Acts 2:42-47, John 13:1-17

Acts 2:42-47

John 13:1-17

“Let’s Be A Church That Serves”

October 7, 2007 (Communion Meditation)

Part 5 (Final sermon) of “Let’s Be The Church God Wants Us To Be” series

For the month of September we looked at how we can be the very best Church we can be – or how we can be the Church God wants us to be.

We began by noting that we can’t just gather our ideas about what we need to be doing as a Church – or our ideas about what we can do to make Hopewell the very best Church it can be – without first looking to God and seeking what God’s ideas are about what we need to be doing here at Hopewell – and what God thinks we need to be doing to make Hopewell the very best Church it can be.

The point is that we all want to make Hopewell the best Church it can be – and we may have many ideas and plans for how to make it that way. That’s a good thing — I count it as a blessing that Hopewell is a Church where the members care about the Church and want to make it the best it can be. But – we need to also take a look at what God may be calling us to be doing – and what God may feel we need to be doing to be the very best Church we can be. It’s great to have ideas and get input from each other about how we can make Hopewell the very best Church it can be. We certainly need to share ideas and plans for actions we can take – as well as participate in the things we are doing. But – first of all – we don’t need to look at our ideas about what we need to be doing as a Church – but we need to – first of all – look at what God feels we need to be doing to be the very best Church we can be.

The questions we need to consider are not:

What do you think we need to be doing as a Church?

Or

What are some things you think we need to do to be the best Church we can be?

But – they are:

What does God want us to be doing as a Church?

What are the things God wants us to do so we can be the Church God wants us to be?

What does God want us to be doing as a Church?

What are the things God wants us to do so we can be the Church God wants us to be?

These are the questions we started considering two weeks ago and will continue to consider for the next two weeks.

How can we be the Church God wants us to be?

How can we be the Church God wants us to be?

We’ve looked at how the book of Acts describes the early church to find answers to that question. The last few verses of Acts 2 says that there were certain things the members of the early church committed themselves to – things like:

1. telling others the Good News of Jesus Christ

2. worshipping and exalting God

3. working together for God’s glory

4. growing in Christ

5. serving God and others

and it says God blessed them and “added to their number” because they were seeking and following His will for their church.

We’ve looked at these things that the members of the early church committed themselves to so could cam get a vision for how we can take steps to commit ourselves to these things, and do our part towards making Hopewell the Church God wants Hopewell to be.

Let’s Be The Church God Wants Us To Be.

That’s been the theme for our month of September – and we will look at this one more time today.

Four weeks ago we looked at Acts 2:42-47 and the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20 – and saw how a Church with a great commitment to the Great Commission is a great Church. We saw how we need to commit ourselves to being a Church that tells Good News!

Three weeks ago week we added a second step to the process as we look at Acts 2: 42-47 and Ephesians 5:1-20 – and discovered that we need t be a Church that exalts God.

Two weeks ago we added a third step as we looked at Acts 2:42-47 and 1 Corinthians 12 – and saw how we need to be a Church that works together.

Last week we looked at Colossians 1:3-14 – and see how God wants us to be Church that grows in Christ.

So – we have 4 steps to how we can become the Church God wants us to be:

1. telling others the Good News of Jesus Christ

2. worshipping and exalting God

3. working together for God’s glory

4. growing in Christ

We’re going to add one more step to this today as we look at Acts 2:42-47 and John 13:1-17 – and see how God wants us to be a Church that serves.

Listen to God’s Word. (Read passages)

Let’s Be The Church God Wants Us To Be!

Let’s be a Church that tells the Good News!

Let’s be a Church that exalts God!

Let’s be a Church that works together!

Let’s be a Church that grows in Christ!

Let’s be a Church that serves!

We have already noted that — when you look at the description of the early church that Acts 2:42-47 gives us — you get the sense that this was not a church that people joined just because it would look good on their resume or because they thought it would help them make influential friends or help their standing in the community. No – this was a group of individuals whose lives had been changed by God, and who were committed to living a life that showed others the difference God had made in their lives. This was a group of people who were committed to sharing with others the life changing news that God had come into the world through Jesus Christ – people who wanted to exalt and glorify God and reflect the glory of God in their worship and in the way they lived their lives — people who wanted to work together for the glory of God in the world – people who were committed to growing in their relationships with Christ.

This was also a group of people who were committed to serving each other and others.

You could tell they were committed to these things from the way they worshipped:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42)

and the way they lived as they:

gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. (Acts 2:45-47)

They wanted to tell others about God — exalt and glorify God – live lives that showed God’s glory to the world – work together to show God to the world through their worship and their actions – grow in Christ – and serve each other and others. And – God blessed them and added to their numbers daily.

They were the Church God wanted them to be – telling the Good News of God, exalting God, working together for the glory of God, growing in Christ, and serving each other and others in need.

Let’s be the Church God wants us to be!

Let’s be a Church that tells the Good News!

Let’s be a Church that exalts God!

Let’s be a Church that works together!

Let’s be a Church that grows in Christ!

Let’s be a Church that serves!

Some of you know your Bible pretty well and know what the customs and traditions of Biblical times were. Some of you know that the washing of feet that our passage from John 13 describes was a common custom in Jesus’ day. You see — the roads of Palestine were dirt. In dry weather, they were inches deep in dust, and in wet weather, they were liquid mud. Since the shoes ordinary people wore were sandals, their feet would become extremely dusty or muddy as they walked along. There were always great water pots at the door of a house, and a servant would be at the door with a pitcher and a towel to wash the soiled feet of the guests as they came in.

The only thing was that Jesus’ little company of friends had no servants. The duties which servants would carry out in wealthier circles had to be shared among each other. They would take turns doing things like serving each other or washing each others feet at the end of a long day of travel.

But not on this night.

Most of you are also aware that John’s gospel is only one account of the Last Supper. We find parallel descriptions in the other gospels, each of them giving details of events of this night that particularly interest them Luke records in Luke 22 (Luke 22:24- 27) that an argument had sprung up among them that night as to who would be regarded as “the greatest.” Well, that may well have resulted in ruffled feathers and sore feelings — such sore feelings that the disciples may have trooped into the upper room like a bunch of kids sulking and pouting – no one willing to see the pitcher and basin and towel set there for their use — despite the fact that they normally would have taken turns with the task of washing each other’s feet and thought nothing about it. On this particular night all of them sat stubbornly in their places and would have nothing to do with the menial duty of washing the feet of the others.

Well, Jesus’ response was one of thinly veiled disgust at the behavior of the disciples. No doubt, the fact that He took the servant role they were unwilling to take was a visible parable of what He expected of His followers.

Let’s be the Church God wants us to be!

Let’s be a Church that serves!

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to say that this lesson Jesus gave the disciples of serving others and serving each other is one that we have taken to heart – and one that we live out every day?

It would be great to be able to say that — but would it be honest?

The world is full of people who are standing on their dignity when they ought to be kneeling at the feet of their others. The church is filled with such people also. In every sphere of life, the desire for prominence and the unwillingness to take a subordinate place wrecks the scheme of things. In sports, a player may be omitted from the team one day and then refuse to play any more. In politics, an aspiring politician may passed over for some office to which he thought he had a right and then refuse to accept any “lesser” office. In life it may happen that someone is given a quite unintentional slight and either explodes in anger or broods in sulkiness for days afterwards.

Let’s be the Church God wants us to be!

Let’s be a Church that serves!

When we are tempted to think of our dignity, our prestige, or our rights, we need to look again at Jesus — the Son of God — a towel wrapped around Him — kneeling at his disciples’ feet – serving.

Let’s be the Church God wants us to be!

Let’s be a Church that serves!

During World War II, England needed to increase its production of coal to generate power for the factories and businesses that kept the war effort going. Winston Churchill called together labor leaders to enlist their support in this. At the end of his presentation he asked them to picture in their minds a parade – a parade he knew would be held in Piccadilly Circus after the war:

“First,” he said, “would come the sailors who had kept the vital sea lanes open. Then would come the soldiers who had come home from Dunkirk and then gone on to defeat Rommel in Africa. Then would come the pilots who had driven the Luftwaffe from the sky. “Last of all,” he said, “would come a long line of sweat-stained, soot-streaked men in miner’s caps. Someone would cry from the crowd, “And where were you during the critical days of our struggle?” And from ten thousand throats would come the answer, “We were deep in the earth with our faces to the coal.”

Let’s be the Church God wants us to be!

Let’s be a Church that serves!

Not all the work that needs to be done in the world or in the Church is glorious or glamorous. But it is often the people with their “faces to the coal” – as Churchill said — or, in the case of the lesson Jesus was trying to teach His followers –”faces to the feet” – who get the job done.

Yea –the people who are willing to serve – it’s the people who willing to put their “faces to the feet” and serve others – who get the job done. These are the people who are truly serving Christ – and it’s a church that is filled with these kinds of folks that is the church God wants it to be!

Let’s be the Church God wants us to be!

Let’s be a Church that serves!

An admirer once asked the late, great orchestra conductor Leonard Bernstein what was the most difficult instrument to play. He responded :

“Second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who plays second violin with as much enthusiasm or second french horn or second flute, now that’s a problem. And yet if no one plays second, we have no harmony.”

If no one is willing to “play second” – if no one is willing to take the role of the servant – if no one is willing to serve others – there is no harmony – and we can not be the Church God wants us to be.

Let’s be the Church God wants us to be!

Let’s be a Church that serves!

John records Jesus’ words after He had washed the feet of the disciples:

12When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Jesus served the disciples.

Jesus called them to serve each other – and others.

Jesus calls us – as His disciples – as His Church — to serve.

As we have looked at Acts 2:42-47 we have seen that the early church strove to be the church God wanted them to be by:

1. telling others the Good News of Jesus Christ

2. worshipping and exalting God

3. working together for God’s glory

4. growing in Christ

5. serving God and others

Friends – earlier in this service we came around God’s table and celebrated the Sacrament of Communion. Let’s let this be an act of commitment for us – an act of committing ourselves here at Hopewell to being the Church God wants us to be – a Church that:

1. tells others the Good News of Jesus Christ

2. worships and exalts God

3. works together for God’s glory

4. grows in Christ

5. serves God and others

Yea – let’s be the Church God wants us to be!

Amen