Texts: 2 Sam 18:5-9, 15, 31-33; Eph 4:25-5:2; John 6:35, 41-51
I am glad to be back at St. Matthew’s after four weeks away. Joanne and I had a good holiday, spending time with our family, and finding refreshment for the year ahead. Many thanks are due to Michael Skliros for his very able work in my absence, as well as to those who helped with office coverage.
In world events, these have been very eventful weeks, with the war in Lebanon & Israel, the continued strife in Iraq, more deaths of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, the dramatic rescue of two abducted boys in Saskatchewan, and this week’s events around terrorist threats to air travel. Needless to say, I can’t offer comment on all of these, except to say that the news sometimes seems to tell us of a world gone mad.
How should Christians respond to the world’s troubles? What should we be doing when we leave here today? Can we make a difference? Quite clearly, there are some things we can not change, either personally or as a congregation. Even our federal government has little real influence in Middle Eastern matters.
Just as clearly, it seems that on almost every issue there are Christian people with strong and sincere, but opposed, positions. Things are very rarely as black and white as some would have us believe. And, contrary to what some people might suggest, the Bible does not provide us with a handy manual for solving all our political and ethical questions.
Nonetheless, the Bible reveals the life of God to us, through God’s relationships with the men and women who populate the pages of scripture. And that helps to point us in the right direction—not always surely or clearly, but with the assistance of prayer, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Before all else, we followers of Jesus are called to listen to the Word of God, to seek the Spirit’s guidance, and to orient our lives accordingly.
God speaks to us through scripture. It is up to us to pay attention, and to respond with our hearts and minds, our hands and voices.
What might God be saying to us through these various readings today? As I reflected on the lessons earlier this week, one line stood out for me, when I read that Jesus said,
Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.
One word stands out for me: it is not "will have", but "has." We may be accustomed to thinking of eternal life as that life that we will inherit after this one—a future reality, life in the nearer presence of God, life everlasting if you will. But here it is presented as a present reality: we who believe already have it. So we ask: if we have eternal life, what on earth is it, for heaven’s sake?
We are misled by the word "eternal" into thinking it has something to do with the quantity of our life. Rather, it has more to do with the quality of our life.
In John’s Gospel, the writer uses "eternal life" as a synonym for salvation—through which we share in the life of God, not just after death, but here and now and for the rest of our earthly existence.
When we say "I believe," we are called and graced into living into that declaration, standing every day in the presence of God, sharing in the divine life of Christ. Through our baptisms, we are empowered to minister God’s love in and to a world that needs so desperately to know it.
If we are to share in God’s life, we may wonder what that life is like. We find some hints in today’s lessons.
Wars in Israel are nothing new. King David’s own son rose in rebellion against him, attempting to seize the throne. How do we deal with those who strive against us? Certainly, David’s people expected him to rejoice at Absalom’s death, but to their amazement, he did not, but loudly lamented the young man’s death. The simple human relationship comes first. When we neglect the God-given bonds of love between people in favour of power and position we make ourselves less than human.
The story of David and Absalom reveals the depth of a father’s love for a son, pointing to the depth of God’s love for all his children, love which we are pledged to proclaim by word and deed.
In the letter to the Ephesians, we hear of behaviours that harm the Body of Christ, and of others that build it up. Speaking the truth in love, forgiving one another, being tenderhearted and kind—these things both speak of God’s love and bring it into reality in our life together. We note also that it is not anger per se that is forbidden, but the sin that stems from it. We are not called to be other than human, for human beings feel anger, but we are called to turn our impulses to good rather than evil.
We can’t stop wars and terrorism on our own, or any of the other ills besetting the human race. These things are too big for any one of us. But we can deal with our neighbourhoods our church, our community—and ourselves. We can minister God’s love wherever we are, to whomever we meet. We can speak to those in power, reminding them of their responsibility to all God’s people, reminding them that God loves everyone.
We can pray, and we can live in the light of God’s love, and so we shall, as Paul wrote:
… be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
May it be so.
