Reflection by Rev. Leonard N. Peterson
Presenting your ID card, which happens often these days for a variety of reasons, can be annoying. First, you must dig your driver’s license, or other ID out of your wallet or purse. But best not to show your annoyance because you’ll look petty, or even suspicious. One would hope that it would not be such a necessary step to gain service in a free country, but now it is. Amen.
But in the spiritual realm at least, no literal ID card exists. And God does ask for one. The good Lord presumes you are trustworthy. But still, He asks for assurance that you identify yourself as one of His followers, not with a card but with a lifestyle. You could your life is your ID. Listen again to Our Lord’s main qualification: “They will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.”
Aha! It might be easier if there were a card to carry instead of this implied command. This kind of love shows itself in ways big and small. “Big” might well be a large check written for a needy friend facing a debt. “Small” might be in a conversation where you refuse to join in gossip about another person.
Most of our living is done in that nebulous “in between.” Life sure takes its twists and turns. But it is in ordinary daily reality that our love comes through to others.
You may not know that some years ago, the Wawa company was considering installing automatic doors in all their stores. But consultation held sway with the idea that not having them was better in the long run. Having regular doors promotes courtesy among us and the need to hold a door for another, or to say “Thank you” when one is held for you.
On another level, we all have family members that we often take for granted. We can unwittingly be more eager to offer charity to strangers than for one of our own. Awareness through steady prayer and regular examination of conscience can preclude that mistake.
I believe it helps to know that exemplifying our personal ID, l has the power to prove the existence of God and His kingdom of heaven, and it gets noticed.
Several years ago, a group of computer salesmen from Milwaukee were at a regional sales convention in Chicago. They assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for dinner. But with one thing and another, the meeting ran overtime, and the men had to race to the train station, tickets in hand. As they barged through the terminal, one man inadvertently kicked over a table supporting a basket of apples.
Without stopping, all the men reached the train and boarded it with a sigh of relief. All but one. He paused, got in touch with his conscience, and experienced a twinge of compunction for the boy whose apple stand had been overturned. He waved goodbye to his companions and returned to the terminal. He was glad he did. The ten-year-old boy was blind.
The salesman gathered up the apples and noticed that a good many of them were bruised. He reached into his wallet and said to the boy. “Here, please take twenty dollars for the damage we did. I hope it won’t spoil your day.” As he started to walk away, the bewildered boy called after him, “Are you Jesus?” He stopped in his tracks. And he wondered.
God love you and keep your spiritual ID current.
Rev. Peterson’s Reading & Gospel Summary
Reading I: Acts 14: 21-27.
Paul urges believers to prepare themselves for the suffering and persecution that comes with being Christian.
Reading II: Revelation 21: 1-5a.
The kingdom of God will be fulfilled in a new heaven and a new earth. It touches down to earth so that the earthbound faithful will be united with those in heaven.
The Gospel: John 13: 31-33a, 34-35.
When Judas leaves the room, Jesus can relax and say a powerful word; “Now!” Now He can accept the suffering to come as a way to show the depth of God’s love for the world.