Having Certainly About Eternal Life

Devotional Reflection, Tuesday, December 28, 2021

The First Sunday of Christmastide

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

Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:

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.

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

Daily Office Lectionary Readings

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

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

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

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

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

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.

David's Reflections

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 eternal 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. Verse 10 says we believe in the Son, belief understood as trust and commitment. That trust and commitment is analogous with the way we trust in and commit to any significant relationship. 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, the25:31-46, the parable of the sheep and the goats). Could that mean that a person of another world religion or a person with no faith comes into contact with Christ by showing mercy to a suffering person and in so doing has eternal life? (We do pray for those whose faith is known to God alone on Good Friday and in Prayer D in The Book of Common Prayer.)

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 was 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 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.

Collect of the Day, Christmas I

O God, you make us glad by the yearly festival of the birth of your only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that we, who joyfully receive him as our Redeemer, may with sure confidence behold him when he comes to be our Judge; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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

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)