Charlie Loften: Hello, and welcome to The Grove Church podcast. I'm Charlie Lofton, the lead pastor there, and we are so glad that you're joining us. Whether you are a member and you're just catching up on a sermon that you missed or you're someone who's brand new, we are really glad that you are joining us. And if you are new in some way, and I know that a lot of people will do that, we'll listen to sermons first before they visit. I want you to know that we would love to meet you at any point.
You can join us live in our services on Sunday, nine and 10:30 or our streaming service at 10:30. Either way, we would love to be able to get to know you. And regardless of why you are here listening to this sermon today, thank you so much for joining us.
Spencer Street: If you guys are new or or do not know who I am already, my name is Spencer. I am a youth pastor here. And so I'm so glad that you guys are all here with us. It's kind of chilly outside, so I'm glad you guys got to church this morning. I know I didn't want to get out of bed with the cold weather and everything.
And so I'm glad you guys are here with us this morning. If you guys are new, I would love to invite you to the back after the service. We have a gift we'd love to give you guys, and I would love to meet you and get to know you guys some more. And so something you guys need to know about me is I love movies. I love them.
I can't get enough of them. And I am what some people would say. I'm obsessed with movies. And so I recently moved down Northwest Arkansas. So I'm new to the church and new to the area.
And something that you get constantly asked whenever you're a new person is you get just the common get to know you questions. And so those have been very common over the past couple of months. And one of those has been, what do you like to do? And so I will always say, movies will always be in that answer for me. It will always be in that answer.
And as I move down here, it's actually switched up little bit. So a lot of you guys in the church, actually, and then my boss also, Charlie, has really encouraged me to start watching TV shows. I haven't really previously watched a ton of TV shows, and I really haven't dove into that side of shows and movies. And so I got a couple recommendations. Some people said Sopranos.
Some people said Stranger Things. Some people said Roots kids gave me animes to watch. And so a bunch of different shows that I could possibly watch. And me and Charlie were talking about possible shows that I could start. And we talked about watching Breaking Bad.
And so if you guys know anything about me over the last two months, I have been obsessed with Breaking Bad. The whole story, I've loved it. And something really big happened this weekend. This Friday, I actually finished it. So I got through all of it this Friday.
And the one thing I had to say was there's a couple things you need to know. I was on the phone with my mom for over two hours ranting about how awesome it was. Now she's watching it. So I've encouraged her to watch it. I've also encouraged our creative director, Abigail, to rewatch it.
And so this has been just huge for my life and just groundbreaking, this TV show that I had never seen before. And really, really, I think that the TV show, the way it ends is like, it ends exactly how it should have ended, but it's but it's one of those things where it it didn't end the way I I wanted it to end. And and I don't know. It was just it was just great. I texted Charlie.
I was like, all I've got to say is, wow. That was great. That was good. So that's what I did this weekend. It was great.
But I really think that just this final season of Breaking Bad was especially good. And I think this kind of leads into what this new series is that we're kicking off for Easter. So it's the Upper Room series, and we're leading up to Easter. And if Jesus had a show for him, this would be a part of the final season. This would be a part of the final season.
And so I think it's really awesome and just the buildup that Jesus is presenting here. And and he is he's he's going to die, and he's presenting us with all of these teachings and all of these things. So that's what we're gonna be talking about for the next couple weeks leading up to Easter. And so we're going to be starting our series in John 13. And in John 13, to give you guys a little bit of background of what's going on here, in John 13, it is the Last Supper.
So it is the night before Jesus is going to be crucified. And He is eating with all of His disciples, and He has this time where He can teach them something. And so He decides to teach them something. And so we're in John 13 this morning, we're going read John thirteen:one through 11. It says, 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. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the father had put all things under his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God. So he got up from the meal, he took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin, and he began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
He came to Simon Peter. He said to him, Lord, are you going to wash my feet? Jesus replied, you do not realize what I'm doing now, but later you will understand. No, said Peter. You shall never wash my feet.
And Jesus answered, unless I wash you, you have no part with me. Then, Lord, Simon Peter replied, not just my feet, but my hands my hands and head as well. Jesus answered, those who have a bath those who have had a bath eat only to wash their feet. Their whole body is clean, and you are clean, though not every one of you. For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not everyone was clean.
Now when I read this first part of John 13, I can relate to my guy Peter here. I'm like, what is going on? What is happening? I don't understand why he's doing this. Why is He washing our feet?
Like, that's kind of gross. He's touching our feet. Like, what is happening here? And so I think I think really the the important thing for for us to to see here is that Jesus, He knew something. Jesus knew something.
And He didn't just know something, but He knew many things. He knew many things that are pointed out in this passage. And so in verse one, Jesus, the thing that He knows is He knows that it's time for Him to depart from the world. He knows that His time has come. Another thing that Jesus knows, Jesus knew that he had been given all power and all authority, and that that was from God.
That had been given from God, that he has all power and all authority. And then the other thing that He knew in verse 11, He knows who's going to betray Him. Judas. He knows that this guy, one of His disciples, will betray Him. And so He's leaving the world by death.
He has all power and has been given all power and all authority. And he knows that the person sitting across from him at this dinner table is the reason he will die. So so what so what does he do? Stands up. He wraps the towel around his waist.
He gets on his knees. He fills a basin full of water and begins to wash his disciples' feet. What? That is not at all what I would do if I knew those things by any means. And so he does all of those he does this thing by sorry.
He does this knowing all of it. Knowing knowing all of those things, he he he washes his disciples' feet. And so the question is the question is, like, what what did this mean? So a little a little while ago, this past summer, I actually followed Jesus' example in this way. So I I washed some of my friends' feet.
And nowadays, if you wash people's feet, really all you're doing is you're picking out the lint and stuff from their toes and their toenails, they're just ticklish because nobody ever touches feet. And so it was a very awkward thing. And was awkward, and it didn't feel right, and it didn't feel like a genuine gesture. But if we look at it from the context of which Jesus was doing it and the time period that Jesus was doing this, this gesture was nothing. It was not just some small gesture.
It was a really big deal that He was doing this for them. Right? During that time period, they kind of wore sandals, or they wouldn't even wear shoes at all. And they would walk around all day, and their feet if you guys have ever wear flip flops or something to a fair, your feet are black when you get home. And you've got like, you have to wash them up and and fix them up.
Well, these people, it'd be the same thing. They would they would walk through dirt. They'd walk through mud, dung, you name it. They were walking through it. And every night before they went to bed, before they got into their clean bed, they had to wash their feet.
So they wash their feet, and they get in their bed, and they lay down. And so Jesus doing this for them was a big deal. It was a big deal. It was a sign of is is a sign of a gesture that was meaningful and meant a lot to them. So Jesus, knowing all of these things, he he he performs this gesture of washing people's feet.
We continue in verse 12. Says, when 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 him. You call me teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am.
Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I've sent you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor messenger than the one who sent him. And so after Jesus does this thing, in the same way that Peter was confused at what was going on, the same way that I'm confused at what's going on right now, he's gonna sit down to to explain this to them. He's gonna explain this to them.
He's gonna explain that we are called to follow his example, that we're called to follow his example. So Jesus actually I feel like I feel like that statement is thrown out often in the church. We're we're called to to follow Jesus. We're called to we're called to do this thing. We're we're called.
That I feel like that is easier said than done. And oftentimes, I don't want to do the thing that someone that may have authority over me says. For instance, my parents. My parents tell me, hey, Spencer, you need to do this or you need do that. A lot of times, I will often be like, do I have to though?
Do I have to go clean the cat box? Like, do I have to do that? But Jesus, he doesn't just give us his example to follow, but he he gives us he gives us reasons why we should follow them as well when he's explaining kinda what he's doing. And so kind of kind of the reason why we follow Jesus' example here is in verse in verse 13, he says, you call me teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am. And so the first thing he does is he he establishes his authority.
You talk you call me teacher and Lord. Call me Lord. And you're right. I am. I am Lord.
So he establishes his authority there. And so that's that's one reason that we should follow his example. And then he also in verse 14, he just he just tells us we should. It's like, you just you should. You should just do this.
I say so. So you should so you should. He says, now that I now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's. You guys should do it too. And then verse 15, he gives us an ex he tells us the reason that we should is because he does it.
He says, Lord and teacher has done it. So and it says in 15, it says, I have set you an example that your servant is greater or no, that you should do as I have done for you. So he sets us this example to do to do this thing, this washing feet. So because of this, I I actually have something for you guys this morning. I actually I'm gonna have to go back here in the in the worship area, but I actually have a I have a bucket for us.
And so I'm just gonna have you guys on the left side, stand up slowly, and then we're just gonna have each of you guys come in here in a single fire line. And I'm gonna wash all your guys' feet because that's what Jesus is, like, saying here. Right? I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.
We're not gonna do that. We're not gonna do that. No. No. No.
I don't think that that Jesus his his point here is not getting at the fact that we need to go around washing people's feet. That is not the point that he's getting at here. It it is it is a deeper is a deeper reason. Well well, why? And and what what is it?
If it's not washing people's feet, then what what what is it? What's the deeper reason? So I think about my time in college. My time in college, I was in a fraternity. And my main role in a fraternity was kind of a Greek relations chair.
And as the Greek relations chair, I was in charge of events like homecoming and Greek week. And so these were week long events where you would just have competitions against other fraternity and sorority life. And then you would also have the competition with some student organizations as well. And so I was in charge of all this in my junior year. I had just become an upperclassman and they had put me in charge of homecoming that year.
And so for homecoming, we have one really huge night. It's Friday night. It's right before Saturday, where Saturday you've got the homecoming game, you've got the homecoming parade, you've got all the events going on. So Friday night is the work night. You're getting stuff done that night.
So we're at the house, I'm helping everybody build this float that we have for tomorrow for the parade. And I kind of look up, and we have the sober driver pull in to our parking lot. And of course, two guys hop out the back, and immediately I can tell these guys have had one too many tonight. They've had one too many. Immediately, I could tell they're stumbling into the house.
And so so they walk by. And first of all, first things first, I mean, how disrespectful can you be on a night that we're trying to get stuff done, show up to the house, and you don't you don't even offer to help. You just go inside. You just you walk past us. You see us doing all this work, and you just walk past us.
That's the first thing. And then the second thing, I kid you not, five minutes later, another one of my brothers walks out of the house, comes up to me, and he goes, so those guys that just came to the house, they went inside, and they they they broke a homecoming trophy. Oh, I was so, so mad. I was so mad. So not only did they show up and not help us, but then they go inside and they break something that's valuable to me in the fraternity.
The audacity of these guys. These guys are crazy. And so I go inside because, of course, I'm the guy that has to deal with it. I gotta deal with it. They come to me.
So I go inside. And as I'm walking through this hallway, I'm I'm I'm plotting in my head how I can choke this kid out. I am looking for a way of how I can best fight this guy. And I get to the back where they're sitting on the porch. Right before I open that door up, I just have this feeling, hey.
Maybe maybe you maybe maybe you shouldn't do that. Maybe instead maybe instead of asking them about this trophy and punishing them for that, maybe you should ask them how he's doing. Because I saw himself I saw I saw myself in him, my younger self in him. So I went outside and I asked him. And I and I just looked at him and I said, how how how are you?
Are are you okay? And for the next hour or so, he kind of just opened up to me about the way that he had been feeling about the fraternity, the way that he had felt unwelcomed and unwanted in the fraternity, the way that he just felt like he was a mess up, that all he could do was just go out, party, come back, and mess something up for the fraternity. That is all that he was worth in the fraternity in our eyes, and that no one really actually wanted him there. And I don't I don't exactly know where what what this meant to him in the moment, but in the moment, although my circumstances were this guy deserves to get beat up, I chose to sacrifice that and just say, man, I just I want you to know that I love you. I I care that you're here.
I'm glad that you're here. We can always get another trophy. It's no big deal. And and I don't know how that affected him, but but but when I think about the it, this it that we're talking about, that's the it. So regardless of our circumstances, regardless of how we might feel about a person, about a situation, something that's going on in our lives, we lay that aside and we love someone, and we serve them.
We continue in verse 17. It says, now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. So Jesus, he kind of concludes all of this, and he gives us one last reason that that we should do this thing. We should do this. And it's because if we do it, we will be blessed.
We will be blessed. And I think about for those of you guys who don't know, about five months ago is when I moved out of Northwest Arkansas. So I'm very new to the area. And I moved in early October. If you guys know anything about finding places to live, leasing apartments, stuff like that, early October is not a great time to find a place to live, especially if you're looking for roommates who have already signed leases.
It's an awful time to look. And so I'm looking for places to live and Charlie's going, hey, man. It'll be all right. I'll figure it out. I'll figure it out.
You just come down. Just come down. And I'm like, man, got no money to my name. I'm getting ready to pay student loans. Just came off a summer of fundraising my salary.
And so I'm stressed, to say the least. And Charlie goes, Well, I got you a place to stay. You're gonna stay at the Shad Pad for a week. Stayed with Steve Shadrack for a week. And I was like, I was very grateful for that.
But also in the back of my head, I was thinking, I'm only staying here for a week. Where do I stay after this? Where am I gonna go? So I got couple And couple days in. I was super grateful for the shad pad.
Got a couple days in. And I started to realize, like, Charlie still doesn't have a place for me to live. What am I gonna do? Am I just gonna live in a box on the side of the road? I'll just live at the church.
I don't know. We'll figure it out. But but I still had no place to live. And I think it was I think it was two days before I had to move out of the Shad Pad. Charlie placed me in a group chat with a couple from the church, Kevin and Angie Hydorn.
He placed me in the group chat with them, and they started texting me, and they're introducing themselves kinda as much as you could over text. Right? Over a group text. You can't really do a whole lot there. But they sent me their address, and they were like, hey.
Just come over whenever you feel you feel the need, and we'll and we'll get you settled. We'll get you settled over here. And I'm thinking to myself, these guys have no idea who I am. They're just a little bit a 23 year old college esque guy into their house, and they're okay with this? I mean, thanks.
So I get to the house and get welcomed by Kevin and Angie, and they welcomed me in. And I remember even the first time I got there, Kevin's just like, all right, I got all this stuff to show you. And he goes around the house and he shows me all these things. He goes down to my room. He's like, all right, if it gets too hot in here, it gets really hot in here in the wintertime sometimes.
So can shut the vent right here. And then you've also got the window. You can open the window up, but be careful because it's a little messy. So sometimes it breaks and stuff, but just open it whenever you want. And you got your own bathroom here, and we got your toilet paper, all the things.
Then if you go upstairs for laundry, we've got your detergent and the fabric softener. You're welcome to use any of that that you would like. You're welcome to use any of our cooking supplies and our food and just whatever you need. Just just just use it all. I'm like, what in the world?
These guys are wild. But but but they the way that they welcomed and loved me was was a way that I just I just wasn't expecting. I I wasn't expecting them to love me that way. And and it's been I've been living with them for four months now. And I can say with confidence, I'm like, the way that their Kevin and Angie and their family have have loved and served me over these last four months is nothing short of a miracle for me.
And I truly, truly believe that that love and service is what blesses people. They will be blessed because of the way that they have loved and served me. They have opened me up opened my availability to be able to host stump events, to host roots events, and to invest in the students at this church. And and I and I truly believe that that they will be blessed for that. And and in the same way, we are blessed when we do things like this, when we love and we serve others over our circumstances, over the things that may happen behind the scenes that people don't know, over people that we don't know.
We just love and we serve them. So as I as I kind of conclude here, I want to bring back this this idea that that Jesus, he he knew he knew what was going to happen. He knew he was going to die. He knew that he had been given all power and authority. He had no reason to to to to love and serve others the way that he did here.
And and and he also knew that the person sitting across from him was going to be the reason that he dies. And yet he he decides the thing to show us through this is that we should forget that circumstance and forget that this is what is the reality of what is going on, and we should love and serve others. That that love and service, it will bless us. So that's my encouragement to to to myself and to you guys this morning with this message is just that that we have the opportunity to love and to serve others. And we have been given an example by Jesus to do this.
Let me let me pray for us. God, I just I thank you for this morning. God, I thank you for your example. Thank you for the way that you have showed us and you have given us many, many, many reasons to do this thing, this loving and serving of others. And that even when we do it, you bless us for it.
And thank you for that. Thank you for the blessing that you that you give us for serving and for following your example. Pray that for myself and and and everyone in this room that we would we would have we would we would want to and we and we would follow this example that you've given us. This important lesson that you've given us the night before you die, that we would follow this, we would love and we would serve others well. It's in your son's name that I pray.
Amen.
Charlie Loften: Thanks again for joining us on our sermon podcast, and you can learn more about us at thegrovechurch.org. If you go to thegrovechurch.org/connect, there's a form you could fill out. Just let us know you've been listening. And if you want to dig deeper on some of these topics that we cover in our sermon podcast or just another issues of dealing with culture or theology, those kinds of things, you can check out our cultivate podcast. It's on the same feed however you found this particular podcast.
So, this is Charlie, the lead pastor at The Grove, and thank you so much for joining us.