John: a Gospel for Tumultuous Times 2 Light in the Darkness?

John 1:1-34

This prologue for all its beauty and truth also draws the lines quite distinctly.  Jesus is the one source of all light and life.  John was important but only as a prophet sent to prepare the way for Jesus.  Jesus is the light of the world but the world refused to accept him, even his own people refused to accept him.  Moses may have given us the law, but if you want grace and truth and to know who God really is, then you have to believe in Jesus. Those who do believe in Jesus become children of God.  The rest, (Jews, the Baptist’s followers, the world) are forever lost in the darkness of their own choosing.  We may read these lines (or most of them) and find in them only truth and beauty but it is wise to be so categorically sure of who is right and who is wrong?  Can we express our truth with confidence—Jesus is the light of the world—without assuming that all those who disagree with us are misinformed, obstinate, foolish or sinful?

It is hard for me to listen to people who refuse to be vaccinated or people who think private-public partnerships are a wise way to spend tax dollars without assuming they are misinformed, obstinate, foolish and/or sinful.  I do know that those assumptions on my part are a great way to cut off any potential for conversation but when I am right…Can I learn to be confident of my position, or my faith, and willing to express it without closing to door to conversations that might change them and/or me?

Jason Blackeye (photo)


Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for your comment. I will reply soon.

Popular posts from this blog

Online Jonah: Finding New Life: To Hell and Back Again

Image
Week 1 To Hell and Back Again  Jonah The story of Jonah is an Easter story.   Like Jesus, Jonah went to hell and back again in three days.   It is a story of grace, repentance, forgiveness, of dissatisfaction, of judgement and evil, of resisting and answering God ’s call, of prayer in desperation, of God’s mercy and humanity’s desire for and capacity for punishment.   Let’s begin this week with the story.   It is all of two pages and will take less than 10 minutes to read.    Photo by  Rémi Boudousquié  on  Unsplash
Read more

Jonah: Finding New Life 7 Get Over It!

Image
 Jonah 4   Get over it!! What is with Jonah?   Michael E. Williams (The Storyteller’s Companion to the Bible Vol. 7) asks: Is he angry, or disappointed?   Does he feel cheated, disheartened, or revengeful…is he worrying about himself and his reputation as a prophet…does this nonfulfillment of his prediction depress him?   Is he worrying about a world where crime and sin go unpunished?   Is he jealous of the easy life and reward the Ninevites received and the difficulty he has experienced?   Is he angry over the loss of his one alleviation, the plant?   Perhaps Jonah just has trouble accepting a God that is bigger, kinder, more gracious and more loving than anything he or we can imagine.  
Read more

Jonah: Finding New Life 5: How bad can it get?

Image
Jonah 2:1-3:3   How Bad Can it Get? Photo by Chris Gallagher on Unsplash From the belly of the fish, Jonah prayed to God.   How bad does it have to get before we give up and get on with God’s plan?   We have seen towns, “cast into the deep, surrounded by flood”.   Do we need to wait until “life is ebbing away” before we remember God?   God answers Jonah’s prayer and he is spewed out onto the shore. Before he can catch his breath, God sends him on his way to Nineveh.   God doesn’t rescue us from our troubles; God sends us into those troubling situations that we have the power to change.   Thankfully we don’t go alone.  
Read more