly what we see Jesus doing here. He humbled himself by physically kneeling down in order to wash the feet of the disciples, and that was the actual work of a servant. Washing people’s feet as they entered the home was the work of the lowest household servant, and you can imagine why, it was a dirty and disgusting job. The roads of Jerusalem were not clean and wearing only sandals meant that people’s feet got pretty bad, so Jesus kneeling down to perform this task was a sign of incredible humility. He really did take the form of a servant and humbled himself, but Jesus actions here were nothing new or out of the ordinary, this was how Jesus lived his life, Jesus let go of his rightful place and humbled himself to serve.

Now what’s interesting to see is Peter’s response to all of this. Peter says, you will never wash my feet. I don’t think Peter is just embarrassed or uncomfortable about Jesus washing his feet, I think there is something else going on here. If Peter was just embarrassed because Jesus, the master, was going to wash his feet then he could have said, wait Jesus, this is all wrong, let me wash your feet, but Peter doesn’t say that, he says you will never wash my feet. I think what Peter is struggling with here is that he doesn’t want to submit himself to Jesus. He doesn’t want to give up control and admit that he needs help. Does that sound familiar? So many times we struggle with the same thing. We don’t want to surrender ourselves to God, we don’t want to admit that we need help and so we just keep trying to do it on our own, and as long as we think we can do it on our own, God can’t wash us clean. The only way God can serve us and ultimately save us is if we are willing to let go of our pride and surrender ourselves to him. The only way Jesus was going to be able to wash Peter and make him clean both inside and out was if he was willing to submit to him.

Holy Week can’t just be a time for us to remember all that Jesus did during his final hours on earth, we have to remember that he did it for us because he loves us and that we are called to surrender ourselves to his love. Jesus said to Peter, unless I wash you, you have no share with me. Unless we allow God’s love and grace to forgive us, we will not experience the fullness of life and life eternal. We need to ask Jesus to cleanse us from our sin through his love and grace. We need to ask God to forgive us and prepare us for the new life he brings in the resurrection. Jesus washing the feet of his disciples wasn’t just Jesus making sure people had clean feet to put under the table, it was Jesus way of saying, I am the one who will cleanse you from all sin, and you can experience this forgiveness and new life if you will surrender yourselves to me.

Are we willing to surrender ourselves to Jesus tonight? Are we willing to confess our sin and admit that we need Jesus to wash us clean because we can’t live a holy and perfect life on our own?. Are we willing to humble ourselves and ask God for forgiveness and new life? If we aren’t, then we have no place with Jesus, and no place in God’s kingdom, if we are willing to surrender ourselves to Jesus, the joy of a new life awaits us.

So the towel not only reflects how Jesus lived his life, giving up his rights to serve others, it also reflects how we need to surrender our hearts and lives to the touch of that towel and allow God to wash us clean, to forgive us and give us new life. But the towel also represents the way we are to live. Jesus said, if I as your teacher and Lord have washed your feet, you also should wash the feet of one another. For I have set you and example. You should do as I have done. Jesus is pretty clear here that the towel needs to symbolize our lives. I was thinking this week that maybe the towel would be a better symbol for our faith then the cross because most of us will never carry a cross. What I mean is that most of us will not have to physically die for our faith, or even die for others, but all of us are called to serve. All of us are called to humble ourselves and find ways to help those in need around us. So maybe instead of crosses around our necks or on our jewelry we should have little towels to remind us that we need to serve one another in humility and in love.

Is there some way God has been calling us to serve someone in our lives that maybe we have been avoiding? Is there someone we need to forgive? Someone we need to help? Some situation God has been saying, it’s time for you to step up and get involved? I wonder when the disciples got to the home for the Passover meal if God was saying to them, you need to wash the feet of your friends, and while they heard the call, no one responded. It says Jesus didn’t get up from the table until they had already started the meal, so I wonder if God was speaking to the disciples to get up and serve and none of them did so finally Jesus stepped up and did it. If God is speaking to us tonight to get up and serve, to get up and love and forgive, then we need to listen and follow the example of Jesus and serve those in need around us.

In so many ways the foot washing sets in motion all that is to come. Later that evening Jesus laid aside his will for God’s will in the Garden of Gethsemane, and then he laid aside his rights and took up our cross, and then he laid aside his life so that we might live. As we journey through this night and through the day tomorrow, we will once again hear and see the humility and sacrifice of Jesus, and as we do, we need to remember that everything Jesus does, he does because he loves us. In the end, Jesus loved his disciples so much that he was willing to serve them. Jesus loved the world so much that he was willing to reach out his hands on the cross to save us, and Jesus loves us enough to call us one more time to surrender ourselves to his love and the grace of God and to the cleansing touch of His water and towel.