Selfless Love

Matt Vincent · Tidal Church Moncton · March 15, 2026 · For Our City series

Matt Vincent looks at John 13, where Jesus, fully aware of what lay ahead, washes His disciples' feet. He shows that Jesus' humble, costly love sets the pattern for His followers, and invites us to ask who God is calling us to love.

More from Matt Vincent · The For Our City series

Topics: Love, Relationships, Discipleship

Transcript

[0:00] My name is Matt, and so good to be here with you. If we've never met, as Jim was saying, I don't know how... if you know how kinda special this is, where churches are working together in intentional ways. It doesn't always happen this way. We were chatting earlier, like, this is a pretty unique thing, and I just... I know that the way God is at work in our city, first off, just as pastors of churches around our city, building friendships, having coffee, having lunch, that's incredible. The chance to come together for our third Good Friday, it's an amazing thing across, you know, different parts of the city, different theological spectrums, different denominations saying, "You know, we want people in our city to encounter Jesus for the first time. We want to see lives changed. We all wanna see our city transformed." And to me, it's a very special marker.

[0:52] It's an indication of how God is at work in our city when we see cooperation, and laughter, and joy of serving together. And so I'm really grateful to be here. I'm grateful for the things God is doing in our city, and I think we're just starting to taste some of those things. And so, yeah, thanks. Jeremy is over at Lewisville this morning, and next week I'm at Glad Tidings, and their pastor, Paul, who was here last week, will be over at... Like, just some moving around, you know? I think in the old days they called it a pulpit exchange. I like the pulpit swap a little bit better. So, anyways, glad to be here. So if you have your Bibles, please, or your app or whatever you're gonna use this morning, John 13 is where we're going to hang out, and so you can get that ready. Want you to be able to track along. The passages are gonna be up on the screen, but that's kind of our core text this morning, so please grab that. This is a story for some of you maybe, you know, depending on how long you've been around the church, maybe this is the first time you've heard this story. And I think it's great. This is a really good one.

[1:52] And if you've been around the church for a while, maybe you've read this story 100 times. But this is one of those passages that is set right before the events unfold, right before Jesus is arrested and His crucifixion. So it's timely as we're heading into Good Friday for us to read this and consider this, again, maybe for the first time or maybe for the 100th time. My hope is that as we encounter the example Jesus sets for us here in this passage, that we are all stirred to consider what this means for us as followers of Jesus or for those of you who are considering following Jesus, this marker of the kingdom, this example Jesus sets for us in John 13. So let's read together. We're gonna take our time through it a few verses at a time. I'll pull out a few things that I think are meaningful, that have stood out to me in my own prep, and study, and reading, and maybe there'll be other things that pique your curiosity and interest, but glad to do this. I also want, just wanna mention, partly 'cause of my own embarrassment, I'm gonna be doing a little bit of a wardrobe change.

[2:55] Folks at our church tease me quite a bit about this. When I went to the eye doctor the last time, he said, "You're ready for reading glasses." And he said, "Should we get progressives?" And I was like, "That's way too much a hit on my pride here," like so I said, "No, no, I'll just get some reading glasses." And I wish I didn't do that because now I have to change... Like, I wanna see you, so I'm wearing these glasses, but every time I wanna read clearly, I have to switch, so please forgive. I think Lewisville, they're not a betting church, but I think sometimes there's an over-under going on on how many times I change glasses. Anyways, let's read together and please follow along. Again, it's on the screen. But let's read this. John 13, we'll begin at verse 1 together. "It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end." And depending if you're reading a different translation, it may also use the phrase, "He now showed them the full extent of His love."

[3:56] Verse 2 continues, "The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. He knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God." So let me just pause here. I wanna just draw your attention. So two times, verse 1 and verse 3, we read that Jesus knew. Jesus knew. This is more than a good guess. This is way more than a hunch. Jesus knowing. So you know like when you're hanging out with friends or you're watching a movie, maybe with your family, and you've never seen it before. Everyone, it's their first time watching it, and just as the story is unfolding, as the plot is kinda coming, you recognize that certain things are coming, and, like, it's all coming to a head. There's gonna be this pinnacle moment, this, like, grand reveal, you know, if it's, like, a suspense or something, and then when it all kinda hits, you're like, "I knew it. I knew that's where it was going." But you didn't really know it.

[4:54] Like, you were using your intuition and kinda following along. You didn't really know. But here this is different. When we read two times in these first three verses that Jesus knew, it's because He has a full awareness. That same word, Greek word, can be translated as an awareness, a deep perception and understanding. What it does is it implies this full knowledge, this full consciousness. It's like it's in His bones. He's not guessing. He's not caught off guard. He has this deep intuitive knowing because of His connection with God the Father. He knows. So He knows the hour. He knows how long He's been here, His teaching, His ministry, His travels, but He knows that the hour has come, and He knows where this is all going.

[5:49] It's not like in a few hours when He's in the garden praying and He says to the Father, "If there's any other way to take this cup from Me, yet not My will, but Your will be done." When He submits to the will of Father, He knows where it's all going. He's fully aware. He knows what it's gonna cost Him and what's about to unfold. And so in this moment, full of awareness, full of consciousness, this deep in His bones awareness, Jesus models something and teaches us. Leon Morris, who's a prolific New Testament scholar, theologian, he writes about this idea of knowing and loving them to the end. This is what Morris says. He says, "'He loved them to the end' is packed with meaning. It stands for both the conclusion of Jesus' earthly life and the absolute perfection of love.

[6:39] This sets the tone. Whatever follows, we are to view as the expression par excellence of that divine love." Hey, if you wanna know what love looks like, just pay attention to what's about to unfold here. This is going to be our most perfect example of love, not only what's going to unfold in this upper room setting, but also in the hours and days to come. The divine timeline is unfolding here. This divine expression of love is about to be put on full display. Okay, let's keep going. Verse 4: Jesus knew. And now let's keep going. So He got up from the meal, He 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. So let's talk about this foot washing scene. So, years ago, the very first time I was brought in by a church to become a lead pastor, I was a youth pastor before, I was an associate pastor, but the first time I became and had this role as a lead pastor, I was maybe thirty-one or thirty-two years old, and it was part of...

[7:45] That this church was part of a historic denomination that had deep Anabaptist roots. Now, if you don't know anything about Anabaptism, you don't need to worry. Just a long time ago, like in the early 1500s, this branch of the church emerged during the Reformation as a response to that, and they were marked by some key things. One thing was they had this Jesus-centered hermeneutic in terms of the way they understood Scripture and applied Scripture, Jesus at the center. We could probably all say, "Well, that sounds great." They also had this deep connection to community, that they believe that the full expression of our discipleship or our apprenticeship to Jesus is meant to be experienced good, bad and ugly in community. So we'd probably say, "Yeah, you know what? When it's good, yeah, like we totally get that." They also, which may be a little bit different or maybe even new for some of you, they were a historic peace church, which means that they would respond under any circumstances with peace. Any type of conflict or violence, they would always try to use peace as a way.

[8:45] There was never a tipping point where they would say, "And now physical force is included," which is not common in the broader historic Christian Church even today. So they were a peace church, and they also had this historic practice of foot washing. Now, the church I joined, it was in the Greater Toronto Area. We were just starting this new campus. The church was growing really rapidly. We were not washing each other's feet. Like, that's kinda weird, right? So we didn't, but as a passionate, eager, new lead pastor for the first time, I'd invited all the elders, there was about eight or ten of them, over to my house on a Saturday morning, and knowing our history and our roots, I thought, "This will be so great." You know, I'm like so eager. I'm like, "They're gonna show up at ten AM on a Saturday, and I'm gonna wash their feet." So if you're already feeling a little squirmy, don't get ahead of me here.

[9:36] Okay? Hold on. Just let me play this out a little bit. Okay? Take your time here. So I got, front entrance of our house, I had w- basins and buckets ready to go. I had pitchers of nice warm water, and I even thought, "You know, I'm gonna buy everyone new socks," 'cause who wants to take off their socks, have their feet washed, and put on those other socks, right? Like, so I'm like thinking, "This is gonna be amazing. They're gonna love it." Again, tapping into our history, but as an expression of their commitment, their leadership in our church, the sacrifices they were making, and this journey we were on as this new campus, part of our church, and I just wanted to honor them. I just wanted to demonstrate this. This was top of mind. So the doorbell rings, the first person shows up, and it's this guy named Steve, and thankfully it was Steve first. He's a good sport.

[10:22] He came in and then he saw what's going on, and you could tell he was a little bit like, "Oh, this is weird," you know? Like he was feeling a little... But he was good. He sat down and took off his shoes and his socks, and I poured water over his feet and just kinda said words of encouragement, affirmation. Like, I didn't like get in his toes or anything. Like, I'm not an animal, right? Like, I was just pouring and, you know, just trying to encourage him. Like, "Thank you so much for who you are and your leadership in our church and what God's doing here, and you know, I'm just using this example that Jesus said and that it's part of our church heritage, and I'm just so grateful for you, man." Like, but what I hadn't thought ahead of is that when you say it's gonna be 10 o'clock meeting, I hadn't thought like how long this was going to take, and now we're getting like a line up outside my front door, and I... You know, it didn't... You don't have to be super intelligent or discerning to now look out and people's faces, like some are like just horrified. Like, some are leaning in, like kinda like curious and like, "Oh, this is kinda funny or weird." But then there's other people, and you could look... You know, you could say, "Hey, what's your top ten most worst case scenarios when you show up at a pastor's house?" And this would probably be on the list. And I felt like, "Oh, I just...

[11:34] I didn't think this one through." And so I just did as much as I could and kept the line moving, but there were definitely folks who, as I was doing it, kinda cut in behind and were like snaking around the wall, and they just got around me as quickly as they could, went straight to the kitchen to grab a coffee. And I still gave them their socks, you know? That was like the nice thing to do. But they, you know, in the years to come, they would tease me about that moment, and I've never done it since. Learned my lesson. But I just thought, like this could be something, a way to demonstrate like our sense of unity and my appreciation for them. See, foot washing for us, when we read a text like this, foot washing for us just maybe makes you feel a little bit squirmy or maybe you go and get pedicures, those kinds of things. But like I've never done that. Like the idea of someone washing my feet or like it just kinda gives me... I should've thought of how I would feel if I showed up.

[12:24] I didn't. But in this culture, as we're reading this, in this first-century culture, Near East, like they washed their feet as a regular practice. This wasn't strange. You know, think their primary mode of transportation is walking. They're wearing sandals. Hot and dusty, you get dirty. So the practice in this era, this time, is that if you were to show up somewhere, they would at the very least have water available for you. So as you would come in, you could just wash your own feet. It's like think about in terms of like a day at the beach and you're coming home, you just wanna get all the dirt and the sand off, right? Before you come in to the house or to the cottage or wherever you are. So this would have been a regular thing. Or if you're showing up to a house where there is some affluence perhaps, or a guest of, you know, you are the guest of someone in more of a position, they may have a household slave or a household servant to do the washing, who would meet you at the door, not with socks, but ready to wash your feet. And here's the thing.

[13:22] This was such a degrading task. It was so low that no one wanted to do this task. And so if you were a Jewish person who was also in the role of a household servant, they knew it was so menial that they wouldn't even get you to do it. This was only practiced by the lowest household servant or slave and by the non-Jewish ones 'cause this was just... it was considered so degrading. I came across a story from an ancient rabbinic text, and there's a story where this woman wants to honor her husband. And so in her thinking, as the story goes, she wants to wash the feet of her husband as a demonstration of her love and devotion, and just excited to model this for her husband. But he stops her in the store and he says, "You will not wash my feet," because the husband didn't want to see his wife in such a lowly position. They had such an adverse reaction to it.

[14:18] "No, you will not wash our feet." And so it's this fascinating story here. The way we understand, for us, like foot washing, okay, it's one thing, but them, very, very common. But for them, the horrific thing is who is doing the washing because this is their leader, their teacher, their rabbi. They call Him Lord, and He gets up. Now, they would have been sitting around a table, probably something like this, a low-lying U-shaped table. So this table, something like this, where they've been reclining on their left-hand side. Most people were right-hand dominant, laying on their side. You could have a nice casual meal like this. Invites conversation. You can eat. But as you will notice, the interesting thing about this way of eating is that look where their feet are, right? In terms of washing feet, their feet are totally accessible and ready to go. So we don't know why did they not wash their feet already. Now, it doesn't appear that there's a host.

[15:12] It appears like they're having their own dinner, but why was there no water outside? But for whatever reason, they haven't washed their feet, or certainly, Jesus wants to make this a teaching, marking moment. And so what does He do? He gets up and takes off His outer clothing. Now, the way they would dress is they would have an outer clothing, but they would have underneath it what we would call a tunic. And it would be a woven piece of linen or of wool, maybe down to the knee, maybe a bit longer. Think of like a guy's like long night shirt. I don't know. Anyone sleep in those? Whatever. Like, you know, the Night Before Christmas story, the guy running around with that kind of thing. Think of that. And so when Jesus takes off His outer clothing and puts a towel around His waist, all He's wearing now is His tunic. And often they didn't have under, anything under that, but maybe they would have some undergarment wrap. But certainly, in this moment, it's not only that Jesus as their leader is about to wash everyone's feet, but now He's also dressed. In appearance, He's showing up as the one who's the most lowly, doing the menial task that no one wants to do.

[16:17] So He's performing a task, and in everything about His appearance, He's representing the servant, the slave. You can imagine how they were feeling in that moment, everything that was going on there. So here He is. He gets up, takes off His clothes, and He begins to work His way around the table. Now, Tim Keller in his book, The Prodigal King, he records this moment in this kinda way. He says, "No one wanted to wash the other's feet. One of them should have done it. Everybody knew that, but they all looked at the floor and wondered who would do the dirty job. Then finally, to their shock and amazement, Jesus takes off His outer clothing, wraps a towel around His waist, pours water into a basin, and begins to wash their feet one at a time. That day, Jesus completely redefined greatness and power in His kingdom.

[17:11] True greatness," He said, "isn't found in having servants, but in being one." So initially, we would get the impression that the disciples are kinda going along with it. We don't know how many people, how many feet He had washed, but we get a glimpse of how awkward this moment is when He gets to Peter. Peter's the first to jump in and speak up here. So let's keep reading the text beginning at verse 6. It says, "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 will have no part with Me.' 'Then, Lord,' Simon Peter replied, 'not just my feet, but my hands and my head as well.' Jesus answered, 'Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet, for their whole body is clean, and you are clean, though not every one of you.' For He knew who was going to, He knew who was going to betray Him, and that is why He said not everyone was clean." So there's a deeper meaning and significance happening here.

[18:21] Now, if you know anything about Peter's journey and some of the stories about Peter, I think every friend group has a Peter. Just think about like your closest friend circle. There's probably one of your friends who's the quickest to, like, give a gut reaction or to do the thing that is the dare or to blurt something out or... And we see that in Peter. We see that he very much reacts from his gut level, and sometimes it gets him into interesting, awkward positions. And here, Jesus is working His way around, and He's the first one to ask, like, "Are You gonna wash my feet?" Like, Peter's the guy who, in a few hours, Peter's the one who's going to take out his sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the soldier who's coming to arrest Jesus. Peter's the one who jumps out of the boat and, when they see Jesus walking across the water, he's the first one to step out of the boat and wants to walk towards Jesus. Peter's the one on the Mount of Transfiguration, if you know that part of the text, where he wants to, "Hey, I'm gonna build You houses.

[19:16] We'll stay up here forever." Peter's like, we get a gut-level reaction. Sometimes we may wanna roll our eyes at Peter, but hold on a second. At least he's someone who's speaking up because it stands out. Like, the level of his kinda withdrawal and the way he speaks out, it is an indication just how strange this is, how countercultural this moment is, because of the way he's responding here. So he kinda gives a pushback, like, "Are You going to wash me?" Like, again, it's not the foot washing. Very familiar with foot washing. But for Peter, what's horrifying is it's who is doing the washing. "Wait, You're our leader, like, our Lord, our rabbi, our... I can't let You wash my feet. It's just so demeaning." But the interesting twist here, the deeper sense here that we see is for Jesus, yes, He's modeling for them this posture, this other-centered love, this ethic of the kingdom, this servanthood. But for Jesus, it's actually who is washing the feet is important.

[20:20] He says, "Unless I wash you." Jesus is performing a task no one else can. And right now they don't understand it because all they understand is the foot-washing moment. But in a few days, and in the progressive unfolding months and story, they'll recognize, "Oh, wait a second, it does matter who is washing." 'Cause Jesus is the only one who can wash us in this way, and it's a foreshadowing of what is to come, this unfolding. And Peter, like he always does, first he's like, "Are You gonna wash my feet?" This end of the pendulum, right? And then Jesus says, "Well, unless I wash you, you'll have no part of Me." And Peter's like, "Wait a second. If my connection to Jesus and my relationship is rooted in this, okay, then wash all of me. My head, my body, like, just dunk it over my head." He swings the pendulum all this way. Again, we may roll our eyes, but I think sometimes we're a lot more like Peter than we think. Sometimes our initial response to grace or the gift of Jesus is like, "Ugh." And then maybe if we're like, "But unless You do this," and we swing the pendulum, like, we can be like that in our emotions. But Jesus is modeling and showing us something that is about to come.

[21:29] Knowles, in his commentary, writes, "Jesus, our Savior, must do for us what we can never do for ourselves. That is, cleanse us from our most intimate and shameful sin." You know, there's only one kind of washing that puts us in right relationship with God. There's only one washer who can get us there. This is a moment, this intimate moment around the table, but also in a few days, Jesus giving His full self, lovingly showing the extent of His love, the full extent of His love, is what ultimately, even for us today as followers of Jesus, gives us hope and cleansing and forgiveness. It is the One who's washing that matters. Okay, let's just wrap up this scene here. So in verse 12 it says this. It says, "When He had finished washing their feet, He put on His clothes and returned to His place.

[22:19] 'Do you understand what I've 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 should also wash one another's feet. I've set an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is the messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.'" This scene feels deeply familial. It feels intimate. Washing feet feels like a very intimate moment. And I view this as, like, what I would describe as a beautiful teaching moment. If you're a parent or a grandparent or you're in education, you know there's times with kids where you just wanna capitalize on the moment. Like, "Oh, what's happening here?

[23:05] I wanna turn this into a really important teaching moment." I feel like that's what Jesus is doing here. Like, He's gone around and He's demonstrated, but now He's taking His place and He's sitting down and He's helping them to understand. We've had teaching moments with our kids. I have four kids. Three of our kids are in their twenties and then... I know when you look at me, you're like, "You can't have three kids in your twenties. You look way younger than Jim." But I'm older than you think. But then we also have an eleven-year-old, and our little guy, who's eleven, has some pretty unique and beautiful challenges and things that other kids would know his age, excuse me, he doesn't. And so we're trying to help him learn and understand and connect the dots, and my wife does an amazing job of that.

[23:51] She's so patient. And often when we're in a situation, excuse me, I got a tickle. Often we're in a situation, she'll say, "Hey, man, like, do you see what's happening here? Are you aware? Or do you understand what I'm saying? Or do you understand what's taking place around here?" And she's trying to help him connect the dots in the way he's able to understand and to that extent, she's helping to explain it. I feel like Jesus is doing this. He's trying to connect the dots. They're not fully aware of what's happening, but in this teaching moment, Jesus is almost like a loving family member, like a parent. He's saying, "Do you know what's going on here? Let Me help demonstrate." Excuse me. I'm so sorry. If I had a handheld, I'd pull that away. Excuse me. Do you understand, verse 12, what I've done for you?

[24:42] I've given you this example. This in fact is a reset of what leadership looks like. What a contrast to our culture and our time. When you think of leaders, you think of people in positions of power and influence, strength. Jesus is like, "Ah, hold on a second. In My kingdom, there's a whole upside-down thing that happens here." So much so that in Luke's Gospel when he records this upper room discourse, he adds part of the story where the disciples are arguing amongst themselves about who is the greatest. Talk about, like, missing the point even in the moment, right? So Luke 22, Jesus responds to them. He says this in verse 26: "But you're not to be like that," pointing back to the way kings or those in positions of power and authority hoard it and lord it over others. "You're not to be like that," He says.

[25:31] "Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table?" Isn't that the way we view leadership and power and influence? "But I am among you as one who serves." Jesus is modeling, and He's saying, "You know what? You need to do what I do. You need to follow my example here. It's gonna look different than the world, but you need to follow my example." John Tyson, a pastor in New York City, he writes about this scene. He says this, "Jesus' act of rising from the table and taking up the towel wasn't just about hygiene. It was a prophetic demonstration. He stepped into the position nobody wanted, making visible the kind of love He calls His followers to embody." This is the way we are to be. Jesus is resetting this expectation, this understanding.

[26:25] And I wonder, what is the modern equivalent of this for us? Like, what would it look like if we were in the position of the disciples? I started kind of playing this out in my head. So I started thinking about people with great influence, political influence, strength, military might. What would that look like if they are showing up and wanting to wash our feet? Like, who would those people be? Like, if you're trying to get in your head the most influential, powerful people in our world, I'm not sure who comes to mind, but I just kinda went down the political military road a little bit. So I first thought of Xi Jinping, the military and political leader of China, and many of you will be familiar. So China obviously is a country of 1.4 billion people, second only now to India. It's one of the largest economies in the world.

[27:13] Oh, sorry, it's the second largest economy in the world, this rising military superpower. It's... They spend, you know, just behind the US in terms of military spending, over two hundred, over two, excuse me, two million people in their armed services. I'm like, "Man, that guy has the ability to influence millions, billions of people. He has a lot of influence." And then I, you know, further down, I thought, "Well, what about if we're talking about politics and military, what about Donald Trump then?" Not making a political statement, I'm just thinking of the people who have this position that they can influence global affairs. Three hundred and thirty million people and counting, largest economy in the world, largest, most powerful military, spend nine, over nine hundred billion a year, more than the next eight countries combined in terms of military spending. Huge military. But then I'm like, "Okay, what if we get out of, like, military and politics?

[28:09] What if we think about moral or spiritual influence? Who would that be for you? What does that look like?" And I started thinking, "Well, what about Pope Leo? He's the head of the Catholic Church." I know we're not Catholic, but the Catholic Church, one point four billion people. So almost one in six people would identify with the Catholic Church. The papacy is one of the, excuse me, oldest and, most continuous leadership structures that we have, and they have influence and reach all around the world through their leaders, their bishops, their priests, their parishes. Man, those people have reach. Imagine one of them is inviting you to sit down and they have water and a basin and fresh socks for you. You would just feel squirmy, right?

[28:59] Like, what is a person like this, why would they ever be stooping so low? Now imagine you leave here and you're on your way home for lunch, and right as you're about to put the key in the lock and open the door, Jesus beats you to it and opens the door. He's standing there in your entranceway, and He's got water and fresh socks, and He's ready to go, and He wants to wash your feet. However awkward you think it might be with someone that we view as, like, someone who has great political or military or spiritual moral influence, how much more so the Son of God, who calls all things into existence, who's been here since the very beginning, who left behind His rights and His entitlements, in Philippians it talks about, and became nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant, is now wanting to wash your feet?

[29:49] Like, just think about how radical this moment is, this shift that's happening, this demonstration that Jesus is putting on. It's a mind-blowing thing. See, in the kingdom of Jesus, this posture of other-centered love, of emptying yourself for the other, of laying your life down, it's not the exception, it's the rule. "This is how you will know my disciples, by your love for one another." If you wanna put the kingdom of God on display, love one another. This is what it looks like. This is the look of love if you wanna think about it. In John 13, Jesus continues in His teaching, He says, "A new command I give you, love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know you're my disciples." Jesus is redefining greatness.

[30:43] He's redefining what it means to be a part of His kingdom. It's not about power or privilege or status or wealth, theological correctness even. You can have all the answers, but if you don't have love, this love that moves outward, that stoops low, that gives of yourself, this is a marker of the kingdom of God and its work around us. Practically speaking, just wanna show you a picture of my parents here. So, in our household, I'm not sure what your household was like, in my household growing up, my mom was really the one who held everything together. She was a school teacher in the Toronto area for many years. But my mom... My dad helped, but my dad was often off working, travel, whatever. My mom was the glue. Like, looking back now, I could see that she completely laid her life down for my brothers and I. She, like, just kinda held it together, and she served my dad in such a gracious, other-centered way.

[31:41] When I think about it now, she was modeling this other-centered love. Well, about maybe 10 or 12 years ago, we started noticing that my mom was leaving Post-it Notes all around the house, and it started out in kinda funny, comical ways. She would have a Post-it Note in the, kinda the family room on how to, which remote to use to turn on the TV and click through the VCR to the cable, like, which sometimes I've had trouble with. But we're like, "Okay." But then we're starting noticing over the months and years Post-it Notes around, like, how to use the microwave, or how to make coffee, or even how to use the toaster. So then you're starting to realize there's something more going on. Even by her computer, I have a picture. It's not a great picture, but I captured it years ago. There's this picture of a Post-it Note. This was by her computer monitor.

[32:30] So you can see she wrote, "Computer emails." She wanted to know how to make sure she could add a happy face, so she said, "Happy face, press and hold Shift, then colon, then bracket," because she just couldn't remember. And I took that as... I remember taking that picture thinking, "Oh, what a funny thing Mom's up to." But now I look back and I feel, like, a little pang in my heart. So my mom was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's maybe about eight years ago, and we built a little apartment in our house we were living at that time. And for a number of years, my folks lived with my family. And we did everything we could to help my mom and just continue to see her kinda transition and change right in front of our eyes, this slow walk towards hurt. And I had a front row seat to see the roles reverse for my parents, where my mom was always the one who laid down her life.

[33:23] I started seeing my dad try to figure out in his own way what it meant to now serve my mom. And she's been in a long-term care home now for a number of years, and she doesn't know who I am. She doesn't know her brother, my brothers. My dad's still convinced that she gets a glint in her eye when he visits. I'm not sure if that's true or if that's just his hope. But my dad's a creature of habit. He goes there every single day, and he always brings her a little treat, and he reads Scripture to her, and they sing, like, a hymn or something, 'cause sometimes music is something for Alzheimer's patients that brings something back. And he prays with her. Oh, my gosh, you know? This is not the life any of them thought they'd have over 50 years of marriage. So as hard as it is, the one, like, deeply stirring thing for me is, like, I get to see now this living example of other-centered love, of laying down yourself for the other. And you know what, about, you know the thing about loving others? It's not easy.

[34:21] When we think about, hey, who are you called to love, we always wanna jump to the easy people. But often loving the other is deeply costly. But you know what? It transforms and changes us to be like Jesus, just like it was costly for Him. So if this is a marker of the kingdom, if Jesus is putting this on display, and now giving this command, this ethic to love other people, this is part of what it means to be an apprentice of Jesus. Let me just ask you, who is God inviting you to love? So again, don't jump to the immediate easy person. Just sit with it for a minute, would you? Is it someone in your family, your closest kinda circle, your extended family maybe, or someone in your neighborhood, or someone in your workplace, someone around the city?

[35:06] And as much as you don't wanna admit it right now, you're realizing that my commitment to Jesus requires me to love others. As I've experienced the hope and forgiveness and transformation relationship with Jesus, as I'm changed through that, it flows through me in a way that I can't just manufacture, and I need to love other people. It's like this flashing sign, this is the kingdom of God, 'cause we love in a way that our world just cannot understand, but it sparks gospel curiosity when people are like, "Why is the people of these churches in our city loving this way?" So who's God calling you to love? I can almost guarantee it's gonna be costly for you. Please hear me. I am not suggesting you love someone who has already hurt or betrayed your trust. I'm not saying put yourself in danger.

[35:57] But all things equal, God, who are You inviting me to love? And the prayer is, God, can You give me what I need to love in that kind of way? 'Cause Jesus knows all about costly love. As He is washing Judas' feet, He knows in a few hours Judas is going to lead the group of soldiers coming to arrest Him. He stoops in love. So who is God calling you to love? I just wanna give you a moment to think about that. I wanna give you a moment just to think and to offer that name, that face that is in your mind to God and ask for Him to help you, and then I'm gonna wrap up with prayer, and then we're gonna sing together. So just take a moment here, okay?

[36:57] Loving Father, thank You for the privilege of coming before You, coming into Your throne room. Jesus, thank You that You are advocating on our behalf even in this moment. Thank You that You invite us to call You Father, our Father in Heaven, Abba. So with humility, we come before You, and we've just recognized, Jesus, in Your example and Your teaching, You show us what other-centered love looks like. You demonstrate that this is a marker of Your kingdom, that if we wanna identify, Jesus, with who You are, that it requires us then to love in a way that You love. So I just pray for my friends in this room. God, whoever's coming to mind right now, in a way that only You can, by the presence and the power and the leading of Your Holy Spirit, would You give us what we need to love in this Jesus way?

[37:51] Would You teach us what it means to lay down our rights, the things that we think we might even deserve, so that the others can have what they need? Help us be defined by this other-centered love, not just here at Tidal, but the churches across our city. My own life, God, teach me. God, thank You. We worship You. We celebrate You as we march towards Easter as the One who is the perfect example of emptying out, of enemy-loving, other-centered love. So God, we worship You. Teach us what it means to love. We wanna see lives and hearts transformed, but first begin with us. May the love and hope we have experienced because of Your grace and forgiveness change us from the inside out so that we can love in a way that brings glory and honor to You.

[38:39] All for Your glory, all for Your honor, King Jesus. Lead us in the days ahead. Amen.