March 21 - What's in Your Closet?

John 13:34-35

While talking to my daughter on the phone the other day, we talked about how she is navigating through some alignment changes and role transitions in her work setting.  She decided to find some ways to look at her challenges ahead in some new ways.

So, she went through her closet, sorted through her clothes, weeded out some “old” outfits, and off she went to her local clothing consignment shop. 

As she traded in some of her old things, she made room in her budget and in her closet for some “new” things.  Even though they were someone else’s old things, she was putting them into use in her life, in a new way.  In a very real way, she was taking off the old and putting on the new!

Jesus says in today’s reading that He is giving a new commandment.  What was that NEW commandment?  Love one another! 

Something in me wants to say, “But Jesus, that isn’t anything new!!”

So how is Jesus’ challenging us to take a different perspective of what seems old and bring new life to His words, "Love one another?"

John 13:1 says, “Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”

John 13:3-4 say, “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper.  He laid aside His outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around His waist” 

Jesus LOVED in a new way!  He took off the old garments of being self-serving or needing to prove Himself and put on NEW garments of love expressing itself in humble, sacrificial service. 

He humbly washed their feet although He knew how each of them was going to betray Him.  He knew He must go to the cross for them, even these who were weak, self-centered, and capable of the most heinous betrayal. He knew that His love for them would harden the hearts of some and renew the hearts of others.  Either way, He chose to love them to the end!

We love, but often with a conditional caveat.  “I will love you IF . . .” 

We love, but often with a guarded heart, shrinking back in fear.  We hold back on completely opening our hearts for fear of being hurt.  “I will love you WHEN . . .”

We love, but often with the weight of our self-protecting armor, putting up an impenetrable shield around our vulnerable hearts.  “I will love EXCEPT . . .”

How can I take off the old garments of self-centered “conditional,” “guarded” or “armored” love and boldly love as Jesus did?

How is God inviting me to weed out my "old" garments of love to make room for His "new" re-aligned garments of love?  How is God calling me to LEAN IN to His lavish, unselfish love for me and trust that I too can love as He did? 

Lord, help me to clothe myself in Your endless, sacrificial love for me!  Remove from me the shame of my past, how I have often been self-serving.  Show me how You want to reflect the light of Your amazing love through me today!

Becoming engaged

US Civil War General George McClellan was an intelligent man, an engineer known for his outstanding organizational skills.  For all his talent, however, McClellan had relatively little to show for it on the battle field because of his extreme reluctance to engage the enemy.  Not the right time, not the right place; need more troops, need more supplies.  His relentless excuses finally exhausted even the patience of President Abraham Lincoln who wrote, “If General McClellan does not want to use the Army, I would like to borrow it for a time.” 

It is a principle often seen in Scripture as well:  God equips us not merely so that we would be equipped, but that we would go and do as we are called to go and do.  We are built up not just to admire ourselves in the spiritual mirror, but to go out and confront our spiritual enemy.

So what does this look like?

Having received, we give.  Regarding spiritual preparedness, Jesus warned his disciples, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48).  To whom are you being called to give in some way? 

Freely forgiven, we freely love.  When Jesus attended dinner at the house of Simon the Pharisee, a woman there anointed Jesus’ feet with oil, wet them with her tears and dried them with her hair.  To the indignant ones there, Jesus observed, “her many sins have been forgiven - for she loved much.  But he who has been forgiven little loves little” (Matthew 7:47).  For what sin do you need to accept the forgiveness that is already there for you?  And who in your life is in need of the selfless love of a forgiven you? 

Receving mercy, we extend mercy.  Jesus once told a story about a servant who owed his king a debt so large he could not pay it.  When the king forgave him, the servant went out and imprisoned a man who owed him a very small debt.  Upon hearing this, the king was very angry with the servant, saying, “Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?”  (Matthew 18:33).  Whom is it who, however undeserving, needs from you the same mercy you received from God? 

Knowing God, we serve others.  Hours before his execution, Jesus used an object lesson to teach his disciples humility: the king of all creation stooped down and washed their dusty, dirty feet.  Upon finishing, he said, “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 should wash one another’s feet.  I have set you and example that you should do as I have done for you.... Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:13-17).  Whom are you being called to serve, even if it means greatly humbling yourself to do so? 

The truth of the matter is we all love to receive forgiveness and gifts and mercy and knowledge.  We bask in them, actually, because our sin nature is all about us.  But Jesus calls us to arise from our comfort and, in him, serve others just as he has equipped us to do. 

For his battles are won when his people engage.

“... it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”  Philippians 2:13

[Click here to see the daily reading in John 13:12-17, 31-35.]

He pledges allegiance

“After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.”  John 13:21

Jesus was not a naive guy.  Not in the least.

On the contrary, he “knew all people. (John 2:24 ESV)”  So I find it fascinating, how troubled Jesus became at the notion one of his friends would betray him.

Let’s be completely honest with ourselves: betrayal is well within our capabilities, isn’t it?  We’re pretty good at pledging allegiance – we do it with great gusto – but in the heat of the moment, it can be elusive.  Jesus himself foretold that, amid end-times chaos, believers would be betrayed “even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends. (Luke 21:16)”  And when at the Last Supper he revealed to his disciples that one of them would hand him over to his enemies, each tacitly confessed his inner frailty as “one by one they said to him, ‘Surely not I?’ (Matthew 26:22)”  [Note the question mark of self-doubt.]

Sometime after Judas left that evening, Jesus said to his remaining disciples, “I no longer call you servants.... Instead, I call you friends.... (John 15:15)”  And to Jesus, the commitment of friendship is far more than a lofty ideal; his allegiance lasts infinitely longer than a pledge.  His best for his friends means restored oneness – our oneness with the Father through the Son and our oneness with each other through him, as well.

Anything short of restoration and unity is troubling.  Separation from God is troubling; relational brokenness is troubling.

And so unnecessary!  For Jesus has already finished his atoning work; restoration is complete.  Salvation and forgiveness and reunion await humble hearts.  It is his promise, his commitment.

So he sends us, his friends, into the world around us to share our stories ... to point to the peace we find in him ... to relieve troubled hearts.

To see the daily reading, John 13:18-30, click here.

When Knowledge Grows Up

“It was just before the Passover Feast.  Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.  Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.  The evening meal was being served...  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, took off his outer clothing and wrapped a towel around his waist.  After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet...” John 13:1-5

All children dream about what they want to be when they grow up. Take young Knowledge, for instance.  When Knowledge grows up, he wants to be a doer.  After all, he has a good role model ...

Think of all that Jesus knew about his last week on earth. He knew the time had come for him to leave this world. He knew Judas would betray him. He knew Peter would deny him. He knew the Jews would condemn him. He knew the Gentiles would mock him ... insult him ... spit on him ... flog him ... and crucify him. And he knew his Father in heaven would forsake him for one most crucial moment in history.

He knew all of this because he knew the scriptures, which had foretold it. And he trusted that ultimate authority with his life.

So now that his time had come, what did Jesus do? He “showed [his disciples] the full extent of his love”: he washed their feet and taught them humility.

In just a few hours, he would face betrayal, denial, condemnation, torture and execution, so how could Jesus possibly focus his attention on serving and teaching his friends? He could because also knew this: the Father had put all things under his power, he had come from God, and he was returning to God. And knowing the peace and certainty of these promises, Jesus was free to continue serving others in humility, right to the end.

There comes a point in our spiritual life at which “knowing” must mature into “doing.” After Jesus finished washing the disciples’ feet, he said to them, “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.... Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

Our “Teacher” has taught us his truth; we are forever equipped in heart, mind and spirit. Our “Lord” now sends us to do; the world all around us is our mission field to serve as we are called ... day by day, moment by moment. To some, we bring encouragement. To some, we bring food. To some, we bring salvation. To some, we speak truth into confusion. To some, we simply listen. To all, we bring Truth and Life.

And just as Jesus found peace and freedom in the certainty of scripture, we also serve in the peace and promises of God. We take strength from Paul's assurance to the Philippians, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)”

In most of us, Knowledge has learned enough from the Teacher to go and serve its Lord. It is time for us to let loose the apron strings and let Knowledge go out and be what it has always wanted to be ... what it was raised to be ... a doer.

(To see today's devotional reading, John 13:1-17, 31-35, click here.)