29 Dec 2016
Sometimes the words of Scripture give us a very clear reminder. And this is what we have from Saint John
today. He writes, “This is the way we
may know that we are in union with [Jesus]: whoever claims to abide in him
ought to walk just as he walked.” In
other words, when people encounter us, it should be like they’re encountering
Christ himself. And that’s a pretty tall
order to fill.
But, really, what Saint John is saying is that: if we’re
going to call ourselves children of God, then loving our fellow Christians is
not an option. If we are to be disciples
of Christ, then we must be loving. After
all, that’s our Lord’s most basic commandment: Love. Love God, and love our neighbor. If we can do that—even if we love imperfectly—if
we can live a life of actually loving God and our neighbors, then we are truly
walking in the Light of Christ.
If love is our basic mode of operation, then we are children
of the Light. Then we are disciples of
Christ, and children of God, because—as Saint John teaches us—God is love. And so, when people encounter us, may they
encounter the love of Christ—for their good, and our own good as well. After all, we want to be who and what we say
we are: We are Christians.
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