Inner Assurance of God’s Love
- davidwperk
- Feb 3
- 7 min read
Devotional Reflection, Monday, February 3, 2025
Monday of the fourth week after Epiphany
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s Epistle reading:
6And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our* hearts, crying, ‘Abba!* Father!’ 7So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.*
8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods. 9Now, however, that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits?* How can you want to be enslaved to them again? 10You are observing special days, and months, and seasons, and years. 11I am afraid that my work for you may have been wasted.
You will find the full text of this epistle reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 946)
AM Psalm 56, 57, [58]; PM Psalm 64, 65
Isa. 51:17-23; Gal. 4:1-11; Mark 7:24-37
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Dorchester chaplains. (See below)
David’s Reflections
Jane T. Clement wrote a poem that found its inspiration in a quote from Phillipe Vernier.
a h i l l t o p f i e l d
“Faith is the energy the Master gives you which enables you to take hold of His promises and to participate in His life.” PHILLIPE VERNIER
Faith has no abode, no tree-hid haven,
no rock-encircled harbor where the tide
will never swirl nor threaten; nor has faith
the quiet breast of broad sweet-flowing river.
Faith has a hilltop field alive and growing,
faith has its nets staked out in open sea,
faith is a rocky river, swift and harnessed
to fill the valley with its energy. *
Clement envisions faith as an active, alive energy, not a static, safe, never-threatened reality.
“Faith has no abode, no tree-hid haven,
no rock-encircled harbor where the tide
will never swirl nor threaten”
Paul’s words in our text envision faith in a similar way. His readers obviously were feeling threatened and lacked assurance. Else why emphasize the Spirit’s efforts within them to assure them that they are God’s children?
Paul’s adversaries, missionaries who had entered these new communities after Paul’s departure, were emphasizing that these new believers must embrace Jewish ritual law as part of their faith in Christ. They were not saying that salvation was by works of Law, but Paul saw their message as a misguided piece of traditionalism that threatened the very nature of Christian faith. Either Christ was central or Law was central. Once the focus shifted to Jewish ritual observances as essential to share in the faith community, Christ’s saving grace and love no longer were at the center.
That subtle shift would create difficulties for Paul’s converts. Just how much ritual must one embrace? Were circumcision and kosher diet enough? Their previous assurance that they were full members of the believing community and heirs of all God’s promises in Hebrew Scripture had rested in their faith in Christ. (Gal. 3:1-6). Now, ritual observances had become an issue. Just how were they to feel assured of their faith? How much would be enough?
Paul had reminded them (as we saw in last Thursday’s reflection), that they had received the Holy Spirit when they had first believed, thus calling to their attention that subsequent Jewish ritual observance had added nothing to their spiritual experience (Galatians 3). Now, he underlines that point by assuring them that they are God’s children by faith and that God’s Spirit lives within them crying out Abba, Father. (Literally, that could be translated “Father, father,” because abba is Aramaic for father and stands here in a word pair with pater, the Greek word for father—abba/pater or father/father. I might paraphrase, father/mother)
How easily Christian faith can lose sight of its center in Jesus and faith in that savior. Any focus on theological concepts, ethical behaviors, obligations to faithful worship and sacramental observance, study, prayer, or spiritual disciplines can subtly take center stage in our attention and push our relationship with Christ by faith to the side. We may even find ourselves feeling that those realities and obligations somehow are preconditions to experiencing Christ. Paul Tillich refers to such perversions as efforts at self-salvation.+
When we find our assurance threatened that God loves us in Christ and that we have a secure relationship with God by faith, we are experiencing a wakeup call that something other than our relationship with Christ by faith has sneaked into the center of our focus. No better time to be reminded that God’s Spirit cries out within us reminding us that we are God’s children by faith alone. No better time to recall that faith is a dynamic energy, vulnerable to threats. That faith feels threatened is no sign that it is not genuine faith. No better time than to revel in the inner assurance of God’s love. Obviously, God wants us to know in our hearts that we are beloved.
As Clement puts it:
Faith has a hilltop field alive and growing,
faith has its nets staked out in open sea,
faith is a rocky river, swift and harnessed
to fill the valley with its energy. *
*Jane T. Clement, Selected Poems, 1931-1991: No One Can Stem the Tide (Farmington, PA: Bruderhof Foundation, 2004), p. 140.
+See Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology II: Existence and the Christ, (Chicago: UP, 1957), pp. 78-86.
Collect of the Day, Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 216)
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Dorchester chaplains, George Fox, Alexander Goode, Mark Poling, John Washington (died 3 February 1943 CE).
Collect of the Feast of the Dorchester Chaplains
Holy God, you inspired the Dorchester chaplains to be models of steadfast sacrificial love in a tragic and terrifying time: Help us to follow their example, that their courageous ministry may inspire chaplains and all who serve, to recognize your presence in the midst of peril; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Collect for the Renewal of Life
O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 99)
Of the Holy Spirit
Almighty and most merciful God, grant that by the indwelling of your Holy Spirit we may be enlightened and strengthened for your service; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 251)
A Prayer for Light
Almighty God, we give you thanks for surrounding us, as daylight fades, with the brightness of the vesper light; and we implore you of your great mercy that, as you enfold us with the radiance of this light, so you would shine into our hearts the brightness of your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 110)
A Collect for Mission
O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 100, 257)
Daily Office Epistle, Galatians 4:1-11
4:1My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than slaves, though they are the owners of all the property; 2but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. 3So with us; while we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental spirits* of the world. 4But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. 6And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our* hearts, crying, ‘Abba!* Father!’ 7So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.*
8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods. 9Now, however, that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits?* How can you want to be enslaved to them again? 10You are observing special days, and months, and seasons, and years. 11I am afraid that my work for you may have been wasted.
Daily Prayer Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, p. 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
Comments