Let's turn again to John chapter 13. I will be reading beginning at verse 12 and reading through verse 20 in the bulletin. I think you do have that represented up through 17, but I would like to take us down through verse 20 this morning. John chapter 13 beginning at verse 12. I had anticipated that this Sunday would essentially be a footnote to our study last week where we explored the washing of the disciples' feet by Jesus, but found in the words which are before us that there is much more than we could possibly exhaust in one or two or even three Sundays as we begin to explore these passages together. We will not be afforded the opportunity to explore these to the degree which they certainly merit, but we will take a look at them this morning and be blessed by the reading of these scriptures before us today. John chapter 13 beginning at verse 12. Having washed the disciples' feet, we now read, when he had washed their feet and put all in his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, do you understand what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord and you are right for so I am. If I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, bless to you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but the scripture will be fulfilled. He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place, you may believe that I am he, truly, truly I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. The Lord bless the reading of his word to the hearing and the building up of his people. In chapter 13, taken as a whole, John the writer is contrasting the gloomy picture of Israelitish unbelief against Jesus with the luminous picture of the formation of faith and the future founders of the church. Christ accomplishes this work in the hearts of His followers by essentially three actions or so it is assumed to buy the great commentator Godet by two acts, the first of these actions, by two acts, the washing of their feet and the removal of Judas from their midst. He is purifying that apostolic circle from the last remains of carnal messianism, that is of their expectations of a carnal Messiah or a Messiah of their own design. So we have actually here a picture of Christ's work in the church, the saving, the sanctifying of believers and the purging of the church, the wheat and the tares at the final judgment. The second is by a series of discourses which are to follow, he is establishing this apostolic band and then thirdly in that great high priestly prayer of chapter 17, we understand that Jesus is establishing them by prayer and so we will be exploring these over the next few weeks but certainly today we want to understand his commentary on the washing of the disciples' feet. Certainly, the washing of the feet he establishes as an example. How is it an example? It is an example that we should humble ourselves in order to serve and that we should serve in order to save. This is a permanent and enduring lesson, more so than taking a basin and physically washing feet which some have mistakenly understood to be a third sacrament in the church which it is not. Jesus clearly says it is an example, not a perpetual ordinance or not a sacrament for us to follow perpetually in eternity that we would wash upon another's feet. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with the activity of washing another's feet, that would be an act of humility and service but it is not an ordinance of the church or a sacrament of the church to be followed. Jesus says clearly as an example of humility that is in order to serve and service that is in order to save the happiness, again speaking here of Goday, the happiness of which Jesus speaks is not merely that of knowing the duty of voluntary humility nor the inward delight that a disciple enjoys in performing it and that's an important distinction to make. Here Jesus is not simply saying you need to know what to do and he's not simply saying you're going to feel really internally rewarded by doing it, it is actually a superiority of position before God and henceforth in the future economy, this act of humble service. How do we draw that? Look at the last verse that I read and link this back up to verse 17 where he says if you know these things, blessed are you and I'm going to dwell on this, what some people to be considered to be the last of the Beatitudes, blessed are you like we would read, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the weak, blessed are the meek rather and so we see here, blessed are you if you do them, we have a Beatitude that's being offered and what is it linking with? What is it that we might understand this Beatitude to touch to or to point to in verse 20? Truly, truly I say to you whoever receives the one I send receives me and whoever receives me receives the one that I send or the one who sent me. The exhortation becomes a promise, doesn't it, it becomes a promise in the form of a Beatitude. Boltman, another great commentator, says the saying that a servant is not greater than his Lord is a typical messiel, it's a way of phrasing things and strengthens verse 20 which we just read by adding a promise that any loving service rendered to a messenger of Jesus is really rendered to Jesus himself and thus rendered to God. Jesus echoed this as well when he said as you've done to the least of these you have done to me and he told the disciples whatever you loose on earth will be loose in heaven, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and here he is saying blessed as you if you do these things because in doing these things and acting in humble service we are acting in Jesus' behalf and those who treat us as such treat actually Christ who is ministering to them through the ministries of a humble servant. As same identification if you want to look over at chapter 15 verse 20 you can see that Jesus is continuing that same point by saying remember the word I said to you so he's recalling to their mind the teaching we're studying today a servant is not greater than his master if they persecuted me they will also persecute you and if they kept my word they will also keep yours. Jesus is so identifying himself not confusing his person with the disciples but so identifying their ministry with his as to say those who receive receive me because he wants their expression to be his expression he's not saying when they receive you in your person I'm identifying myself with you that is a confusion often today as a church begins to build her ministry she anticipates people will accept that church as advertised and in accepting the church expect Christ's expression to be unique to that church but Jesus is saying I am a set standard it is the church which should modify its expression to express me because they are accepting me when they accept you not accepting you first and who you are and then understanding me through you the church and the the children of Christ are to be humble servants expressing the ministry of Christ. Jesus back in verse 17 he says if you know these things blessed are you if you do them I want to mention and not dwell on it very much at length but I want to mention that great disconnect between knowing and doing which is found so much in this life this thing has been constant has it in Jesus's teaching that we must know and that we must do we must know the right thing to do and we must do it James 1 verse 22 and following be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving yourselves for if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer he's like a man who looks intently at his natural face and a mirror for he looks at himself and goes away and instantly forgets what he was like here we have James teaching that looking at ourselves in the mirror we see the blemishes we see the issues and we might resolve to address those perhaps we need a better shave as I have discovered already this morning perhaps there is in the case of those who use makeup I would say ladies but now in the age of metro males where males are as concerned about how they look as the ladies used to be there may be males who use such things and so we can't discriminate so we certainly would say those who look in the mirror and see whatever the blemish might be and resolve to take care of it how silly it is if they then turn away from the mirror and forget everything that they had seen deluding themselves that they are fine just the way that they are James 214 what good is it my brothers if someone says he has faith but he does not have works ff Bruce another great commentator and I don't plan to just simply recite from commentators this morning but there were several who had such such profound insight that I thought it best to bring those says simply this it's not enough to hear understand and approve what is right one must do it let me repeat that because it bears emphasizing it's not enough to simply hear that is to be here this morning and to hear it's not enough to simply understand that is to say that was and we will assume the best here a good sermon this morning it's not simply enough to approve of it to say I went that was a fine message that I heard and I agree with everything that man said this morning it's not simply enough to hear it's not simply enough to understand it's not simply enough to approve what is right one must do it one must do it Matthew 721 not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven it's not enough to speak it must be carried out in action it's not enough to talk Christian it's not enough to simply show up on a Sunday though there will be many in that last day who call out Lord Lord and he will say I do not know you said it is not enough to say Lord Lord to enter into the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven what is the promise that Jesus gives us well listen we'll go back and let's reflect again on the passages which we have read Jesus having washed their feet takes his place again having put on taken off the towel which he had wrapped around his waist having put on now the garments which they were accustomed to seeing him in and sitting down at his rightful place what's important to note here is he did not abandon his place when he took the role of a servant he didn't cease to be the head at the table he didn't cease to be our king when he died on the cross he didn't stop being the son of God when he went into the tomb and so he replaces the the servants guard which he was wearing still being servant in his disposition but he puts back on the guard which they were accustomed to seeing and took his place at the table and then he asked them did you understand what I did do you understand what I have done to you that question right there opens up that there is a meaning to this beyond simply applying water to feet because it would be horribly insulting if all he had done was simply wash their feet for the purposes of only washing their feet and then to turn around and say do you know what just happened to you it would betray a complete lack of confidence that his disciples would ever be able to accomplish anything if all they could say as well I wasn't sure I saw some water there was some splashing I don't know what happened I washed your feet yes you washed my feet I knew something happened I just missed it he's saying here do you understand what really just occurred the example that I have set for you do you understand what I have done to you he says you call me teacher and Lord they we anticipate or we sense here that they're still reeling from the fact that Jesus has risen their teacher and their Lord whom they are arguing about who's going to be the greatest in his kingdom who just was received in the great triumphal entry they're still reeling from the fact that he's identified himself in the lolliest of positions that of a servant washing their feet and he said you call me teacher and Lord and now their eyes are seeing him in the right attire and perhaps they're shaking their head going did we just see him in in a towel washing our feet did that really happen you said you call me that and you're right because that is what I am he clears it all up here perhaps one or two of them may have been thinking is he been telling us now that here at the end he's not really the king is he now trying to communicate to us that he's giving this up and he said no you you call me teacher and Lord you're right that's exactly what I am and so if I Lord and teacher washed your feet you also ought to wash one another's feet now there's an affirmation here that we have taught before and so we only mentioned it this morning but here Jesus is confirming the title of Lord here he is saying yes you call me Lord and I am Lord and so he is not denying that he is the Lord for I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you truly truly a servant is not greater than his master or a messenger greater than the one who sent him if you know these things bless to you if you do them no servant is above his master let's anchor our message today in this idea of being blessed this be attitude of being blessed blessedness is not a feeling blessedness is in a state it's an actual inner spiritual state when the be attitude read blessed are you it's not talking about you must feel really good about yourself if you're a meek person or you must really feel self righteous if you are mourning over your own sin blessedness is an inner spiritual state that is granted by God elsewhere we read the peace of God that surpasses understanding and we know and understand that this is the same in essence as the blessedness being described here this blessedness is eternal spiritual condition or disposition that is peaceful and that is happy happiness we are to find happiness in life and isn't that a great goal and a great great quest of all people in all places if we were to find happiness then here we are reading we must be like our Lord God who created us has also fixed in us that which brings us our own sense of completeness and our own sense of happiness those things are fixed and established by God the world would seek to rewrite them all you have to do if you want to know that is read the billboards coming down Bobby Jones highway and read about all the things that are for you that will make you happy or cut on your television and watch the commercials and they will tell you exactly what it is that'll make you happy most of the time it's electronic fits in the palm of your hand and can contact your friends and show you pictures that's all we need to make us happy that truly will make us happy Jesus has set before the disciples an example that we're to follow if we are to be happy how do we wash one another's feet then he says follow this example and he's just washed their feet how is it that we wash one another's feet he washed their feet first of all with water and he connected that water with the idea of their sanctification when he talked to Peter and we explored again last week so I only mentioned it again for you today he explored with Peter that he was already justified by his faith and that all he needed was the continual cleaning of that part of the body which continues to come in contact with the world or that is with flesh that part which is contaminated by its contact with the sinful creation of fallen world well if we understand that the water then is to represent this cleansing we also know that we are told in scripture that this cleansing occurs by the word that the word is what we will use and the cleansing and the sanctifying of believers our feet and the illustration that are here can simply be understood to be our ways our walk our direction our patterns our life which we lead and so if our feet are our ways and the water in our application today if we're not going to take a base in a actual tap water and wash one another's feet and we are to use the word in the process of sanctification sanctifying what sanctifying our lives which are our ways and our walk then we are to wash with the water of the word applying the word of God to remove the defilement of the world from God's people simply put that's the ministry of the church isn't it now granted the church is confused today because the church is a competitive enterprise we are a people who are competitive because churches turned into business it's about the program we were I was speaking with someone this past week and honestly right now I can't recall who it was but we were talking about how difficult it is to know how to invite people to church these if you don't have a program or you don't have a big flashy something that you can pin yourself to and say come and see this or come and do this or be a part of that we just really don't know exactly what we're inviting people to do because we have it really defined for ourselves what it is that we do at church and so the church has come to understand that we sell ourselves by our program we sell our selves by our commercial undertakings to try and attract customers but in doing so and doing that we have gotten away from the ministry of the word and the in that by being used for the sanctification of the people of God blessed are you says Jesus if you know these things and do them not just know know and do but they as I've mentioned already are so disconnected in this life the knowing and the doing we know something and become so content with the fact that we know something we lose all motivation to do anything with what we know we refuse to apply what we know to our own lives we will not be humbled and serve other people in this way the way Jesus did we will not do that we will not set aside our own agenda and our own lives and surrender our own resources for these things will we not really we envy those that do we will applaud and we will give it award to them if they do it consistently enough and and high enough profile that's why we have such awards to give to people who do the things they're supposed to do leaving the rest of us off the hook because in doing what you're supposed to do that's considered above and beyond and for those of us who just gather and are content to know we remain content just to know Jesus's theme though has been constant and let me repeat it's not enough to hear it's not enough to understand it's not enough to approve what is right one must do it where do we go wrong and how is it that we have missed and misunderstood the issues that we face we've put ourselves at the center of our own lives we can learn from that great writer August and in his reflections which is more or less a journal or a prayer journal nearly as he's reflecting on his own spiritual development and life in his confessions he traces his rebellion and misunderstanding of true spiritual in his true spiritual life all the way back I would say to his infancy but this man even goes beyond he assumes because there's no evidence to the contrary that even in the womb he was sinning against God now we might assume that that's a bit too far to go but knowing that we are born with a sinful nature perhaps we don't understand the nature of sin he says as a baby and I'll quote him here just briefly I longing by cries and broken accents and various motions of my limbs we understand that to be thrashing about to express my thoughts that I might have my will now how many of us would deny that a baby's first motivation is to have their will and you get usually one morning and then after that you get a red face and high pitched squalls until that will is done and accomplished and he traces this back to say from the very beginning it has been about my will in my infancy it was about my will Augustine believes that even his learning how to speak as he was a child and he says I don't have any understanding of this but having heard from others what I was like as a child and having watched other children I notice that the ones who were first to speak are the most willful because they are the ones who are watching as things are called this and called that so they can better express exactly what they want so that they can get what they want and they learn how to express themselves more clearly so that their will is easier to attain after he speaks of this he taught that there is a God and his life he was taught there is a God and he learned that he should be praying to that God he then says that once he became religious he finds that his prayers were all concerned about himself and he gives one example he said I used to pray pray the though small yet with no small earnestness that I might not be beaten at school so even his prayers were concerned with his welfare with his progress with his development with his promotion Augustine and growing up learned to think of himself as the sinner of his own universe his desires were his agenda his pleasures were his motivations his success was his purpose his own glory was his only hope and ambition but as the sinner of his own life drawing all things to himself he and like him we cannot find happiness and fulfillment so he came to realize what Solomon had discovered long ago in Ecclesiastes 11 rejoice oh young man he says rejoice oh young man in your youth and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your judgment here we have to understand he's not commanding that we should walk according to the flesh he's chiting a young man who walks this way he's saying with a sarcastic tone go ahead follow your own heart do those things which excite you and make you happy walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your own judgment you do what you think is right young man you do what you think ought to be done according to your own wisdom do it according to your eyes and then he says at the end but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment Augustine learned those in time perhaps we also could learn in time when we think of putting ourselves in the center of the universe I spent some time reviewing some of the issues around the great writer Tolkien's series Lord of the Rings maybe you have read the books I know that at least all most of my children have read them a couple of my kids have read the series more than once I've only read it in part but I did see the movie story is full of powerful heroes and villains if you've read the books we're seeing the movie you know that there are great forces of evil and also of good there are kings and queens and wizards and elves and a dark lord who is named Sarah on the great who is the embodiment of evil in the great series written by Tolkien not everyone in the movie however or in the book willed's great power there's a race of little people called hobbits they are more ordinary people kind of like us just a little shorter they're ordinary and they're like us in the fact that they are searching for a happy life there are two characters in particular in this series that live their lives in in pursuit of happiness like we do we can find ourselves in one or two of these characters to some degree or another one's name is Sam and the other's name is smiegel who was later called golem in his life they represent something he does golem represents something that was good that went bad Sam represents something that was good and stayed good but both represent a quest for happiness both work hard and give their lives to the effort of securing that which they believe will make them happy the quest for happiness is something that all men are involved in all men pursue we call it something different some men may call it like we mentioned last week I mentioned the bicep for the billfold some men seek power to lord it over others some seek authority some seek material gain or wealth some seek education and prestige but in the end whatever avenue they choose they are seeking happiness that's the striving of man is to have happiness and comfort in life Aristotle said the general run of men and people of superior refinements say that is happiness and identify living well and fairing well with being happy some won't power some fame some money some education all to achieve joy and happiness and so it was with these figures Sam and golem on their journey to destroy this ring which is a ring which is which is the embodiment of power it's been put there by this evil wizard won't go into all the details if you read the book you need no more if you didn't read the book I probably don't have time to explain it all too you just know that the ring is bad and they need to get rid of the ring or else the whole world will be destroyed more or less and in the quest to get rid of this ring they find that this ring has power to lure and to draw those who come in contact with it it has power to dominate them by promising great power to themselves golem has succumbed completely to this and his desire for power and protection he experiences by having the ring in his possession for a while protection from his enemies he experiences by having this ring for a while what he calls fish from the sea that are fresh and sweet his great delight is to eat them he finds in this ring a of a fear from other people even as he's cast out of the community and then he descends into the depths of the earth in a cave where he dwells alone with this ring which he ends up calling his precious because that's what it is to him his precious and in this ring he has deluded himself into thinking he has found fulfillment and happiness by holding on to this lust he has for possessing the power of this ring. Sam however is able to avoid being drawn by this ring because Sam has a different focus. Sam experiences on the journey with golem the same tragedies he experiences hunger and fear and danger and exhaustion and pain but we aren't told ever that Sam was unhappy because while golem had experienced all these things he was always unhappy and fixated on getting this ring. Sam on the other hand wanted to get home and he wanted to get back to the people that he knew he wanted to get back to his little garden he wanted to get back to the woman that he loved who was named Rosie in the place of home they called the Shire he wanted to be back with his small garden and the friendships which made him feel whole and happy. Golem only wanted to possess the ring he only wanted to make himself special and especially rewarded and that and that alone would give him happiness. Tolkien's lesson here is that happiness for these two is not found and grasping and attaining to the thing which you think will empower you but it's attained in expressing loyalty and serving and in sharing not taking and possessing it's a love that is given to others and causes us to forget about ourselves. Philippians 2, 4 sums it up very nicely let each of you look not only to his own interest but also to the interest of others. Jesus also sums it up nicely when he says I've given you this example and if you know these things bless you if you do them what are we called to do as Christians to know, to understand, to affirm and to do.