HARD TRUTHS AND GRACE UPON GRACE
John 1:12-17
12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ ”) 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
This is a very important pair of verses. We have begun Eastertide and with it are beginning to understand how Jesus redefines life. Ordinary definitions of life require a beating heart but, as we all know, none of us get to keep a beating heart. If life is biologically defined, life ends with our deaths. Just as we are born biologically, we die biologically. The promise of the resurrection is a new understanding of life and what is important. Believing in Jesus means believing that we become a new creation as children of Love. Love, and the connections that bind us, are the experiences in which we know and experience God.
A new life, an eternal life, is possible – life that does not end with our deaths. Paul describes the experience thus: “For behold, I will tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” (I Corinthians 15: 50-52) Paul uses poetry to describe what the Gospels sought to describe narratively. It is a mystery that requires our imagining life outside and beyond our biology. We become children of God—as well as children of man.
Truth be told, we almost desperately hold on to our biological selves even as we describe this new creation. But the mystery and the new creation is the promise that we are loved and our loving matters far beyond memory and time. It gives us purpose and meaning for living our very short lives.
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
When God’s unbridled love walked among us—and was killed—the first reaction of his followers was fear and despair. But slowly they remembered what he taught and what he promised. His love and his devotion to love survived his crucifixion. He was dead and buried AND He lives. This is a remarkable, awe-inspiring experience that can only be pointed to but is routinely evidenced in the transformation of human lives. Self and our biological security matter but such security is fleeting. All of us are creatures. We are vulnerable. We all know pain and suffering. We don’t like it. Neither did Jesus. But in the middle of our very worst times when we grieve the truth that we do not get to keep anything that is transient (including those we love), we begin to learn of this new life that transcends what we know.
16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Paul understands the law as a gift of God, as grace to us. The law was designed to give directions and guardrails for relationship with God and each other. It was intended for our well being. But we screwed it up. We turned the law into a measuring stick and an entrance exam. We focused on the letter of the law instead of the spirit of the law.
So God, loving us, offers us His Love in human form. Grace is added to grace. “Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” First there is the earnest desire that we see what is really important in our biological lives. It is not our personal survival and the gratification of our personal desires, it is the awareness that every life matters as much as our own. We live in community and connection. We are important but we are not the most important. We must live continually balancing our needs with the needs of others. There is no ‘right’ answer. There is only the willingness to live in the uncertainty and tension that community brings.
It is a frightening way to live. It requires regard, deference and service. It requires facing uncomfortable truths about the way life is. We are vulnerable creatures in a world that includes the hard edges of loss, pain and suffering.
In fact we would often rather be guilty than vulnerable. Guilt assumes that if X did not happen—or, if only we were a little better—Y would not have happened. Guilt assumes the world (and God) is controllable. We hold on to the belief that such control is possible by someone—even if our efforts have failed.
Jesus taught a much different truth about life. Our best intentions, and even our deepest love, are not necessarily received. Hardship and pain are not avoidable. If it can happen to the Son of God, there is no reason to think any of us will get a free pass. Neither innocence nor obedience protect us. Who wants to know that?!!
But that is the truth that Jesus lived and taught. He said remember what I told you. He said remember what is important when you sit at your table. When you listen and when you remember, you will find me with you. That experience will sustain you and give you the confidence to continue loving.
This is confidence that emerges from the experience–not the promise–of Love. It is the experience of the Word made Flesh. It is the experience of the risen Lord. Let it be so.
