FRIDAY AFTER CREATION 3
27 September 2013
Readings:
Key Verses (using the World English Bible):
2 Pet. 3:11-12: “… what kind of people ought you to be in holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming day of God…?”
John 7:38: Jesus said, “He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water.”
Reflection
As we discussed last week (on 21 Sep), the seven-day Jewish Feast of Tabernacles/Booths (Sukkot) recalls the wood-and-leaf dwellings, which sheltered the Israelites during their forty-year wanderings in the desert. Jesus remarkably uses this particular feast to show that his believers can become the very water, which the Israelites would’ve practically dived right into after a four-decade sojourn through the scorching desert.
Jesus alludes to say Isaiah, who says:
“[The Lord] will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters don’t fail.” (Isa. 58:11)
We’re understandably accustomed to imagining Jesus himself as the source from which we spiritually drink. In the Gospel of John alone, Jesus changes water into wine (2:1-11), preaches entry into God’s Kingdom as a rebirth of water and Spirit (3:5), and promises ‘living water’ to a thirsty Samaritan woman (4:10-15). In his final moments, blood and water flow from Jesus’ pierced side (19:34). And in today’s very reading, Jesus says: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!” (7:37, emphasis mine).
But just one verse later, we find Jesus telling his followers that they can become like him—again. We saw it when he called his followers “the light of the world”, who must let their light shine before others. We saw it when Jesus urges a would-be disciple to “take up his cross and follow me.” We saw it in Paul’s writings, who not only echoed Jesus’ words by calling the Philippians “stars of the cosmos”, but also believed that he was crucified with Christ (presumably after taking up his own cross?), and that Christians would be raised in a resurrection like Christ’s.
Perhaps the point of the Incarnation is that only God’s grace could explain to us the extent of God’s love for all of creation. We would never have understood it of our own accord. But once we’ve gotten the message, we are called no longer to be passive recipients, but active “doers of the word”, as James puts it (1:22). Once we’ve gotten Christ the Word, we can’t keep him to ourselves. We are called to become light and water for others.
Let me make it clear that I’m not here endorsing street-corner, doomsday and hellfire preaching, mass conversions, crusades, and the like. I’ve often seen those become contests for how many souls you can win. God indeed does not wish “that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”, as Peter writes in today’s reading. But repentance is not a race. Turning back to God is not finalized on a subway train. It’s a lifetime process that even saints through the ages never felt they got right.
So what do we do? Peter urges his community to dedicate themselves to “holy living and godliness”, or piety. When we focus first on how we’re living, how we’re loving God, neighbor, and self, not only do we begin to show by example, but we also let God be God. We trust him to turn us into the light and water, the wisdom and refreshment, that will shine and flow into the dark and dry places of souls who need of God’s love.
Prayer of the Day
O God, giver of life and health,
your Son Jesus Christ has called us
to hunger and thirst to see right prevail.
Refresh us with your grace,
that we may not be weary in well-doing;
for the sake of him who meets all our needs,
Jesus Christ our Savior,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
—from the “Book of Common Worship” of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Hymn: “From my spirit within flows a fountain of life”
(Words: “R.K.”, source is www.hymnal.net; adapted by Joseph A. Soltero, 2013
Music: George Bennard, 20th cent.)
From my spirit within flows a fountain of life,
And in me flows God, One-in-Three.
God the Father’s the source,
Christ the Son is the course,
And the Spirit imparts life to me.
Refrain:
Lord, I treasure the sweet flow of life,
And my soul, at your feet I lay down.
Deepen, Lord, the complete flow of life,
When you come, may my life be my crown.
In the fresh, tender grass, Jesus makes me lie down.
He leads me by waters of rest.
No more struggle and strain.
All self-effort is vain.
In the flow, I am perfectly blest.
Refrain
Jesus calls us each day to the Holiest Place,
To dwell in his presence divine.
Hallelujah, I’ve heard
An encouraging word:
“Abide! You’re a branch in the vine.”
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