"Serving God and Each Other" Laity Sunday October 9, 2005

GOSPEL READING - John 13 : 1 - 17  
Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.

 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.

 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"

Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand."

Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me."

 Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean."

 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am.

So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

 Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” 

The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

 The washing of the feet … one of the greatest stories of the Bible. In Palestine during Jesus’ day the roads were not paved. When dry, they were thick with dust. When wet, they were thicker with mud. The people wore only sandals that did little to keep out the grime. It was common practice to keep water and towels near the door of a house so that the feet could be washed before entering. The servants of a house normally made sure that the water and towels where placed properly and performed the washing task. For this meeting, there were no servants. At this point the disciples probably had little concern about their dusty, dirty feet. The disciples had even been arguing among themselves as to who was the greatest disciple of Jesus. Here, Jesus saw an opportunity to bring home a message. He brings a message that states that there is only one kind of greatness; the greatness of service to each other without regard to self.

 Today we celebrate “Laity Sunday”; the Sunday where the lay people of the Church traditionally give the pastor the day off and handle the worship service. And we also celebrate the gifts and services that our  laity provide to this church. But who or what is “Laity”. My dictionary defines “Laity” as 1. lay people rather than clergy: the followers of a religion who are not clergy and 2. people not in particular profession: all the  people who are not members of a specific profession. 

 That means YOU and me. All of us here (unless you are clergy) are lay people. Lay people ARE the church.  As our earlier hymn said, “I am the church! You are the church! We are the Church together!” Without the laity, the church does not function. Laity is also where all of us have the opportunity to get a taste of greatness. We have an opportunity to be of service and help our fellow men, women, and children.

Of course our huddled masses still need those that are called by God to be the clergy too. We need them to teach us and guide us down our various paths toward salvation. Without the combined effort of all of us, the great commission of Jesus fails. Our clergy depend on the entire congregation to support our church in many ways.

The French writer, Andre’ Gide said: “God lies ahead. I convince myself and constantly repeat to myself that He depends on us. It is through US that God is achieved.”  Now doesn’t that make you feel important!  IT IS THROUGH US THAT GOD IS ACHIEVED! Now how do we meet THAT responsibility? We meet that responsibility by fulfilling our part of the bargain that we made with God when we joined the church. And we renew that covenant with God and the church at each baptism that takes place here. We agree to “faithfully participate in the ministries of the church by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service, that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ”.  

We promised God that we will faithfully pray. We pray for ourselves, we pray for others, we pray for our church, and we pray for God’s guidance and comfort in this trek through life and death and rebirth.

We promised God that we will faithfully meet Him in His house. We will meet Him and we will meet others and together we will be the church. Alone, we cannot accomplish the goals that God has set for us.

We promised God that we will faithfully share our gifts with His church. These gifts are not just the money that it takes to manage the church building. They are the spiritual and physical gifts that only you possess. Your gift may be your talent, your personality, your motivation, your prayers and your love. If you don’t think that you have a gift to give, think again. We all have gifts to give. Your prayers and your presence will help in discerning them.

We promised God that we will faithfully serve His people and His church. Are you willing to take your basin and your towel and wash the feet of your fellow man as Jesus did? That is what it means to faithfully serve each other. It is not all about me and you individually. It is about US and the world, together. To support and help each other reach the goals that God has set for us. To reach the community to bring Christ’s hope and salvation to the world, one sinner at a time.   And we can do this with our prayers, our presence, our gifts and our service.

There are many of you out there who already take your covenant seriously. You must have noticed the lay people coming from within your midst this morning, coming forward to do their bit for this worship service. We are truly thankful for the washing-of-feet provided by volunteers that teach Sunday School, lead Bible studies, participate in Bible studies, sing in the choir, play music, cook and serve and clean at Grace Café, work in My Neighbors Closet, work at Neighbors Helping Neighbors, work as Trustees to take care of our building, tend the Sheep of this flock, participate in all of our various committees, projects, missions, ushers, greeters, administrative assistance, vacation bible school volunteers, Journeymen, UMW, lay leaders, and speakers. We thank God for all of you! 

As you can see, it takes a lot of laity to fulfill the great commission of our Lord. But BEWARE!  Remember the 20/80 rule? That’s the rule that says that 20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work. This rule may be a human nature thing but we need to change the rule and make it a Christian nature thing; more like a 90/99 rule where 90 percent of the congregation do 99 percent of the work (99 because there is always something else to do). We need to change this rule because burnout can be a real problem. Burnout is a problem at your job, it is a problem at your home, and it is a problem at your church. I totally understand that balancing all of your priorities is a real trick sometimes. AND, you’ve got a lot of people trying to set your priorities for you.   But maybe, just maybe, if we elevate the priority of our God and our church, some of our other priorities will fall into place.  The church needs EVERYONE’S prayers, presence, gifts and service.

So you think that you don’t have any gifts to be of service??? Well, perhaps you remember The Upper Room devotional for September 19. It was titled “Do What You Can” and went like this:

“Like all little boys with their fathers, my son wanted to be part of whatever I was doing. After watching quietly as I moved several heavy boxes, he stepped to my side and put his hand under the load and walked beside me. When I sat down, exhausted, he plopped down beside me, wiped his hand across his brow, and with a big grin exclaimed, “Whew!” That’s hard work, isn’t it, Daddy?”

“Honestly, he wasn’t much help, but his cheerful willingness made the job easier. He wasn’t doing much, but he was doing everything he could, and that’s all anyone can ask. Many hands make light work, especially when those hands express love and support.

“I like the slogan ‘not equal giving but equal sacrifice.’ God doesn’t demand the impossible, just the possible. God takes our efforts and accomplishes the amazing. Like the little boy with the loaves and fishes in the story of Jesus’ feeding the five thousand, we may not think we bring much to the table; but God can make a great feast from very little when we give it willingly.”

The prayer for that daily devotional said “Father, give each of us strength to do our best and to shoulder our part of the load. Help us to be people you can depend on. Amen.”

 And the thought for that day was: “If we do what we can, God will do what we cannot.”

Remember what Jesus said to his disciples in today’s Gospel reading: “So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. “

Also remember what Paul said in this morning’s New Testament reading,

“For we know, brothers and sisters, beloved by God, that He has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction … and you became imitators of the Lord … so that you became an example to all  …”

May all of you, the laity of this church, continue to be true examples to all and may all who experience that example come to know, serve and bring glory to their Lord.

AMEN