Hi friends,
How do you feel when someone offers to help you?
I admit, sometimes it’s nice to be served. When I wake up on my birthday and my family has made me breakfast in bed, I feel pretty happy about it.
But other times, being served makes me deeply uncomfortable - especially when it highlights something I can’t do for myself!
In today’s liturgical reading, we read John 13:4-9, which tells us about the Last Supper:
So Jesus got up from supper, laid aside his outer clothing, took a towel, and tied it around himself. Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around him.
He came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus answered him, “What I’m doing you don’t realize now, but afterward you will understand.”
“You will never wash my feet,” Peter said.
Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”
Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”
Most of the time, when I meditate on this passage, it convicts me. I wrestle with my need to imitate Jesus and serve others more wholeheartedly.
But as I read it this year, it hit me differently. I realized how I’m like Peter!
When Jesus got up from supper and prepared himself to wash the disciples’ feet, he indirectly and inevitably drew attention to the fact that the disciples had not washed his feet nor hired someone to take care of this menial task.
His initiative to serve shone a spotlight on their lack of care to serve him. That’s uncomfortable.
Why is it so hard to be served? I can think of at least three reasons:
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It confronts our pride. We like to take credit for a job well done. Accepting help can remind us that we have limitations - or, in our relationship with God, sinful flaws.
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It reminds us of our vulnerability. We can’t fully take care of ourselves. We’re always reliant on others in some way. In relationship to God, we’re in a place of complete dependence.
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It requires surrender. If Jesus is serving us, then implicitly, he’s in control. He is taking the initiative, identifying and meeting our needs in his way. Accepting his help requires us to surrender our desire to be in charge.
I want God’s help but on my own terms!
So, what does it look like for us to be served by Jesus?
The answer to this question is infinite!
- It starts with accepting his ultimate service to us - the gift of salvation and new life.
Jesus was physically washing Peter’s feet, but the spiritual significance is more important: he foreshadowed how his death would wash Peter of his sins.
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It continues with opening our deepest selves to God in prayer - and asking for him to love us, heal us, and make us like Christ.
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It deepens as we participate in God’s mission - not as conquerors but as recipients of God’s grace, filled with the Holy Spirit. Our lives are surrendered to God’s work in our lives.
Sometimes, I get caught up in all I want to do - or feel I should do - for God.
Today’s passage reminds us to humbly and gratefully receive all God wants to do as he serves us.
Here are three reflection or discussion questions to get us started:
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Where in your life are you resisting Jesus’ care?
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What would change if you trusted that Jesus wants to serve you?
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How might receiving Jesus’ service inspire you to joyfully serve others?