The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas
“Did you forget?” I hear that question sometimes. Maybe I was supposed to ask an important question, or maybe Bess and I are preparing to host a guest. For any number of reasons there is something that needs to happen or is happening, and I need to remember it. I need reminders. I need a google calendar notification, a note on the fridge and a verbal reminder from Bess. We all need constant reminders sometimes and today's first reading has a few for us. I have three quick points to draw from them.
First, we need reminders in our lives and that is ok. It is ok to need a reminder that God’s love for me is unfathomable, just as it is ok to need a reminder to bring the laundry upstairs. We have so many things to remember. We must remember what time the kids must be where, whether Monday is a Holy day of Obligation (which it isn’t), or what time the kids went down for a nap. When so many things can fill our minds the important stuff can get shoved into corners under piles of mental clutter. We need reminders to bring those things back to the forefront of our mind. When you need some of those reminders, return to Scripture, especially this passage from 1 John.
Second, let’s remember the primary meaning of the Word of God. We’re reminded in 1 John that the Word of God remains in us. Yes, this means the same scriptures I just recommended, but more than that, the Word of God is, first and foremost, Jesus Christ. The Word of God as the Scriptures ultimately serves the end of preparing us for, revealing to us, and expanding for us the mystery of the Word of God made flesh. We are not a religion of a book, but of a person and that person is Jesus Christ, and He lives, and remains in us, and through him we share in his victory over the Evil One.
Third, we need to remember to hold tight to that which is everlasting. Again, and again today’s first reading reminds us that God is from the beginning and warns us not to cling to those things that are not everlasting. We are reminded to remember our forgiveness of sins. 1 John calls us to remember that the Evil One’s influence, no matter how pervasive it seems, is temporary! We participate in Christ's victory over it. We are to remember that this world is fleeting, and while it may go on after our passing, it is not eternal.
No, we are not to grasp that which will pass, but to hold, at the center of our lives that which is eternal and everlasting. We are to hold tight to The Father from the beginning, His Son the Incarnate Word, and the Mover of His Will -- the Holy Spirit. When we hold the Trinity at the center of our lives, we are reminded of that which is truly important and are strengthened by the Word living in us, and are motivated by God's will. God wills for the world to know the forgiveness of sins, the defeat of the Evil One, and the availability of everlasting life.
May our lives as disciples be constant reminders of these truths.
- Spencer Hargadon