We’ve all given and gotten plenty of gifts in our lives – some good; some not so good. Sometimes, even a very expensive can totally miss the mark. So what makes a good gift?

Ultimately, it’s more than the monetary value of the gift; it’s the thought, time, consideration, and sacrifice that went into it, that shows how important the recipient is to the giver. In other words, it’s not the value of the gift, but the way the gift shows the recipient how valued they are to the giver. A good gift should let you know how important you are to the person who gave it.

John 3:16 goes on to say: 

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16b)

God’s love for us is revealed in this most costly, inconvenient, and sacrificial gift – the giving of God’s one and only Son – all so that we could know how important and valuable we are to the God of the Universe. If you’ve never experienced this gift before, know that God went to all this trouble to give such a perfect and precious gift with you in mind. All you have to do is open your arms and receive it.

It’s a gift of love and life beyond your wildest imagination. Eternal, and beginning right now, with the gift of this very day. So let’s sing and celebrate that together now.

Another one of the languages that we experience and express love through, is by spending quality time with one another. When we love someone we want to be with them as much as possible. A long phone call, a weekend away, anything just to be alone together.

And God is the same, with us. God is the parent with the perpetual open door, hoping we’ll come for lunch or dinner, that we’ll spend a leisurely afternoon. He has nowhere else to go, nowhere else he’d rather be. He has all the time in the world for you.

So we’re going to carve out some quiet space for that right now, for you to just be with God. To spend quality time in personal prayer with the one who loves you most.

Start by thanking God for loving you, maybe for specific ways you’ve experienced that. And then just tell God what’s on your mind these days. And finally, leave space in the silence, to “hear” God back, and sense his presence.

It’s no surprise of course that words are another way through which we both receive and give love.

True for us, and true for God. Whether or not you felt like you were able to “hear” God’s voice in that silent space just now, the truth is that God has given us many words expressing his heart toward us. So let’s take a minute to listen to these declarations God has already made about his deep and abiding love for every single one of us.

• See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! – 1 John 3:1
• Like a shepherd God will tend the flock; he will gather lambs in his arms and lift them onto his lap. – Isaiah 40:11
• The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. – Zephaniah 3:17
• “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. – Jeremiah 29:11
• For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. – Psalm 139:13-14
• I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with lovingkindness. – Jeremiah 31:3
• Can a woman forget her nursing child, and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. – Isaiah 49:15-16
• Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,

In John 13, we read about the night before Jesus died: 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.

What follows is a scene (or story) you may have never heard before, and it’s a bit of an odd one, because Jesus is about to wash his disciples’ feet. Which was typically the job of a very low-ranking servant. But rather than simply read the story as arm’s length observers, we’re going to take a few minutes to imagine ourselves into the scene. To try to catch a better glimpse of the Jesus who loves through acts of service. And… I’m going to ask you to do something that might feel a bit strange – just to help us more actively, physically immerse ourselves into the real experience of those in the story.

I’m going to ask you to slip off your shoes right now (if you’re wearing any). Maybe even your socks, depending on where you are. And it may feel a bit uncomfortable, but some of that’s the point. To embrace the sort of uncomfortable vulnerability of the moment ahead. So go ahead and do that now, if you can. And then I want you to close your eyes, and simply picture in your mind that first century rustic scene.

Jesus is there, along with all 12 disciples, they’re laughing, eating, talking. Dinner is mostly over but there is still bread and wine on the table, maybe a few leftover scraps of lamb.

The atmosphere is light; surprising, given how heavy the recent days have been. But this is a moment of celebration, of togetherness, of thanking God for his provisions of food, and friendship, and freedom.

Can you see yourself, reclining at the table with the disciples? Hear the clink of the dishes, the smell of roasted lamb still lingering in the air?

How does it feel to be here, in Jesus’ inner circle? Who is seated beside you? What else can you see as you look around the room?

Out of the corner of your eye, you notice Jesus get up from the table and begin to remove his cloak, and then his outer robe. Conversation around the table slowly stills as all eyes fix on his confusing movements. He pours clean water into a nearby basin, picks up a servant’s towel, and then turns back towards the table, his eyes coming to rest on yours. What do you feel, as he looks at you?

Crossing the room, Jesus then sits down in front of you, sets the bowl on the floor, and holds his hand out expectantly. He wants to wash your feet.

Can you see it? Can you imagine this, as if it were happening right now? What is your gut reaction to the scene? Does it cause any internal resistance?

In the first century of course, your feet would be caked with dirt, dust, grime and sweat. Can you picture Jesus kneeling on the floor in front of you, wanting to take those stinky dirty feet in his hands, to gently massage them with soap and water, over and over and over again, until you are clean? Should Jesus do this, for you?

Does something about it feel ‘not right’ – Jesus being the important one, should you be in opposite positions? Do you prefer everybody in ‘their proper place’? But there is Jesus, kneeling and washing… erasing every trace of hierarchy.

Does it make you feel too vulnerable, to be served so intimately? Do you prefer to be the capable one? The strong one? The one in control?

Would you feel embarrassed to have your mess in anyone else’s hands? Embarrassed to be seen that closely? To accept help, in getting it cleaned up?

How much of this is true in your regular life? Would you rather hide your messiness, from people – from God – rather than bring it out in the open, and say my feet are dirty, I need some help?

What causes you to resist this kind of tender care from Christ? (The kind he’s holding out, every single day.)

Take a minute to just allow yourself to sit in the vulnerability, and the tenderness of that love Jesus is offering you in this moment.

Periodically Jesus shoots a look up at you, in which his eyes seem to say: This is what love looks like. Are you watching? Are you paying attention? Give me what’s messy, grungy, broken, and let me hold it, with you, and then let me heal it. Not with greatness and power, but by stripping off everything that looks important, and taking the humble posture of a servant. Because this is what love looks like.

We mentioned that there were 5 love languages, and you might think we left “physical touch” out – perhaps thinking that because God doesn’t have a physical body, that one can’t apply. But actually… God does have a body. It’s sitting in your chair right now. And it’s sitting in that chair, and that chair, and that chair over there. We are the body of Christ, meant to embrace and hold each other, to be living breathing conduits of the physical presence and love of Christ to one another.

In fact that’s a key part of what we celebrate, when we come to the communion table. You see God did have a body, his name is Jesus – and he came into a full physical-touch human experience – then he gave that body up for us. To show us clearly and without a doubt what love really looks like in action. He laid down his life. And then God resurrected that life.

And in the process of doing that, he transformed us into his new body, into his physical presence – and God’s loving touch – to one another. In generosity, and hope, and healing and love. It’s a gift we now give one another, because of the gift that was given to us. And we remember and celebrate both of those realities when we come to participate in the Lord’s Supper together.

So with that in mind, go ahead and take both the juice and the wafer in your hands right now. And let’s just feel it there for a moment. Can you let yourself imagine/embrace the idea that this is the touch of God right now, resting lightly in your hands. This is how close his love is. It’s not distant and obscure. It’s right there, holding you, as you hold it.

Pray:

God we thank you for the touch of your love. For your body, given up in love for us. Thank you that by this broken body, we are made one whole and healed body together; restored to you, and to one another. Would you make this truth real in us, we pray.

[EAT BREAD]

And God we thank you for your blood, poured out in hope and healing. Would you show us how to let your love be the only thing that fuels our lives, from the inside out. Teach us how to live, and walk, and love in your spirit of oneness, every single day.

[DRINK JUICE]

Amen.