When He [Jesus] had washed their feet and put on 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, blessed are you if you do them.” John 13:12-17 ESV
In this Bible passage Jesus, at the last Passover meal with His disciples before the cross, intentionally washes their feet to make an unforgettable point. In ancient times before paved roads and closed shoes, people walked around all day in sandals on dusty roads. Feet got dirty and needed to be cleaned. This was to be the work of the lowest servant, to perform this undesirable work. It is shocking to the disciples that Jesus would personally take on such a lowly duty of service. Yet Jesus does it to teach a clear lesson which He goes on at length to emphasize and bring into focus.
Jesus’ message goes like this, “You are correct that I am divine and your teacher. I am as exalted as you think I am in my person. If I am this exalted and have intentionally washed your feet in lowly service, you must follow my example and also enter into intentional lowly service. I have done this to set an example and pattern for you. You must humble yourselves to serve each other as I have served you. You are not greater than me, to be exempt from service. You will be blessed if you learn this lesson and then go enter actual service.”
Service can take many forms, but the life of every true Christian must follow in the command and example of Jesus and be sacrificially service oriented. This does not mean that you need to find a one-time service project to check a box, but that you need to enter into a life of continuous servant-hearted humility that looks like Jesus’ life. This should begin in the home and flow out into the church, and then to the world. In the home you should be looking for servant-oriented work. You should, for Jesus sake and in His name, wash dishes, take out the garbage, change diapers, clean bathrooms, wash cars, etc. As Christians, we are not above such work, but we should show the love of Jesus to those around us in the home by gladly working with our hands to meet the daily needs of service that surround us.
Next, our servant work should be lived out in the local church. Here the analogy of the church as a body becomes important (1 Corinthians 12). The Bible teaches that God Himself draws together the members of the church, that the Holy Spirit indwells each Christian in the church, and that the Holy Spirit gives varied spiritual gifts to the people in the church (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). These various spiritual gifts are given to the members of the church to be used unto the glory of God and in service to each other. In a similar manner to a body, some workings of the body are public; some are hidden. Some workings of the body are more noticeable and some are less clear – but all parts and organs of the body are necessary for full function.
If you are a Christian, you should be a member of the local church (intentionally involved with the life of the local church). Being a part of the local church is directly linked to serving in the local church. You are not a part of the local body of Christ to be a periodic spectator or consumer. You are meant to join with other Christians in a local fellowship to worship Jesus, grow in Christian discipleship, carry out the ordinances of the church, and live together for Jesus proclaiming the Gospel to the world. This requires service on many levels.
Everything you experience in the weekly worship service is done by someone performing an act of service – and I do mean everything! Music does not prepare itself. The bathrooms don’t clean themselves. The communion cups and baptismal don’t fill themselves. Nursery children don’t mind themselves. Coffee cups don’t fill themselves, and the light bulbs that go out don’t change themselves. The model of the early church and the analogy of the body of Christ as the local church, speaks to division of servant labor. The picture is not one of well-paid professionals putting on a production for a consuming audience. The accounts in Acts record many people who love Jesus serving each other, meeting needs big and small through personal actions of Spirit-filled service.
We have been greatly blessed by the Lord in 2025 to see significant growth at Redeemer, but there is a need to re-focus on service when the church grows. The tendency is for people to look out across the church and assume that since many people are present in the service, all the service needs must already be filled. This is a wrong assumption. It’s in fact the opposite. The more people present in the church, the more service needs arise. However, the Lord continues, in His providence, to balance the gifts in the church and supply just what is needed. You don’t need to worry about all the service needs of the church, but you do need to personally find a place of service that fits your gifts and is sacrificial in a way that resembles the example of Jesus.
Where are you serving this week in the body life of Redeemer Bible Church?
If the answer is, “Nowhere” then that means the church body is not functioning at full capacity. If you are not following the example and command of Jesus to enter into sacrificial service first in the home, then in some way in the church, you are missing out on the joy of obedience in this area. There is joy in shared service! There is community in working together with other Christians to fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus (Matthew 28:16-20)! Below is a list of possible areas of service. Consider them. Ask about details at the welcome desk to see how you might connect with one of them and serve Jesus with joy!
Prayer Ministry (join in the time of prayer before each 9:30 service, monthly meetings, receive email updates to pray for those in need) – Children’s Ministry (nursery, teaching, oversight) – Youth Ministry (small group leader, game helper) – Musical Worship (instrumentalist, singer, slide changer, sound board) – Counseling Ministry (get trained up, certified and learn to help others apply gospel truth to their life struggles) – Small Group Ministry (train to be a leader, host, organize internal group care and community) – Meal Train Ministry (sign up to take a meal to someone in need) – Greeting Ministry (be a welcoming face, hand out song sheets, help people find seats, and answer questions for visitors) – Lonely No More (join in ministry to nursing home bound seniors in our area) – Lord’s Supper and Baptism Team (help set up and break down the elements of these ordinances) – Men’s Ministry / Women’s Ministry / Seniors’ Ministry (see the heads of these ministries for how to help out) – Deacon Work Group (work with your hands to meet the practical needs of church members and the church building itself) – Foster Care and Adoption Ministry (get certified and take in a foster child, support those who have foster children with meals and child care, help organize / supply the needs closet) – and more …
In this new year, I urge you to make time to serve. You are not above Jesus. The Christian life is not about being served but serving others in Jesus’ name!
The peace of Christ to you,
Pastor Vic