The Spirit’s Alarm Clock

Daily Office Devotional, Tuesday, February 1, 2022

The week of the fourth Sunday after Epiphany

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

Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:

43Jesus answered them, ‘Do not complain among yourselves. 44No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. . . . 54Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.

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

Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 947)

AM Psalm 61, 62; PM Psalm 68:1-20(21-23)24-36

Gen. 21:1-21; Heb. 11:13-22; John 6:41-51

David’s Reflections

Gerald G. May once observed, “. . . because desire awakens us, our wakefulness is always for something; it has a direction. We are conscious not just because our hearts are beating but because they are yearning.”*

In this text, Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me.” On the analogy of bread and wine in this text, that translates into “God makes us hungry for Godself.” Or paraphrasing the metaphor of Gerald May, when desire awakens in us, God’s Spirit has been the alarm clock.

How can we recognize the hunger for God? Perhaps becoming conscious of our most persistent desires and looking beneath them will help. If we fear not having enough and tend to hoard and strive to have more, could there not be a desire lurking beneath that fear, a desire for the security that faith alone brings? If we are angry about injustice and oppression, could there not be a desire for justice lying beneath that anger, a justice that will arrive ultimately only when God’s saving work finds completion in God’s final fulfillment of all things in Christ?

If we are lonely and craving significant human companionship, could there not be beneath that desire a longing for an ultimate relationship, one that never will fail us? Jesus presented himself as bread for the soul, the basic nourishment that alone can ease the soul’s deepest cravings.

As the psalmist said,

“For God alone my soul in silence waits;

from God comes my salvation.” #

Again, Jesus says: “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life.” That life consists not simply in the prolonging of our mortal life; rather, that life consists of experiencing God’s life flowing into ours and becoming the driving energy and nourishing reality in the center of that empty and hungry place within.

Note the plural, “Those who eat . . . drink.” The experience of God’s life, the risking of faith in Christ that brings life, brings us into a living connection with others who share that risky place of faith. God gathers us into community with other eaters and drinkers who have awakened to their heart hunger and empathize with ours.

Are you hearing the Spirit’s alarm clock? What holy desire keeps ringing? Will you awaken to Spirit or turn off the alarm and go back to sleep? "Like billowing clouds, like the incessant gurgle of the brook, the longing of the soul can never be stilled.  It is this longing with which holy persons seek their work from God.” +

*Gerald G. May, The Awakened Heart: Living Beyond Addiction (New York: HarperCollins, 1991), p. 52.]

#[Psalm 62:1, Book of Common Prayer, p. 669]

+Hildegard of Bingen, cited by Gerald G. May, The Awakened Heart:  Living Beyond

Addiction (New York:  HarperCollins, 1991), p. 213.

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, 215)

A Collect for Peace

Most holy God, the source of all good desires, all right judgments, and all just works: Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, so that our minds may be fixed on the doing of your will, and that we, being delivered from the fear of all enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through the mercies of Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen. (BCP, 123)

A Collect for Early Evening

Grant us, Lord, the lamp of charity which never fails, that it may burn in us and shed its light on those around us, and that by its brightness we may have a vision of that holy City, where dwells the true and never-failing Light, 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 Gospel, John 6:41-54

41Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ 42They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’ 43Jesus answered them, ‘Do not complain among yourselves. 44No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’ 52The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ 53So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day;

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