John 13:21-38

TEXT You will disown me... How harsh was that word to Peter? Yesterday Barack Obama used that word. As he explained his relationship with his former pastor he said, "I can no more disown him than I can my own white grandmother... they are a part of me." Senator Obama was explaining why, though he disagreed strongly with Pastor Wright's inflammatory comments and his grandmother's racially jaded perceptions he maintained relationship with people who had participated significantly in important parts of his life. However one evaluates the Senator's speech, the power of the word disown must be recognized. We fear being disowned and must be pushed to our wits end, before we can disown a loved one. How do we own Jesus? Not like we own a pet or a thing. More like parents are "ours"? Something like "owning up to a deed we thought was secret"? However it looks, may our ownership of Jesus and his ownership of us be something we can't leave behind.