Friends

Re:Verse reading–John 15:9-17 (day one)

“No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what the Master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.”–v 15.

If you have one friend over the course of your years, you are blessed.  Jesus knew.  After three years, and before He died, He used a new description  for the disciples.  Slaves/servants?  OK, but not exactly.  Friends?  Much better!

The basis for friendship is shared life.  Lovers look at each other.  Friends look out on the world with each other.  Eros is face to face.  Philos (friendship) is shoulder to shoulder (C.S. Lewis).

So, Jesus called the disciples His friends because they (now) knew what the Father had told him.  No secrets.  Full disclosure.  They stood together in the same truth.  United. Loyal.

Isn’t this what we all want with the Lord?

Unchanging

Re: Verse reading–John 13:1-17 (day seven)

I almost missed what John was telling us  about Jesus.  Something important.  Something encouraging.  Crisis doesn’t change Christ.

“Having loved His own (in the past), He (now) loved them (in the present)” says v 1.  Hmm. . . not sharks circling, or friends betraying, or death coming changed the Lord.  In stress He stayed constant.

I am not that way.  (Not without His help, at least.)  Left to my self and my flesh,  I can be fickle and self-loyal.  I break promises and change my mind.  Not Jesus!

I wonder what the world would be if He put that same rock-solid loyalty in me?  When people disappointed me, I would still love them.  When they were foolish and proud, when they weren’t fair, my response would rise from His loving heart rather than from selfishness and pride.

Having loved, He still does.  Unchanging.  Loyal.  John remembered this about Jesus.  I want to as well.

Benefactor

Re: Verse reading–John 13:1-17 (day six)

Peter meant to honor Jesus by saying, “You will never wash my feet!” Jesus knew that of course; he knew Peter’s intent, it’s just that he had everything backwards. Unless Jesus serves us, we are nothing, and we have nothing. He would tell them this much just two chapters later, “…apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) Peter would even write many years later, “whoever serves, do so with the strength that God supplies.” 1 Peter 4:11 So, even when we do serve others we are able to not by any merit or strength of our own but by God’s. Jesus is always the benefactor; he is always the giver.

What this means, is that our acts of service towards others are not repayment, as if we are trying to repay Jesus for what He has done, but they are an expression of our identity in Jesus, our new DNA. The outcome is clear, people declare “look, he must be Jesus’ disciple.” Paul said it like this, “I am crucified with Christ, therefore I no longer live, but Christ Jesus lives in me.”

He Knew

Re: Verse reading–John 13:1-17 (day five)

The introduction to Jesus washing the disciples’ feet is mind boggling. Whatever happens next will be important, memorable, and calculated. (knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God,)

Jesus was fully aware of His Authority, His Divinity, and His Future Glory.  So Jesus gives us a remarkable picture of God- a loving servant. Jesus had not forgotten He was God and decided to humble himself.  NO, it was because He knew He was God and determined to act as God.

Looking to Serve

Re: Verse reading–John 13:1-17 (day four)

This was a turning point in Jesus’ ministry.  The timetable was drawing closer to the cross.  Jesus began a series of teaching aimed specifically at His disciples.  Being fully God, Jesus knew what lay ahead, both for Him and for His disciples.  He set out to prepare them to live out the Gospel.  These lessons were critical for the disciples to learn if they were to accurately and clearly present Jesus’ message to the world.  For Judas, this was a lesson in thinking of others instead of yourself…one last opportunity to repent of his selfish act of betrayal.  (He did not learn the lesson!)  For the rest, it was an act of love and a lesson on service to others.  To love is to serve.  Self-centeredness has no place in love.  Albert Schweitzer once said, “The only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.”  Are you seeking and have you found?

Moment

Re: Verse reading–John 13:1-17 (day three) 

“He…began to wash his disciples’ feet.”  Jesus did not perform this act of service as an object lesson in order to show his disciples how to serve, though it surely did accomplish that.  He did not do this in order to put them in a state of awe that their master would be so gracious as to stoop to such a lowly function, though it did strike them with wonder. But here’s why this event occurred the way it did: Jesus saw an opportunity to love them, and he took it. And then he told them: When you see a moment in which you can love one another, seize it.

Larry

Re: Verse reading–John 13:1-17 (day two) For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. vs. 15

Bus duty is the worst. In my 15 years in education I never met someone who was excited about bus duty. It takes you away from the classroom where you could be meeting with kids, grading, or really anything but bus duty. The mass of humanity that gathers at the beginning and end of every day is maddening, and you can imagine this is where trouble brews. Nobody volunteers for bus duty, nobody.

Larry was a two-time cancer survivor when I worked for him. It would eventually return and lead to his passing, but when I knew him it was a footnote to his journey. Every morning and every evening of every school day Larry would make sure that each bus arrived and departed on time and with every student. He watched over the masses of students who were waiting for their daily ride home. Monitoring them so they made good choices. Larry did this every day in his suit and tie rain or shine, hot or hotter, Larry was unswerving in his commitment.

Larry had other things to do. He was the head principal of the largest high school in the Northside Independent School district. His energies could certainly have been spent in other places. But everyday Larry sent a clear message to his staff. Larry was there to serve. Those duties that we avoided, he was the first to sign up. He demonstrated leadership by his service, and ultimately service by his leadership.

As a result of his sacrifices teachers across the board were willing to go to the mat for Larry or any of his initiatives. He loved students. He loved teachers. We wanted to please him, and in so doing we wanted to serve. I am so blessed that I had the opportunity to work for a man like Larry Martin. He showed me how to serve well.

Copy this!

Re: Verse reading–John 13:1-17 (day one)  “For I have set for you an example”–v 15.

Do you remember your preschool years?  Learning to write?  To handle pencil and paper? Do you remember the teacher putting a translucent piece of paper down on a bolder, darker letter and asking you to TRACE IT?

In John 13, Jesus uses a similar word.  Usually translated “example” the Greek word is a combination of “to show” (deigma) and “under” (hupo).  It literally was to put an image down and ask the student to copy it.

Is this a realistic standard?  Will it work for us in 2017?  Can moderns actually imitate Christ, copy His choices and attitudes?  Jesus is confident that the answer is Yes!   “If you do this, you will be blessed” says v 17.

The secret to life is not to find myself but to mimic Christ.   The secret to being me is becoming like Him.  WWJD?  ITIWTI! (I think I will try it)

Prosperity Gospel

Re: Verse reading–Isaiah 52:13-15, Isaiah 53 (day seven) “Behold, my servant will prosper”–52:13.  It is a truth that can be misused.  Often is.  Even so, it is hard to deny God’s promise to PROSPER those who serve Him.

“This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way PROSPEROUS, and then you will have SUCCESS.”–Joshua 1:8 “Those who honor Me, I WILL HONOR”–1 Samuel 2:30.

As we resist the attempt to equate prosperity promised with material wealth (and we must), we must also resist the attempt to remove it from our expectations.  “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”  shouts the New Testament (Romans 8:38)

Friend, do you believe that God will PROSPER you ( peace, power,  spiritual progress and eternal reward) as you surrender to Him?