300 Days for 300 Years: A Commemorative Devotional of the Presbytery of Philadelphia
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Rev. Schaunel Steinnagel Associate Pastor in Validated Ministry, The Welcome Church

  • First Reading: Acts 17:22-31
  • Psalm 66:8-20
  • Second Reading: 1 Peter 3:13-22
  • Gospel: John 14:15-21

Whither Thou Goest…

I have some bad news and some good news: We are going to be here a while.

Is it good or bad news?

In the beginning of John 14, Jesus suggests that he is going somewhere. We hear that Jesus is going, when he says to his disciples, “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you”. Jesus is coming, to us, to dwell. We, the community in Christ, are not to be lifted out of the world.
The world (the cosmos, the here-and-now, the current reality) cannot see Jesus, post-Crucifixion, post-Resurrection. However, the doers of Jesus’ commandments see him. If we love Jesus and keep his commandments, then we see Jesus; or to us, Jesus becomes revealed. Love is an action verb. Believing and doing are tightly interlinked.

We have what we need, in the Spirit, the Advocate, the Encourager-alongside. At Jesus’ coming, each one of us embodies all that is needed: “You will know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you”. This is empowering and sobering. We have the responsibility (response-ability), to stand up to the forces of death, to see a different reality than the world’s.

We are going to be here a while.

“I’m gonna live so God can use me, anywhere, Lord, anytime!” (sung from there.) Amen.