Lectionary: 299
I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.
I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One. They do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
Consecrate them in the truth.
I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One. They do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
Consecrate them in the truth.
Christians live in the world but are not of the world. Our home is elsewhere. Spiritual descendants of the Jews, we have inherited the blessing of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which is for the nations. We have also received their displacement. Scattered by the invading armies of Assyria and Babylon in the eighth and six centuries BCE, Jews may look to Jerusalem as their ancestral city and Israel as their nation, but they belong to the whole world. As do Christians.
If any Christians suppose they should be exempt from suffering, this prayer disabuses them. Jesus has not asked that we be taken out of the world. Oppressed by disease, famine, bankruptcy, inflation, racism, or war, we pray for relief like anyone else. We might enjoy Eddy Arnold’s sentimental “Make the World Go away,” but that is not our prayer.
As Jesus was driven with Mary and Joseph out of Bethlehem and into the Egypt so are God’s elect sometimes deprived of statehood and surrendered to the mercy of strangers. It’s not their fault. Blame will be aimed in every direction and especially at God. But we live in the Anthropocene Age now, and God did not create this world.
Jesus prays that we be consecrated in the truth. The Spirit of God is neither pessimistic nor optimistic; it shows reality clearly and directly. Learning obedience through suffering, we don't ask the Internet to show us the world we want to see. We ask for Truth.
If God's Spirit finds a silver lining on every cloud it does not minimize the dark enormity of the cloud. Those who ponder the crucifixion of Jesus and survive the hopelessness of Holy Saturday, learn to expect blessings. But they cannot describe their form. They are as surprised as Adam when he first gazed upon Eve, or Mary Magdalene when she saw the gardener.
"All things will be well, and all manner of things will be well!" said Julian of Norwich. We have her confidence God.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.