The Movement Of Service - With Worship

What does it mean to truly serve others, and where does that calling actually come from? In John 13, we encounter one of the most striking moments in all of Scripture -- the King of the universe, the one who holds all things in his hands, kneeling on the floor with a towel, washing the filth of the road off of his disciples' feet. This was the job of the lowest slave in the household, yet the highest person in the room took it upon himself without hesitation. But before we walk away simply inspired to serve more, we have to sit with the deeper truth this passage confronts us with: before Jesus ever puts a towel in our hands, he first washes us. Peter's resistance and Jesus' stunning reply -- that without this washing, Peter has no part with him -- reminds us that Christianity does not begin with what we do for Jesus. It begins with what Jesus has done for us. We cannot clean ourselves up enough, serve enough, or try hard enough to earn a place at his table. We simply need to come to him and ask to be made clean. That is the gospel, and it changes everything about why and how we serve.