“I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will
believe that I am who I am. Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I
send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent
me.” (John 13: 19-20)
This passage is taken from the Farewell Discourses in John’s Gospel and is recorded after Jesus’s washing his disciples’ feet and before he declares that one of them will betray him. The word “accepts” (some texts say “receives”) is repeated as part of the logic presented. But accepting anyone? Accepting where or what? Accepting into one’s home? Accepting into one’s life? Accepting into one’s heart?
As part of our Baptismal Covenant we are asked if we will “...seek and serve Christ in all persons.” I invite you to see a direct linkage between these two phrases. To seek and serve Christ in all persons is also to accept and receive Christ in all persons. When a gift is given us, we accept and receive that gift. And to do so, requires trusting in the giver or the sender of the gift. The gift of God’s love is ours to accept and receive. And it most often comes from others.
Lord, on this Saturday help me to accept and receive Christ in all I meet this day. Help me to accept and receive this gift in love, trusting in the giver, and serving you. Amen.
Tom O’Brien
This passage is taken from the Farewell Discourses in John’s Gospel and is recorded after Jesus’s washing his disciples’ feet and before he declares that one of them will betray him. The word “accepts” (some texts say “receives”) is repeated as part of the logic presented. But accepting anyone? Accepting where or what? Accepting into one’s home? Accepting into one’s life? Accepting into one’s heart?
As part of our Baptismal Covenant we are asked if we will “...seek and serve Christ in all persons.” I invite you to see a direct linkage between these two phrases. To seek and serve Christ in all persons is also to accept and receive Christ in all persons. When a gift is given us, we accept and receive that gift. And to do so, requires trusting in the giver or the sender of the gift. The gift of God’s love is ours to accept and receive. And it most often comes from others.
Lord, on this Saturday help me to accept and receive Christ in all I meet this day. Help me to accept and receive this gift in love, trusting in the giver, and serving you. Amen.
Tom O’Brien
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