In Acts 1, Peter is looking for someone to replace Judas and become one of the twelve disciples.  I’m familiar with this passage because Justus is an old family name and the middle name of son number six.  Matthias and Justus are presented as disciple candidates.  There is much discussion, fervent prayer and then they roll the dice.  Matthias is welcomed.  Justus is left as the disciple wannabe.  I’ve often wondered what he did then.  Was he bitter?  Did he leave the faith?  I’d be willing to bet that Justus simply found another way to serve.  That he found another way to obey Christ’s command to “love each other as I have loved you”.  There is no question that Satan is alive and well on planet earth.  Sometimes the evil in the world today can be overwhelming.   Ethnic cleansing, high school killings, drugs, drive-bys, newborns found in trash cans.  It’s more than my simple mind can comprehend.  My tendency is to withdraw into that feeling that I can’t make a difference so why try.  I mean, I’m just one little person in this big, bad world.  Yet Christ is gently prodding us to love each other.  If Christ loves me and calls to me as a unique and beloved child of God and a member of his body, maybe I’m not so little.  I don’t have to have a Ph.D. in psychology.  I can smile and I can listen to someone talk.  I don’t have to be the author of a self-help book.  I can send a card to someone who is sad.  I don’t have to solve world hunger.  I can help at or donate to a homeless shelter.  I don’t have to be a physician to heal.  I can offer a kind and sympathetic word.  The opportunities for the mission and service that Christ calls us to are as numerous as the people in need.  In my church we just had “Undie Sunday”.  A day where we collect new underwear for the homeless.  It sounds kind of strange and almost a little sacrilegious.  And yet I know how much I like clean, fresh underwear (not trying to reveal my weirder side) and I’m willing to bet others do, too.  It was a very simple and yet meaningful thing to do.  It’s just a matter of taking that step and obeying Christ’s command.  “Love each other as I have loved you”.