Second Presbyterian Church

In John 17:16, Jesus prays for his disciples, saying “They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.”  Throughout the New Testament, Jesus, Paul, and Peter each refer to followers of Jesus as being sojourners and foreigners in this world.  They have a distance from the world, even while being a part of it.

I love that familiar story of an airline employee who worked through a long delay in a flight's departure and kept her composure as the passengers grew angrier. When someone asked her name so he could write a letter of commendation, she replied, "Oh, I don't work for this airline; I work for Jesus Christ."

When I was little, I used to sing, “They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love.”  That is a beautiful message, particularly if we imagine it not just as a song but as a reality.  My prayer is that each of us lives our life with the recognition that we do have an important calling.  We are “not of this world.”  That is a calling, and it is good news.

With blessings,
Craig