TEAM JESUS | WEEK 4
"Towels Over Tables"
Pastor Rory Chance
Towels Over Tables
“I am among you as one who serves.” —Luke 22:27
Our culture constantly encourages us to focus on ourselves—our preferences, goals, comfort, and success. But the more life becomes centered around “me,” the smaller it becomes.
Jesus shows us a better way: Life gets bigger when self gets smaller.
At the Last Supper, the disciples began arguing about which of them was the greatest. While they were focused on their position at the table, Jesus stood up, wrapped a towel around His waist, and began washing their feet.
Foot washing was normally reserved for the lowest servant in the house. Yet Jesus willingly chose the towel over the table, establishing a new culture for His Kingdom.
Choose the Towel Over the Table
The table represented honor, comfort, and status. The towel represented humility and service.
A table mentality asks, “What’s in this for me?” A towel mentality asks, “Who is in need?”
The table is about being filled; the towel is about pouring out. The table can hide the mess, but the towel helps transform it.
On Team Jesus, no one is too important to serve. No job is too small, no need is too inconvenient, and no person is beneath our care.
We choose the towel because people matter to Jesus.
Find the Need and Meet It
Everyone at the Last Supper had dirty feet, but no one volunteered to wash them. Jesus noticed the need everyone else ignored.
Some of the most meaningful opportunities to serve are unseen, unwanted, and unglamorous. It may look like changing diapers, mentoring a teenager,
stacking chairs, making coffee, teaching children about Jesus, or simply becoming a godly friend to someone who feels alone.
Jesus promised:
“Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.” —John 13:17
Knowing is not enough. Kingdom culture is built when we see a need and take action.
Be Refreshed by Refreshing Others
The world says fulfillment comes from putting yourself first. Jesus teaches that true joy is discovered when we serve others.
Proverbs 11:25 says, “Those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.”
The Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea are both fed by the Jordan River. The Sea of Galilee receives water and allows it to flow out, so it is filled with life. The Dead
Sea receives the same water but has no outlet—and nothing can live there.
The difference is not what they receive. It is what they release.
When we hold tightly to everything God gives us, our lives become stagnant. But when we allow His blessings to flow through us to meet the needs of others, we become spiritually alive.
If your life feels dry, begin refreshing someone else. Find a need, pour into it, and trust God to send the rain.
Choose the towel over the table. Find the need and meet it. Live to refresh others.
Because on Team Jesus, greatness is not found in being served—it is found in serving.
