KNOXVILLE, TN (July 20, 2006) – The University of Tennessee women’s basketball team has the best winning percentage of any NCAA team in history and has garnered legendary status with its national championships.
But the cheering that happened on the Lady Volunteers’ home court in the Thompson-Boling Arena Wednesday night was among the most significant ever.
As hundreds and hundreds of students made their way to the back of the arena to commit their lives to Jesus, speaker Efrem Smith exhorted those remaining in their seats: “I want you to show them what heaven is doing right now!”
Thousands of teenagers and counselors jumped to their feet offering thunderous applause and cheering that reverberated throughout the arena.
Weeping turned to laughter for many students as they prayed with counselors and members of the CHIC Prayer Team. Even after the service ended around midnight, students continued praying.
Speakers Smith and Judy Howard Peterson took turns guiding students through the relationship of Jesus and his disciples, especially Peter, on the night before the Savior’s death and following his resurrection.
Peterson began the recounting of those fateful days with the story of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. She noted that “this was not just a little toe jam.” Rather, they were feet that had walked through dirty streets where even animal waste was not cleaned up. Jesus paid attention to the dirtiest, most hidden and disrespected part of our bodies, Peterson said, relating that he does the same with our lives.
Peterson asked the gathering to pay special attention to Jesus letting the disciples eat first before washing their feet. “Jesus never says get your act together and come.”
Smith picked up the story of Jesus’ crucifixion, saying, “Jesus had to have a championship match with death. It was Jesus vs. Death.
“If you accept Jesus, that doesn’t mean that every day will be sunny,” Smith continued. “It does mean that they would not have to deal with the storm of everlasting death.” Cheers and applause echoed across the arena.
Smith warned, however, that like the disciples whose actions in the Garden of Gethsemane revealed a misunderstanding of what Jesus was doing, “It is possible to be closed to Jesus and so disconnected from the mission of Jesus.”
Smith offered himself as one example of an individual who still is trying to conform to Christ’s mission. The pastor confessed that just the day before he left to attend CHIC, he deliberately avoided helping a hungry woman because he was more interested in picking up his laundry and didn’t want to be delayed.
Peterson picked up the story again to emphasize that Jesus gives second chances, stressing that if the students doubt that is possible, they need only heed the little-noticed words “and Peter.”
The words come as the angel tells the women who come to the tomb to “tell his disciples and Peter. He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”
Despite Peter’s denial of knowing Jesus, it was as if the angel was saying, “Tell Peter he can bat again.”
It was Smith’s turn again, and as the screen behind the main stage was lit up with names that covered a black background, the pastor told the students that the night was historic for two reasons:
- A black male pastor and a white female pastor were preaching together on the same stage. “That is a big deal!” he proclaimed.
- What could happen in the students’ lives also is historic. It was a night students could say, “My life was about this. I worshiped this, but no more,” Smith said. “I was in the church, but now I need a real authentic relationship with God.”
After the audience responded to the altar call, Peterson continued talking about Jesus’ love for Peter. “The next time you see Peter, he’s gone back to fishing,” she said. Peter’s actions were typical of others. “After the moment passes, we go back to what we know,” Peterson said. “But Jesus went and found him again.”
Peterson said that she disagrees with some scholars who believe Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” three times to counteract the three times he denied his master. Rather, she suggests the exchange was an educational session for someone who thought he still might be able to hide. It was on the third time that Peter is finally able to say, “Lord, you know all things . . .”
In a world where second chances rarely are given and third chances are nearly non-existent, Jesus gives “second chances every single day.”
Prior to sharing communion in the arena, the exchange between Jesus and Peter was read as a responsive reading. Six thousand people then shared the bread and cup.
Covenant Communications is providing daily coverage of CHIC 2006 from the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville as part of this online Covenant news report. For additional articles, photo galleries, and daily blogs (with Spanish translations), please see CHIC 2006.
Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.
