Experiencing the Flow of Eternal Life

Devotional Reflection, Tuesday, December 27, 2023

The week of the fourth Sunday of Advent

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrases for reflection from today’s epistle reading:

10Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. 11And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

You will find the full text of today’s epistle reading at the end of this reflection.

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. John the Evangelist. (See below.)

Daily Office Lectionary Readings: (BCP, 941)

AM: Psalm 97, 98; Proverbs 8:22-30; John 13:20-35

PM: Psalm 145; Isaiah 44:1-8; 1 John 5:1-12

David's Reflections

Today we celebrate the Feast of John the Evangelist. The fourth Gospel and the three Epistles of John have traditionally been connected to John the Apostle. All those documents are anonymous, no author's name appears within them. But, we can at least be fairly certain that John's testimony to Jesus lies behind them, even though who put them in final form remains an unanswered question.

The theme of eternal life weaves its way through all four documents as a central focus. What do we understand John to mean by eternal life?  Is eternal life the extending of our current life out onto an unending line?  Does it mean that we never die?  Or, if we do die, does it mean that our current life goes on in an unending way beyond the grave?  Neither.

As this passage says, “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”  Later he says that the one who has the Son living in them has life.  So, we are to understand this life as God’s own life present in Jesus.   The person who has a relationship with Christ and has Christ present in their life experiences the life of God through the presence of Jesus.  It is that life that will never die.

That raises another question.  How does one have Jesus present in their life?  Verse 1 of today’s reading says that we are to believe in Jesus (See today’s full reading below.).  Verse 10 says we believe in the Son.  If we exercise faith in Jesus as God’s son and our Savior, that faith brings us into the experience of the presence of Jesus.  Jesus becomes present in our inner life, and that presence  brings us into direct contact with God’s own life, life that Jesus shares with us.

Yet, it may be more complicated than that.  In Matthew 25, Jesus says that anyone who extends mercy to another actually extends that mercy to Christ present in another (Matthew 25:31-46, 25:31-46,thethe parable of the sheep and the goats).  Could that mean that someone outside the Christian faith comes into contact with Christ by showing mercy to  a suffering person and in so doing has eternal life? Intriguing thought, right? But, we do not know.

This little letter keeps underlining this truth repeatedly.  Evidently, the believers in the churches addressed had come into contact with a form of teaching that saw salvation coming as a result of knowledge, knowledge of God’s deeper secrets.  However, just how much knowledge of how many mysteries would be required to gain entrance.  This form of teaching created insecurity among believers.  When could I know that I had learned enough and understood enough to gain access to heaven and share in God’s life?

Hence, John’s message is one of reassurance.  Exercise trust in Jesus and you will have eternal life.  You will no longer have to worry about whether you’ve done enough or understood enough.  You can trust God’s word and the witness of others who have been brought under the sway of this incredible love.  Having a relationship with God has nothing to do with what we do, or the content of our theological belief system, or how much truth we understand.  It has to do with God’s capacity to love us and to forgive us in Christ.

We can have peace of mind about whether God loves us and about whether we are safe in that love in the face of death and all the threats of our lives. I find myself imagining God’s life coursing through every leaf, every creature, the life-giving air and water we intake, every person I meet. It’s like we live above a huge aquifer of life with life springing up through cracks in the crust of the earth like cool springs of potable water. That flow enters our lived experience through our entrusting ourselves to the life-giving God made known to us in Jesus.

Collect of the Day, The fourth Sunday of Advent

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.  (BCP, 212)

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. John the Evangelist.  For a note about this feast, readings, and prayers, see the web link for information on this feast day, see this web link.  http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/John.htm

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-john-the-evangelist/

Collect of the Feast of St. John the Evangelist

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.

A Collect for Protection

O God, the life of all who live, the light of the faithful, the strength of those who labor, and the repose of the dead: We thank you for the blessings of the day that is past, and humbly ask for your protection through the coming night. Bring us in safety to the morning hours; through him who died and rose again for us, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  (BCP, 124)

For the Nation

Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace:  Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (BCP, 258)

In the Order of Worship for Evening

Almighty, everlasting God, let our prayer in your sight be as incense, the lifting up of our hands as the evening sacrifice. Give us grace to behold you, present in your Word and Sacraments, and to recognize you in the lives of those around us. Stir up in us the flame of that love which burned in the heart of your Son as he bore his passion, and let it burn in us to eternal life and to the ages of ages. Amen.  (BCP, 113)

A Collect for Mission

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. (BCP, 101)

Daily Office Epistle Reading, 1 John 5:1-12

5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. 2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, 4for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. 5Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

6 This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth. 7There are three that testify: 8the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree. 9If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son. 10Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. 11And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Daily Offices in The Book of Common Prayer

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer

Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer

Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer

Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer