WEBVTT 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:12.919 Hi everyone, this is Emma from Encounter Church, 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:15.900 Henley, and thanks so much for tuning into our 00:00:15.900 --> 00:00:19.079 podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast, 00:00:19.100 --> 00:00:21.760 you can have an encounter with Jesus that will 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:25.359 change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:29.719 message from our preaching team. When he had 00:00:29.719 --> 00:00:33.119 finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:35.520 and returned to his place. Do you understand 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:38.439 what I have done for you? He asked them. You 00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:41.240 call me teacher and Lord and rightly so for that 00:00:41.240 --> 00:00:45.240 is what I am. Now that I your Lord and teacher 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:48.100 have washed your feet you also should wash one 00:00:48.100 --> 00:00:51.340 another's feet. I have set you an example that 00:00:51.340 --> 00:00:54.600 you should do as I have done for you. Very truly 00:00:54.600 --> 00:00:57.420 I tell you no servant is greater than his master 00:00:57.420 --> 00:01:00.399 nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:05.370 him. This is the word of the Lord. Awesome, thank 00:01:05.370 --> 00:01:13.430 you. I'm just gonna get myself situated. Really, 00:01:13.549 --> 00:01:15.769 my name's Ashley, I'm one of the pastors here. 00:01:17.810 --> 00:01:20.790 It is a pleasure to be in worship with you today. 00:01:21.750 --> 00:01:24.129 Just so you know, I am one of the parents of 00:01:24.129 --> 00:01:29.030 the noisy children up the back. I am not bothered 00:01:29.030 --> 00:01:32.349 by them. I understand the anxiety that comes. 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:36.560 having a noisy child, but just so you know, I 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:43.359 welcome it. So, so should you. That is my commandment. 00:01:43.739 --> 00:01:47.680 All right, let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:50.980 you for the joy that children are to have in 00:01:50.980 --> 00:01:53.159 the service. Lord, we pray for their minds and 00:01:53.159 --> 00:01:55.359 their ears that are listening. Lord, we pray 00:01:55.359 --> 00:01:59.420 that although they might be doing things back 00:01:59.420 --> 00:02:03.700 there, we know that they are listening. And we 00:02:03.700 --> 00:02:05.819 just pray that you speak into their hearts just 00:02:05.819 --> 00:02:07.939 as you want to speak to ours Lord. For every 00:02:07.939 --> 00:02:12.539 single person in this room you have a closeness 00:02:12.539 --> 00:02:18.319 that you want to draw near today Lord. Lord we 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:19.960 pray for breakthrough Lord. We know that there 00:02:19.960 --> 00:02:23.099 are people in our community here today and those 00:02:23.099 --> 00:02:24.939 that are not here today that need breakthrough 00:02:24.939 --> 00:02:28.590 in their lives. Lord I think of Carly with with 00:02:28.590 --> 00:02:31.310 the pain in her neck, Lord. I pray for healing 00:02:31.310 --> 00:02:34.810 over her right now, Lord. Lord, we know that 00:02:34.810 --> 00:02:37.830 there are more people who need healing and breakthrough 00:02:37.830 --> 00:02:40.289 in their lives. And we just hand all of that 00:02:40.289 --> 00:02:44.770 over to you, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:02:46.169 --> 00:02:48.629 So we're starting our new series today called 00:02:48.629 --> 00:02:51.590 The Power of Encounter. We do this series every 00:02:51.590 --> 00:02:55.110 year in winter. As it cools down out there, we 00:02:55.110 --> 00:02:59.479 like to heat things up in here. Maybe that's 00:02:59.479 --> 00:03:01.280 just because I get told off for turning the heater 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:05.800 on too high. But I want to name something that 00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:08.580 a lot of us might feel and almost never never 00:03:08.580 --> 00:03:11.560 say that we come to a series like this one, you 00:03:11.560 --> 00:03:15.560 know, the Holy Spirit series, the power of encounter, 00:03:15.620 --> 00:03:18.879 and a part of us leans in because we want it. 00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:21.960 We don't just want more information about God. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:25.669 We want to actually meet Him. We want the Holy 00:03:25.669 --> 00:03:30.409 Spirit to move in us and in this room. The way 00:03:30.409 --> 00:03:33.270 we read about, the way we hear about on Sundays, 00:03:33.449 --> 00:03:36.430 the way that we have tasted once and maybe haven't 00:03:36.430 --> 00:03:42.550 forgotten. We are hungry for an encounter. But 00:03:42.550 --> 00:03:46.210 if we're honest, for a lot of us, it isn't happening 00:03:46.210 --> 00:03:50.590 the way we had hoped. Not really or not lately. 00:03:51.819 --> 00:03:54.439 You know, there was a season in my life in 2018. 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:58.099 I was a new mom. That speaks for itself. But 00:03:58.099 --> 00:04:00.719 I was also trying to church plant a house church. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:05.539 And I was doing everything I knew to do. I was 00:04:05.539 --> 00:04:10.620 praying, getting up early, showing up, serving, 00:04:11.219 --> 00:04:13.939 reading the Word, saying the right things in 00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:17.920 the right rooms. And if you'd asked me, I would 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:23.170 have said I was desperate to see God move. And 00:04:23.170 --> 00:04:29.189 nothing happened. Just quiet. And you know, and 00:04:29.189 --> 00:04:31.290 this is the part that probably got under my skin 00:04:31.290 --> 00:04:35.189 a little bit. It wasn't that I had wandered off 00:04:35.189 --> 00:04:42.769 and away from God. I hadn't. I was standing exactly 00:04:42.769 --> 00:04:47.050 where I was supposed to stand. And doing everything, 00:04:47.730 --> 00:04:50.050 the imaginary handbook, but also kind of like 00:04:50.050 --> 00:04:56.029 the literal handbook. says to do. And I still 00:04:56.029 --> 00:05:02.769 walk away and go to bed feeling dry. You know, 00:05:02.769 --> 00:05:06.490 we say we want to encounter God's Spirit and 00:05:06.490 --> 00:05:11.490 we are doing everything we know to do. So why 00:05:11.490 --> 00:05:17.889 do so many of us keep walking away dry? You know, 00:05:17.889 --> 00:05:19.709 I want to tell you upfront the answer. You don't 00:05:19.709 --> 00:05:23.620 have to wait half an hour. The answer is not 00:05:23.620 --> 00:05:27.420 that you haven't tried enough. And it's not that 00:05:27.420 --> 00:05:31.720 God is distant or stingy or playing hard to get. 00:05:33.620 --> 00:05:35.379 You know what I've come to believe is the reason 00:05:35.379 --> 00:05:39.740 we come away dry is it's not mainly a you problem 00:05:39.740 --> 00:05:45.160 or a me problem. No, it's this culture, it's 00:05:45.160 --> 00:05:48.000 this water, this atmosphere that we're swimming 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:52.779 in. We are being formed constantly and quietly 00:05:52.779 --> 00:05:56.800 and perhaps even expertly By a culture that has 00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:02.379 one word carved over every door up Think about 00:06:02.379 --> 00:06:05.899 it for a second every message aimed at you all 00:06:05.899 --> 00:06:11.139 day points in the same direction Build your personal 00:06:11.139 --> 00:06:13.639 brand. Can you believe that's actually something 00:06:13.639 --> 00:06:19.189 we say? Like without flinching Like you are a 00:06:19.189 --> 00:06:23.170 brand. A product with a logo and a launch. And 00:06:23.170 --> 00:06:26.389 a brand has one non -negotiable. It can never 00:06:26.389 --> 00:06:30.649 be seen going down. A brand is always up and 00:06:30.649 --> 00:06:36.209 to the right. I love a good graph. Grow your 00:06:36.209 --> 00:06:38.810 platform. Grow your following. Grow your reach. 00:06:39.029 --> 00:06:41.850 You know, we live in an attention economy. And 00:06:41.850 --> 00:06:44.769 in attention economy, the currency is being looked 00:06:44.769 --> 00:06:50.110 at. So the algorithm rewards you with likes, 00:06:50.370 --> 00:06:52.290 with reach, with like a little chemical dopamine 00:06:52.290 --> 00:06:56.230 here. Every time you make yourself bigger, it 00:06:56.230 --> 00:07:02.449 rewards you. And it gives you silence every time 00:07:02.449 --> 00:07:07.370 you make yourself small. As individuals, as companies, 00:07:08.449 --> 00:07:16.100 as church Instagram pages. Think about what this 00:07:16.100 --> 00:07:21.079 means. Humility in the economy we actually live 00:07:21.079 --> 00:07:25.680 in is unrewarded behavior. The algorithm has 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:29.639 no category for it. It has no category for the 00:07:29.639 --> 00:07:34.100 person who chooses the low place. You can't see 00:07:34.100 --> 00:07:39.680 them. You know, back in 2011, two researchers, 00:07:40.180 --> 00:07:43.040 Yada Oles and Patricia Greenfield ran a study. 00:07:43.420 --> 00:07:46.279 They took two of the most popular children's 00:07:46.279 --> 00:07:49.699 TV shows from each decade, going back to 1967. 00:07:50.839 --> 00:07:55.060 They measured which values those shows were actually 00:07:55.060 --> 00:07:59.500 teaching kids. And for 40 years, the number one 00:07:59.500 --> 00:08:02.379 value taught to children was community feeling, 00:08:03.319 --> 00:08:05.439 belonging, being a part of something bigger than 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:09.980 yourself. Number one in 67, number one in 77, 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:13.550 number one in 97, then they got to 2007. and 00:08:13.550 --> 00:08:19.310 the top value had changed. It was now fame. Just 00:08:19.310 --> 00:08:24.029 fame. Being known, being seen. And community 00:08:24.029 --> 00:08:26.810 feeling, the value that had led the list for 00:08:26.810 --> 00:08:29.269 four straight decades had fallen to number 11. 00:08:30.470 --> 00:08:33.190 Being kind to others had fallen to number 12. 00:08:35.809 --> 00:08:40.289 In 2019, Lego... Asked 3 ,000 children asked 00:08:40.289 --> 00:08:43.090 8 to 12 what they wanted to be when they grew 00:08:43.090 --> 00:08:48.309 up In China the top answer was astronaut Here 00:08:48.309 --> 00:08:51.049 in the West in the US in the UK the number one 00:08:51.049 --> 00:08:58.330 dream job was youtuber Kids here were three times 00:08:58.330 --> 00:09:02.110 more likely to want to be a youtuber than an 00:09:02.110 --> 00:09:06.899 astronaut Not to do a particular thing Not to 00:09:06.899 --> 00:09:10.960 build, to explore, to heal. Just be seen. Now 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:14.259 I'm not here to like rag on children or the internet. 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:18.940 I love the both of them. But the kids, they're 00:09:18.940 --> 00:09:22.720 just breathing the air that we've created. You 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:25.120 know, they're telling us with total honesty what 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:27.559 culture has been quietly teaching every single 00:09:27.559 --> 00:09:30.220 one of us. That the point of human life in our 00:09:30.220 --> 00:09:34.700 culture is to go up. Be seen, be known, be on 00:09:34.700 --> 00:09:39.419 top. And you might assume that's how humans have 00:09:39.419 --> 00:09:44.179 always been, but it isn't. There's an Australian 00:09:44.179 --> 00:09:46.860 historian named John Dixon, who wrote a book 00:09:46.860 --> 00:09:51.460 called Humilitis. It's about humility, as you 00:09:51.460 --> 00:09:56.419 can imagine. And Dixon points out something that... 00:09:56.419 --> 00:09:59.240 Humility has not always been considered a virtue. 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:01.960 For most of human history, most of the world, 00:10:02.100 --> 00:10:05.379 it was the opposite of a virtue. In the ancient 00:10:05.379 --> 00:10:07.590 Greek and human world, which is the world that 00:10:07.590 --> 00:10:10.750 Jesus was born into, humility was held in contempt. 00:10:11.710 --> 00:10:15.549 The very words for it in Hebrew and in Greek 00:10:15.549 --> 00:10:18.289 and in Latin literally mean low to the ground. 00:10:19.149 --> 00:10:23.070 In the ancient mind, low was the very last thing 00:10:23.070 --> 00:10:26.909 you ever wanted to be. Humility was for slaves 00:10:26.909 --> 00:10:32.820 and losers. The honorable person climbed. The 00:10:32.820 --> 00:10:35.799 Honorable Person made sure everyone knew their 00:10:35.799 --> 00:10:38.980 rank. Doesn't that sound familiar? These are 00:10:38.980 --> 00:10:41.919 the values that we've just seen our culture swing 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:46.539 back to. Status, self -promotion being seen. 00:10:47.100 --> 00:10:50.659 Those that aren't new, they are the old default. 00:10:52.120 --> 00:10:55.179 They are the water that the entire human race 00:10:55.179 --> 00:10:58.799 was swimming in before something interrupted 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:04.960 it. Dickson argues that the West only came to 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:08.259 see humility as beautiful because of one event. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:12.320 Something happened that took the lowest, most 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:15.980 shameful place a human could occupy and turned 00:11:15.980 --> 00:11:19.759 it into the highest place of honor. Dickson calls 00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:23.759 it the humility revolution. The revolution, the 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:27.700 single event that rewrote what our whole civilization 00:11:27.700 --> 00:11:32.639 calls greatness. It is exactly what Carly read 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:36.740 out. It didn't start in a palace, it was in a 00:11:36.740 --> 00:11:40.840 room with a bowl of water on the floor. You know, 00:11:40.840 --> 00:11:47.039 we are so desperate to encounter God, but our 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:50.019 whole culture has trained us to do the one thing 00:11:50.019 --> 00:11:53.740 that guarantees we'll miss Him. We keep reaching 00:11:53.740 --> 00:11:57.940 up for God, whose grace only ever runs down. 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:07.879 in the passage that we read out. It was the last 00:12:07.879 --> 00:12:12.919 night. Jesus knows what was coming. The betrayal, 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:16.559 the cross, all of it. John tells us just a few 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:19.179 verses earlier that Jesus knew the Father had 00:12:19.179 --> 00:12:22.059 put everything in His hands. He knew where He'd 00:12:22.059 --> 00:12:25.899 come from and He knew where He was going. That's 00:12:25.899 --> 00:12:29.440 the moment with full authority, full clarity 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:33.100 about His own identity. And what does he do with 00:12:33.100 --> 00:12:37.320 everything in his hands? He picks up a towel. 00:12:40.059 --> 00:12:42.440 You know, we've probably heard Jesus washed feet. 00:12:43.100 --> 00:12:44.840 Maybe if you were at church the other Easter, 00:12:45.019 --> 00:12:46.919 you maybe got your feet washed, but we've heard 00:12:46.919 --> 00:12:49.200 it so many times, it might have gone soft on 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:56.450 us. But like, those roads were dirty. People 00:12:56.450 --> 00:12:59.929 walked those roads with open sandals and those 00:12:59.929 --> 00:13:03.990 roads themselves carried everything. Dust, mud, 00:13:04.649 --> 00:13:08.649 animal poo, the whole filth of the town. I needed 00:13:08.649 --> 00:13:13.570 to throw poo in there for Emma. By the time you 00:13:13.570 --> 00:13:19.289 arrived anywhere, your feet were genuinely disgusting. 00:13:21.269 --> 00:13:24.340 So in any decent household, There was a basin 00:13:24.340 --> 00:13:27.179 of water by the door. And there was a servant 00:13:27.179 --> 00:13:30.200 whose job it was to kneel down and wash the muck 00:13:30.200 --> 00:13:33.379 off the guest's feet. And it wasn't just any 00:13:33.379 --> 00:13:38.519 servant's job. It was the lowest task assigned 00:13:38.519 --> 00:13:41.600 to the lowest slave in the house. It was the 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:45.919 bottom of the bottom. No one with any status 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:51.919 would touch it. Thirteen men walk into the upper 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:56.279 room. and that basin is sitting there by the 00:13:56.279 --> 00:14:02.059 door. Everybody can see it and nobody moves. 00:14:03.340 --> 00:14:10.080 Twelve grown men sit down with dirty feet rather 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:12.879 than be the one who stoops down to the basin. 00:14:16.059 --> 00:14:18.240 In Luke it tells us that this is the same night 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:20.679 that they were arguing about who was the greatest. 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:26.240 In one room, everybody wants the high place. 00:14:27.460 --> 00:14:31.340 So the basin just sits there, full of water, 00:14:32.019 --> 00:14:35.580 untouched, like a little monument to everybody's 00:14:35.580 --> 00:14:40.919 pride. And then while still everyone's, well, 00:14:41.340 --> 00:14:44.039 they're still not looking at it, Jesus gets up 00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:47.700 from the table, ties a towel around his waist, 00:14:47.899 --> 00:14:50.139 and picks up the basin that nobody else would 00:14:50.139 --> 00:14:57.759 touch. The basin is the low place and it is always 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:01.559 sitting there right by the door. In every home, 00:15:02.019 --> 00:15:04.620 in every marriage, in every friendship, in every 00:15:04.620 --> 00:15:09.200 church, there is a basin. The humble thing, the 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:11.519 thankless thing, the serving thing that everybody 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:17.299 can see and nobody wants to pick up. And notice 00:15:17.299 --> 00:15:22.610 what the basin does. The water gets dirty. That's 00:15:22.610 --> 00:15:26.049 the point of it. The basin does its work by taking 00:15:26.049 --> 00:15:29.330 on the filth that is not its own. That's not 00:15:29.330 --> 00:15:31.789 a failure of the basin. That's the basin doing 00:15:31.789 --> 00:15:35.690 its job. That is what love looks like when it 00:15:35.690 --> 00:15:38.690 actually touches people. It gets its hands dirty. 00:15:38.730 --> 00:15:42.669 It takes on what is not its own to carry. The 00:15:42.669 --> 00:15:45.690 whole question of the life of the spirit turns 00:15:45.690 --> 00:15:49.590 out comes down to a very simple question. When 00:15:49.590 --> 00:15:53.600 you walk into a room, Will you be the one who 00:15:53.600 --> 00:16:00.740 reaches for the basin? The God of the universe 00:16:00.740 --> 00:16:04.200 kneels down on the floor, washes the road filth 00:16:04.200 --> 00:16:08.299 off the feet of twelve men, including the man 00:16:08.299 --> 00:16:11.659 who is that very night about to sell him for 00:16:11.659 --> 00:16:17.960 silver. And Jesus takes it willingly, deliberately, 00:16:18.940 --> 00:16:23.330 all the way down. Then he sits back and he asks 00:16:23.330 --> 00:16:25.330 him the question at the start of that passage 00:16:25.330 --> 00:16:27.950 that Carly read out, do you understand what I 00:16:27.950 --> 00:16:32.929 have done for you? You call me teacher and Lord 00:16:32.929 --> 00:16:34.850 and you're right and that's exactly who I am 00:16:34.850 --> 00:16:39.029 and because that's who I am, he says, I've just 00:16:39.029 --> 00:16:43.190 shown you the way. I've given you an example, 00:16:43.350 --> 00:16:47.350 do what I did. The servant isn't greater than 00:16:47.350 --> 00:16:50.230 the muster. The messenger isn't greater than 00:16:50.230 --> 00:16:55.929 the one who sent him. He is not laying aside 00:16:55.929 --> 00:17:01.309 his authority to wash their feet. He is exercising 00:17:01.309 --> 00:17:04.750 his authority by washing their feet. This is 00:17:04.750 --> 00:17:07.809 what it looks like when God is fully in charge. 00:17:08.750 --> 00:17:11.769 Down is not the absence of his power, it is the 00:17:11.769 --> 00:17:15.890 direction of his power. This is the revolution 00:17:15.890 --> 00:17:18.819 that John Dixon was pointing at. He defines real 00:17:18.819 --> 00:17:22.279 humility not as thinking badly of yourself but 00:17:22.279 --> 00:17:26.180 as the noble choice to hold your power, your 00:17:26.180 --> 00:17:30.180 status and your resources and spend it on other 00:17:30.180 --> 00:17:37.059 people first. John tells us that Jesus knew everything 00:17:37.059 --> 00:17:41.400 had been placed in his hands and it's right then 00:17:41.400 --> 00:17:44.980 at the peak of his power that he reaches for 00:17:44.980 --> 00:17:49.799 the tower. Not a man with nothing to lose groveling 00:17:49.799 --> 00:17:53.160 on the floor the king of the universe with all 00:17:53.160 --> 00:17:57.599 authority choosing the basin And when Jesus does 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:00.680 that in that honor and shame world where the 00:18:00.680 --> 00:18:04.019 low place was pure disgrace Where he blows up 00:18:04.019 --> 00:18:07.240 the whole system? He takes the most shameful 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:11.079 spot in the room and makes it a throne The low 00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:14.829 point becomes the high point You know, some of 00:18:14.829 --> 00:18:17.829 us hear humility and we flinch because we think 00:18:17.829 --> 00:18:20.930 it means thinking less of yourself. Put yourself 00:18:20.930 --> 00:18:24.490 down, be a doormat. But that is not what is happening. 00:18:25.430 --> 00:18:28.069 He doesn't wash his feet because he's forgotten 00:18:28.069 --> 00:18:31.430 who he is. He washes their feet because he knows 00:18:31.430 --> 00:18:36.180 exactly who he is. Humility isn't a low opinion 00:18:36.180 --> 00:18:39.420 of yourself. It's being so secure in who God 00:18:39.420 --> 00:18:42.539 says you are that you're free to stop performing 00:18:42.539 --> 00:18:47.500 and start serving. And this tells us about the 00:18:47.500 --> 00:18:52.460 entire nature of God. God is consistent in Scripture 00:18:52.460 --> 00:18:55.559 with this. He says in James, God opposes the 00:18:55.559 --> 00:18:58.660 proud but gives grace to the humble. He not overlooks 00:18:58.660 --> 00:19:03.150 the proud, He opposes them. Not tolerates the 00:19:03.150 --> 00:19:06.690 humble but gives grace to them Isaiah says the 00:19:06.690 --> 00:19:08.869 high and holy God the one who lives in eternity 00:19:08.869 --> 00:19:12.170 chooses to also live with the lowly and contrite 00:19:12.170 --> 00:19:15.690 in spirit James again says humble yourselves 00:19:15.690 --> 00:19:18.829 before the Lord and he will lift you up You know, 00:19:18.930 --> 00:19:20.769 there's this picture that I can't get out of 00:19:20.769 --> 00:19:26.410 my head grace is like water Water never ever 00:19:26.410 --> 00:19:31.980 runs uphill Water always finds the lowest place 00:19:31.980 --> 00:19:35.619 in the room and pools there. And Jesus deliberately 00:19:35.619 --> 00:19:40.039 uses this imagery for the Holy Spirit. He stood 00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:41.720 up in the middle of a festival and cried out 00:19:41.720 --> 00:19:44.339 that anyone who was thirsty should come to Him 00:19:44.339 --> 00:19:47.940 and drink. And out of them would flow rivers 00:19:47.940 --> 00:19:52.440 of living water. Jesus was talking about the 00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:55.960 Spirit from whom those believed would receive. 00:19:56.650 --> 00:19:59.670 You know, this encounter that we're aching for, 00:20:00.009 --> 00:20:03.609 the Spirit moving, that living water in our lives, 00:20:03.970 --> 00:20:08.609 Jesus pictures it as water. And water only ever 00:20:08.609 --> 00:20:13.569 goes in one direction. So the low place isn't 00:20:13.569 --> 00:20:17.130 the place where you get stuck or stranded. The 00:20:17.130 --> 00:20:20.509 low place is the exact place the river of the 00:20:20.509 --> 00:20:26.089 Spirit is already flowing. Grace runs downhill. 00:20:28.170 --> 00:20:32.490 So why do we do everything right and still walk 00:20:32.490 --> 00:20:37.289 away dry? It was never that God stopped pouring. 00:20:38.569 --> 00:20:41.589 The Spirit has been poured out this entire time. 00:20:43.049 --> 00:20:45.609 It's that we've been standing on high ground. 00:20:47.089 --> 00:20:50.690 Pride, even nice church -going, hard -working 00:20:50.690 --> 00:20:55.329 pride is high ground. And living water hits high 00:20:55.329 --> 00:21:01.809 ground and runs straight off. Humility. Humility 00:21:01.809 --> 00:21:05.210 isn't earning the water. Humility is getting 00:21:05.210 --> 00:21:08.730 just low enough to be standing where the river 00:21:08.730 --> 00:21:12.730 is already flowing. And the basin on the floor 00:21:12.730 --> 00:21:16.630 of the upper room is not a picture of Jesus lowering 00:21:16.630 --> 00:21:20.269 himself beneath his glory. It's a picture of 00:21:20.269 --> 00:21:25.430 where his glory was always flowing. Humility 00:21:25.430 --> 00:21:29.269 is never a feeling. It's a tower and a basin. 00:21:29.490 --> 00:21:32.690 It's something that you do with your hands. Jesus 00:21:32.690 --> 00:21:36.950 didn't tell his disciples to feel humble. He 00:21:36.950 --> 00:21:42.809 told them to wash feet. So to be clear when I 00:21:42.809 --> 00:21:46.769 say get low, some of you immediately hear put 00:21:46.769 --> 00:21:49.950 yourself down. Beat yourself up. Think of yourself 00:21:49.950 --> 00:21:52.779 as nothing. Especially if you're the kind of 00:21:52.779 --> 00:21:55.380 person who's already hard on yourself. And I 00:21:55.380 --> 00:21:58.240 know that some of you are unbelievably hard on 00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:02.599 yourselves. You hear a sermon on humility is 00:22:02.599 --> 00:22:04.680 one more stick to hit yourself with. So let me 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:09.119 be clear, this is not humility. That's just pride 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:12.619 pointed inward. Constantly running yourself down 00:22:12.619 --> 00:22:15.730 is being fixated on yourself. Remember Jesus 00:22:15.730 --> 00:22:18.269 in that room. He served from a place of knowing 00:22:18.269 --> 00:22:22.730 exactly who he was, not from self -hatred. Dixon's 00:22:22.730 --> 00:22:26.390 definition is this, humility is the choice to 00:22:26.390 --> 00:22:28.549 take the power and worth you do have and spend 00:22:28.549 --> 00:22:31.210 it on someone else first. So the question is 00:22:31.210 --> 00:22:34.369 not how small can I make myself? The question 00:22:34.369 --> 00:22:38.190 is where do I have power and who could I spend 00:22:38.190 --> 00:22:42.390 it on this week? You have more power than you 00:22:42.390 --> 00:22:46.029 think. You have knowledge someone else needs. 00:22:46.849 --> 00:22:49.529 You have platform, even a small one. You have 00:22:49.529 --> 00:22:51.609 money, time, a vote in the room, the ability 00:22:51.609 --> 00:22:54.089 to make a decision go your way, the strength 00:22:54.089 --> 00:22:56.910 to win an argument. Humility isn't pretending 00:22:56.910 --> 00:23:01.009 you don't have those things. It's holding them 00:23:01.009 --> 00:23:03.950 loosely in an open hand on behalf of someone 00:23:03.950 --> 00:23:09.650 else. So what does this look like? Well at home, 00:23:10.490 --> 00:23:15.350 which is really where our real selves are, Maybe 00:23:15.350 --> 00:23:17.829 it's... Maybe there's a spouse whose day you'd 00:23:17.829 --> 00:23:21.509 carry without keeping score. Or a child who you 00:23:21.509 --> 00:23:23.609 could kneel next to and listen to instead of 00:23:23.609 --> 00:23:25.809 just managing their emotions. You know, these 00:23:25.809 --> 00:23:28.289 are the people who see the unedited version of 00:23:28.289 --> 00:23:31.150 yourselves and they most often get the leftover 00:23:31.150 --> 00:23:37.289 of your humility. Maybe start there. In your 00:23:37.289 --> 00:23:41.289 conflicts. Is there an apology you've been rehearsing 00:23:41.289 --> 00:23:46.180 reasons to avoid? That is a basin. That is an 00:23:46.180 --> 00:23:48.700 opportunity. Is there a conversation where you 00:23:48.700 --> 00:23:51.420 could choose to be reconciled over being right? 00:23:52.579 --> 00:23:56.960 You can win the argument and lose the person 00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:03.460 Humility would rather keep the person What about 00:24:03.460 --> 00:24:06.259 towards the person who's beneath you because 00:24:06.259 --> 00:24:08.759 let's be honest there's someone whose feet you 00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:12.269 feel are below yours The one who's wronged you, 00:24:12.349 --> 00:24:15.230 the one who's hard to love, the one who you've 00:24:15.230 --> 00:24:18.329 quietly ridden off. And let me just say, Judas 00:24:18.329 --> 00:24:23.630 was in that room. Like Judas. Jesus knew what 00:24:23.630 --> 00:24:27.630 Judas was about to do and he washed his feet 00:24:27.630 --> 00:24:33.809 anyway. What about with your credit? Is there 00:24:33.809 --> 00:24:36.849 recognition that you're owed that you could quietly 00:24:36.849 --> 00:24:39.599 let someone else have? when everyone's being 00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:44.759 celebrated, a win that you could hand off to 00:24:44.759 --> 00:24:49.160 someone else, how much of your life is spent 00:24:49.160 --> 00:24:53.380 managing how you're seen, making sure you get 00:24:53.380 --> 00:24:56.880 the credit that you feel you deserve. That management 00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:59.960 is the high ground and the water is running off 00:24:59.960 --> 00:25:06.140 of it. But here's one we forget. We need to let 00:25:06.140 --> 00:25:10.539 people wash your feet. Two verses earlier in 00:25:10.539 --> 00:25:13.039 the same chapter, we'll find Peter refusing to 00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:16.319 let Jesus near his feet. You'll never wash my 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:21.519 feet. And it sounds humble, but it isn't. It 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:25.099 is pride in disguise. It's I will serve, but 00:25:25.099 --> 00:25:29.240 I will not be served. I'll give, but I am too 00:25:29.240 --> 00:25:33.400 proud to receive. Some of you are brilliant at 00:25:33.400 --> 00:25:37.799 washing feet and will not. under any circumstances, 00:25:38.180 --> 00:25:43.339 let anyone help you. Just let me say gently, 00:25:44.539 --> 00:25:48.319 receiving help you can't repay is one of the 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:53.339 most humbling things a strong person ever does. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:59.019 If that's your growing edge, your base in this 00:25:59.019 --> 00:26:02.920 week, maybe letting someone carry something for 00:26:02.920 --> 00:26:07.019 you. You know, going low can often feel like 00:26:07.019 --> 00:26:11.619 losing. Like every instinct within you, trained 00:26:11.619 --> 00:26:14.779 by every screen that you've looked at, screens 00:26:14.779 --> 00:26:18.180 that it's a step down. But you're not stepping 00:26:18.180 --> 00:26:23.000 down. You're stepping into the living rivers 00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:27.380 of water of the Spirit. You're getting to where 00:26:27.380 --> 00:26:32.319 God is moving. You keep asking God to lift you 00:26:32.319 --> 00:26:37.480 and Scripture's answer to this is so simple. 00:26:38.839 --> 00:26:41.579 If we want God to lift us, then we have to get 00:26:41.579 --> 00:26:45.400 low. Humble yourself before the Lord and then 00:26:45.400 --> 00:26:49.619 He will lift you up. We don't have to manufacture 00:26:49.619 --> 00:26:53.079 an encounter. We just have to step off the patch 00:26:53.079 --> 00:26:55.579 of high ground that we've been keeping us out 00:26:55.579 --> 00:27:01.240 of the water. So here's the one thing. Grace 00:27:01.240 --> 00:27:08.019 runs downhill. So this week, go downhill on purpose. 00:27:08.500 --> 00:27:10.420 This is your Henley homework, and if you're new 00:27:10.420 --> 00:27:15.359 here, sometimes we give out homework. This is 00:27:15.359 --> 00:27:20.880 your Henley homework. Pick one basin, one set 00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:25.599 of feet, one place you will deliberately specifically 00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:29.029 choose the low ground. And maybe you already 00:27:29.029 --> 00:27:32.410 know whose face just came to mind. That is not 00:27:32.410 --> 00:27:36.130 an accident. That is the Spirit showing you where 00:27:36.130 --> 00:27:40.750 it's headed. Invite the band back up. You could 00:27:40.750 --> 00:27:44.789 leave thinking, right, humble myself and then 00:27:44.789 --> 00:27:48.490 God will show up. Get low enough, serve hard 00:27:48.490 --> 00:27:51.390 enough, wash enough feet and I'll finally earn 00:27:51.390 --> 00:27:55.069 that encounter. And if that's what you've heard, 00:27:55.190 --> 00:27:57.170 then I've just handed you one more ladder to 00:27:57.170 --> 00:27:59.650 climb, except it's pointed down instead of up. 00:28:00.910 --> 00:28:03.549 You'll spend your week exhausted, measuring your 00:28:03.549 --> 00:28:07.009 own humility, wondering if you've gotten low 00:28:07.009 --> 00:28:11.170 enough yet. But that is not the gospel. That 00:28:11.170 --> 00:28:16.109 is just religion with better manners. So let's 00:28:16.109 --> 00:28:20.039 look at the basin one more time. Before you wash 00:28:20.039 --> 00:28:24.539 a single foot, before you do anything, you need 00:28:24.539 --> 00:28:27.000 to see whose hands are already on that basin. 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:33.299 They are not yours, they are his. And that foot 00:28:33.299 --> 00:28:36.319 washing in the upper room was a rehearsal. Because 00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:39.740 within 24 hours those hands that held the towel 00:28:39.740 --> 00:28:43.900 would be stretched and nailed to a cross. The 00:28:43.900 --> 00:28:47.789 basin was a preview of the cross. In that room 00:28:47.789 --> 00:28:51.230 he was knelt to wash the road dust off their 00:28:51.230 --> 00:28:55.170 feet. And on that cross he went lower still. 00:28:55.930 --> 00:28:58.910 All the way to the bottom. Lower than any of 00:28:58.910 --> 00:29:02.509 us will ever be asked to go. To wash off something 00:29:02.509 --> 00:29:05.950 no bowl of water could ever reach. He didn't 00:29:05.950 --> 00:29:10.109 only wash their feet, he washed them. He washed 00:29:10.109 --> 00:29:15.789 us. He washed you. The dirt we cannot reach. 00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:20.299 the pride that keeps water running off, the sin 00:29:20.299 --> 00:29:24.279 we could not scrub. He carried it all the way 00:29:24.279 --> 00:29:30.819 down to the grave. Remember Peter a few verses 00:29:30.819 --> 00:29:32.839 back when he yanks his feet back, you will never 00:29:32.839 --> 00:29:38.519 wash my feet. And it sounded so humble until 00:29:38.519 --> 00:29:41.299 Jesus says the hardest thing in the chapter, 00:29:42.759 --> 00:29:47.299 unless I wash you, You have no part with me. 00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:53.180 There it is. The life of the Spirit does not 00:29:53.180 --> 00:29:58.079 begin with you washing. It begins with you being 00:29:58.079 --> 00:30:01.980 washed. You don't walk in and grab the basin 00:30:01.980 --> 00:30:05.460 as the servant. You sit down with dirty feet 00:30:05.460 --> 00:30:12.180 and let Him kneel in front of you first. Here 00:30:12.180 --> 00:30:14.599 is why we can do everything right and still walk 00:30:14.599 --> 00:30:17.660 away dry. On the day of the Pentecost when the 00:30:17.660 --> 00:30:20.640 Spirit finally fell like a flood, Peter stood 00:30:20.640 --> 00:30:24.279 up and explained where the river came from. He 00:30:24.279 --> 00:30:27.500 said, Jesus who was crucified had been lifted 00:30:27.500 --> 00:30:31.200 to the high place. From that high he poured out 00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:34.319 the Spirit that they could now see and hear. 00:30:34.940 --> 00:30:38.720 The one who went lowest down through the manger 00:30:38.940 --> 00:30:41.319 down through the servant's tower, down through 00:30:41.319 --> 00:30:44.160 the cross, down into the grave is the exact one 00:30:44.160 --> 00:30:48.579 God raised the highest. And it is from the height, 00:30:49.059 --> 00:30:52.039 won by that descent, that the Spirit comes pouring 00:30:52.039 --> 00:30:55.380 down. The river of the Spirit flows from the 00:30:55.380 --> 00:31:00.359 cross. Grace ran downhill all the way to the 00:31:00.359 --> 00:31:03.519 grave so that living water could come rushing 00:31:03.519 --> 00:31:07.640 out of the empty tomb and pour over every single 00:31:07.640 --> 00:31:13.670 one of you. Could come pour over any one who 00:31:13.670 --> 00:31:17.049 was thirsty enough to get low enough to drink 00:31:17.049 --> 00:31:22.049 We do not humble ourselves to earn the encounter 00:31:22.049 --> 00:31:27.470 We never could We go low because the humbled 00:31:27.470 --> 00:31:31.890 God already came all the way down to us and Going 00:31:31.890 --> 00:31:34.750 low is simply how we get to where the river has 00:31:34.750 --> 00:31:39.069 been running the whole time First you are washed 00:31:39.470 --> 00:31:46.009 And then you pour. Imagine a room full of people 00:31:46.009 --> 00:31:51.950 who have been washed by him and know it. So secure 00:31:51.950 --> 00:31:55.890 that they have nothing left to protect. People 00:31:55.890 --> 00:31:59.009 who have quit competing, quit keeping score, 00:31:59.390 --> 00:32:01.789 quit guarding their turf and have gotten low 00:32:01.789 --> 00:32:06.230 together. Do you know what that is? That's not 00:32:06.230 --> 00:32:10.359 a weak church. That is the lowest place in Henley 00:32:10.359 --> 00:32:15.619 Beach. If grace runs downhill, if the Spirit 00:32:15.619 --> 00:32:18.880 is a river seeking the lowest ground, then a 00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:22.519 washed and humble church is the exact place that 00:32:22.519 --> 00:32:26.559 flood collects. That is why we begin this series 00:32:26.559 --> 00:32:31.039 here. On the floor, at the basin, and everything 00:32:31.039 --> 00:32:32.740 else that we're going to explore for the rest 00:32:32.740 --> 00:32:37.509 of the series grows out of this ground. None 00:32:37.509 --> 00:32:44.829 of it can be built on high ground. Now I'm not 00:32:44.829 --> 00:32:48.710 a pessimist. So don't tell me that culture can't 00:32:48.710 --> 00:32:52.990 turn around. Those researchers that were tracking 00:32:52.990 --> 00:32:55.250 children's values, when they ran the study again, 00:32:55.430 --> 00:32:58.849 they found that in seasons when people actually 00:32:58.849 --> 00:33:02.509 had to need one another, the hunger for fame 00:33:02.509 --> 00:33:06.150 fell. community feeling started to climb back 00:33:06.150 --> 00:33:12.069 up the list. A world addicted to up can be turned 00:33:12.069 --> 00:33:18.509 but we go there first because our God went there 00:33:18.509 --> 00:33:22.809 first for us and when we become the room where 00:33:22.809 --> 00:33:26.430 the living water pools and the thirsty people 00:33:26.430 --> 00:33:30.869 come looking because we are where the water is. 00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:36.299 So we're not gonna climb our way up to God. We're 00:33:36.299 --> 00:33:38.619 going to remember that God has already come all 00:33:38.619 --> 00:33:41.579 the way down to us. And we're gonna step down 00:33:41.579 --> 00:33:44.299 to the river that is already running. Because 00:33:44.299 --> 00:33:48.279 grace runs downhill. So let's get low together. 00:33:49.400 --> 00:33:56.160 Let us pray. Heavenly Father, it is a dangerous 00:33:56.160 --> 00:34:00.950 prayer to be asked to be humbled. If we are courageous 00:34:00.950 --> 00:34:06.210 enough, may we do so. We thank you that you go 00:34:06.210 --> 00:34:24.789 before us. That you wash us clean. Lord, bring 00:34:24.789 --> 00:34:28.250 us to our mind the places where we stand on high 00:34:28.250 --> 00:34:34.219 ground. where we step down to the low places 00:34:34.219 --> 00:34:38.820 so that we can have an encounter of Your Spirit, 00:34:39.400 --> 00:35:01.769 Lord. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen. please go 00:35:01.769 --> 00:35:05.650 to our website encounteradelaide .com .au Thanks 00:35:05.650 --> 00:35:07.750 again for listening. God bless you.