Christmas Weekday
I don’t always feel comfortable calling myself a ‘child of God.’ It seems a little arrogant to say that; yet, that is exactly how the author of 1 John describes us Christians. The first reading states that God is righteous. And if Christians are called ‘children of God,’ this means that Christians are supposed to be like God. As the passage points out, it is hard to know what is ultimately in store for us if we live faithfully as Christians. It is not open to us to know exactly what it is possible for us to become. Yet we know that our goal is to be like God and that one day we shall be like him (1 John 3: 2). According the scripture writer then, the Christian life is training in righteousness—training us to be like God.
As Christians, we are presented with our most concrete picture of what it means to be like God through our knowledge of Jesus Christ. Jesus is not only the second person of the holy Trinity, but also God incarnate as a human being. By imitating Jesus, we take steps in the pursuit of righteousness and we learn to live up to our calling as Christians and children of God.
The theme of righteousness in 1 John is connected to the gospel reading through John the Baptist’s profession about Jesus. As John says, he is not worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals. This is a reference to Jesus’ status as son of God, but above all to Jesus’ righteousness in the Biblical sense of the term. Righteousness does not mean having a “holier than thou” attitude, as if Christians are supposed to think that they are better than other people. Instead, it means that we need to have a strong desire and commitment to live according to God’s will.
John the Baptist demonstrates his humility by saying that he is not worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals. He does not claim righteousness for himself but instead points the way to Jesus. This should be a lesson to us as well. We should not see living the Christian life as a way to draw attention to ourselves. Nor should we take refuge in our own strength in order to puff ourselves up. Instead we should trust in the righteousness of God. I for one don’t feel like I have the power to make attain righteousness of my own accord.
Many of us, I’m sure, are in the process of making New Year’s resolutions. Here is one that seems very appropriate in the light of the scriptures for today—namely a resolution to seek righteous by following God’s will, relying on his grace at all times and placing our lives in his hands. By doing this we can truly learn to call ourselves children of God.
- Joel Schickel