Beyond Sunday with Pastor Nic
Join me for a more personal look into the weekend sermons, as well as some thoughts on theology, marriage, parenting, and leadership. I will also explore some of your most asked questions throughout the year.
www.nic-williams.com
Beyond Sunday with Pastor Nic
John 13: Redefining Greatness through Service
Experience a deep dive into the powerful imagery and lessons from Jesus' actions, highlighting how true greatness in His kingdom is found in humble service to others. We'll draw parallels to modern-day scenarios like a CEO working alongside janitorial staff, urging you to incorporate these principles into your daily life and leadership roles. Through Jesus' example, we're inspired to embody servant leadership, pointing to the upside-down nature of the kingdom of God. Listen in for an insightful discussion on the lasting impact of Jesus' example and the profound call to lead through humility and service.
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, where we explore the deeper meanings behind the actions and teachings of Jesus. Today we're a couple days late. It was just one of those weeks, right, and I know you've been waiting with a bated breath, thinking when is he going to drop his next podcast? No, but seriously, monday I tried to record these things. It was a holiday this week and then my schedule just got off. And here we are sitting in my office on Friday night thinking, man, I forgot to record a podcast on one of the most exciting passages of Scripture. So today we're diving into that passage John, chapter 13, the first 17 verses, a passage that showcases one of the most humble acts of service recorded in the Bible. Jesus is washing his disciples' feet.
Speaker 1:Imagine for a moment a CEO of a large corporation who decides to spend one day every month working alongside the janitorial staff, cleaning floors, organizing supplies, cleaning bathrooms. This act of humility isn't just for show, but a sincere effort to connect with every employee at every level. So let me ask you this what does true leadership look like to you? Is it a position of power, or is it perhaps something more grounded in acts of service and humility? Growing up, I used to hear this term servant leadership a lot. Servant leadership a lot and it was one of those like key phrases people use. I'm sure people use it today and I've probably used it. I heard somebody speaking the other day and they were talking about how we like to elevate this idea of servant, like it's not supposed to be elevated. It's supposed to be a task that's done from your heart. But in order for us to elevate it, we add leadership on the end. So we feel like all right, even though I'm doing something low, like I'm working on my leadership. It's really put a pause in my heart as I talk about what it looks like to be a servant.
Speaker 1:In John chapter 13, we find Jesus, the leader of his band of disciples, performing a task reserved for servants washing feet. This moment is packed with lessons on leadership, service and the upside-down nature of the kingdom of God. My youth pastor growing up was a guy by the name of Russ Lee. He is now the lead singer for a Christian band called New Song and throughout the years he's been in different bands. He's had his own career as well. At one point in the 90s he was with a group called Truth and they sang a song that talked about what if we're looking at the world wrong? What if we're living in a world upside down? And the whole idea of the song was that we're so focused on the wrong things in our life.
Speaker 1:Let's unpack this story for just a moment. The setting it was just before the Passover festival. Jesus knew that his time was coming to leave this world and return to his Father. He was faced with his impending death. He chose to leave his disciples with a lasting image of what it means to serve.
Speaker 1:In your moments of greatest challenge, what are the values you want to impart to those around you? I've been thinking about this a lot as we're unpacking this passage just simply with my kids, like if I was going to leave, if this was my last day on earth, what would I want my kids to remember? What lesson would I think man? This is what I want to impart on their life, and I put myself in that mindset not to be a downer, but to think about man. This was the mindset of Jesus. He knew his time had come. He knew he had time for one more lesson, and this is what he chose to do.
Speaker 1:Philippians 2, verses 3 through 4, says do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of the others. This parallels the humility that Jesus displayed in this story. So let's talk about the act of washing feet for just a moment. Jesus washes his disciples' feet, a task typically performed by the lowest servant in a household. This was more than a lesson in cleanliness. It was a radical display of humility and the inversion of social norms.
Speaker 1:How can you and I incorporate this level of humility and service into our daily interactions and leadership roles? I talked about this last week. It's not about you and I coming across people and trying to wash everybody's feet, unless that's the actual need. It is learning to serve and you're serving where there is a need. What is a person's need in life? Maybe their need is just to be shown love and you serve in a way that shows them love. Maybe serving them is to help find a job for them, help them find utilities, help pay for groceries, help do some yard work. There's a million ways you can serve, but for some reason we don't do it or we only do it when somebody else has organized a serve day.
Speaker 1:Ken Blanchard said servant leadership. Back to that word again. Right, he said servant leadership is more about character than style. Reflect on how this perspective shifts your view of leadership.
Speaker 1:Peter's resistance and Jesus' response is absolutely incredible to watch Peter objects as soon as he sees Jesus starting to wash people's feet. He's like who me? You're going to wash my feet? I don't think so, jesus. And Jesus insists that the washing is necessary for Peter to share in his life and mission. This interaction highlights the essential nature of accepting Jesus's acts of service to fully participate in his work. Jesus' acts of service to fully participate in his work. You've got to let Jesus wash you, cleanse you. That's what happens in salvation, right. If you reject that, you miss the totality of eternity. What does Peter's hesitation teach you and I about receiving from others, especially when it challenges our pride or sense of propriety?
Speaker 1:In John, chapter 13, verse 8, our pride or sense of propriety. In John chapter 13, verse 8, jesus said hey, unless I wash you, you will have no part with me. This stark statement underscores the importance of humility and openness in our relationship with Christ. Now I love this story because there is a call to emulate Jesus. After washing their feet, jesus explains his accidents, urging his disciples to do as he has done for them. This is not, remember, just a call to wash feet, but a broader call to embody humility and sacrificial love in all aspects of life. How might this call to emulate Jesus' humility and service change the way you interact within your family? How would it change the way you interact at your workplace or amongst your community? 1 John 3.18 says Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions, and in truth, this encourages us to live out our fate through concrete actions of love and service.
Speaker 1:I talked about this on Sunday as well, but I just, for a moment, want you to think about the feet that Jesus washed. They were his disciples. They were the people that had followed him around, that had seen miracles, that had seen him teach, that had heard the most intimate conversations with Jesus. Yet none of them stopped and said Jesus, let me do this instead of you. None of them protested beyond Peter, and his protest wasn't that Jesus shouldn't be doing this. It was that Peter didn't deserve for it to be done.
Speaker 1:Jesus washed Peter's feet knowing who Peter was, knowing that Peter would deny him soon. Jesus washed Judas' feet, knowing who Judas was and that Judas was the one that was actually going to betray him later that evening. Yet Jesus still chose to serve. As we close today's episode, let's reflect on the profound simplicity and challenging depth of Jesus' actions in John, chapter 13. He's shown us that true greatness in his kingdom comes not from ruling but from serving. Verse 15, I've set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. May you and I strive to follow this example daily, finding true strength in humility and leadership in service. Thank you for joining me today. Until next time, may you walk in the footsteps of Jesus, serving and loving in His name.