HoHum:
A "Dear John letter" is a letter written, originally to a soldier overseas, by his wife or girlfriend to inform him their relationship is over, usually because the author has found another lover.
WBTU:
Because human love is failing, at times we doubt God’s love for us. When some terrible set of circumstances comes into our lives, we pull away, wondering how a loving God could allow such a thing to happen. Or when we fall into sin, we pull away, assuming that a holy God could only be disgusted with us. The result is that we never really get to know and enjoy God’s love because of our doubts. Suspicion or guilt always seems to stand in our way.
Let’s face it. There is no misery greater than feeling unloved. If we have ever been abandoned by a parent, betrayed by a spouse, or dumped by the girl or the guy of our dreams, we know this all to well. I’ve watched strong, capable men and women crumble under the anguish of a lost love, and the agony can be even worse when we don’t feel loved by God.
Mark Atteberry in book, Free Refill- I opened an e-mail from a reader who told me the story of how, after many years of living for herself, she finally gave her life to Christ. She was giddy with excitement and determined to spend every day of the rest of her life serving her Lord. Then, just a few weeks after her conversion, she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given only a few months to live. Can we blame her for turning her face toward Heaven and screaming, “OK, God, what up with this? I give you my heart and you give me cancer!”
Does our faith in God’s love need a refill? Is there something- perhaps pain or guilt- that makes us wonder where we really stand with God? Let’s journey back to John 13 (story of service for Labor Day), where we find Jesus teaching an unforgettable lesson about his love
Background:
Chapters 13 through 17 of John are known as the Farewell Discourse. They contain Jesus’ last words to his disciples before the cross. When we know we’re about to die every word and action is significant and packed with emotion.
As John 13 opens, we’re told that Jesus set out to show his disciples “the full extend of his love” (vs. 1). I find significance in the word “show” here. Jesus understood that just telling his disciples about his love wouldn’t cut it. Many people say that they love us. Jesus knew that actions speak louder than words, that a demonstration would stick with them longer than a declaration. So Jesus took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, poured water into a basin, and prepared to wash their feet.
Leonardo da Vinci once observed that “the foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art.” He’s right. Of the 206 bones in our body, 52 of them are in the feet. They are connected by 66 joints, moved by 40 muscles, and held together by 200 ligaments. Each foot also houses an intricate network of nerves and blood vessels.
The foot is a masterpiece but the foot is also the most unattractive part of the human body (I know how beautiful are the feet of him who brings good news but what makes that remarkable is that the foot is unattractive). During the typical day our feet endure the force of several hundred tons. That’s during the typical day. On days when we participate in sports, the pounding our feet suffer is multiplied many times over.
Our feet can suffer from maladies. Corns, calluses, cracked heels, ingrown toenails, bunions, warts, and rashes are painful and make our feet horrifying to look at. I’ve failed to mention the smell. The reason feet stink is because they contain approximately 250,000 sweat glands that can secrete as much as half a pint of moisture per day.
If feet are unattractive today, think of feet in Bible times. Imagine people walking everywhere on dusty roads that were traveled by donkeys and other animals. The disciples undoubtedly had some nasty feet under those robes. To have the host wash one’s feet would be insulting and humiliating, this was the job for the lowest slave. Peter, knowing this, refused to have Jesus wash his feet.
Jesus used this situation as a teaching opportunity. Jesus was showing the disciples the extent of his love for them.
Thesis: Notice 3 truths that will refill our faith in Jesus’ love
For instances:
Our filth doesn’t diminish Jesus’ love for us
Jesus was showing his disciples that he could and would stomach their filth.
The Bible teaches this truth through many dramatic stories but the most intriguing is the one found in the book of Hosea. God told the prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute. “When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, “Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife (some translations a prostitute) and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD.”” Hosea 1:2, NIV.
Why would God want his righteous prophet to marry one of the filthiest women in town? Simple, so Hosea could understand in some small way what it was like for God to be in a relationship with the people of Israel.
The idea of marrying a prostitute disgusts us. Not saying we have to do that but this would give us the full impact of what God has done. Through His Son, he has reached out his hand to every filthy, wretched sinner in this world and said, “I love you, and I want you.” He would only do that if he can stomach our filth. He does that through Jesus Christ.
Notice that Jesus washed Judas’ feet. This was before Judas left. Imagine how awkward Judas must have felt when Jesus pushed the basin toward him and looked up into his eyes. This should be an encouragement to us if we’ve been thinking that maybe God can’t stomach us because of the sins we’ve committed. Of course, God hates our sin, and he hates what sin does to us. Even so, God still loves sinners. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8, NIV.
Our resistance doesn’t diminish Jesus’ love for us
Have we ever loved someone who didn’t love us back? My dog but what about people.
When Jesus knelt before Peter and prepared to wash his feet, he met with some resistance. Peter said, You shall never wash my feet. If I’d been in Jesus’ position, I would have thrown my hands into the air and said, “Ok, no need to get upset. I’ll just skip you and move on.” Jesus didn’t give up so easily. Jesus wasn’t put off by Peter’s resistance. Jesus never is. We can avoid, defy, elude, evade, rebuff, resist, or reject him, but it doesn’t change the way he feels about us. Nor does it diminish his desire to bless us.
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20, NIV. A thousand vacuum cleaner salesmen put together would never encounter as many slammed doors as Jesus does. Yet, he keeps knocking and calling out in a tender voice, hoping only for a chance to demonstrate his love.
Remember Jonah? God keep manipulating Jonah’s surroundings- creating storms and controlling fish- all because he loved Jonah too much to let him go. Even though Jonah resisted big time, God continued to pursue him.
Our cluelessness doesn’t diminish Jesus’ love for us
Peter was clueless. Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter was clueless. When Jesus taught about unclean things coming from a man’s mouth, Peter didn’t get it, so Jesus replied “Are you so dull?” (Matthew 15:15-16) Jesus taught that He must die and be raised on the third day, to which Peter replied, “Never Lord, this shall never happen to you!” Jesus answered, “Get behind me Satan, you are a stumbling block to me.” (Matthew 16:21-23). Jesus told Peter that he will disown Him three times before the rooster crows, to which Peter replied, “I will never disown you”. Of course, Jesus was right. (Matthew 26:31-35). Let’s not pick on Peter, really all of the disciples were clueless. When the other Disciples claimed Jesus arose, Thomas could not believe without proof. (John 20:24-29). “When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.” Matthew 28:17, NIV.
I have a confession to make: clueless people drive me nuts. I’m not talking about people who are new to the faith, but people who should know better. When a person has had plenty of opportunities to get a clue and still doesn’t get it, it’s frustrating!
Think about the disciples. Jesus has been mentoring them for almost 3 years. They’d been traveling with him, listening to him preach, and watching him handle his adversaries almost on a daily basis. Yet they still had very limited understanding of what his purpose was. Even when Jesus spoke to them in the clearest terms possible, they still had trouble connecting the dots. I can only assume that, at times, Jesus must have been frustrated out of his mind. I can almost picture him with his face in his hands, shaking his head, wondering how in the world he managed to end up with such bozos. But then 2 thoughts come to my mind:
I need to realize there are times when I’m clueless too. Sometimes I say and do things that only a moron would say and do. Keep giving into the same temptations. Keep going down the same stupid roads. When I realize this I have no room to talk about others being clueless.
I realize how incredible Jesus is for putting up with our brain cramps, our foolishness, and our failure to grasp the obvious.. and loving us anyway. That can’t be easy. What would be easy is for him to say, “That’s it. I’ve had enough!”
““The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.” Luke 15:21, 22, NIV.
