Occasionally, we will reprint prior devotions that now reflect on the coming lectionary texts. This is a reprint from a devotion originally published on April 16, 2014.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for the example of your love through Jesus. May all know we are your followers by the love we have for one another. Help us to be your hands and face in the world today. Amen. Reading: John 13: 1-17, 31b-35 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: All creation is a witness to God's majesty (think mountains), God’s power (think the mysterious way God's will seems to be done) and God’s love (just think Grace). But think about this: The only hands and feet God has on earth right here, right now are ours. If God needs something to get done, we are the ones to do it. On top of that, the only face of God someone may see is His face in our faces. Our text begins with the story of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet - Jesus washing with his hands and his friends looking into his face. Jesus – the hands and face of God. Then, knowing in a few short days he would be gone and they would not be able to follow him as usual in person, Jesus told them, ”A new command I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know you are my disciples.” John 13: 34. A new command for them then and for us now. --Ruth Gates
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