“Still wanting more?”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Wednesday, May 1, 2024
John 14: 6-14 (Forward, p. 3) CEV p. 1121
I have often suggested that St. Thomas could well be the patron saint for our times in his doubt and questioning, but I think that St. Philip could be a worthy addition. Here, in today’s little exchange, he isn’t satisfied with what he had just then. He wanted still more.
Jesus has just stated, in verse 6, that He is the way to the Father and has told them that if they had known Him, Jesus, they would have also known and seen the Father. Philip, a little slow perhaps, answers, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need.”
Jesus, rather patiently, reiterates what He has just said, and then adds this:
“I and the Father are one. I am one with the Father, and the Father
one with me”.
“What I say isn’t said on my own” (implying that it comes from the
Father).
“The Father who lives in me does these things”.
Jesus implores him, and us, to believe, to have faith in Him when He says this, or, failing that, to have faith in Him simply because of His works, the things He does.
Then Jesus spells out the consequences of such a faith:
They will do the same things that He has done, and even greater.
And they will know the reality of answered prayer:
“Ask me, and I will do whatever you ask. This way the Son will
bring honour to the Father. I will do whatever you ask me to do” (verses 13-14).
As I suggested earlier, we moderns are often not satisfied with what we presently have and want still more. We are curiously like Philip like this, even when we have what we want and need right before our very eyes. And, in this constant desire for ‘more’, those final promises about answered prayer may seem ‘right up our alley.’ After all, He will give us whatever we
ask. This sounds amazingly like the ‘name it and claim it’ school of thought. But whoa: all of this is predicated on us having faith in Jesus, trusting in Him and trusting Him. Now, some would take that as merely being expectant in our prayers, but I take it differently. To me, to have faith in Him, to trust in Him, is simply to lay ourselves, and our wishes and desires at His feet, and do simply as He says and directs. In other words, to leave the outcomes, the results, totally up to Him. That, we will find, is all that we truly need. We will want nothing more. Amen.
Forward notes: “Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied” (verse 8).
Commemoration: St. Philip & St. James
“Saint Philip and Saint James are two of the least exciting and memorable disciples of the twelve named disciples of Jesus—important by virtue of their positions but seeming unremarkable. They lack the bravado of Peter, the questioning of Thomas, or the antagonism of Judas. Scripture records Philip as dense and stubborn. Of the two disciples named James, the one we commemorate today is known as Saint James the Less, which certainly wouldn’t be my preference as an adjective.
“In my time as a parish priest, I have encountered many beloved, loyal saints in the vein of Philip and James: people who are not remarkable or splashy by the world’s standards, whose best qualities may not be immediately evident, but whose quiet faithfulness and pursuit of God are unparalleled. While much of our culture rewards the unique and bombastic, Philip and James remind us of the gifts of humility and the common. Jesus saw greatness even in Philip and James, and he sees it in each of us as well.”
Moving Forward: “Who are the humble servants in your community? Write a note of thanks for their steadfastness.”