Transcription
I suppose if we were to boil the entire business of the Christian religion down to one word, it would be the same word that we would use for the, uh, happy home and marriage: communication. That is the single most [Music] important because communion with God is the way we accept his grace, and we are saved by grace. So when we talk about the communion service or communion with Jesus, we're talking about the bottom line, the basic, the beginning, the end, the middle of the entire business of the Christian Faith, Christian experience.
Let's turn to a text that, of course, most people are familiar with who've had anything to do at all with Christianity: Matthew, the 26th chapter, verses 26 to [Music] 30. If you go to the Forest Lawn in, uh, Los Angeles, you can go and see the famous Last Supper window, or many other places where it has been featured. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." And he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, "Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom." And when they had sung a hymn, they went out unto the Mount of Olivet.
I was sort of, uh, in my imagination trying to figure out what it would be like to see Jesus participate in this for the first time since then in his Father's Kingdom, when we gather around the great supper. That will be interesting, won't it? He hasn't done it since. That was some sort of a promise or a statement or a condition, wasn't it?
Well, there are many churches that have the Lord's Supper. They call it by different names. Some people call it the communion service, uh, some the Lord's Supper, some the ordinance of the Lord's House, some the sacraments. Regardless, it's basically the same service, except for what Seventh-day Adventists believe concerning this service, which is rather unique. And this is the part I suppose I would like to share most with you tonight because people who inquire into the belief and practice of Seventh-day Adventist have sometimes wondered about this part of it.
A, um, an Adventist evangelist came across a businessman who had been listening to some of his meetings back in the East. And the man, who knew his Bible, said, "Why is it that you Seventh-day Adventist insist on worshiping on the Saturday, the seventh day of the week, when, uh, most other Christian beliefs worship on Sunday?" And the Adventist evangelist simply said, "Because we believe in doing what the Bible says, and if the Bible says that, then we believe in following it." And the businessman said, "Well, uh, if you were to follow everything the Bible said, that would be impossible." Well, he said, "If you followed everything the Bible said, you'd wash each other's feet." And the Adventist said, "We do." And he said, "Well, that's a feather in your cap."
If you go to the scripture account of this part of the service, you go to John the 13th chapter, and, uh, here we come to the gospel writer who features this as part of the Lord's Supper, The Upper Room, The Last Supper, whatever you call it. John [Music] the 13th chapter, beginning with the very first [Music] verse: "Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that the hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father," notice all of the parentheses here, "Now having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God, he riseth from supper and laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself."
Well, that's an interesting introduction, and there are a lot of thoughts in there, a lot of phrases, some of them very significant. Uh, the one, one that I'd like to concentrate most on for the moment would be that Jesus knew that the Father had given all things into his hands. He knew that he had come from God, and he knew that he was going to God, back to God. He knew that he was the creator of this world. He knew that he had been one with the Father before he showed up as a babe in Bethlehem. He knew that there had come a time in the Heavenly country when he had laid aside his kingly garments and had become like a servant, showing up as a humble babe in a stable. He knew all that. He knew that he could, uh, snap his fingers and 12 legions of angels would come to his rescue. He knew who he was, and he laid aside His [Music] Garment as he rose from supper and took a towel and girded himself.
Well, we know, as we go back to those days, that it was the custom for, uh, people to wash the feet or provide for the washing of the feet of their guests. It was a custom, and it was a regular thing, a usual thing. People with their sandals and the dusty roads and the tired feet were refreshed when they arrived at the home of the one who was their host, and usually a servant was provided. And I suppose on that basis that some people would say, um, "Let's not follow that custom today," except for the way the account unfolds as it continues. You see, in the Christian churches of today, there are some people who participate in one-third of the Lord's Supper; there are some people who participate in two-thirds of the communion service; and there are some who participate in three-thirds, the three parts being the bread, the cup, and the feet washing.
Now notice in this passage the solid Bible evidence for continuing this feet washing part of the service. Verse 5: "After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded." Then comes a section that we'll come back to in a moment. Let's skip down to verse 12: "So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garment, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do [Music] them." Notice that there are three reasons given why the Lord intended this part of the service to continue on: number one, "You ought to," he said, "you ought to wash one another's feet"; number two, "I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you"; number three, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." Other word is blessed, or blessed—you're going to be blessed if you do.
Now, earlier in the Christian church, this was the custom, as baptism by immersion was the custom. But gradually, as the church began to compromise with the world and people began to make a pitch for something more convenient, they, uh, discarded baptism by immersion and feet washing until only a very small handful of people today still continue all three-thirds of the service. I'd like to remind you once more that, uh, the Christian who has studied God's word and is anxious to do what God's word says does not measure his obedience by convenience, right? Convenience had nothing to do with it because it wasn't convenient for Jesus to die, and it wasn't convenient for John the Baptist to be beheaded, and it wasn't convenient for the Apostle Paul to be scourged, and it wasn't convenient for all of the disciples except one to die a martyr's death, and, and it wasn't convenient for thousands to give their lives during the Dark Ages. And so convenience is not the point at all. I would like to follow what Jesus recommends, wouldn't you, whether it's convenient or not? That's beside the point. And, um, as we consider this, we discover Jesus' statement, his prediction that you're going to be happy if you do it. Well, those of you who have participated in the ordinance of the feet washing as a prelude to the Lord's Supper at the table, are you happy doing it? And if there's someone to whom this is new, you think you'd be happy doing it? I've heard people react, uh, I remember one lady who said, "Washing someone's feet? That's what you do in the hospital." And I was taking part in the service with a student up in the Northwest one time, and he said, uh, sort of in disgust, "I usually wash my feet myself." And I thought about that, and I think there's something deeper there, to allow someone else to do for you that which you would rather do for yourself. There might be something really basic there that has to do with the whole motive of Salvation. We can't save ourselves from either the guilt of sin or the power of sin; someone else has to do it for us. And to admit that we are basically self-sufficient people and to renew a surrender to Christ and go through the symbolic service of letting him minister to us, our Savior, could be a very central pivot part of the whole Plan of Salvation.
Um, I've enjoyed a few times quizzing people for fun as to which is easier and which is harder: to wash somebody else's feet or to have someone wash your feet. Think about that for a moment. Which do you think is harder, and which do you think is easier? And most of the time I get the same answer. Which one do you suppose it is? It is harder to get your feet washed than to wash someone else's feet. Why would that be? Because it's embarrassing, uh, kind of a private thing; we don't particularly want to advertise our feet to the public, or, or is there something far more basic than that? And that is, uh, to admit that we need something, to admit that we need a Savior, of which it is symbolic. Jesus coming to minister to us—is it humiliating? Yes, I think so. And one of the things I think that Seventh-day Adventist ought to admit is that there is something humiliating to many of us about this service, and if we're not humiliated, maybe we're not that much into the service. Sometimes we call it the ordinance of humility; maybe we should call it the ordinance of humiliation. And, uh, I would like to, uh, give some of you people who have participated in it before a proof that you are humiliated, and that is the basis of what the conversations are all about.
Botkin, a non-Adventist who did a research and wrote a book on Seventh-day Adventist, put in his book some interesting ideas that he picked up from watching Seventh-day Adventist in their feet washing service before the Lord's Supper. He said, uh, "They talk about everything except spiritual things. They talk about the weather, they talk about the neighbors, they talk about what they're going to do during vacation, they talk about politics, they talk about the, the news, the latest news, they talk about sports, they talk about cards; they talk about everything except the spiritual meaning of the service." And I've listened, and I've come to the conclusion that the reason this is easy to do is because, because we are humiliated, and you have a whole bunch of people who are embarrassed to tears trying to play it cool and act as though they aren't embarrassed at all, so they're talking nonchalantly about this and that and the other thing. Now you just study it and see if there isn't something to that. I'd like to suggest that a person who goes into this service, if he can't think of anything or doesn't have anything to say concerning the service itself and the Lord and the gospel and the Plan of Salvation, that they should at least keep quiet and not say anything. But there's an awful lot to say concerning it if we remember what it's all about. And I'd like to also take this position that this is one of the services of the church that is one of those times when Jesus comes particularly near. I think we've said this earlier that there are several services that you can almost plan on; if you have your spiritual ear tuned to it, you can plan on sensing God's presence in a special way. One of them is a Christian baptism; another is a Christian funeral; another is a Christian communion service, the Lord's Supper. But of course, if you're not tuned to it, it can be simply a form or a routine. And there's one thing for sure about all three parts of the Lord's Supper, and that is that self-sufficient people don't like it. Self-sufficient people don't like it. And there are people who stay away whenever all three-thirds of the Lord's Supper are to be celebrated. On the other hand, I have known of church members who participated in all three-thirds of the Lord's Supper, and then they were traveling to another place the following week, and they came to a church where they're having the same thing there, and they said, "Wonderful, we have a double blessing; we get to participate again." And then other types of people who will do their duty, and they go to another church where they're having, they say, "Oh well, we already had that last week, so we won't need to do that again." Which of the two would you rather be, and what does it tell you about the two approaches? Is it meaningful or is it not?
Now Seventh-day Adventists have felt that even though the Bible gives no stipulation as to how often the communion or the Lord's Supper is to be celebrated, that it was meaningful to us to, uh, follow a practice of four times a year or once every quarter. There are some churches that have it every week and, uh, perhaps run the risk of it becoming a habit and a form and a routine. There are others who have it less often and perhaps miss the meaning. And so that has been the Seventh-day Adventist practice as long as I know: four times a year to celebrate on a given Sabbath all three-thirds of the Lord's Supper program.
Now there is an interesting, meaningful description of this in the book *Desire of Ages*, the classic book on the Life of Christ. But before we read it, I would like to go back to these verses that we skipped in John the 13th chapter, starting this time with verse 6. Jesus is going around the circle washing the disciples' feet. "Then cometh he to Simon Peter; and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet." Why do you suppose? Why? Let's look at two options. Let's have a multiple-choice test here. Was it because Peter didn't want Jesus to humble himself and he felt remorse that he should have been the one to volunteer when there was no servant appointed? Or was it because Peter had a trait of character called self-sufficiency that he found it humiliating and it blew to his own ego to have his feet washed, to admit that someone else had to wash his feet? Or would it be all of the above? Notice then what Jesus said: "Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Then Peter saith, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Give me the complete treatment. Jesus said to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit." And that says something. There are those who see in the quarterly communion service a sort of symbolic rebaptism, if you please, where Jesus says we need to be washed [Music] again: "There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel's veins; and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains." It is a reminder of his justifying grace and of the cross that still waves its friendly arms toward the Heavenly Kingdom. And then Jesus said, for those who had been baptized, "You don't need to be washed except your feet only." Perhaps we can see something significant in relationship to those who think they need to be baptized every time they fall or fail. Jesus has already built in a service that includes that, right? Includes that. Well, I like Peter's response, don't you? Whatever it takes, I want to be in your kingdom.
And then comes this comment from the book *Desire of Ages*: "Peter and his brethren had been washed in the great Fountain open for sin and uncleanness. Christ acknowledged them as His, but temptation had led them into evil, and they still needed His cleansing grace. When Jesus girded Himself with a towel to wash the feet, or to wash the dust from their feet, He desired by that very act to wash the alienation, jealousy, and pride from their hearts. This was of far more consequence than the washing of their dusty feet. With the spirit they then had, not one of them was prepared for communion with Christ until brought into a state of humility and love. They were not prepared to partake of the Lord's Supper or to share in the memorial service which Christ was about to institute. Their hearts must be cleansed. Pride and self-seeking create dissension and hatred, but all this Jesus washed away. In washing their feet, a change of feeling was brought about. Looking upon them, Jesus could say, Ye are clean now. There was union of heart, love for one another. They had become humble and teachable. Except for Judas, each was ready to concede to another the highest place. Now with subdued and grateful hearts they could receive Christ's word." So it did do something for them right there that night in that service, didn't it?
Now, just a reminder in [Music] conclusion of where the Passover supper had come from. When Jesus celebrated the Lord's Supper in the upper room, they were celebrating the Passover. The Passover went back hundreds of years to the time when the people of Israel left Egypt. And when they left Egypt, they had been told to put the blood on the doorpost the night that the angel came over, and the firstborn of the Egyptians died. And when the angel passed over their homes and saw the blood on the doorpost, the angel passed over those homes, and there was rejoicing as the firstborn were saved. Now you study that a little bit, and you discover that the night that God's people were delivered from Egypt becomes a symbol of God's people today being delivered from the bondage and darkness of sin. The world of sin—Egypt stands for sin and the world of darkness—and, uh, we have three ways in which we are delivered, all symbolized by the celebration of the Lord's Supper. We are delivered from the guilt of sin; our past is forgiven. We are delivered from the power of sin, the present power in the Blood to overcome. And we will be delivered from the presence of sin when Jesus comes. And even the second coming of Christ is brought forth in the Lord's Supper: "As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." The preparation service, which we call sometimes the ordinance of humility, symbolizes Jesus' life, and the bread and cup symbolize Jesus' death. We are saved by his life and death, and in order to have a complete salvation and a complete deliverance, we have all three-thirds of the Lord's Supper program. But there were people back in Egypt who said, "Why do we have to sprinkle the blood on the doorpost?" There were people in the wilderness who were being bitten by snakes who said, "Why do we have to look at the serpent that Moses made and lifted up?" And there are people today who say, "Why do we have to wash someone's feet?" Well, I'd like to remind you that there's one good reason: because Jesus said to do it. That's it. Is that good enough for you, or do I have to figure out all the reasons? I saw a little drawing one time, something like a cartoon: here's a little kid outside playing; it's beginning to rain. Mother sticks her head out the back door of the house, says, "Johnny, come in." Johnny says, "Why?" "Because it's beginning to rain." "Why?" "Well, because there are clouds in the sky." "Why?" "Because if it rains you'll get wet and you'll get a cold." "Why?" "Because, uh, rain does that to you, and if you got a cold you might get worse, you get a flu and get pneumonia, have to—" And by this time the little kid is all wet. Then part two starts: the rain. Mother sticks her head out the window and says, "Johnny, come in." "Why?" "Because mother said so." Now I'm glad that we can look at the reasons after we get in out of the [Music] rain. But when Jesus said, "You ought to do it," "I've given you an example that you should do as I have done," and "You're going to be happy if you do it," even though it might be hard sometimes, then, uh, that's good reason to do it, isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't that enough? And then to understand as much as we can of the meaning makes sense.
Well, there is a text that describes Jesus, a favorite text. Listen to the words which really describe his humility: "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross: Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."