Christ in me! Christ in you!
by Peter Bean
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Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food, or thirsty and give you something to drink? (Matthew 25:37)
Read Matthew 25:31–46
What surprises me about these verses is that neither the ‘good’ nor ‘evil’ people knew what they were doing! (Perhaps Jesus was praying on the cross for forgiveness for everyone!)
So how do we know how to live well if we don’t even recognise when we are? Perhaps we need to take a step back from the doing and the trying to live well.
Before we do, we are! Who are we? Children of God! Friends of the Saviour! In John 14:20, Jesus says, ‘You are in me, and I am in you’.
Perhaps we need to look in the mirror and see Christ (rather than an old, craggy face like mine or a young, beautiful one, possibly like yours). See Christ in me. See Christ in you. See Christ in the other person. Then act towards (do to) the other person as you would to Christ.
Then, who we are is what we do. Our actions and what we do reflect the gift we have received of life and forgiveness, grace and mercy, and justice and integrity. Then Christ lives in me and through me. And if Christ lives in the other person, what we do is being done to Christ.
And Jesus’ words in Matthew 25 begin to make sense. They are not at all about us making judgments on others, but recognising and realising the gift of life we receive and can give!
St Patrick (AD 390–461) picked this up in his famous prayer (perhaps look up the whole prayer for context), but for now, why not pray this portion of it with me:
Christ with me; Christ before me; Christ behind me;
Christ in me; Christ beneath me; Christ above me;
Christ in hearts of all who know me;
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger. Amen.
Peter is often out tending his garden – with 83 fruit and nut trees and extensive native bushes, he says there is a lot to do! Other times, he will be walking his dog, reading (too many books at a time), enjoying his family (15 grandchildren!), and occasionally writing – poetry, opinion pieces, devotions! To keep out of mischief, he is currently teaching himself to play the piano and is writing a paraphrase of each psalm. You can read these on his website, Creative Walking www.creativewalking.com.au/psalm-reflections.html
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