In the midst of the distractions in our lives, we come to listen, to think, and to feel.
We come to learn so that we may teach. We come to pray so that we may act.
Jesus said that he was born to testify to the truth.
Why were we born? To what do our lives testify?
When his enemies came looking for him, he asked them to take him and not the others.
Are we willing to risk our lives to save others?
Jesus, without fear, told his disciples to put away their weapons, for it is God’s will not our own that we are to bear testimony.
Can we lay aside our fears? Can we lay aside our weapons?
Jesus spoke openly and truthfully, and for it he was condemned.
How courageous are we in speaking openly and truthfully?
Jesus responded to his persecutors not with violence and retaliation, but with questions to consider their own consciences.
Are we loyal enough to God to respond to hatred with love, to violence with peace, and to injustice with justice?
Jesus’ own nation ridiculed him and handed him over to die, but his devotion to God superseded his national loyalties.
Christ’s kingdom is not of this world. His values are divine ones, not human ones. What are ours?
Christ did not make war on his enemies, nor did his followers.
It wasn’t that they were not filled with fear. It was that they valued kindness more than revenge, and gentleness more than force.
Christ testified to the truth of God’s virtues and values not only with his words, but with his practices…not only with his actions, but with his life.
By putting fear aside, he was able to love everyone – even his enemies.
May we, like Jesus, bear testimony to God’s truth in our lives.
Grant us, O God, courage to overcome our fears, love to overcome our hatreds, compassion to overcome our self-interests, and peace to overcome our desire to be in control. In the Spirit of Christ, Amen.