Thursday, March 26, 2020
The Rev. Nathaniel Bourne
Collect
Almighty and most merciful God, drive from us all weakness of body, mind, and spirit; that, being restored to wholeness, we may with free hearts become what you intend us to be and accomplish what you want us to do; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Reading
John 5:30-47
Jesus said, “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me. “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.
“You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. I do not accept glory from human beings. But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”
Reflection
In this passage from John’s Gospel, we hear Jesus disputing with a group of Pharisees who have complained that by healing on the Sabbath he has made himself equal to God. Buried in this long defense is a line about choosing life – “Yet they refuse to come to me to have life.” Jesus promises that those who seek him, and seek God through him, will find the gift of life that God promised.
I’ve spent a lot of time outside over the past two weeks, and have noticed that gift of life all around me. It’s there in the snowdrops and first blooming crocuses, in the maples flowering and forsythia buds beginning to open. It’s there in birdsong and the squirrels’ furtive search for forgotten food caches. The signs of life are all around us – reminders that God desires life for us. While much of our daily routines are on hold, the gift of life is still before us, the chance to appreciate all that God has made, to love it, and to find new ways to show God’s love to one another.
Question
Where do you see signs of life around you? How have you experienced new life stirring within you?