Will It Be Light or Darkness?
- davidwperk
- Mar 13
- 6 min read
Devotional Reflection, Thursday, March 13,2025
The week after the first Sunday in Lent
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key verses for reflection from today’s Gospel:
16‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.. . . .
19And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. . . .
21But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.’
You will find the full text of today’s Gospel at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary (BCP, 952)
AM Psalm 50; PM Psalm [59, 60] or 19, 46
Deut. 9:23-10:5; Heb: 4:1-10; John 3:16-21
Today we celebrate the Feast of James T. Holly. (See below.)
David's Reflections
This passage contains an intriguing tension. Notice the parallel and contrasting dynamics. First--God gave God’s only Son--everyone who believes may have eternal life. Second--light has come into the world and people loved darkness rather than light.
Which is it? Jesus came and those who believe live eternally. Light came and people fled the light and are judged as a result? Actually, it's both. That's one of the unique thrusts of John's Gospel. We are highlighting the concept of illumination. The light of God's love and truth are disclosed most fully in Jesus Christ. That light either draws us to faith and transforms us or it exposes and sparks our unbelief.
The joyful message is that God is giver, seeker, gatherer. God seeks us relentlessly, because we are at risk of eternal death apart from God’s saving love. Note that in John 3:13, "that all who believe in him might not perish.” Yet, God's creating wisdom has endowed human nature with a rather dynamic quality--something within pulls us toward God and something within pushes us away. God's love pulls on us and awakens our faith; but it also can actualize our unbelief and resistance to commitment.
I can identify with that, because in reality both processes are going on in the life of Christians—we are at once believing and responding and resisting and not responding. Some areas of our lives are open to God's light and love and others are not. During Lent, we seek to identify those areas of resistance and bring them into the light of God's forgiving and transforming love.
Also, during Lent, we become more conscious of those in our relationship circle who give no evidence of ever having responded to God's love in faith. We pray for them, we hope for a chance to share with them, we invite them to worship and to events and group studies. Something in us connects with them, because we're still battling against the light in some areas of our own lives. We desperately need God's ongoing seeking love to keep searching out our dark corners. They need that love, too, and we are one source of God's light for them.
Passages like this one underline a core truth about God’s creation of humankind. God created us with the freedom to love God or not. Our response to God will not be coerced from God’s side. Through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, God took responsibility for having created a world in which humans could say “no” to God, a world in which evil could arise. This divine intent can inform our evangelism by eliminating coercion and manipulation. I am indebted to Anglican theologian Leonard Hodgson for this perspective.+
When I first read Thomas Merton’s autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, this passage struck me.
The soul of man, left to its own natural level, is a potentially lucid crystal left in darkness. It is perfect in its own nature, but it lacks something that it can only receive from outside and above itself. But when the light shines in it, it becomes in a manner transformed into light and seems to lose its nature in the splendor of a higher nature, the nature of the light that is in it.*
So, will it be light or darkness?
+You can find this in his For Faith and Freedom:Vol II. Christian Theology, (Oxford: Blackwell, 1957), pp. 57-58, 62-63. This and so many other books, etc are available free digitally on the nonprofit site, The Internet Archive. You can set up a free account there. https://archive.org/
*Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1948), pp. 169-70.
Collect of the Day, Lent 1
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen (BCP, 217)
Thursday in the First Week of Lent
Strengthen us, O Lord, by your grace, that in your might we may overcome all spiritual enemies, and with pure hearts serve you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(Weekday Eucharistic Propers, p. 19)
Today we celebrate the Feast of James T. Holly, bishop of Haiti and the Dominican Republic (died 13 Mar 1911 CE).
Collect of the Feast of James T. Holly
Most gracious God, whose servant James Theodore Holly labored to build a church in which all might be free: Grant that we might overcome our prejudice, and honor those whom you call from every family, language, people, and nation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
A Collect for Guidance
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people; Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP 100)
Of the Holy Eucharist (Especially suitable for Thursdays)
God our Father, whose Son our Lord Jesus Christ in a wonderful Sacrament has left us a memorial of his passion: Grant us so to venerate the sacred mysteries of his Body and Blood, that we may ever perceive within ourselves the fruit of his redemption; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 252)
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
O God and Father of all, whom the whole heavens adore: Let the whole earth also worship you, all nations obey you, all tongues confess and bless you, and men and women everywhere love you and serve you in peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 124)
The Daily Office Gospel, John 3:16-21
16‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.’
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