Keri Anderson - Hope in Community - January 18, 2015

Part two of a series on hope, Root and Branch Pastoral Intern, Keri Anderson, shares her thoughts on loneliness, the risk of being known, and the beloved community. 

Readings:

John 13:1, 4-5, 12-14 & John 15:12-13

1It was just before the Passover Festival [and Jesus was sharing a final meal with his friends]. He knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

4 [While they were eating,] he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them.13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.

12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Quote by Timothy Keller

“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial.  To be known and not loved is our greatest fear.  But to be fully known and truly loved is a lot like being loved by God.  It is what we need more than anything.  It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.”