Sunday, June 1, 2025  

Today's Scripture
John 17:20–26

“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (NRSV)

Reflection

I grew up in a household that would be considered evangelical by any current cultural definition. And as I’ve moved from that space and found my own spiritual life, it’s a word that I have struggled with. It’s a vague term that conjures visions of strident puritanism, judgment, and proselytizing. It’s a worldview that is based on the idea of us vs. them, the saved vs. the unsaved. The repercussions of these ideas lasted with me for much of my early adult years, and I shied away from talking about my faith for fear of alienating others who may not share my exact beliefs.

It has taken some time for that fear to subside, prodded along in large part by sermons of former Fourth Church pastor Shannon Kershner, who reminded us weekly that we are all loved children of God. This is abundantly clear in this passage, as Jesus prays “that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

This simple idea that God loves has inspired and challenged me over the years. It has also shaped how I view the term evangelical today and how I try to live that in the world. To me, it doesn’t mean trying to convert others, but it does mean that I should take every opportunity to love others as God has loved me. If the world feels that love, they will know that God sent Jesus into our world.

Prayer

Written by Jared Light, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

Devotion index by date | I’d like to receive daily devotions by email