DO YOU like it when someone offers to wash your feet? Or maybe a better way to put it is, ‘Has anyone ever offered to wash you feet?’ It’s not a very common occurrence socially!

But Jesus did just that for His disciples in a gesture that said, ‘I am here to serve, I am here to love.’ And He told them that they should follow His example.

Of other things Jesus instituted as real, meaningful ‘sacraments’ – actions that are filled with the Holy Spirit and deeper significance – baptism and ‘communion’ are two examples.

And what do we do with them? In the course of time, these acts are reduced to the level of religious ritual, losing so much of their meaning and impact.

So many surveys and media features today point to the decline in Christianity in the UK. But is this simply a decline in fossilised religion?

People who respond to surveys often seem to say they want to be ‘spiritual’, but they don’t want to be part of dead religion.

So, among other things, the church needs to rediscover the reality of ‘sacraments’! Ok, foot washing isn’t ‘normal’, but it can be very humbling both to be on the ‘giving’ and ‘receiving’ end. Through it, we signify our desire to love and serve one another.

Who wants to wash people’s feet otherwise!?