Surprised by Service and Sacrifice
John 13: 1-15
The month of October we emphasize our American Baptist Mission efforts around the world, which we do by focusing our attention on our missionaries. American Baptist mission work is done in 76 countries by 2,500 short and long-term missionaries of which there are 116 long -term missionaries and 96 missionary kids.
We are very fortunate in this congregation to know four of those missionaries very well. Just a few weeks ago we listened in silence for 30 minutes, as our good friend Joyce Reed brought us a message of grace and joy. Joyce and her husband David, along with their sons Ian and Aaron are long term missionaries in La Paz Mexico. This past March, we also listened in silence as we heard dramatic stories of faith from Dr. Bill Clemmer, who serves as a medical missionary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And last year we were blessed to hear Debi and Jim Kesley, who had been serving in Belgium and are now serving as ABC Missionaries in Italy. The lives they live, the faith they proclaim and the stories they all share with us – surprise us! We are surprised and moved by the amazing ways that God is at work in their lives around the world.
Even as we speak of all these programs and this mission work – we realize and know that they are possible because of people and relationships that are built with one another. “Missionaries live lives that are daring and surprising, and as a result they become surprising people. That is what happens when we follow Jesus Christ. As we give ourselves to Jesus Christ, we are led to do things we never expected, in ways and places we never expected, with people we never expected.” God is a God of surprises! God does that – God works in surprising ways from La Paz to Littleton and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Listen to a surprising story…
Lynn and Virgil Nelson are American Baptist Missionaries, who serve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and they tell this story. Virgil taught courses at the Pastoral Institute in Kikongo, training ministers to serve in a rural setting. Lynn worked with pastor’s spouses and also with the secondary schools run by the Institute. They tell this story – a story of surprise, service and sacrifice.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the village community, the machete is a man’s tool. It is a multipurpose tool used to clear the fields of brush and trees in preparation for planting. It is a chainsaw for felling large trees. It is the butcher’s knife for carving up the goat or cow which is killed for celebration in the village each New Year. Unfortunately, it has been a weapon of mass destruction in the hands of angry rebels in the conflict in Northeastern Congo.
If the machete is the man’s tool in the Congo, the hoe is the women’s tool. Men use their machetes for four to six weeks each year clearing the fields, after which the brush is allowed to dry and then burned. The women and girls then use their hoes to clear the burned sticks, to work the soil and to plant the manioc and sometimes corn and peanuts. The hoe is used daily for weeding, and finally after a year, the harvest.
The women soak the precious tubers for three days to leach out the arsenic, and then break them into small pieces to dry in the sun. Every day some of the dried pieces are pounded into flour which is poured into boiling water to make thick dough, which tastes somewhat like potatoes. For eating, after carefully washing ones hands, a small ball of manioc is rolled in one hand and the thumb is used to make a depression in it like a spoon, which is then dipped into the vegetable sauce.
Student pastor Kuka was born the son of a chief. He came to Christ as an adult, and was sent by his local congregation and district to the Pastoral Institute in Kikongo. In the Congolese culture, the chiefs and their families like to be served by the village, and would hope to never have to pick-up the machete to do manual labor. So it was a big shock to student pastor Kuka when he learned that during his three years of study at the Pastoral School, he and his family would have to grow their own food, and that he would be expected to participate with all the other students in manual labor, which benefits various development projects and maintenance needs of the school.
The school uses Biblical models of leadership, and believe that pastors and their spouses need to be encouraged to work together as a team in partnership in ministry. Jesus called his disciples to serve one another as equals when he washed their feet. Paul encourages husbands and wives to be in mutual submission and service to one another, and for the husband to love and serve his wife even as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. So our professors go into the fields with their wives to use the hoe in tending the manioc. They help with child-care and other household responsibilities which traditionally are considered to be women's work.
We expect our students to do the same. Student pastor Kuka refused to participate in the manual labor, “After all, I am a Chief!” and it was certainly an insult for him to consider working alongside his wife in the fields. For several weeks our staff prayed mightily with no change in his attitude. Finally, the director met with him one Friday and shared that unless he was willing to “humble himself and be a servant,” with his wife and with the Institute, he would have to leave, possibly coming back when he was more spiritually mature.
The good news is that on the following Tuesday, student pastor Kuka showed up with his machete, and begrudgingly worked alongside the other students. By the end of the year he was joyfully participating in the school development projects, and accompanying his wife out into the fields. The even better news is that in his following two years he was able to help encourage the new students who were shocked to learn that they would be expected to do women's work in their roles as pastors.
After graduation student pastor Kuka served over three years in a small village church. He was then chosen to be the district pastor, responsible for serving and encouraging over 32 other pastors, many of whom supervise several smaller churches in outlying villages. At the annual district meeting in March of 2007, pastor Kuka preached on Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet. We were pleasantly surprised to hear his personal testimony as to how God had used the Pastoral Institute demands to do “menial manual labor” and “to work alongside his wife,” as a means to teach him humility and service. He challenged the pastors and over 400 church leaders to similar lives of humility and service with one another, and in the world. What a joyful surprise for the leadership of the Pastoral School, to hear how God had answered their prayers and efforts in spiritual formation.
Does that surprise you? Or did I bore you? When I started the story talking about a machete, did you expect to hear a story of drama and narrow escapes in the Congo? We have heard those true stories before. Instead you hear a story of humility. A story of discipleship and spiritual formation that changed one person’s life – who in turn went on to affect change in the lives of many others. Does that surprise you?
Missionaries live lives that are daring and surprising, and as a result they become surprising people. But they are not the only ones who live lives that are surprising and become surprising people. That is what can happen when we follow Jesus Christ. As we give ourselves to Jesus Christ, we are led to do things we never expected, in ways and places we never expected, with people we never expected.”
The text this morning is from John 13. It is a very surprising story that involves very surprising actions. Listen to a story of surprise, service and sacrifice.
John 13
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, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 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, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"
Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."
"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet."
Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."
"Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"
Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not everyone was clean.
When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked 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. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
Our mission material points out to us that “This is surprising and scandalous behavior on the part of Jesus. It was outrageous! No self-respecting rabbi would ever wash his disciples’ feet!! If anything, they should have been washing his! But Jesus makes it clear: all of us who claim to be his disciples are to “pick up the towel” in service to one another, and to our neighbors in the world around us. Jesus actually enjoyed and encouraged this surprising, daring behavior.”
Jesus’ actions were an act of humility. Isn’t it surprising how Jesus accomplished his work? Have we taken our faith and our worship and our service for granted?
Has our faith become routine and predictable?
Where does God surprise you? Do you see it? Do you notice it? Or do you miss it?
Think for a minute –where has God surprised you?
Where has God surprised you this week?
Think for a minute through your week.
Where have you been a surprising person of faith this week?
Did you act in a humble way and with grace towards someone you encountered this week? Did you do an act of kindness? Did you perform an act of justice for someone? Can you think of what it is?
Can you tell me? (ask for stories from the congregation)
~~~
Let us pray: Lord we give thanks for our missionaries who act on your behalf from Italy to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from La Paz to Littleton. Help us to continually be surprised by you – and help us to be surprising people on your behalf. “Open our hearts to your spirit of gratitude for the many blessings we are receiving. Help us find creative and joyful ways of surprising others with your loving service.”
Amen.
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