Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

Lectionary 276

Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life. 

 

Jesus’s statement “Whoever believes has eternal life” might be regarded as his minimal requirement for salvation. “If you do this, you’re saved; you’re good. Don’t worry about it.” 

It’s a pleasant, non-confrontational way to include everyone in the final roster. It relieves one of judging whether someone has been saved, which is a particular burden for some Christian denominations. They are forever asking, “Have you been saved?” If you say you believe, then you’re saved. No further questions!

But does Jesus intend to describe a minimum requirement for eternal life? Is that all he asks, and is it that easy? The Gospel of John, which is often confrontational, is never satisfied with just getting by. Even when some Jews in the Gospel appear to believe, Jesus knows they don’t.

In today’s gospel, he says, “Everyone who listens to my Father….” Listening is not something one stops doing, or does once in a while. Listening is a continual awareness of the One who speaks and a readiness to respond. When we listen to God we learn and come to Jesus.

An irreligious or secular mindset would compartmentalize one’s relationship with God. They can retreat from listening to the Father to abide in a separate place. They might say, “Sunday is the Lord’s Day, and the rest is mine.” Or they might dedicate a portion of their assets to God as Ty Ty Walden dedicated part of his farm in Erskine Caldwell’s novel, God’s Little Acre. The rest they use for their own purposes.

In the final paragraph of John 6, Saint Peter provides our true response, as we shall hear on Saturday:

Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

Peter, as spokesman for the twelve, speaks for the entire Church. Listening to the Father and coming to Jesus means belonging to the “Twelve,” that is, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. There are no compartments in our belonging to God, no hidden rooms, no dark secrets, no reservations, ifs, ands, or buts.

Each day, as we ask for God’s guidance, we begin with a dedication like that of Pope Saint John Paul II, “Totus tuus.” I am totally yours.