“Counting on some certainties”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Thursday, May 23, 2024
1 John 5: 13-21 (Forward, p. 25) CEV p. 1289
Much of the prevailing thought in our modern Western world is that nothing is certain. Of course, one might go back to the old adage, ‘nothing is certain but death and taxes’, but in the hands of some people even those ‘absolutes’ may be in question. That is, if you are rich or clever enough you might be able to evade taxes, and as for death, all sorts of crazy ideas and schemes are cropping up to try to avoid the grim reaper, or at least evade his coming or somehow be able to resurface again after death.
Here, however, the Christian faith parts company with much of this thinking about certainties. The Christian faith postulates all sorts of certainties, some of which we see in today’s letter from the apostle John:
“All of you have faith in the Son of God, and I have written to let you know that you have eternal life” (verse 13)
-eternal life: that’s one certainty
-however, we must have faith in Jesus
“We are certain that God will hear our prayers when we ask what pleases him. And if we know that God listens when we pray, we are sure that our prayers have already been answered” (verses 14-15).
-answered prayer: another certainty
-however, we are told to ask only for what pleases God.
“We are sure that God’s children do not keep on sinning. God’s own Son protects them, and the devil cannot harm them” (verse 18).
-another certainty: God’s protection
-this, however, doesn’t count for wilful, consistent, habitual sin,
sin when we know better and choose to sin anyway.
“We are certain that we come from God and that the rest of the world is under the power of the devil” (verse 19).
-another certainty: our sense of belonging
“We know that Jesus Christ the Son of God has come and has shown us the true God. And because of Jesus, we know belong to the true God who gives eternal life” (verse 20).
-the certainty of truth
-but we must be willing to accept it, to believe it.
A senior clergyman once explained to me that it is both impossible and presumptuous to think or be confident that one has gained eternal life, while still in this earthly life. He told me rather stridently that we can only know this for sure once we die. But this is not at all what the Christian gospel. Indeed, this is exactly what the Gospel of John says in its ‘conclusion’: ‘These [the things in this book] are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). In other words, God does not want us hanging around ‘wondering’. He wants us to have certainty about our lives and our faith, and thus be able with boldness and confidence live out the Christian life victoriously.
Forward notes: “And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (verse 14).
“In the wake of continuing gun violence, particularly mass shootings, in the United States, the phrase ‘thoughts and prayers’ has gotten a bad reputation. It is perceived as a way for politicians to dodge responsibility or future action while acknowledging a tragedy. Despite being people of prayer themselves, even Christians scoff at people with power who offer thoughts and prayers. I worry that this trend equates prayer with doing nothing, when prayer is the most important thing we can do.
“Seeking God’s will in prayer, lifting up the concerns and griefs of our hearts, especially in regard to untimely and violent deaths, prepares us for right action, to be aware of and able to respond when God calls us. God absolutely hears our thoughts and prayers, and we should guard against cynicism that tells us that prayer is not as useful or beneficial as other responses.”
Moving Prayer: “What is your response to acts of violence? If you say, ‘thoughts and prayers,’ do you follow that up with actual prayer?”