Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost
August 15, 2022
Invitatory
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him.
Reading: John 5:19-24
Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own but only what he sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.
Meditation – Peter Vanderveen
Maybe it’s the heat. Or the inclination to an inherent laziness that seems to descend like the humidity in early August when summer is at its peak. But while meditating on this text from John, I couldn’t stop my thoughts from wandering to a hymn that I deeply dislike (and why is it, then, that it seems impossible to dislodge such hymns from one’s mind?). The text may be familiar:
“Come labor on.
Who dares stand idle on the harvest plain,
while all around us waves the golden grain?
And to each servant does the Master say, ‘Go work today.’”
“Come labor on.
No time for rest, till glows the western sky,
till the long shadows o’er our pathway lie,
and a glad sound comes with the setting sun, ‘Servants, well done.’”
Never mind that none of us are truly motivated by this hymn to take up the work of evangelism – much less that we would do so from sun-up to sun-down. I’m not at all sure that many believe what they sing when this hymn is sung: that souls are at risk, that there’s no time to lose, that the salvation of others depends on our actions now, in this very moment, and that the work that matters most in life is our propagation of the Gospel. Are these the primary factors that determine the shape of our day? Every day?
Nonetheless, there’s something triumphant about the final line. We like being rewarded. We like being recognized and honored for what we have done – whether in sports or in our professional undertakings or in our social interactions – so why not include this as an essential part of Christian life as well. It’s become a deeply embedded assumption: more than all else, God is the one who will judge us. And there are no trophies awarded simply for participating in life. We have to earn the favor we want. And to be fair, this seems to be supported by numerous passages in the Gospels.
But what does it mean, then, when John reports that Jesus said that anyone who believes will “not come under judgment but has passed from death to life?” Is there a difference between not being judged and being judged worthy? John certainly seems to think so, and his Gospel leans heavily in the first direction. Jesus’ declaration to his disciples after their disastrous betrayal and desertion of him was simply “Peace.” No retribution. No revenge. No required acts of reconciliation by the twelve. Grace is given. Forgiveness is bestowed. And Saint Peter doesn’t stand at the gates of heaven waiting to judge whoever ascends. It’s imagery that has no rightful place. Jesus will not judge us; for he has judged judgment. And something else has taken its place.
This is extraordinarily hard for us to accept. Judgment seems indispensable, unimaginable. And absolutely so. But it may be that the real work of faith isn’t going to work in order to justify ourselves. It may be pondering how grace and love and mercy and compassion can take judgment’s place and move us from “death to life.” That’s work I can do, gratefully - not waiting for God’s assessment but delighting in God’s presence.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
