Scripture: John 17:14-18
I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
Thought for the Day: Back in 1995, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and political satirist Russell Baker gave the commencement address at Connecticut College. In the speech, he said:
The best advice I can give anybody
about going out into the world is this:
Don’t do it. I have been out there.
It is a mess.
Throughout Christian history (and Judaism before Christianity), there have been those who have chosen the path of separation. They did not (and do not) wish to be influenced by culture, and so they pulled away from society. Different religious traditions exhibited this approach to faithfulness in unique ways, but in the end, their approach suggested that the world was beyond redemption.
In the above portion of scripture, Jesus is praying for his disciples. There is clearly a tension between being in the world and not conforming to the world, but at no point does Jesus suggest that the answer to the messiness of the world is to escape or hide. Instead, we are to engage the world as representatives of God’s Kingdom. Jesus came into the world because God loved the world, and this love demonstrates that – from God’s perspective – the world is worth redeeming. And if it is worth redeeming, it is going to be difficult to speak to that idea if I’m hiding in a cave with a bunch of folks who are afraid of the world.
Prayer: Send me into the world, O Lord, not to learn the ways of the world but to reveal your redemptive love for the world. Amen.
THIS SUNDAY
Liturgical Dance
All Three Services
Blood Drive
In Holy Grounds
9am – Noon
Concert
Celebrating 30 Years of Music Making
In the Centrum
7:00pm
