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John 13:1-17 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” 12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord– and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16 Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
Luke 22:14-27 14 When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. 15 He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. 21 But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. 22 For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!” 23 Then they began to ask one another, which one of them it could be who would do this. 24 A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 But he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.
Philippians 2:1-11 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Having the Mind of Christ: Servanthood-Breaking the Me First Mindset
I love babies, especially newborns. I love the way they cuddle, how they smell. When I hold them their little heads fit right in the crook of my neck and they seem to just snuggle there. Now I understand practically they do that because they don’t have the ability to lift their heads yet but it still feels special to me. I just love babies. But have you ever stopped to consider that a newborn is the most selfish of all human beings. A baby never stops to consider anyone else. Does a baby think about whether his or her mother is tired when they cry in the middle of the night wanting to be fed? No! They know they are hungry and they want to be fed. NOW! We are all born focused on our own self-interest. It’s a survival mechanism. Human beings are inherently born utterly selfish. Their entire mind set is focused on themselves only. They have to learn that there are others in the world and to consider other’s needs and feelings. We are all born with a me-first mindset.
Living the Christian life, having the mind of Christ is not just about the externals. It isn’t just about wearing a cross around our necks, having a fish shaped bumper sticker, and attending church services. It isn’t even about volunteering for church committees, visiting the sick and helping your neighbor. Now don’t get me wrong, those are all good things. But to truly have the servant mind of Christ requires a radical reorientation of the way we think that results in a radical change in the way we live our lives. It calls for us to give up our me-first mindset and to have the mind of Christ who was the servant of all.
Let’s first look at how someone acts with a me-first mind-set. I have a top ten list for you today. You might have a me-first mind-set if:
10. You pulled into a parking space ahead of the guy who had been sitting waiting for it with his signals flashing.
9. You sneaked into the express line at the grocery store with more items than it allowed. (I must confess doing this and claiming each of my children was buying five things.)
8. You took the last scoop of ice cream, the last cookie or the last piece of pie when no one else in the family was looking.
7. You passed on a rumor about someone because it made you look better.
6. You made fun of someone deliberately because they deserved it.
5. You know you are not as poorly dressed, ill-mannered, unimportant, unintelligent, or just plain tacky as your neighbor.
4. You got someone else to do your work for you and sat back and relaxed instead.
3. You assume that anyone who doesn’t have the same taste in clothes, TV shows, music or movies is clearly a person with bad taste.
2. You gave your spouse a birthday gift that was something you really wanted for yourself. (Like the year I gave my husband a barbeque grill for Father’s Day so I could get him to grill and I didn’t have to do all the cooking.)
1. You are thinking right now that you’re glad this list doesn’t apply to you because you aren’t at all like the self-centered sinners who are sitting around you in the congregation.
We are all sinners and we are all afflicted with a me-first attitude, it’s part of our sin nature. The only way to be set free from it is to begin to discover the mindset of Jesus who came not to be served but to serve. In order to begin to see what this mindset looks like we’re going to focus on two things from verses six and seven.
First, Paul says that Christ was, “in the form of God”. The word used for form carries with it the idea of the essential nature of something. Paul was saying that in Christ Jesus we see the core identity of the infinite God in human form. We are looking at various parts of that identity each week. This week we focus on Servanthood. Servanthood is not just what Jesus did; it’s a vital part of who Jesus is as the One who is the image of God. Jesus is love, Jesus is humble and Jesus is a servant. All these things are part of His nature as the Son of God.
Second, Paul says that “though he was in the form of God” he “emptied himself.” Because Jesus did not see being equal with God as a power trip to be grasped or exploited, he chose to serve instead of be served. The infinite God of the universe, Jesus Christ who has always been within the Triune Godhead, emptied himself of this and became a human being. Jesus Christ was the living, breathing, flesh and blood expression of the self-giving love of God. And it is because He was God that He, the Perfect One, was able to serve completely. Jesus alone did not have a me-first nature. When Jesus healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, opened the ears of the deaf, fed the multitudes, raised his friend Lazarus from the dead, took children upon his lap, forgave sinners, took a towel and basin and got down on his knees to wash the feet of his disciples, he wasn’t just playing the role of a servant, he was demonstrating for us in human terms the love that is in the heart of our God.
In Romans 8:5 Paul divided the world into two types of people when he said, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” Those who set their minds on the things of the flesh concentrate on all the ordinary things of life, they live ordinary lives doing ordinary things. This is a mind-set that begins with the assumption that I am the most important person in the world and that everything is measured by how it fulfills what I need or want with little or no regard for others. Paul contrasts this with people who set their minds on the things of the Spirit. They are extraordinary people who live extraordinary lives because they focus their attention on the extraordinary life of Jesus who lived his life among us as one who serves.
We see this most clearly in our reading from John this morning when we hear of how Jesus “got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciple’s feet and wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.
We also hear it in our communion liturgy when I say the Words of Institution: The Lord Jesus on the night of his arrest, took bread, and after giving thanks to God, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat, This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, he took the cup, saying, this cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.”
The disciples didn’t get what Jesus was saying at the time he said it. According to the account in Luke’s gospel after Jesus said these things, “A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 But he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.”
Jesus told them they were not to have the mindset of the ordinary world focused on self-interest, a world in which people strive to gain power over others through wealth and position. Jesus said that they were instead to have the mindset of one who serves.
Those who have a servant mindset will naturally see to the needs of others. It will be automatic for them to do this. They won’t think of how it makes them look and they won’t seek recognition for their service. It becomes part of who they are. As in all things it takes practice before it becomes automatic. At first, it may be something we have to consciously remember but if we practice it long enough it will become part of who we are, we will find ourselves having the mindset of one who serves.
Jesus is the Lord who is servant and Jesus is the servant who is Lord. By becoming a servant, Jesus linked himself with human life so He could redeem us and because Jesus is our Lord, He calls us to acknowledge his lordship by becoming servants. The grace of God in Jesus Christ calls us to abandon ourselves to the love of God and the love of neighbor.
When Jesus surrendered himself in vulnerable weakness to all the evil power in the world, when he died naked and bleeding on the cross, it was to shout across all time THIS IS HOW MUCH GOD LOVES YOU, this, this is the love of God poured out for us. When God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day in the tomb it was to show the world that the life we saw in Jesus is the life God intends for all of us to live. Eventually, all of creation will fall on its knees before the self-giving, self-sacrificing, servant-hearted love of Christ Jesus our Lord and King.
Let us pray. Lord, turn us from a me-first mindset. Help us to be like you, help us to become the servant of all. Amen.