John 13:20 “Very
truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts Me; and whoever accepts
Me accepts the One who sent Me.”
Acceptance plays a major part in who
we are as 21st century people. We all want to be accepted on our own
terms as individuals. We all need to feel part of a society that accepts us
totally. We all want to belong to a world where every single person’s life
matters and every single choice is respected. This is a very high ideal and one
that is impossible to fulfill. People on this planet have different ideas,
philosophies, and versions about life. We live in different places; we have
different histories; we belong to different cultures; we eat different food,
wear different clothing, and speak in different languages. The chances of us completely
accepting one another are very remote and, sadly, highly unlikely. We therefore
look to a Higher Power and Wiser Being to show us what is acceptable and what
is not.
Today’s verse from the Gospel of John
belongs to a passage where Christ is actually commissioning His faithful
disciples for the work that is yet to come. Unknown to them, they are about to experience
and endure the three most intense and grueling days of Christ’s three year
ministry. Their cozy world is about to be turned upside down and inside out. Their
lives will never be the same, and their mission will be enormous: they will be
charged with broadcasting to the entire world Christ’s message of resurrection
and salvation.
In this instance from the Gospel, the acceptance
that is crucially important to Christ is the acceptance of His messengers of
the new Faith. To accept His apostles is to accept Him; to accept Him is to
accept God. This is foundational for the life-changing work of preaching and
teaching the Gospel, which will continue to the end of the world. Rather than
us being accepted by Him, which is what most of us want Jesus to do, we must
accept His terms, His conditions, and even His messengers.
In the end, the work of the Gospel, the
spreading of faith, and the expansion of Christianity will be the most
important mission undertaken in all of the history of humanity. We may reach
dizzying heights of technological wonders; we may discover amazing new facts
and sciences in the future; we may even travel to other planets and journey across
the stars in centuries to come – these are all glorious and magnificent goals
for humanity to reach – but in the end, God knows all of these things that we
may discover, for His wisdom is infinite, so the most important thing to God is
our individual discovery of accepting His Holy and Only Son as our Lord, Savior,
and King. The importance of acceptance, then, is not the acceptance by God of
who we are on our terms, but our personal acceptance of Christ on God’s terms.
Question for personal reflection
Have I accepted
Christ as my Savior, Lord, and King?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, You came down to Earth to
offer us the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of accepting You as God’s Chosen
One. Keep us from continually making excuses or avoiding this crucial choice. In
Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.
John
Stuart is currently the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.
If you would like to ask questions or make comments about today’s message,
please send him an email to Traqair@aol.com.
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