favorite moment from the last week

There were times during the week in Philadelphia that the Gospel was glaringly absent from the evening lessons and morning devotions. It wasn't that what was said was wrong...it was just that Jesus wasn't the grounding for it. The messages had a very "be good" feel to them.

And then something eternally rewarding happened. Several kids from my youth group said to me, after I asked them their thoughts on the past couple of days, that the Gospel was not there. The messages seemed unfulfilling and not quite Jesus centered.

It made my heart joyful to know that they could recognize Jesus-absent theology. Not only that, but that they desired to hear the Gospel.

On Thursday night after a brief message on foot-washing we began to ready ourselves for the act of washing. My kids were fidgety and uncomfortable (which is absolutely normal) and then one of them said "I just wish I knew why we were doing this. I don't think that washing someone's feet is a very good way to serve."

What they missed was the awesome service of Christ washing our feet as a symbol of our continual need for repentance and his continual intercession on our behalf. When they saw the beauty of God's sustaining grace found in foot-washing they were immediately ready to endure the brief uncomfortable moment for the delight of Christ continual work on our behalf.

I asked them two questions: What did Peter ask Jesus to do? (Wash his hands and face as well.) What did Jesus respond? (That he was already clean and only his feet needed continual cleaning.)

They immediately saw the connection to Christ's sustaining work for us. What a sweet thing to see them get it, that it's not about our service but about Christ's work. So awesome.

-joe