Morning Prayer, 27 Mar – John 15:11-17 ~ friends

Morning Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentences – Cuthbert of Northumbria (635-87)

Under protection of the King of life, a protection that will not betray us. May the Holy Spirit come upon us; may Christ deliver us, bless us.

Jesus, only Son of the Father, and High King, Your name is above every name: In the name of Jesus let no evil be welcome in our hearts, or in this place.

Morning reading

John 15:11-17 ESV:

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”

Reflections:

shared joy

As Jesus’ word remains in them through their obedience they are actually sharing in his life with the Father, which is characterized not only by obedience, but also by joy. The Jewish delight in God’s law is here fulfilled in sharing in Jesus’ own obedience to the Father.

But joy is not what springs to mind for many people when they think of obedience. They see obedience as conforming to rules, which produces drudgery or chaffing… and producing either guilt, or pride. But the obedience Jesus is talking about is an obedience to the Father who is all love. To obey him is to conform one’s life to the very pattern of God’s own life. Such obedience shares in his life, which is characterized by harmony, grace, goodness and beauty. We are in intimate union with him and swept up into his dance for which we were created and which brings the deepest fulfillment and deepest joy to our lives.

Jesus’ joy came from such intimacy with the Father and his delight to do that which pleases the one who is all love and goodness. Jesus is showing how our joy may be complete. If we have no joy in obeying the Father, then we should consider whether we know him as Jesus knows him and whether we understand his will as the description of our true freedom and joy. Indeed, we might ask ourselves what does bring us joy. The answer will reveal to us our own hearts.

obedient love

Jesus loves just as the Father loves, and he commands his disciples to love one another just as he has loved them. Thus, the community is characterized by divine love. If this love were just a feeling, such a command would be impossible to fulfill. But the love Jesus refers to is an act based in a certain state of heart. Specifically, it is the laying down of one’s life based on willing the good of the other. By God’s grace we can indeed choose to will the good of the other, and we can choose to act accordingly. This is the love Christians are called to in Christ, for Jesus says we are to love one another just as he has loved us, which he immediately defines in terms of laying down of one’s life for one’s friends.

transparent friendship

The word used for friends conveys a greater sense of intimacy than does our modern use of friend. The idea that one should lay down one’s life for one’s friends was well known in the ancient world (eg, Aristotle). Jesus reveals that this human ideal is in accord with the divine ideal. It might be thought that laying down one’s life for one’s enemies is a greater love. Jesus does indeed have such love for his enemies, but the focus in the present setting is on the disciples and their change of status from slaves to friends.

Jesus’ disciples are his friends because he has made known to them everything he heard from his Father. Jesus says he has kept nothing hidden – all that belongs to the Father belongs to Jesus and he has passed it all on to his disciples. There is nothing more to be known about the Father apart from Jesus and his revelation. We await no new revelation to reveal more of God, nor do we need to search the world’s religions and philosophies to fill in gaps in Jesus’ revelation. Study of other religions and philosophies can be valuable, but all the truths of God present in them, such as the ideal of self-sacrifice just noted, are recognized to be true by their congruence with Jesus. Here we have the exclusivist claims of Christianity at full strength.

fruitful relationship

The primary expression of this fruit that Jesus speaks of here is the love within the Christian community. The fruit that remains is thus the love that flows from, and bears witness to, life in union with God. This love has come into the world in Jesus and now is to remain in the world in the community of his disciples. This divine love manifested within the church will bear witness to Jesus before the world, which will enable some to find eternal life and will also reveal the judgment of those who reject it.

The result of such fruit bearing, of living in union with God and sharing in his love, will be answered prayer. Prayer in Jesus’ name is prayer that is in union with him and in keeping with his character and his purposes. Thus beleivers have the assurance that Jesus has chosen and appointed them for this activity and that the Father will answer their prayers. These assurances correspond to the fact that apart from Jesus the disciples can do nothing. A person’s sharing in the divine life begins and continues only by God’s gracious activity. The grace of God that has characterized Jesus’ life and ministry will continue to characterize the life and ministry of his disciples.

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series

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Canticle:

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

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Peanut Gallery: A brief word of explanation – the general format for Morning Prayer is adapted from the Northumbrian Community‘s Daily Office, as found in Celtic Daily Prayer (see online resources here.) The Scripture readings are primarily from the Gospel of John, with the intent to complete the reading by Easter. Other Scriptures which illuminate the Gospel of John will be included along the way.

Reflections from various saints will be included as their memorial days occur during the calendar year.

On Sundays, I’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world.

Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.

Morning Prayer, 26 Mar – John 15:7-10 ~ praying God’s will

Morning Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentences – Cuthbert of Northumbria (635-87)

Under protection of the King of life, a protection that will not betray us. May the Holy Spirit come upon us; may Christ deliver us, bless us.

Jesus, only Son of the Father, and Lamb, who shed Your heart’s true blood, dearly to buy us, protect me, accompany me, be near me ever.

Morning reading

John 15:7-10 ESV:

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”

Reflections:

answered prayer

Jesus’ dwelling in the believer is referred to as his words remaining in them. If they remain in him and his words in them, Jesus promises their prayers will be answered. To have his words remaining in them means to share his mind and his will. They are to be caught up into his own focus on the doing of God’s will. Accordingly, they will pray for his purposes rather than for their own selfish desires. Jesus’ purposes have been to reveal God and share his life and love so people will be brought into union with him in his new community. Such will be the concerns also of the disciples who have Jesus’ words in them, and God will answer their prayers as they live according to their life in Christ and his life in them.

the Father’s glory

Beleivers bear the fruit of this shared life, which is evidence that they are Jesus’ disciples. Since the fruit refers to the knowledge and love of God, it follows that as the disciples produce fruit the Father is glorified. The glory of the Father is Jesus’ chief delight and has been the focus of all he has said and done. Since the disciples are now going to live in union with Christ, the Father’s glory will be the goal of their lives as well.

the obedience of remaining

The Father is the source and pattern of all love, so, as always, Jesus is doing that which he receives from the Father. Jesus’ disciples must remain in his love, and they do this by obeying his commands. In part this means they are to remain in Jesus’ love for them, but further it means they must remain in his own love for the Father. Jesus’ own love for the Father was seen in his obeying the Father’s commands and remaining in his love. For the disciples to remain in Jesus’ love for the Father, therefore, they must share in Jesus’ obedience. Their obedience is itself the fruit of their remaining in Jesus because it is a characteristic of his love (1 Jn 2:5-6).

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series

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Canticle:

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

_____________________________________

Reflections from various saints will be included as their memorial days occur during the calendar year.

On Sundays, I’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world.

Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.

Morning Prayer, 25 Mar – John 15:1-6 ~ remain in me

Morning Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentences – Cuthbert of Northumbria (635-87)

Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Resist every kind of evil.

Morning reading

John 15:1-6 ESV:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

Reflections:

The main point of the image of vine and branches is clear enough: the intimate union of believers with Jesus. The disciple’s very life depends on this union. As branches, believers either bear fruit and are pruned to bear more fruit or do not bear fruit and are thrown away and burned – all the details have significance.

new people of God

When Jesus refers to himself as the true vine he is once again taking an image for Israel and applying it to himself. Jesus himself is true Israel. This claim corresponds to his break with the temple at the end of chapter 8 and his forming a renewed people that began in chapter 9 and came clearly to the fore in chapter 10. Israel’s place as the people of God is now taken by Jesus and his disciples, the vine and its branches. This is not a rejection of Judaism as such, but its fulfillment in its Messiah.

The identification of the people of God with a particular nation is now replaced with a particular man who incorporates in himself the new people of God composed of Jews and non-Jews.

bear fruit for God

The new community has been established and now must bear fruit for God. However, among Jesus’ disciples, there are those who bear fruit and those who do not.

What is this fruit? Converts, Christian character – but underlying both is the possession of the divine life itself and especially the chief characteristics of that life, knowledge of God and love. Jesus says when they bear much fruit they demonstrate that they are his disciples. Love is the evidence that one is a disciple and is in union with God and with one another. The image of fruit symbolizes that which is at the heart of both Christian witness and ethics — union with God.

separation from God

Separation from God, the source of all light and life and love, is the essence of all judgment. The ones who are so judged in this passage are those who have refused to remain in Christ. They have rejected Jesus and thereby turned their backs on God and thus life itself. Their former intimacy with Jesus, such as it was, makes their rejection all the more worthy of judgment.

“How a man can be `in Christ,’ and yet afterwards separate himself from Him, is a mystery neither greater nor less than that involved in the fall of a creature created innocent” (Westcott).

The believer’s assurance is not in the decision to follow Jesus, but in the graciousness and faithfulness of the Father and the Son. Though God allows us to reject him, his own disposition toward us is love, a love that continues to pursue even those who reject him. Those who are worried about the assurance of their salvation should find comfort in the character and actions of God. Our fretting over ourselves is itself a preoccupation with self that must be pruned away, for it inhibits our relation with God, our bearing of the fruit of eternal life.

pruned by God

The disciples certainly believe Jesus is come from God. And, even more obvious is their love for Jesus, mostly evidenced in their willingness to lay down their lives for him. That they came to Jerusalem is evidence of this willingness. They are not yet capable of such love when things get bleak, but at least they have the desire to be loyal. Their humility in accepting Jesus, even though this willingness is weaker than they realize, manifests the love that is crucial for remaining in Jesus.

They still have much in their lives that is not in keeping with the life of God. Such false growths need to be pruned away so God’s eternal life might grow and increase in their lives. Part of the good news is that the Father undertakes such pruning in the life of each disciple. The discipline may be painful as the life of self and rebellion is cut away, but the result will be untold blessing for the disciple and for others through him or her. The Father’s pruning is for the sake of growth, which suggests the eternal life is a very dynamic reality.

life in God

Jesus stresses the impossibility of producing this fruit apart from him. People are able to produce much without God, including converts, good deeds and even prophesies, exorcisms and miracles (cf. Mt 7:22-23; Ridderbos). But the divine life such as we see in Jesus is dependent on God’s own character, power and guidance at work in the life of the disciple. Jesus did not will nor speak nor act from himself; neither is the branch capable of bearing fruit “from itself”. Hence Jesus’ command to remain in me.

The Father prunes and cleanses, and the Son has cleansed by his word, showing the Son’s oneness with the Father (cf. Chrysostom). But the disciples themselves must make an effort to remain. Remaining is not simply believing in him, though that is crucial, but includes being in union with him, sharing his thoughts, emotions, intentions and power. In a relationship both parties must be engaged. The divine must take the initiative and provide the means and the ability for the union to take place, but it cannot happen without the response of the disciple.

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series

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Canticle:

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

_____________________________________

Reflections from various saints will be included as their memorial days occur during the calendar year.

On Sundays, I’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world.

Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.

Morning Prayer for Friday, 2nd Week in Advent: Isaiah 48:17-19; Psalm 1:1-6; Matthew 11:16-19 ~ their delight

Morning Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentence

Before the dawning day / Let sin’s dark deeds be gone, The old man all be put away, The new man all put on.

All glory to the Son, Who comes to set us free, With Father, Spirit, ever One, Through all eternity.

Morning readings

Isaiah 48:17-19 NLT

This is what the Lord says — your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow. Oh, that you had listened to my commands! Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river and righteousness rolling over you like waves in the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sands along the seashore — too many to count! There would have been no need for your destruction, or for cutting off your family name.”

A solitaire tree covered with snow stands on a field in Sieversdorf, Germany, under a blue winter sky in bright sunlight on 30 December 2010.

Psalm 1:1-6 NLT

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.

But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind. They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly. For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

Matthew 11:16-19 NLT:

“To what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends,

‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t mourn.’

For John didn’t spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.”

Reflection/Prayer:

Lord Jesus – Quiet my anxious spirit… create within me a fortress of peace where I can find my rest and refreshment in You. Fill me with a love for Your Word and a willingness to live it out – daily, hourly, minute-by-minute – during the hustle and bustle of the season. May my obedience bear good fruit… in my life, but even more importantly in the lives of those I meet today. Make me a Christmas gift, for Your name’s sake. Amen.

Canticle

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

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Peanut Gallery: The Morning Prayer readings are from the USCCB Daily Readings and the format from the Daily Office of the Northumbrian Community as available online here… and in the book form, Celtic Daily Prayer available on Amazon.com. The website and prayer book are rich in prayer resources and I commend them to you.

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