Re:Verse passage – Matthew 28:18-20 (day one)
Join us as Senior Pastor Chris Johnson, Associate Pastor Aaron Hufty, and Associate Pastor Bryan Richardson walk us through Matthew 28:18-20 in our Summer Re:Verse Series: “Better Together.”
Category: Better Together
Serve Like Jesus
Re:Verse passage – John 13:3-17 (day seven)
For He knew the one who was betraying Him.
Jesus washed Judas’ feet. Can you imagine knowing your friend who had walked by your side for years was about to betray you for a few coins? Can you imagine looking him in the eye knowing what peril he was about to put you through, and instead of casting him aside, you bend down and begin to clean his dirty and grimy feet? Can you imagine loving him enough to forgive what was about to happen? Judas betrayed Him with clean feet.
Could you wash Judas’ feet? It is easy to wash the feet of those who love us. We would all wash the feet of Peter who flatters us with words of affirmation, but could you wash the feet of your enemies? That is where the line is drawn for most of us. We will serve when it is in our best interest, but to truly serve like Jesus is to serve even when you know the act may not bring rewards. Clean their feet anyway!
Greatness
Re:Verse passage – John 13:3-17 (day six)
[Jesus] got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. John 13:4
If you want to become great, then become a servant to all.-Jesus, Matthew 20:26.
Jesus took the form of a servant. He took off his Rabi/teacher garb, then put on what a servant would normally wear in order to wash people’s feet. I wonder if that was hard for Jesus to condescend to that position, to lower himself? I find myself, often enough, out of some sense of self-importance trying to hold onto personal significance (greatness), not give it up. That’s my knee jerk, self-absorbed reaction. It is as if I might lose something of myself, some semblance of status or position, or become less, if I were to take the position of a servant.
The irony is Jesus did not dwindle into becoming a servant, he became (in the eyes of his disciples) great. Even in my own personal experience, the people I admire most are those who serve others, when they could easily demand service from others.
How about you? Will you be great today? Greatness does not cling to privilege or power or status, greatness gives it up in order to serve others.
Loving and Serving
Re:Verse passage – John 13:3-17 (day five)
“Jesus, 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,”
I marvel at the burden of knowledge that Jesus constantly carried. All that He knew and understood about Himself, this world, and others. He knew who He was. He knew how much authority God had given to Him. He knew what God had sent Him to earth to do. He knew His time on earth was drawing to a close. He knew that one of His own disciples was betraying him. Yet, none of that knowledge kept Jesus from loving, leading, and serving by example.
It’s very humbling to admit that I often use circumstances, knowledge, and yes even burdens as excuses not to serve or lead or encourage others. Jesus didn’t. Neither should we! So today, in the midst of our circumstances, burdens, tension, uncertainty will you join me in following Jesus’ example of Loving and Serving others?
Follow My Example
ReVerse passage – John 13:3-17 (day four)
“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” ― Albert Schweitzer
Schweitzer had obviously read John 13 and recognized the truth of Jesus’ words. Even though Jesus fully comprehended all that God had given Him, He was willing to give up all of His authority and glory to serve others. He said it was to be an example to us! That means that we should do the same…serve others.
How might ‘serving others’ look in our lives? It could mean a gentleman rising to give his seat to a lady or elderly adult. It could mean letting the person behind you in line at the grocery store, with only a few items, to go ahead of you when you have a full basket. Or, it could mean helping with the dishes after a meal at another’s home. Eyes up and look for ways to follow Jesus’ example!
Bathe
Re:Verse passage – John 13:3-17 (day three)
“He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”
Jesus declared that Peter had already experienced radical (in the sense of all-encompassing) cleansing. He couldn’t be more saved than he was. Peter’s three years of apprenticeship to the Lord were truly a soul-bath. Every word Peter heard Jesus speak, every miracle he saw Jesus perform, every look he saw Jesus give, every road he saw Jesus walk, every lost person he saw Jesus find – this was Peter’s bath. And this work of Jesus cleansed Peter as Peter gave himself to that cleansing. He often came reluctantly or cantankerously into the water, but he came. Judas never let the water trouble him the way it did Peter and the others. He held himself apart – hygiene-adjacent, but never clean.
Lead Like This
Re:Verse passage – John 13:3-17 (day two)
If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. vs. 17
There are many ways to learn, and as you would imagine, many ways to teach. This last meal with the gathered 12 disciples was an opportunity for Jesus to leverage all that he had taught them over the last three years before the terror of the cross was realized. He would pray over them, he would instruct them, challenge their loyalty, and he would show them what love looks like. Examples matter. When you have exhausted all the words you have, sometimes the best teacher is to simply demonstrate. I imagine that there was initially general chatter happening around the table, then uncomfortable mumbling, silence, and then Peter’s protestations. The powerful lesson demonstrated by Jesus is one that all of us value. We value it in others, and hopefully, expect it of ourselves. These acts of servant leadership are often what motivate others far more than simple words ever could.
This grainy photo was taken my first year on staff at FBCSA. The conference room table had not been cleaned after a lunch meeting was there. Rather than expect anyone to clean, Pastors Don and Bryan wasted no time in doing what needed to be done. They didn’t need to do it, others could have, but they did it. To lead, they served. I have never forgotten this beautiful picture. I want to lead like this.
Re:Verse Blog – 7/11/22
Re:Verse passage – John 13:3-17 (day one)
Join us as Senior Pastor Chris Johnson, Associate Pastor Aaron Hufty, and Associate Pastor Bryan Richardson walk us through John 13:3-17 in our Summer Re:Verse Series: “Better Together.”
The Priority in Prayer
Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:5-13 (day seven)
The way you pray matters. Jesus clearly addressed that prayer does not have to be a rehearsed show like the pharisees’ public prayers, but in showing the disciples (and us) how to pray, Jesus also makes it clear that there is an order that is important: our wants are not supposed to precede His praise. The first half of this prayer Jesus focused on the preeminence of the Father. The second half He turned the focused to our personal wants. Why is this important?
When you pray, how long do you wait before you start asking for things? It is my guess that the majority of prayers that come before the Lord are in the form of supplication. People begin to pray off a Christmas list of wants before ever even communicating with God. It is not just about the praise. God craves conversation with us. When we communicate with Him instead of at Him, things begin to shift. By following this model and starting off our prayers by praising God for who He is, it shifts the priority of the prayer from us to Him. When our priority is on Him, He begins to shape our heart through His words, and then His words begin to shape our wants.
Bigness and Smallness
Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:5-13 (day six)
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need…Matthew 6:9-11
There is a flow to Jesus’ model prayer. Not surprising. He wanted his disciples to know praying should have both a bigness and smallness to it; the one flowing out from the other. The authentic kind of praying comes from a person who not only marvels at the holiness of God, but also longs for his glory to fill the earth. That’s bigness in praying; praying for the kingdom to come. The most authentic praying can’t help but pray that way.
But authentic praying is also small. It wonders and muses and asks about the details of the kingdom journey. How will God’s Kingdom come in my home, in my relationships, when I fail? Small praying is no less significant, because it longs to see God’s kingdom reign in the smallest parts of life. Small praying never gets ahead of itself; it concerns itself with today.
Is your praying both big and small? Try it out. It may just reorient your whole life.