Can you just see the first disciple coming into the upper room for the last supper with Jesus?  He knows very well that his dirty feet should be washed before tracking them in to somebody’s home.  He knows the foot-washing custom.  In fact, he must have seen the basin and towel sitting there!  (We know there was one there!)  But he didn’t see a servant.  In fact, washing feet was the job of the non-Jewish servant of the house – the lowest job.  So he looks around, sees no one looking, and steps right over the basin for water and reclines at the table!

Then Peter and John come in.  They, too, see the basin and towel.  In fact, they might even have put it there.  They realize no one has volunteered to wash feet yet.  But they probably think: “Hey, we already did our job!  We reserved this room, and made all the preparations for dinner.  Someone else can wash the feet!  We put in our time.”  And they sit down.

The next few disciples come in.  They kind of look around… notice that no one else has washed their feet, and think: “I’m not going to do mine!”  Then, after enough of them have finally gathered, (I can just picture it), one of them says, “Hey!  Who’s going to wash our feet?”  “Not me!”  “I ain’t touching your smelly feet!”  “Me, either!”  “Hey, Simon!  Hey, James [the Less]!  Why don’t one of you do it?  I don’t see you two doing much!”  “Oh, right!  Just because our name isn’t Peter, James, or John!  Just because Jesus hasn’t taken us up a mountain or into a house to see a special miracle, you think you can give us the dirty jobs??  Treat us like dirt, eh?  Well, your feet stink just as bad as ours, maybe a little worse, Peter!  What did Jesus call you?  Satan?”  “Yeah, well He also took me up the mountain, buddy!  So who do you think He thinks is more important??  Who would He say should be washing feet?”

You can just picture the disciples getting into the argument they did that night about who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  But then Jesus walks in.  Instant silence.  Everyone sits down, reclining, trying to get comfortable, though they may have felt uncomfortable.

And then, Jesus gets up.  Takes off his robe, grabs that towel they all avoided, pours water into the basin, and begins washing their feet and drying them without a word.  Here was Jesus: THE Teacher.  THE Lord. THE One whom the Father had given all authority!  And HE gets up and does the job of the lowest servant without hesitation or complaint!

Why?  It was an example of love.  Jesus showed his disciples the “full extent of his love.” (v.1) Or “He loved them to the last, to the end.”  Jesus washed his apostles’ feet, not merely to put them to shame, though He surely did that.  He was giving a visual demonstration of the love that forgets to feel superior to others; love that stoops to the lowliest service for the physical and spiritual welfare of others – and is not even conscious that it is stooping!  Love that pays no attention to the cost of serving someone.  Love seeking no recognition or reward.

Isn’t that the kind of love that makes you want to get up and help out?  It’s the kind of love that makes you want to serve!  You have to believe that as they sat there, reclining around that table, this thought hammered the disciples:  “I Can’t Just Sit and Watch, can I?”

Look around.  At 8:00 AM, this was an empty gym.  Look at it now!  Look at the altar, the banners, the chairs, the sound system, the video projection, the tables full of materials, the signs and banners out front.  Who did all that?  Look at the bulletins, all put together, folded neatly.  Look at the ads and sign-ups for coming events.  Who put those together?  Who plans and runs them?  Look at our web site.  Who puts that all together?  Look at the beaming faces of our children who were in Sunday School.  Who taught them?  A number of small groups met in various homes this week.  Who served to make that happen?  And look at all the people in the chairs next to you.  How did they get here?  Someone invited them once.  Who did that? 

It’s great coming here, isn’t it?  Getting a weekly dose of encouragement from God’s Word and other people?  It might even be nice to just come and sit and watch.  But do you see how much work goes into carrying out ministry among a congregation?  Do you see how we can’t walk past the water basin and towel?  What? I can’t just sit and watch?  NO!  You can’t!

There’s more to the Christian life than just showing up for church once a week.  There is so much more to following Jesus than just “sitting and watching.”  After Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, He put his clothes back on and sat down again. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” He asked them… I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”  Jesus didn’t say that you should do what He did for you.  But that you should do as He did for you!  In other words, we can’t just sit and watch.  If our Lord and Master serves us, we must get involved in serving others for Him!  Time to get the towel and put it around your waist!

Dan Mazur stood within a two-hour hike from the summit of Mount Everest, a thousand feet from realizing a lifelong dream.  Every year, the fittest climbers in the world set their sights on this 29,000 foot peak.  Every year some die in the effort.  Everest is not kind.  Climbers call the realm above 26,000 feet “the death zone.”  Temperatures are well below zero.  Sudden blizzards stir blinding snow.  Oxygen is scarce.  Corpses dot the mountaintop.  A British climber had died ten days prior to Mazur’s attempt.  Forty climbers who could have helped him chose not to do so.  They passed him on the way to the summit.  Everest can be cruel.

So here was Mazur, he and two fellow climbers (one from Canada) were within eyesight of the top.  Years of planning.  Six weeks of climbing, and now on the morning of May 25, 2006, the sun was shining. Hope and energy were high.  1000 feet to go.

That’s when Mazur noticed a flash of colour.  A bit of yellow fabric on the ridgetop.  It turned out to be a person, a man dangerously perched on an 8000 foot ledge.  His gloves were off, jacket unzipped, hands exposed, chest bare.  Suffering from oxygen deprivation, edema, and frost bite.  He was hallucinating.  He had no idea where he was.  Thought he was boating.  Mazur called out, “Can you tell me your name?”  “Yes,” the man answered. “I can.  My name is Lincoln Hall.”  Mazur was shocked.  He recognized the name.  Twelve hours earlier, he had heard on the news radio: “Lincoln Hall is dead on the mountain.  His team has left his body on the slope.”  And yet, after spending the night in minus 40 wind chill, and very little oxygen, Lincoln Hall was alive.  Mazur was face to face with a miracle.

He was also face to face with a choice.  A rescue attempt had profound risks.  The descent was treacherous enough, let alone with the dead weight of a dying man.  And what if he didn’t make it anyway?  No one knew.  The three climbers might sacrifice their Everest ascent for nothing.  They had to choose:  abandon their dream, or abandon Lincoln Hall.

We have to make decisions like this every day.  Not on Everest with mountain climbers, but in homes with spouses and children, at work with colleagues, in schools with friends, and in churches with fellow believers.  We face decisions that basically all ask: Who comes first?  Do they or do I?  My career or my child’s education?  Relaxing on day off or spending it with parent in nursing home?  Getting to work on time or helping person with flat tire?  Doing stuff for myself or committing time to serve others?  Fulfill my dream or help my neighbour?

Dan Mazur and his fellow climbers chose to abandon their dream.  They turned their backs on the peak and inched their way down the mountain.  Would we do the same?

Many of you have put others first.  Many of you have rolled up your sleeves and picked up towels.  You teach our children.  You lead our small groups.  You sing in church.  You usher, run the music, do the slides.  You fold the bulletins.  You help at kids camps.  You serve on service teams.  You help organize events.  You show up here at 8:00 to set up.  You visit each other.  Call each other. Encourage each other.  You give rides and bring meals to friends in need.

But if you haven’t gotten involved yet, if you are just realizing that you can’t just sit and watch, know that the opportunities for you to serve Jesus here are endless.  Besides all the ways that have been created so far, this congregation is just waiting for your special way of serving!  And when you “pick up that towel,” you will be amazed at the satisfaction you get from it!  The sweetest satisfaction lies, not in climbing your own Everest, but in helping other climbers!

Even the world has discovered this.  There is no shortage of research showing that people who give time, money, or support to others are more likely to be happy and satisfied with their lives – and less likely to be depressed.  Carolyn Schwartz, a professor from UMASS Medical School, began a test to see if MS sufferers would actually benefit by receiving phone calls from fellow MS sufferers.  But over time, she was surprised by what she was actually discovering.  While the ones receiving the support certainly received some mild benefit, the real beneficiaries were those doing the calling!  In fact, those serving by calling and listening experienced dramatic improvements in their quality of life – several times more so than those they were helping!  These results seem surprising, since our culture tends to associate happiness with getting something!  But why would we get so much positive benefit from giving and serving?

Because we were made to serve!  And Jesus wants his followers to see the importance of that!  You should do as I have done for you!  If you want real fulfillment in life, you can’t just sit and watch!  You have to roll up your sleeves and get involved!  Help us out on Sunday mornings.  Serve on a service team.  Help with a kids camp.  Volunteer for the nursery.  Take a meal to someone who just had a baby.  Mentor a young adult.  Mow your neighbour’s lawn.   Serve a coffee to your spouse.  Do something unexpected.  Want to stave off boredom?  Do a generous deed!  Do a deed for which you cannot be repaid.  Or try this:  Get over yourself.

Stop worrying about how important you are.  Serve someone else’s needs.  Wash some feet.  Stop arguing about who is greater.  Stop sitting and watching.  Get over yourself.  Jesus did!  He showed us the FULL extent of his love – by serving us when we should have been serving Him.  And He loved us to the end.  He served us all the way – to the point of giving his life for us.  Jesus served YOU!  He set you free from sins of selfishness and laziness!  He set you free for a new life of service!  Jesus chose the servant’s quarters. Can’t we?

Lincoln Hall survived the trip down Mount Everest.  Thanks to Dan Mazur, he lived to be reunited with his wife and sons in New Zealand.  A television reporter asked Lincoln’s wife what she thought of the rescuers, the men who surrendered their summit to save her husband’s life.  She tried to answer, but the words stuck in her throat.  After several moments and with tear-filled eyes, she offered, “Well, there’s one amazing human being.  And the other men with him.  The world needs more people like that.”  May we be numbered among them.  Amen.

Dan Mazur story gleaned from NBC news reports and Max Lucado’s “Every Day Deserves A Chance.”