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.

John 13:3-5

I spent a summer in my early twenties working at a Christian summer camp. I had applied to be a counselor, but was assigned to the night cleaning crew. I spent the first few weeks smarting at the humiliation of my position, and trying to establish that I actually had a very important job back at home. At some point I realized that this was going to be a long, miserable summer if I couldn’t face up to my pride and let go of my self-promotion. It was hard work to recognize that my identity was not in the perceived importance of my position, but in my belovedness as a child of God. 

As I got stuck in to the hard, unseen work of unclogging toilets, hoovering meeting rooms, and generally keeping the camp running, I began to enjoy the quiet of the middle of the night and the camaraderie within our little team. I found myself wrestling through my big questions with God, praying for the students as I cleaned, and, on my best days, seeking to make myself available for whatever need presented itself. Letting go of my need to be seen as important empowered me to serve with delight and purpose. 

That summer was my first taste of learning to become lower for the sake of love. There have been many invitations since!

In  John 13:1-17, Jesus gave his disciples a similar invitation. He knew their desire to be part of something important. He could have come to this last meal together with a rallying cry, a promise that when this was all over it would be worth it because they would be known for changing the world!

But he didn’t. As was always his way, because he knew who he was, Jesus became lower for the sake of love. He wrapped a towel around himself and performed the lowest duty of the evening, he washed their feet. This act was so much more than a simple lesson for his disciples. In kneeling among them, he empowered them to lay down their identity in the perceived importance of their position, and to recognize that anything they put their hand to for the sake of love would become a holy encounter.

These disciples did indeed go on to change the world. They preached with power, they healed the sick, they confronted systems entrenched in injustice. But they never forgot this moment that Jesus called them to the way of humility. They sought to become lower for the sake of love.

This humble awareness that nothing on this earth could define them marked them, and in turn us, as the hands and feet of kindness. Those who are one with Christ can enter into any situation, and identify with any person they encounter, because they know that their identity is found in the covenant kindness of God, not in human approval, position or accomplishment. 

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Are there ways that you are tempted to define yourself by what you do, who you know, or how you are perceived? 

What tensions do you carry in living up to these definitions of yourself?

Could you lay the burden of these perceptions down for the day?

Today, ask God to open your eyes to just one way that you can remember who you are, and become lower for the sake of love. Here are just a few ideas. I suspect there will be others that are closer to your heart!

• Clean the bathroom when it’s not your turn
• Give up your place in the queue
• Choose not to have the last word
• Don't tell that story that makes you look really clever

May you hear your Father speaking your status as a beloved child of God, with nothing to prove, and an eternal inheritance already yours.

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About the Art: "Our Last Supper" was the first image I.D. Campbell painted in St George’s Tron, Church of Scotland, as a pilot project for the full Gospel Sketchbook project. The Last Supper is the central image to Christianity; it is round the table that Jesus said, ‘remember me’. Guests of Glasgow City Mission were selected as the models – choosing some of the most marginalised in society to be painted rather that those who are richer.

People often ask “which of the people in the painting is Jesus?” It felt important to Iain that no one stood out as a conventional Christ figure; in Matthew 25, Jesus says, ‘whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’ and with that in mind, any one of the poorest people we meet can represent Jesus.