Exodus 33:18-23 (NRSV)
Moses said to God, "Show me your glory, I pray." And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, `The LORD'; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But," he said, "you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live." And the LORD continued, "See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen."
Psalm 92 (BCP., 720)
1 John 1:1-9 (NRSV)
We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-- this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us-- we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
John 21:19b-24 (NRSV)
Jesus said to Peter, "Follow me."
Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?" When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!" So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?"
This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.
Blog Reflection
From the tractates on the first letter of John by Saint Augustine.
Now this Word, whose flesh was so real that he could be touched by human hands, began to be flesh in the Virgin Mary's womb; but he did not begin to exist at that moment. We know this from what John says: What existed from the beginning. Notice how John's letter bears witness to his Gospel, which you just heard a moment ago: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.
Someone might interpret the phrase the Word of life to mean a word about Christ, rather than Christ's body itself which was touched by human hands. But consider what comes next: and life was revealed. Christ therefore is himself the Word of life. (Liturgy of the Hours, Volume I, Advent Season, Christmas Season, p. 1267).
John and Augustine give us a very special picture of Jesus. Jesus is not just someone who existed in history. Jesus is so much more than a story told. Jesus is God made visible and tangible to humankind in the Word made Flesh. That tangibility requires faith to be guided to seeing and touching Christ in the various ways by which Jesus is made known.
John knows that what he proclaims about Christ is and was from the beginning, and even now exists, and will forever be. This much we pray every time we pray Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. It is more than a prayer of Faith as in what we believe, it is by this prayer that the Psalms and Canticles become the prayers of Christ himself.
All of this may seem like theological stuff, but it is in fact more than that. St. John the Evangelist wrote in both the Gospel attributed to him, and the three letters also said to be from him, the important place of love within the Christian life. The Love for Christ, from Christ to us, and from us to Christ in others. St. John makes it very clear that the worship of God in Christ finds it's meaning and tangibility when love is the reason and purpose of all we do, in the Name of Christ.
We can spend all of our time talking about restoring the world to a place of justice, equality with freedom from oppression and prejudice. But, until we see that it is for the love of Christ that Christians must take their place and work towards these, the work of the Gospel will remain unfinished. The Nativity of Christ of which we are still celebrating is just a really fancy bed time story. It really is only meant for one time of the year. As for the rest of the year, we are all on our own. We left Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds etc at the manger in Bethlehem, but forgot to join Jesus as he walked with the Cross weighing him down and draining him of all life, because it just made us too uncomfortable.
St. John the Evangelist wrote about how real God was to him. Today, Jesus invites all of us to make God real in our lives. We are given the opportunity to make God tangible through Christ by our prayers and work to help the marginalized of society and the Church, including and not limited to LGBT people. We include ending racism, sexism, the constant ignorance of the poor, the disenfranchised, the sick and so on. As Christ was born amidst the mess of humankind, so God finds all of us and walks with us through our confusion and disarray. God reaches out to touch us, so that we too can proclaim what we have seen and heard.
What ways might God be calling us to make the presence of Christ tangible?
If there were one thing you could do that shows God being authentic in your life, what would that be?
How might we respond to that tangible presence of Christ in those places and people where God is not so simple to find?
Let's take one idea from St. John the Evangelist. Let love be one of those ways.
Amen
Prayers
Shed upon your Church, O Lord, the brightness of your light,
that we, being illumined by the teaching of your apostle and
evangelist John, may so walk in the light of your truth, that
at length we may attain to the fullness of eternal life; through
Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for St. John the Evangelist, Book of Common Prayer, p. 238).
Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on
the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within
the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit
that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those
who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for
the honor of your Name. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p. 101).
No comments:
Post a Comment