Recently, my pastor has been teaching on servanthood. Whenever I hear that word my mind goes to the story in the gospel of John 13:1-17. Remember when Jesus Christ demonstrated what it looks like to serve and love each other. The Son of the living God, God incarnated in human flesh, strips himself of his outer garments and wraps a servant’s towel around his waist. The Apostle Paul describes the humility of Jesus as, “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.”
Jesus, knowing that his time to die was near picked up a basin and poured water and proceeded to wash and clean his disciples feet with his hands. He then wiped their feet dry with the towel that is fastened to his waist. Jesus in one stunning act of humility presents two messages; one, he came to serve and not be served, and two, those that are followers or students of his are to do likewise.
I have thought about my resistence to following Jesus' example or Apostle Paul's instructions to esteem others higher then myself. As I read this story again, in preparation for Holy Week, I am convicted that I have sinned and not been a servant to my brothers and sisters.
Jesus later on in the story announces a new commandment. We are to love each other as He loves us. In the next verse Jesus says, "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." (John 13:34, 35 NLT). I have imagined myself going before my church and making a public confession of my sin of not serving and loving them.
I would say to my church the following: Please forgive me for putting conditions on my love and service. Forgive me for chosing who I would love and care for or who was worth loving. Forgive me that I needed you to be loveable, likeable, sane and safe. Forgive me for deciding when and how I would serve you and never considering nor asking you what you needed. Forgive me that I had a caste system for who I would love. Forgive me for not listening when we talked. And forgive me that I was more concern about programs then people.
And then I would wash their feet.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
"Can You Smell Him"
This true story is so rich in explaining the kind of closeness I desire with God in Jesus Christ.
“Diane had given birth to her daughter Danae after emergency surgery. The small baby was only one pound, 9 ounces and 12 inches long. The doctors told Diane and her husband that the child would most likely not live through the night and if she by some chance did survive she would have major medical conditions suffering much pain.
The husband, David tried to prepare his wife for the death of their child, but Diane would not receive the doctor’s report. She believed that the baby would live and be healthy. Due to the fact Dana’s nervous system was “raw” her parents were unable to hold her. Any touch or caress would only cause more pain and discomfort. So, along with the wait, and the anxiety about her survival was added the unmet need to hold their baby girl. Diane and David prayed that God would stay close to their precious little daughter.
It was two long months before they could hold her in their arms. As her mother believed she left the hospital after four months a healthy child, without the predicted medical problems spoken by the doctors.
When she was five years old Danae and her mother Diane were watching her brother Dustin playing baseball. She was sitting on her mother’s lap, when she began hugging her chest, she asked her mother “Do you smell that?”
Diane began smelling the air and detected that there was an approaching thunderstorm, and she replied, “Yes, it smells like rain.” Danae closed her eyes and asked, “Do you smell that.” Once again her mother responded, “Yes, Danae, it smells like rain.” Danae says, “NO, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest.”
How close have you come to that smell? Have you entered into that most holy place with the Father that you could lay your head on His chest and smell that sweet aroma of His love? Is your relationship with Him so close or worship so real that a sniff of His presence causes you to bow at His feet? Or have you longed for those intimate moments in His presence but are not sure how to get there?
What we need to believe is that God our Father is waiting right now for us to have and intimate fellowship with Him in the throne room. Jesus Christ, who sits at the right hand of the Father, has positioned us there with Him, but we must believe and enter in.
I long for such intimacy with the Father. And I know that it takes time on my face in prayer and worship realizing how close He is and how much He loves being with me. It means spending uninterrupted time getting to know His heart. I also know that I need come to Him as a child naked, vulnerable, and depended. It is in that position, with my hands lifted in surrender, that the Father will take me in His arms and hold me to His chest, and like a nursing baby I will smell the scent of the one who nurtures life into my soul.
Do you smell Him?
“Diane had given birth to her daughter Danae after emergency surgery. The small baby was only one pound, 9 ounces and 12 inches long. The doctors told Diane and her husband that the child would most likely not live through the night and if she by some chance did survive she would have major medical conditions suffering much pain.
The husband, David tried to prepare his wife for the death of their child, but Diane would not receive the doctor’s report. She believed that the baby would live and be healthy. Due to the fact Dana’s nervous system was “raw” her parents were unable to hold her. Any touch or caress would only cause more pain and discomfort. So, along with the wait, and the anxiety about her survival was added the unmet need to hold their baby girl. Diane and David prayed that God would stay close to their precious little daughter.
It was two long months before they could hold her in their arms. As her mother believed she left the hospital after four months a healthy child, without the predicted medical problems spoken by the doctors.
When she was five years old Danae and her mother Diane were watching her brother Dustin playing baseball. She was sitting on her mother’s lap, when she began hugging her chest, she asked her mother “Do you smell that?”
Diane began smelling the air and detected that there was an approaching thunderstorm, and she replied, “Yes, it smells like rain.” Danae closed her eyes and asked, “Do you smell that.” Once again her mother responded, “Yes, Danae, it smells like rain.” Danae says, “NO, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest.”
How close have you come to that smell? Have you entered into that most holy place with the Father that you could lay your head on His chest and smell that sweet aroma of His love? Is your relationship with Him so close or worship so real that a sniff of His presence causes you to bow at His feet? Or have you longed for those intimate moments in His presence but are not sure how to get there?
What we need to believe is that God our Father is waiting right now for us to have and intimate fellowship with Him in the throne room. Jesus Christ, who sits at the right hand of the Father, has positioned us there with Him, but we must believe and enter in.
I long for such intimacy with the Father. And I know that it takes time on my face in prayer and worship realizing how close He is and how much He loves being with me. It means spending uninterrupted time getting to know His heart. I also know that I need come to Him as a child naked, vulnerable, and depended. It is in that position, with my hands lifted in surrender, that the Father will take me in His arms and hold me to His chest, and like a nursing baby I will smell the scent of the one who nurtures life into my soul.
Do you smell Him?
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