Our Scripture meditation is based on John 17:14-18, part of the Gospel reading for the coming week.
(Jesus prayed…) [14] I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [15] I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. [16] They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [17] Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. [18] As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
There are times when, as Christians, we’ve had enough of the world around us. Greed is glorified in commercial after commercial after commercial. Broadcast television and streaming services portray immorality as the norm. We suffer from unethical or illegal business practices. Or, worse, we are pressured to participate in unethical or illegal practices.
At such times, we can take comfort in being reminded in Jesus’ prayer that we are “not of the world”. Through Jesus work on our behalf, we now have peace with God and with one another. In this fellowship we stand apart from the fallen world. Morally we stand apart from our culture. Even when we sin, we receive forgiveness and are restored to God and one another.
In fact, it is tempting to stay apart from the world, to create a kind of personal modern monastery. Yet his is not Jesus’ will. God cares deeply for all people. He refuses to abandon anyone. It is not surprising that Jesus prayed that the Heavenly Father would not remove us from the world. Instead, Jesus’ prayer describes us a spiritual “first responders.” God sends us into the world to live out our vocations.
Thanks be to God that we’re not just thrown into the fray. In his prayer, Jesus asks the Father to protect us from Satan. Jesus also reminds us that God sanctifies us through his word. This process strengthens our faith and prepares us to serve our neighbor. This will continue until Christ returns or until we fall asleep in the Lord. Then we will truly no longer be of this world.
Kevin Wilson 360 