00:00Hey friends, welcome back to Day 5 in Mercy Creek.
00:05Today, we're going to be discussing a lesson that comes from the most unforgettable moment
00:12in the New Testament.
00:13In John 13, Jesus knew who he was.
00:18He knew where he came from.
00:20He knew where he was going.
00:22And because he knew he had all authority, he did something no one expected.
00:30He got up from the table, he wrapped a towel around his waist, and he washed his disciples'
00:37feet.
00:38That is not how the world usually defines greatness, is it?
00:42The world says greatness means being noticed, being served, being important, being above
00:50the work no one else wants to do.
00:53But Jesus, well, Jesus showed us something different.
01:00In his kingdom, greatness bends down.
01:04Greatness serves.
01:06Greatness picks up the towel.
01:08And on Monday morning in Mercy Creek, after everything that happened in the church yesterday, that
01:17lesson began in the church basement.
01:20Sunday had changed something.
01:23Eli Harper had sat in the back pew, and for once, the town had not pushed him out.
01:30But Pastor Caleb had told the church that it was not a museum for Polish people.
01:36It was a hospital for wounded people.
01:41Hank Miller had made room beside him for his brother Sam.
01:45Nobody pretended everything was fixed.
01:48But something holy had cracked open.
01:51By Monday morning, Pastor Caleb wanted to protect it.
01:57He had barely slept.
01:59He'd sat in the church office with a notebook open, writing ideas for outreach, prayer nights,
02:07community meals, youth ministry, family repair, grief support, and about 12 other things one
02:16tired pastor thought he could somehow carry at once.
02:20Then, Ruth called while knocked on the door.
02:24Pastor, she said gently, the basement is flooded.
02:29Caleb closed his eyes.
02:32Of course it is.
02:34The storm from Saturday had left water seeping through the old foundation.
02:39The fellowship hall carpet was soaked.
02:43Folding chairs were stacked crooked against the wall.
02:46The smell of mildew had already started rising from the corners.
02:51And the church was supposed to host a community meal that evening.
02:57Within an hour, people had gathered.
03:01Grace came from the diner with coffee and biscuits.
03:05Lily carried a roll of paper towels almost as big as she was.
03:10Nora Reyes arrived after working another early shift at the clinic.
03:14Deputy Reed, well, he came in uniform.
03:19Ruth brought gloves.
03:22Hank came with tools.
03:24Sam came with him, which made half the room look twice.
03:30Eli stood near the stairwell, hands in his hoodie pocket.
03:35Unsure if he was allowed to belong on a Monday just because he had been welcomed on Sunday.
03:43And Jesus, well, Jesus was already there.
03:47No one had seen him arrive.
03:50He was in the far corner of the basement, kneeling on the wet floor with a towel in his hands,
03:58wiping muddy water from beneath the lowest shelf.
04:02Pastor Caleb froze halfway down the stairs.
04:05Lord, he said softly.
04:09Jesus looked up.
04:11Good morning, Caleb.
04:13You don't have to do that.
04:16Jesus smiled.
04:18That is why I can.
04:21Nobody moved for a moment.
04:23It is one thing to talk about serving.
04:26It is another thing to see Jesus on his knees in a church basement,
04:32cleaning up water that smelled like dirt and old carpet.
04:36Caleb hurried down the rest of the stairs.
04:39Please, let me.
04:42Jesus handed him a towel.
04:44Then, join me.
04:46That was not the answer that Caleb expected.
04:50He thought Jesus might rescue him from the mess.
04:53Instead, Jesus invited him into it.
04:58So, Caleb knelt beside him, the pastor of the church down on the floor,
05:04wiping mud from the baseboards.
05:07Hank set his toolbox down.
05:10Well, he muttered, if the preacher's on the floor, I guess nobody's too fancy.
05:17Sam reached for a mop.
05:19Hank glanced at him.
05:21For a second, old tension passed between them.
05:25Then Hank said,
05:27Use the gray bucket.
05:29Blue one leaks.
05:31Sam nodded.
05:33Still?
05:34Still.
05:35It was not much, but sometimes forgiveness begins with practical information.
05:43Across the room, Nora tried to lift a wet rug by herself.
05:48Grace saw her and stepped in.
05:51Nora, let me help.
05:53I've got it.
05:55I know you do, Grace said.
05:57That's not the point.
06:00Nora stopped.
06:02Those were almost the same words Jesus had spoken to her at Miller's Market on day one.
06:10She let Grace take one side of the rug.
06:13Together, they carried it outside.
06:17Eli stood near the stairwell, watching.
06:21Lily walked over and handed him a towel.
06:23You can help, she said.
06:27Eli looked at the towel.
06:29Did your mom tell you to ask me?
06:32No.
06:34Did Jesus?
06:35No.
06:37Then why?
06:38Lily shrugged.
06:40Because you're standing there?
06:42Eli almost smiled.
06:45He took the towel.
06:47Deputy Reed saw him kneel near the chairs and begin wiping mud from the legs.
06:52For a moment, the deputy looked like he wanted to say something formal.
06:58Maybe an apology.
07:00Maybe encouragement.
07:03Maybe the kind of sentence adults use when they are uncomfortable with their own guilt.
07:09But he did not.
07:12He simply knelt a few feet away and started working, too.
07:17That was better.
07:19The basement filled with the sounds of service.
07:23Buckets sliding.
07:24Mops ringing.
07:26Chairs scraping.
07:27Grace laughing when Lily splashed her own shoes.
07:32Ruth telling Hank he was using the wrong kind of rag.
07:36Hank telling Ruth.
07:37He had fixed engines more complicated than a church basement.
07:42Ruth telling him engines did not impress her.
07:46For a little while, Mercy Creek did not look like a town divided by old wounds.
07:52It looked like a family cleaning up after a storm.
07:56Pastor Caleb watched it all.
07:59And then he quietly said,
08:02This is what I keep missing.
08:05Jesus looked at him.
08:07What is that?
08:09Caleb held the wet towel in both hands.
08:13I keep thinking leadership means holding everything together.
08:19Jesus said,
08:21Sometimes leadership means being the first one willing to kneel.
08:26Caleb looked around the room.
08:29I wanted to build something big after yesterday.
08:33A movement.
08:34A plan.
08:36A ministry.
08:37Jesus nodded.
08:40Jesus nodded.
08:40Those may come.
08:42But this came first.
08:44Yes.
08:45Caleb looked down at the towel.
08:48The floor.
08:49Jesus said,
08:51The towel often comes before the platform.
08:54That sentence settled into him.
08:57The towel often comes before the platform.
09:02Near the storage closet, Hank and Sam were trying to move a heavy table.
09:08You're lifting too fast, Hank snapped.
09:12Sam let go.
09:13And you're still talking to me like I'm 17.
09:16The room went quiet.
09:19Hank's face hardened.
09:20Then he looked across the basement and saw Jesus watching him.
09:26Not condemning him.
09:28Just seeing him.
09:31Hank breathed out.
09:32You're right, he said.
09:35Sam blinked.
09:37Hank looked back at the table.
09:39I'm sorry.
09:41It was not the big apology.
09:44Not yet.
09:46But it was the first clean brick in a broken wall.
09:50Sam picked up his side again.
09:53On three.
09:54Hank nodded.
09:56One.
09:57Two.
09:58Three.
09:59Together they lifted it.
10:01By noon the basement was cleaner than it had been in years.
10:05The community meal could still happen.
10:09But something more important had happened first.
10:13People who had been waiting to be healed had started serving one another.
10:18While they were still healing.
10:21Jesus rinsed his hands in the utility sink.
10:25Caleb stood beside him.
10:29I thought yesterday was about welcoming the wounded, Caleb said.
10:34It was.
10:35And today?
10:37Jesus picked up the towel and wrung it out slowly.
10:41Today is about what welcomed people do next.
10:45Caleb waited.
10:47Jesus said.
10:49They serve.
10:52Upstairs?
10:53Grace sent out coffee in the fellowship hall.
10:56Ruth wrote a sign for the evening meal.
11:00Nora called two patients who needed rides.
11:04Deputy Reed carried trash bags to the curb.
11:07Eli helped Lily stack chairs pretending he did not care when she told him he was doing a good job.
11:18Hank and Sam stood near the old church furnace.
11:21Both of them dirty, tired, and quiet.
11:27Finally, Sam said,
11:29Thanks for letting me come today.
11:32Hank stared at the furnace.
11:33I didn't exactly invite you.
11:37No.
11:38Hank swallowed.
11:40But I didn't tell you to leave.
11:43Sam looked at him.
11:45No.
11:46No, you didn't.
11:48For now, that was enough.
11:51That evening, the church basement filled with people.
11:55Not because the carpet was perfect.
11:58It was not.
11:59Not because the walls were beautiful.
12:02They were not.
12:04Not because Mercy Creek had suddenly become holy.
12:08It had not.
12:11But because something about the room felt different.
12:16The people serving the food were the same people who had needed mercy all week.
12:22Grace, who was afraid of losing the diner.
12:26Nora, who was tired of always being wrong.
12:31Eli, who was learning he could still belong.
12:36Deputy Reed, who was learning justice needed tenderness.
12:41And Pastor Caleb, who was learning ministry begins lower than ambition wants to go.
12:48For Hank and Sam, who were not fully reconciled, but no longer standing on opposite sides of every room.
12:59And Jesus, well, Jesus moved among them quietly.
13:04Refilling cups.
13:06Carrying plates.
13:08Listening.
13:10Not taking the head table.
13:13Not asking to be honored.
13:16Just serving.
13:18At the end of the night, Lily found the towel folded over the back of a chair.
13:24She picked it up and carried it to Grace.
13:28Mom, she whispered.
13:30I think this is his.
13:33Grace looked across the room.
13:35Jesus was helping Eli carry a box of canned goods into the pantry.
13:42Grace smiled softly.
13:45Then leave it there.
13:47Grace looked at the towel.
13:50Because maybe we need the reminder.
13:54So they left it.
13:57A simple towel.
13:59Folded over a chair in a church basement.
14:03And that became the lesson of day five.
14:08Jesus did not come to teach us how to look important.
14:12He came to show us how to love low.
14:16To bend down.
14:18To serve quietly.
14:20To carry what needs carrying.
14:24To clean what needs cleaning.
14:27To help without needing applause.
14:30Because in the kingdom of God.
14:34The towel is not beneath us.
14:37The towel is the way.
14:40And maybe today.
14:42Jesus is not asking us to wait for a bigger calling.
14:46Maybe he's asking us to notice the wet floor.
14:50The tired person.
14:52The heavy table.
14:55The quiet need.
14:57The work nobody wants.
15:00And maybe he's saying what he showed us and his disciples long ago.
15:07If you want to follow me.
15:10Do not be afraid to kneel.
15:14Tomorrow is day six.
15:17And Mercy Creek is about to face a harder test.
15:21Because it is one thing to serve people when everyone is watching.
15:26It's another thing.
15:28To show mercy when the town wants judgment.
15:33And Jesus.
15:34Well.
15:36Jesus is not finished with Mercy Creek yet.
15:41So I'll see you here tomorrow for day six.
15:46My name is Douglas Van der Graaff.
15:48And I believe in Jesus Christ.
15:51God bless.
15:52Every.
15:53Single one of you.
15:55Every.
15:57Single one.
16:01Bye bye.
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