John 13 and 21: Serving Out of Love and Proclaiming Christ

Introduction

It is the last morning of a week of fasting and prayer at Église Évangélique Paris Métropole. The theme of the day fits in one sentence: "gathered to serve and proclaim Christ." The reading is from 1 Peter 2:9-12: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."

This text reminds us that God has not only called us to receive his grace, but also to proclaim his wonders. Our gifts, our roles and our responsibilities are different, but each of us has a place in God's work. "We are not in competition"; we are called to serve in complementarity.

For this last devotion, the preacher focuses on two moments Jesus lived with his disciples: the last meal before the cross (John 13) and the meeting by the lake after the resurrection (John 21). He draws two keys from them, and inside each one, another key: "keys within keys."

Outline of the Message

1. Being a Gathered Church Means Being Together

God has made us a people he has chosen and Jesus has saved. This is what makes us a gathered church.
Being a gathered church does not mean that each person lives it on their own, in their own circle and daily life. To gather is truly to be together, "as the word itself says."
In the word "assembly," there is the unity of the singular, but also the plural: we are all together to form one single assembly.
An assembly holds together because we work for one another. Two realities come into play: service, and the witness given to Christ so that others come to gather with us.

2. First Key: Serving as Jesus Served

Before the Passover feast, Jesus knows that his hour has come. He is at the table with his disciples for a last meal, and he leaves them the most important teaching for the rest of their time on earth.
He takes a towel, wraps it around himself, pours water and kneels at their feet to wash them. Peter is troubled: "Lord, why are you washing my feet? It is not for you to do this." Jesus answers: "Let me do it."
In verse 12, Jesus asks a question: "Do you understand what I have done to you?" The preacher thinks that at that moment, the disciples did not really understand what was happening.
In verse 14, the explanation comes: "If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet." Jesus does not just say what to do, he shows it, so that his disciples will do the same.
The Bible also speaks of the diversity of the gifts of the Spirit. God has not given all the gifts to one person. He gives to each one, so that together we serve one another.

3. The Key Within the Key: Love That Goes to the End

This other key is found in the first verse: Jesus loved his own and "loved them to the end," a love that goes to the very end of his time on earth.
"I will be able to serve because I have love for those with whom God lets me walk." In an assembly filled with this love, like the love Jesus had for his disciples, it becomes easy to serve others.
The disciples had asked Jesus who was the greatest among them. The answer: the greatest will be the one who serves others. And you will be better in this servant role if you have love for those who are with you.
Without love, it is hard to serve. "We will look more at people's faults than at their qualities," more at what is missing than at what we have received.
Serving also means accepting the place where God puts us, even when we hoped for another place. The preacher mentions a pastor whose first task, after receiving God's call, was to sweep the church hall. He enjoyed doing it and praised God while sweeping.
"Lord, where I am, I want to serve you with joy and passion."

4. Second Key: You Will Be Fishers of Men

Jesus has died and risen, but the disciples do not yet really know all that has happened, even though he had told them. The master is no longer there, they are troubled, and they go back to their old activity: fishing.
All night long, they catch nothing. They, experienced fishermen, come back empty-handed.
Jesus comes, asks them whether they have caught anything, then tells them to cast the net on the other side. They bring in an enormous quantity of fish, more than 150, so many that the net becomes heavy to pull in.
They then realize that these words came from the master. The miracle echoes a word he had already given them: you are fishers of fish, but I call you to be fishers of men.
In this time of communion with the Lord, they remember their mission. The preacher's message, in the mouth of Jesus: "I have saved you so that you may be channels," people who bring others home. You are at home, but not to stay there alone.
"You have received, and your mission is to give to others what you have received."

5. The Key Within the Key: Moving at God's Pace

The second hidden key is to move forward led by the word of God, by his Spirit and in his timing. The abundance of the catch came because the disciples let themselves be guided by the master's word: "Cast the net." It was the hour.
Sometimes we doubt: "That person will not believe. That person has already heard the Gospel once, they will never come to Christ." But when the echo of his word tells you: "Cast the net, go ahead, do not be afraid, speak to that person," you can obey.
You may fear being labeled, being taken for "an enlightened person." The preacher answers: "There is no problem." If it is the echo of God's word in your heart, cast your net, so that the other person can also know God's grace and his love.
We sometimes feel that only certain people are called to evangelize. But because each of us belongs to the assembly and to God's house, "we are all called and we all have this mission to share the Gospel."
"There is no more beautiful message than the message we have received, the message of Christ who died and rose again."

6. Lights Where God Places You

A lamp is not lit to be hidden: it is placed high so that it gives light. We are those lights, with the mission to shine and to make Christ known.
This is lived out with colleagues, who should see Christ through our lives and want to serve him. It is also lived out in our families, our circle of friends and our neighborhood, through our life and our way of being and acting.
The preacher tells of a time of door-to-door evangelism in Cameroon, in a remote corner of the country. A woman who did not speak French was listening, and her daughters-in-law had to translate. She answered that there was no need to translate, because she understood what was being said, and she gave her heart to Jesus. That very evening, she sent her daughters-in-law to ask that someone come "finish what you started by baptizing me," although no one had spoken to her about baptism. Brothers went to baptize her.
His conclusion: God works in hearts. We must not be discouraged, but keep praying for those whose hearts we want to see drawn to Christ.
"Do not forget, you are lights. A light is made to shine." While the world is living through a time of darkness, we want to shine even more.

Key Takeaways

A gathered church is not a sum of separate lives: we are together to serve one another and to bear witness to Christ.
Jesus washed his disciples' feet to give them an example: serving is not only a teaching, it is a model to reproduce.
We truly serve when we love. Without love, we see only faults and what is missing.
Every believer is called to be a fisher of men, not just a few.
Proclaiming the Gospel bears fruit when we let ourselves be led by God's word, by his Spirit and in his timing.

Personal Application

Do you experience the church as an assembly where people are truly together, or each on their own?
Whom in your church circle do you find it hard to serve because you look first at their faults?
Are you willing to serve with joy in the place where God has put you, even if it is not the one you hoped for?
Is there a person you sense God asking you to speak to, but whom you believe to be "lost from the start"?
Where do you need to shine this week: at work, in your family, in your neighborhood?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Jesus wash his disciples' feet in John 13?

During his last meal, Jesus does not just tell his disciples what to do: he shows them. “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet” (John 13:14). It is an example to follow: putting ourselves at one another's service.

What is the link between love and service in the church?

John 13:1 says that Jesus loved his own “to the end” before serving them. For the preacher, this is the key hidden inside the first key: we truly serve because we love. Without love, we look at people's faults more than at their qualities, and serving becomes hard.

What does the miraculous catch of fish in John 21 teach about evangelism?

After a night without catching anything, the disciples cast the net at Jesus' word and bring in more than 150 fish. They remember their calling to be fishers of men. The preacher draws a lesson from it: proclaim the Gospel by letting ourselves be led by God's word, by his Spirit and in his timing.