Service Springs from Love

John 13 tells the story of Jesus washing His disciples' feet. This is how it starts. 

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 13:1

Why does John begin by talking about Jesus' love for His disciples? Because through this story he is going to teach us something very important about service and its relationship to love in Jesus’ life and in our own. Service springs from love and is an expression of love.

Love is the fertile soil that produces service. Why is the young mother willing to get up in the middle of the night to feed her baby? Love! What makes a man willing to wait hand and foot on his wife in her old age? Love! Or even, as we are about to start a new school year, why do our schoolteachers and administrators return each year to jobs where they have to spend their own money on supplies, are mistreated by parents, and disrespected by students? Why? It certainly isn’t the paycheck. It’s love. They love the students; and they love their jobs.

True love is humble, and self-sacrificing. This kind of love always brings you lower to serve the needs of the other person. Only service rooted in this kind of love will last. Why? Because service that stems from a sense of duty will grow cold and die before long. 

So, evaluate yourself. When was the last time you did something truly humbling or selfless to love your spouse or your kids; to serve your friends or your church? If you aren’t drawn to put their needs above your own then you probably don’t love them as you should. If selfishness and self-love have crowded out your love for others, then stoke the flames of your love again. Think of one way you can put their needs ahead of your own today.

You're a Sign

Ezekiel will be a sign to you; you will do just as he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.

Ezekiel 24:24

Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty…

Isaiah 8:18

The prophets we read of in Scripture were God’s mouthpieces. They received messages from God and then delivered those messages word-for-word to God’s people. Sometimes the prophets spoke these messages to God’s people. At other times they wrote them down in the books we have in the Bible. Often they did both. But occasionally, the prophets went to greater lengths to deliver their messages. Sometimes merely speaking the truth wasn’t enough. God’s people needed to see it lived out in front of them. So, occasionally, God commanded His prophets to put His word into action, to act out God’s prophecy, to be a living metaphor or parable for God’s people.

Ezekiel served as a sign to God's people in this way when God commanded him not to mourn the death of his wife (Ezekiel 24:15-24). Isaiah also served as a living sign. God told him to walk around naked (possibly in a loincloth) for three years (Isaiah 20:3)! Even his children were given names that carried prophetic meanings (Isaiah 8). The prophet Hosea was commanded to marry an adulterous woman so he could picture God's grace for His people's idolatrous worship (Hosea 1:2-3 & 3:1-3).  

I believe that in a way all believers are called to the same. You are a sign. In the same way that the prophets served as a picture of God’s dealing with His people, so too your life tells the people around you about God. Your life may be the only Bible they ever read. You may be the closest thing to a preacher they're ever willing to talk to. So, think seriously about this. What does your life point people to? What does your life say about Jesus? About the gospel? You are called to be an ambassador for Christ, so be careful how you live (2 Corinthians 5:20). Make sure your life paints an attractive picture of your Savior and points people to Jesus accurately.

God Subverts Pain (W.o.W. Rewind)

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

2 Corinthians 5:1-5

Since it is God's expressed purpose for believers to one day trade in our mortal bodies for immortal, heavenly ones, it makes sense that He would subvert the pain of death and growing old (which is brought on by our sin) to suit His own purposes such that even this pain would cause us to groan more longingly for heaven. The aches and pains of growing old can little-by-little help tear us away from our attachment to this life and to these earthly bodies. The frustration and discomfort we feel can actually serve as fuel to help us long all the more intensely for heaven and for our resurrection bodies.

The simple truth is that we cannot receive our heavenly bodies until we have first been stripped of our earthly bodies. Some believers lose their life in a moment. Others endure long drawn out battles with pain and sickness losing their health long before they die. The slow tearing away of a person's strength and vitality, as terrible as it is, can be used for the Christian's good if he will trust God. Our physical struggles, our disabilities, our "thorns in the flesh" can actually be spiritual assets. Paul the apostle struggled with his own "thorn in the flesh." We're never told what it was, but Paul made peace with it. How? He learned that God's strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). Your physical disability, your physical suffering, may be a blessing in disguise. It may be the way God uses you most, or it may be what focuses your spirit to long all the more intently for heaven.

So, the next time you want to curse that bad knee or bad back or even that reoccurring cancer, don't. Accept it as from the Lord. Let God work it to your good. Instead of groaning, "Why, Lord!?" Groan, "When, Lord? Oh, when will I be free of these troublesome pains in heaven with you?" Let His strength be made perfect in your weakness.

For further reading...

• 2 Corinthians 12:1-10- Read about the Apostle Paul's thorn and God's strength in our weakness.
• Romans 8:18-39- Read about how God works our suffering for our good.

Hosea's Love

The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.”

Hosea 3:1-3

At God's command, the prophet Hosea had begun one of the most surprising and scandalous love stories in all of Scripture by marrying a "promiscuous woman" named Gomer who was likely a prostitute (Hosea 1:2-3). You might think that Gomer would count her blessings to have received such grace and been rescued from such a life. Instead she grew to despise Hosea's love and publicly humiliated the prophet of God by returning to her old life of promiscuity. Apparently, Gomer returned to a life of prostitution.

Now, at God’s command, Hosea must go and get his wife. Can you imagine?! The prophet of God, a holy man, having to purchase his wife back from prostitution?! Hosea humbles himself and spends what little wealth he has to redeem his wife from her own bad decisions. But why would God tell Hosea to marry Gomer in the first place? And why would He tell Hosea to go redeem her and take her to himself again? 

Hosea and Gomer’s marriage was a picture of God’s relationship with His people, Israel. Gomer's betrayal perfectly captured the unthinkable way Israel had betrayed God by whoring herself out to worship Baal, and Hosea's faithful, forgiving love perfectly depicted God's grace for His people. Israel was committing spiritual adultery by worshiping the Baals. Hosea and Gomer’s marriage would shock the people into seeing how poorly they were treating God and how amazing His love and grace toward them was.

Hosea's love is a powerful reminder for us that God forgives the worst of sins... even those we commit after salvation. Israel had been God's covenant people for many years before Hosea’s time. Yet, what was God’s response to their betrayal? He shows them through Hosea that He is willing to forgive them and bring them back to Himself if they will only repent and faithfully serve Him once again. If Hosea could forgive and love adulterous Gomer, if God could forgive idolatrous Israel, then surely He can forgive you and love you. He may punish you but He won’t abandon you. So, don’t think for a second that God can’t or won’t forgive you! Simply repent. Ask Him to forgive you for each and every sin you've committed against Him and then move on. It's covered in the blood of Christ.

Nehemiah Leadership

From the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah... twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor. The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God. I also persevered in the work on this wall, and we acquired no land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people.

Nehemiah 5:14-16 & 19

Those who fear God use their authority not for their own gain but as an opportunity to bless and serve His people. This is pleasing to God and will result in their reward in due time, even though in this life it often means hardship. 

I became a senior pastor six months ago after serving in youth and children's ministry roles for more than a decade. I knew that becoming a senior pastor meant more authority. I also knew that in the church more authority means more responsibility, more hardship, more service. I wasn't climbing higher to rule, I was stooping lower to serve. And this has proven true through my first six months. The demands on my time and the needs crying out for my attention have only increased. 

It ought to be the case in our churches and in Christian families that the higher you climb the lower you go in service. Jesus models this for us. "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45) Jesus had more power and authority than any other man in the history of the world, but He refused to use it to advance His own cause choosing instead to serve others. In the verses preceding this quote He commands us to do the same. “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all." (Mark 10:42-44) 

How many of us actually do this though? It is so very tempting to think that whatever position of authority we have attained has come to us because we paid our dues and that now is the time for us to reap our rewards. But this is an unchristian way of thinking. It is out of step with the gospel and out of step with Jesus. So, who do you need to be serving? Most of us have authority over someone. Is it your kids? Your employees? Your Sunday School class, youth group, or kid's ministry? Wherever God has given you leadership and authority, no matter how small, use it to bless and serve those beneath you. It glorifies Him and gives you a good name as you do so. Plus, it will secure for you a sure reward for Heaven.