Received

Have you ever felt you were sent out by God to help someone?

Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.’ - John 13:20

What does Jesus mean when he talks about being received?

One way of looking at it is to think of how he sent the disciples out to spread the good news of salvation.  If they were welcomed into the home, they were to stay, but if they were rejected, they were to move on.

Think back on a time when you were troubled.  Did someone come to you to try to help and you turned them away?  Did you reject the help thinking you could handle it yourself?

Or did you accept it as though it was coming from God?

I believe Jesus came to teach us to be instruments of God's healing grace, to walk in his ways so we can do the work of bringing people home to God, not by preaching so much as by doing.

As Paul told us, some are called to preach, but others have different talents that God uses in different ways.

People who need help have creative ways of rejecting it from others.  They may do it out of pride or fear or mistrust, but they do it to protect themselves from something only they can see.

Our job, if we are called to serve, is to build up that trust at the risk of being rejected over and over again.  It is not to win someone over to our way of thinking, but to be a neighbor and a friend to the needy.

When they receive our help, they receive the one who sent us, so it is important that we are mindful of that.  If we are sent for good, good will be received, but if we are sent for evil and dishonesty, that is what will be received, and the good work of healing will be damaged.

Those who deceive for their own gain make it harder for the ones who want to help to be trusted.

And without trust, there can be no connection.

More to come...