Serve Like Jesus

MESSAGE TRANSCRIPTION: 

 Hey, man. Well, you guys may be seated. Well, good morning, Eastside. My name is Micah Benevides. I’m one of the leaders around here, and I’m super excited to share a message that God has given me to speak to you guys this morning. How is everybody’s Thanksgiving? Good. Yeah. Hey, I don’t know about you, but I need to do some repenting because I ate way too much food. I don’t know about you, so maybe this week I probably need to fast because, again, I just have way too much food. And this morning, I want to talk to you about how we can love like Jesus. Now, in October, Brendan Bunch, the high school pastor, spoke about this, and he talked about how we can love like Jesus through forgiveness. And if you missed that, I highly recommend that you go back to the eastside church website. And you go, and you watch that because it was such an amazing massage. And so today, I want to talk about how we can love like Jesus through serving.

And I want to start with a story that I’ve heard and this story about a husband and a wife. And this husband starts to realize that there’s something wrong with him, something wrong with his body. He’s not feeling too well. And so the wife encourages them, Hey, let’s go to the doctor. And so they go to the doctor, and they start to ask the doctor, okay, what’s going on? The doctors can’t figure it out. And so they send them to a specialist, and the specialist starts running all these tests and all these diagnostics. And finally, they come to a conclusion. And so instead of speaking to the husband, first, they wanted to invite the wife in and tell her the news. And in this, the doctor says, well, we have some bad news. Your husband’s condition is actually very rare and very serious. And we believe that he’s going to die, and he’s actually going to die very quickly. But there is good news. We also believe that with chemo and with your help, your husband can live. But it’s going to take more out of you than you could ever imagine. He’s going to need a very strict diet. And that means that you’re going to have to cook for him every single meal, three meals a day. And he has to have an environment that is super clean. And so you’re going to have to clean for him, and you’re actually going to have to be there with him waiting and serving him hand and foot. And we believe after long periods of time of chemo and you doing this, he will be healed, and he will live. And so the wife walks out, and the husband is freaking out. The husbands are like Man, honey, like, what’s going on? What do they say? And she just looks at him and says, I have some bad news. You’re going to die. It’s just a great story, right?

Well, this morning, I want us to evaluate our servant’s heart. And we’re going to do this by looking at the life of Jesus, by going to be transparent with you. And I got to be honest. I know I said that I need to repent from eating so much food this week, but I also need to repent because oftentimes, I’m not obedient to serving like God wants me to do. And maybe you can relate to me. And if you do, will you please raise your hand? I mean, I hope you don’t hate me for this, but sometimes I don’t have the best attitude, right? Sometimes I ask God, why me? Can you find somebody else? I don’t have time for that. Or I even think. God, What you’re asking me to do is way beneath me. But when I look at Jesus’ life, I’m pretty shocked. Like he serves people and miraculous ways that I know I could never do. Right. We see Jesus continue to shock people with irrational acts of serving out of love. And so some of them are. He feeds thousands of people, Right? He heals lame legs. He brings sight to the blind. He cast out demons. He heals a woman from bleeding. He raises people from the dead. And he washes dirty feet. And when I think about all these things that Jesus did, all these are great miracles. But when I get to the point where he’s washing dirty feet. It doesn’t seem to fit right. I know. It’s a miracle. But doesn’t seem to fit with all the rest of the miracles. Why is this so different? And I actually think when I was going back and preparing for the message, I actually think not just this washing of feet, but this whole week of Jesus’ life is a miracle.

This last week of Jesus’s life we call Holy Week. On Sunday, we call it Palm Sunday. On Monday, Jesus cleans the temple courts. And he starts flipping tables. Right. Do you guys remember this? He flips tables, and he says, Why are you turning my father’s house into a house of profit? But this should be a house of worship. On Tuesday, Jesus gets into a fight with the Pharisees. Wednesday, we don’t really know what happens. But oftentimes, people call this Ash Wednesday, and Thursday night, it’s The Last Supper. This is where we hear about communion, and Jesus talks about the body and the blood, the bread, and the wine. And this is also where he washes his disciple’s feet. Friday, we know that he’s going to be put on the cross. He’s going to be betrayed, beaten, and tortured, and he’s going to die on the cross. Saturday, he’s completely dead. And Sunday, he’s raised up from the dead. And so when I think about the washing of feet. It’s Thursday night, and in John, chapter 13, this is the last day Jesus is going to be alive. And so he’s sitting around this table with his best friends, his closest friends. And in John chapter 13, as we read through this story of washing feet. I believe Jesus saw two things, and he wants us to see two things. And just leave them with one thing. And I want to leave you with one thing. So if you have your Bible, would you go ahead and go to John Chapter 13, and we’re just going to read in verse one.

“It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”

John 13:4

You see, the Passover Festival was a time where Jewish people would gather together, and they would celebrate. It’s a festival. They would celebrate how they were freed from Egypt, and they would go and they would retell the stories of the ten plagues and how the angel of death passed over them because they had put blood on the door frames. And in verse two, it says.

“The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.”

John 13:2

I mean, can you imagine all the feelings that Jesus has felt and what he’s feeling now? Like he knows tomorrow, he’s going to be beaten. Betrayed again, tortured, and hung on a cross to die. And according to Luke’s gospel, during the same time of The Last Supper, a fight breaks out amongst the disciples. They’re acting like two-year-olds. And one says, I wonder who is the greatest? And one says, Well, it’s probably me. And all of a sudden, there’s this dispute. Who’s the best? Who ranks the highest? Who’s the favorite? Who’s the best of the best? And we don’t know exactly what was said. But I imagine using my imagination, I would say John says to me, it’s obvious to me because Jesus has told me I’m the one that he loves. And then Peter spoke up, and he said, I walked on water with Jesus. What do you guys do? You guys stayed in the boat, and then all of them turned on him and said, Yeah, bro, but you sank. Let’s be honest. And then it gets to Bartholomew, and he’s like, What about me? And all of them start dogging him and saying, There’s no way. God, nobody’s going to remember your name. Nobody knows who you are. So there is this dispute going on. Who’s the greatest? Who’s the best? Now imagine Jesus thinking to himself. I already told you this in Matthew’s gospel. Jesus tells them this.

“The greatest is the one who will be your servant.”

Matthew 23:11

The one that is going to choose to serve you. Jesus had told them. I did not come here to be served by others. By I came to serve you all. I came to lay down my life as a ransom for many. And he looks around the room, and these are the two things that he sees on the Last Supper, the Last Supper that he’s going to have with his closest friends.

He sees PROUD hearts and DIRTY feet

You know, for me, it never gets old. And I love when Jesus is teaching. And even when he’s not teaching, and he’s rebuking people, oftentimes, it always deals with the heart like there’s a heart issue that we have. The Sermon on the Mount is all talking about the heart. And I want you guys to know that they had proud hearts. Not because they were arguing about who’s the greatest, but because they had proud hearts because they had dirty feet. But what is the connection with dirty feet? Well, this morning I want to explain to you the dirty feet. And so I have over here some things. You know, back then, in Jesus’ time, they didn’t have shoes. Or if they did, they had open-told sandals. And oftentimes, when they would walk on roads, guess what? They weren’t paved roads. They weren’t. Nice or gravel or anything like that. But what they had was dirt roads. And so, in this, it’s super dirty. Right. And you know what actually walks on these dirt roads? Not just humans but animals. Right. Animals like cattle. Like sheep, like goats. And what do all animals do? They poop. Right. They poop and pee everywhere.

And so imagine the road is completely covered with dirt and poop, and it’s super hot. And occasionally, there would be a nice rainstorm, and this rainstorm would start to mix all of these things. And so when you were walking and you would be going to different places like Jesus often did, right, they would walk to different cities. And they would walk to different towns and people’s houses or the moment that they would step out and they would enter somebody’s house. Guess what? Their feet were disgusting, and they smelled awful. And so oftentimes, they would have a paid servant. To come and wash their guest’s feet. And they and they were paid because nobody wants to do this willingly. Right. But they didn’t have a paid servant like in Jesus’s case on the Last Supper on this Thursday night. They didn’t have a paid servant. The rule was the first person to walk in would turn around, grab the water and start washing everybody else’s feet. And so here is this proud heart moment. Not just because they were arguing about who’s the greatest, but because when Jesus walked in, and he looked around their feet, reclined away from the food table, and he saw their dirty feet, he’s thinking, not one of you volunteered for the position. You guys avoided the need, and they assumed that none of them were lower on the status chart. Hence this is why they argued. And Jesus just gets a whiff of this, and it’s just completely disgusting. They’re eating food, and her feet smell like manure and water and dirt. And so you know what Jesus does that Jesus comes in, and he has a seat. And he kind of waits. And you know what happens? Not one of them. Goes to Jesus and starts washing his feet. They all arrived before Jesus that night. Jesus was the last one to come in. And now, not one of them was able or wanted to wash their friend’s feet, but they’d even want to wash Jesus’s feet. Like, I imagine if I want to wash anybody’s feet, that’s going to be Jesus. Right. He is the son of God. He’s the Messiah. They have seen him do crazy miracles, as I would think in my mind, common sense. Let’s watch Jesus’ feet. But they didn’t.

And oftentimes. We don’t say it. But the old saying goes, Our actions speak louder than words. And often times we tell Jesus by our actions that we’re not going to serve him, that what he wants us to do is beneath us. That’s completely wrong. And so I imagine after a while of sitting there, the father told Jesus, Hey. I want you to wash their feet. And so, what does Jesus do? Well, let’s read it. And John, Chapter 13:5 says.

“After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”

John 13:5

I mean, I don’t know about you guys, but to me, this is quite humbling. And I imagine it filled with poop and manure and dirt. It’s pretty gross. But can you imagine? I want to ask this. Can you imagine? The Son of God, the Messiah washing their feet. Can you imagine the one true king, the Lord of Lords, the Beginning and the end washing your feet? I mean, I’d be weeping if I could imagine that the Son of God would choose to do something so low. But again, Jesus was here to serve. So why? Why didn’t he tell someone else to do it? Why did he heal the sick? Why did he heal the blind? What did he heal? Deaf ears. Why did he raise people from the dead? And why did he wash dirty feet? Because he was obedient to his father, even till death. Now let’s continue to read. John 13:12.

 “When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them. ‘You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.

John 13:12-17

So he sits back down. And he asked, Do you understand what I have done for you? Like you call me teacher and Lord, and rightly so. That’s what I am. But now that I, your teacher, and Lord have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.

 “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.””

John 13:12-17

So Jesus’s two things. He sees proud hearts and dirty feet. And then he leaves them with this. He leaves them with.

 Serving is not WHAT you do, but it is WHO you are. 

You see, a person cannot point to something their Lord does and say, I’m too important, I’m too valuable, and I’m too good for that. You see, if you want to love like Jesus, we need to serve like Jesus. And he served because it was who he was. And we serve because it is actually who we are. We are created in the image of God. And so we are built for serving. You know, and it really breaks my heart when I hear people aren’t serving. Because you get something out of serving that you can’t get anywhere else. So just like you guys, come to Sunday mornings to hear a message to engage in worship. You get something coming here that you can’t get anywhere else. And I don’t care if people are saying, Well, I can watch it traveling. I can watch it online. It is not the same. I’m sorry. During COVID, we had to watch online in my house, in my pajamas. Yeah, it was kind of nice, but it’s not the same. I did not get what I got out of coming here. So you get something out of life group that you can’t get anywhere else. You get something out of giving, but you can’t get anywhere else. And if you do one of these things and not the rest, you’re missing out on God’s plan for you to live it all in life. Just like Tami said, all in life is to come here, to be in a group. To serve. To be a part of the generosity rock star team. This is God’s plan for us. And if we just do one of those and forget the rest. We’re missing out big time.

Church, will you bow your heads. The reality is, I know there are people here that aren’t serving. And for this time, would you be so kind just to look up? Just you that are not serving. Can I speak to you guys? You are missing out. And you know what? You are missing out on joy and purpose in your life. I don’t know where I would be if I wasn’t serving and if I didn’t have joy and purpose in my life. And God wants that in your life, and the only way that you’re going to get it. It’s through serving as my challenge to you as we leave. Go out to the My People lounge and talk to somebody and say, Hey, I want to serve. I want joy and purpose in my life. Will you help me find a place to serve? And listen, there are plenty of places to serve. And if you don’t like one serving opportunity, go to the next. We want God to do something in your heart, and you’ve got to find a place where you’re going to find joy and purpose and serving. You may bow your head. Now for the people that are serving. Well, you look at me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You guys are doing something super incredible. You guys are actually furthering the kingdom of God. But I have a challenge for you guys. You guys have an influence on the people around you. You have friends, maybe even family members. And I want you to use your influence to invite them to come to serve with you. You guys get to model it just like Jesus did. Will you do that?

Let’s pray. Father, thank you so much for the opportunity. To speak. God, I pray that you will continue to soften my heart in these people’s hearts. That we wouldn’t look at serving as something that takes up our time, something that isn’t worth it, or something that is beneath us. I pray that you would reveal to us the great joy and purpose that we can only get out of serving God. Thank you for your words. Thank you for your obedient son Jesus, who had a servant’s heart, God, because it was who he is. God, we pray. That we may love. Like you. By stepping into serving. And to invite people to serve with us. We’ll try all this in your son’s name. Amen.