I love this quote from Mahatma Gandhi: Be the change you want to see in the world. It's more than just talking, planning, writing, or even praying about change. I want to be that change. I want to live every day with an attitude of grace and generosity. It's not easy, Lord. There are days when the demands of work and family and the world weigh heavily on me. My patience is strained, I struggle to remain compassionate, I wonder how I am going to make it, and I think that only when things get better I can begin to help others. "Right now I need to be selfish and take care of myself," I think. Father, help me to remember not to wait for things to be right in order to begin. Change is messy. Things will never be just right.

To be the change you want to see in the world, you don't have to be loud. You don't have to be eloquent. You don't have to be elected. You don't have to be perfect, or wealthy, or even particularly smart or well educated. You do, however, have to be committed. Generosity is not one aspect of life apart from the rest of life. It's a way of living, not only a way of giving.

Teddy Roosevelt said "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

God, help me to stay in a state of "Be". Help me to be the change, a representative of Your grace. Help me to live with an attitude of peace, acceptance, and generosity, with the knowledge that if each of us do what we can, no matter how small, together we can accomplish a lot, in Your name.
Amen.

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After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, "Do you understand what I was doing? You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and you are right, because that's what I am. 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. Do as I have done to you." John 13:12-15

The disciples respected Jesus as their 'Teacher' and 'Lord', but in this passage, Jesus has just washed the disciples feet. Foot washing was something a servant or slave would have done for their master or their master's guests. It was a task done by someone of less social status than you.

But Jesus gives this example and compels us to serve others who the world might view in a lower social status. We are to go out to the needy and less fortunate and to serve them and meet their needs. We often fail at this, wanting instead for others to show their high regard for us and to elevate our own status. Our selfish desire is to be prideful and take joy in our own worth, but Jesus asks that we lift others up higher than ourselves and love them unconditionally.

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Being a Christian means that we must be willing to serve others. Sometimes this is not a comfortable idea. Stepping out of my comfort zone to serve others is not a very easy thing for me to do. Everyone has his/her idea of what it means to serve.

Jesus set an awesome example of what it means to be a servant. In John 13, he washes the feet of his disciples. What is amazing about this is that Jesus humbled himself to do one of the most menial tasks of his day. Washing someone's feet was reserved for the lowliest of the low. Jesus got down on his knees and washed the feet of his disciples, even the one that was about to betray him. To me, this is the ultimate example of servanthood.

While I was at my former church, I was afforded the opportunity to serve as a Stephen Minister. While this was something that I chose to do, and something that I really wanted to do, I almost didn't do it because I was very uncomfortable. The thought of ministering to a person in need was very scary to me. What would I say in certain situations? How would I react if someone told me something that I was not expecting to hear? I was worried that I would say the wrong thing or not be as understanding or as compassionate as I should be. In the end, I found that this ministry was one of the most rewarding acts of serving for which I have ever been associated.

At the Quest, we each have an excellent opportunity to serve, from being a greeter, to getting out on First Friday and just meeting people, to being a shoulder for someone to lean on in their time of need, to cleaning the church bathrooms. By serving the church and serving others, our service can be as meaningful as washing the feet of others.

Philippians 2:3-4 sums it up well:"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."

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I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things you will be blessed if you do them. (John 3:15-17)

This is what Jesus told his disciples after he had washed their feet. During that time it was complimentary to wash someone's feet, a chore normally held for servants. Christ, however, turned the world upside down when he claimed that no master was better than his servant, and that to serve in this world will make you a master in the Kingdom of Heaven. In that time many people walked in the desert with only sandals on their feet, some who could not afford it walked barefoot in the burning sand. It was a custom at the time that when you entered someone's house their servants would wash your feet. Jesus showed his disciples that though they called him "master," he was still a servant to God. He proved this by washing each of their feet. If you read John 3 you will see that Simon Peter had the most trouble with this, he objected at having his master serve him, to the point where in John 3-8 he said " No, you shall never wash my feet."

We can relate to this story in two parts. The first is how do we serve? What can we do to serve Jesus? Does going to work count? Does raising your children in a Christian home count as being a good servant? Does working on your relationship with Christ make you a servant? No. A servant is someone who does something--anything--for someone else and receives nothing for his services. When was the last time you did something for someone you know or do not know, where the only reason you did it was to make their life easier, even if it was a burden for you? How many times have you driven past someone broken down on the side of the road or someone changing a tire without stopping to see if they needed help? Perhaps there are senior citizens in your area who need some help with the house work, or yard work. Maybe there is a handicapped person near you that needs the same thing. What about the people in your church? Is there someone in your church who is having a personal problem that you could help them with? What about the church in general? Are you the person who just comes to church, or are you a person who is active in your church? We all have busy lives. We have constructed lives where we do not have time for ourselves, let alone time to do something for someone else.

The second way we can relate to the concept of "washing the feet" of others is when we receive help. As strange as it may seem, receiving help from someone is much more difficult than finding the will to serve. We all want to believe that we are capable of taking care of ourselves, and cannot humble ourselves to admit that we need help from others, the tragic irony is that we choose to suffer, rather than allowing others to be generous to us. But if we heed Christ's word we must understand that we must serve others, but we must also be willing to receive service from others. John 3:8, "Unless I wash you, you have no part of me." Being a good Christian demands humility and the act of being humble, whether you are the servant or the one being served. Remember that being a good Christian is an ever learning process. We practice our faith; no one has perfected it yet. We practice so that we can always be willing learn more, and allow others to teach us. We will find out how well we did on this test of faith when we reach that wonderful place.

Whom do you serve?

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