Servolution | Part 1 | The Towel Is Greater Than The Throne

So, let me ask you something. If I gave you two opportunities right now, the first one would put you on the biggest stage, the brightest spotlight, applause and recognition. Or the other, no spotlight, no microphone, no applause, just you behind the scenes cleaning up after everyone has left. Which one do you naturally lean towards? I think if we're honest, there is something in all of us that is drawn to the applause, the recognition. There's a pull for the spotlight, for the stage. And how about this? Maybe for more likes. So today we're launching a series called Servolution, Servolution, a revolution of serving. And I can't think of a more perfect time because of the fact that in a few weeks we're gonna celebrate Easter where we watched Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate servant, lay down his life for us. Now, typically, when you hear this word revolution, we think of significant,

sudden and often violent change, a change in a government, a society. Sometimes it involves a rebellion. And we think of protests. But I want you to know that Jesus started a different kind of revolution, one that didn't begin with a sword, but instead with a towel. And it turned the world upside down. You see, Jesus didn't come to overthrow the Roman Empire, which that's what his disciples thought. Instead, Jesus came to overthrow pride. He didn't come to claim a physical throne, but the one with all the authority, instead, he kneels to wash the dirt between toes. My friend, that's not weakness. That's not weakness. That's a servilution. And he's calling you and I to join him. So do me a favor, open up your Bibles or your Bible app. It'll be on the screens as well. We're gonna go to John 13, and we're gonna be in John 13 most of the day. And we're gonna be in John 13, most of the day, and here's what I wanna do. I wanna set the picture for you. Jesus is with his disciples. He's getting ready to go to the cross. This is his last supper with these men who journeyed with him for three years.

These men were Jesus' closest friends. He did life with them. So we're gonna start on John 13, one to four. Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his father. He loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. It was time for supper and the devil had already prompted Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray Jesus Jesus knew that the father had given him Authority over everything and that he had come from God and returned to God and watch this don't miss this So he got up from the table He took off his robe He Wrapped a towel around his waist and poured water into a basin And then he began to wash the disciples feet Drying them with the towel He had Around him You know, there are three events in my life That has shaped and continues to shape My life every day Here they are the empty tomb Which which is the foundation of my faith Baptism The symbol of moving from death to life

And Lastly Jesus kneeling down and washing his disciples feet Radical humility radical Humility and in this moment Jesus knows who he is He knows who sent him And he knew what he was getting ready to do and And because he is secure in his identity because he knew his mission Because he loved you and I He doesn't get on a throne Instead he kneels watch this Sabbath it's alright Thomas decent I Thank you You sure yes, it's James I'm sure I Beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news Publishes peace and proclaim salvation I Judas the rabbi I'd some turn I Thank you rabbi I Turn please sit Peter

Lord You would wash my feet now. This doesn't make any sense What I'm doing you don't understand now But afterward you will master We should have done this ourselves and we're sorry for our pride But I'm telling you you will never wash my feet Brother just do what he says Listen carefully No more of this Moving forward, you need to trust me more than ever, even if you have no understanding yet. I mean this. If I do not wash you, you have no share with me. You cannot be part of what I am doing. That's powerful. He tells Peter that you cannot be a part of what I'm building, this upside-down kingdom, unless you understand that it's not about power. It's about kneeling. And in this moment, we see that Jesus redefines greatness. He redefines greatness. Because we all know what culture says greatness is. This is why the disciples, they couldn't understand. This is not a man who is getting ready to take on the Roman Empire. This is not a man who is getting ready to be king Because of the fact that they've never seen a king stoop with a towel to wash other people's feet. And in this moment, our Jesus, king of kings, son of God, in this moment, he does what not even a servant would do. You see, in Jewish culture, a servant wasn't even expected to wash people's feet because it was too low. It was too humiliating. So Jesus takes his robe off, and he grabs a towel, and he gets on the floor.

I don't know about you, but man, that's humbling. That the savior of the world wasn't looking to be served. But he was teaching the disciples that it was about serving others. Look what John 13, 14 to 15 says. And since I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet. I have given you an example to follow. Now do as I have done to you. Jesus meant business. Jesus knew that he was turning society upside down, but not with force, not with power, not with the sword. Instead, he says, I'm going to give you an example. Do what I do. I don't know about you, but growing up, I heard things like, hey, do what I say, don't do what I do. Remember that? Right? Jesus is not doing that here. He says, I want you all to watch. And I love James' response there. He says, Lord, are you sure? Are you sure that you want to wash my feet? I want to let you know that in God's kingdom, the towel is always greater than the throne. In God's kingdom, the towel is greater than the throne. You know why? It's because culture says, climb to the top. And watch this. Not only does it say climb to the top, but it says you're okay to step over people and step on people in order to get to the top. Jesus says, kneel. Culture says, be served. Jesus says, serve others. And culture says this, just take care of, number one.

It's all about me. And Jesus tells the disciples, I want you to look at others better than yourself. Now I want you to know, I'm preaching with you. I'm not preaching at you. What Jesus is asking is not something that's easy. The only way that you can be able to start taking steps towards that is by kneeling. And that's so countercultural. When I knelt just then, I actually wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get back up. So I had to practice that a little bit to make sure that I could get back up. But kneeling is not a part of who we are. Listen to what Mark 9.35 says, it's going to be on the screens. Jesus said he sat down and he called the 12 disciples over to him and said, now watch this, whoever wants to be first must take last place. And watch this, and be the servant of everyone else. Not just those people you like. You know how I know that? Is because of the fact that Jesus washed the feet of Judas. And he demonstrated it's not selective. It is everyone. Do you know how hard it is to not want to be first? It's in our society all around us. It starts in kindergarten. And you're like, what do you mean? Kindergartens want to be first in line. They want to be the line leader. It's ingrained in who we are in our culture. I want to be first to be picked on the playground, right? I want to be first in playing sports. We are surrounded by first.

You never hear last. Now one thing you probably don't know about me is that I was raised in New York City, all the way until I left for college. And I want to let you know, if you've not been there, there's a lot of people there. Crowds all the time. You wait in line for everything, right? The subway, the buses, the grocery store, the post office, in traffic, in tolls, and in the tunnels. And I want to let you know, if you've ever been to New York City, or you've ever watched a movie that's filmed in New York City, no one walks. It is this speed walking, right? They got to get to where they're going. Nobody just takes a leisurely walk. And you drive aggressively, because you got to get first. Because if you don't, you'll be late to everywhere. So I must confess, that's how I was raised. It was all around me, hurrying, rushing to get to where you want to go. My wife, she always asks me, why do you walk ahead of me all the time? And I don't even realize I'm doing it. It's just because of the fact that I want to get there. to where I'm going first. So now for my confession. Have you ever been in Walmart? And when I go to Walmart, I have a very, I mean, I'm laser focused. I don't get sidetracked like my wife does. I go in there, get what I need to go, and get, and then I leave. And one of the worst things for me is when I'm going to the checkout line

and I see someone else that is ahead of me. And if I don't speed up, I know I'm gonna be waiting in line because this person doesn't look like they know how to use the self-checkout. Like, come on, you've been there. So I find myself speeding up in order to get in line. First. Here's another one. This is my last one. Have you ever been to a restaurant and you're driving in and you see other people going? I'm gonna be honest and transparent. I usually drive very quickly to the front and I kick my wife out in order so that she can get our name on the list first. I told you, I don't got this thing down yet. In this upside down kingdom, here's what Jesus shows us. That serving requires a shift in position. In posture. Serving requires a shift in posture. Serving is not about our role or our placement. Do you know what serving reveals? It reveals what's in our heart. Ouch. I think too many of us can justify this upside down revolution

by telling ourselves some things that says, I'm not good enough. That's not my job. I don't know enough. Or how about this? Someone else will do it. We've already read this, but in John 13, three, it says because Jesus was secure in his identity, watch this, he stoops low in humility. Jesus knew exactly what he was doing. By stooping low and showing the disciples that if you wanna change the world, it's gonna be completely different from everything that you've known. Everything. He says, you wanna be a part of this kingdom. I'm gonna show you what will change the world. And it is washing dirty feet. You see, one of the things that you have to realize in this upside down kingdom is this, the towel doesn't make you less important. It makes you more like Jesus. I don't know about you, but that's, I don't have it all together, but man, that's what I want. I wanna be more like Jesus. So I'm reminded when I'm starting to speed up my cart, and this has happened because I've asked God to help me learn to be comfortable with last, to be a servant of everyone.

I don't do it right all the time, but I tell you what, when I'm speeding up, I have a 10. where I'm like God you you're working on me I want to speed up I want to get in front how do I serve everyone and then lastly serving transforms community serving transforms communities you you want to know how TC impacts Tallahassee you want to know what Jesus is calling us to do to reach Leon County he's saying pick up a towel pick up a towel do you know one of the things that I hear most from people who have not stepped into faith is that the people that claim to follow Jesus they don't act like it I don't see anything different with them that's why Jesus was showing the disciples this is how a revolution is started and it's by serving serving everyone else everyone else you know serving can be messy serving can be inconvenient but serving brings healing serving unites hearts when we kneel the world doesn't understand it and that's when we get a chance to share it's not about me I'm just following the example from my Lord Jesus can you imagine a church where no task is beneath anyone can you imagine a church everyone looks for ways to bless someone else and can you imagine a church where we compete not to be the best but to serve the most let's pray with your heads bowed and your eyes closed I got a couple questions for you my question is what is your towel moment where is God asking you to pick up the towel who needs their feet washed in your world what would it look like if you took a towel and washed your spouse's feet what would it look like if you knelt and washed your your kids feet your neighbors feet your co-workers feet what would it look like if you served everyone else what would our families begin to look like when we start to pick up a towel or maybe for you your towel is joining the dream team maybe your towel is rocking babies in the nursery praying over them that God would use them as the next

generation to share the gospel to those around them maybe your towel is leading a group of middle school girls and helping them understand what it looks like and what it means to kneel or maybe Maybe it's time for you to jump on board with Transform 850 and allow God to use you to serve the community around us. I think for some of us, maybe it's time to stop waiting for the perfect moment and start serving in the imperfect ones. Jesus started a revolution, not with power, but with a towel, and he is handing one to you. Thank you so much for tuning in with us. If you enjoyed today's message, go ahead and subscribe because there's content like this every single week. And if it spoke to you in any way, make sure you share it with a friend because you never know whose life you can change with just one simple share. Listen, we hope to see your face in the place this Sunday. Go ahead and check out our website for our service times at transformtlh.com, and we hope to see you soon.