Take the Towel

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 89, Take the Towel.

Listen to what Jesus said — and pay attention to who is saying it:

"If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you." John 13, verses 14 and 15.

Just stop for a moment. Let that scene settle on you.

The Son of God — the Lord and Teacher, His own words — gets down on His knees on a cold stone floor. He picks up a basin. He wraps a towel around His waist. And He begins to wash the dusty feet of fishermen, of a tax collector, of men who were arguing that very same night about which one of them was the greatest.

Jesus doesn't set aside His titles to serve. He serves because those titles are His. That's exactly what makes this scene so staggering — authority and humility are not in conflict in Him. They live under the same roof.

And there's something else we cannot miss. Into that basin went the water that washed every pair of feet around that table — including Judas's feet. Jesus knew. The Gospel makes it plain: He already knew who would betray Him. And still He reached for the towel. Still He served. The love of Jesus does not wait for the other person to deserve it. It serves even the one who is about to wound you. That is not weakness. That is the most powerful thing in the world.

And then He looks up and says: you also ought to. Not — wouldn't it be lovely if you did. Not — consider this, if you feel led. He says ought to. The towel is not optional for those who follow Christ — it is part of the call. He gave us an example, and that example comes with a commission.

But here is what we need to sit with: humility is not born in a sermon. It is born in hidden service. In the task no one sees, no one applauds, no one is ever going to thank you for. It is there, in the quiet of the ordinary act, that the heart begins to change. Where the hunger for recognition slowly loses its grip. Where we learn, little by little, to serve without an audience — because the only One who needs to see it already does.

Jesus did not wash His disciples' feet so they would feel loved and stay put. He did it so they would go. So that you would go. So that today, this morning, you would pick up the towel.

So before breakfast — before you open your phone, before the day gets away from you — choose one humble thing that no one will see. Wash the dishes. Take out the trash. Fold the laundry that's been sitting there. Or, if there is someone who hurt you and you are still carrying that weight, sit down, close your eyes, and pray for that person. Not because you feel like it. Because Jesus washed Judas's feet. And that is worship. That is the towel in your hands.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.