During
one of our Wednesday morning Bible studies, our group tackled the famous verse
John 3:16, which reads: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life.”
Scholars
have cleverly labeled this pericope the “miniature gospel” (le petit Évangile,
in French), for the simple reason that it encapsulates the entire meaning of
Scripture and God’s divine plan of salvation. If the entire Bible was lost and
only this verse was retained, the core message would still be preserved in its
fullness, with the remainder of the Bible serving as an extensive “color
commentary.”
However,
in this key passage an equally significant message resides among the words, but
it is plainly hidden from sight, a mystery to the unsuspecting, superficial
reader. What is it? John 3:16 houses the secret of true life in God, a life
that is made manifest to us when we participate in three central activities of
the Orthodox Christian Church: love, faith, and sacrifice. Life in God is
different from biological life, which is understood in its horizontal
dimensions — that is, in our relationships with other human beings. The life in
God is far more intense because it boasts of a vertical dimension, defined
according to man’s stance before the Lord. In this life, God’s power and wisdom
are infused in man, so man’s existence becomes not only more meaningful but
indicative of a presence that heals and saves. St. Paul confesses this life
when he writes: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians
2:20). The life in God is, quite simply, God’s healing and saving presence in
man.
To have
this life within us, we must imitate the life in Christ in these aforementioned
three areas. First, we are commanded to have a faith that is genuine and true,
one that is not based on conditions or personal expectations. It means, as the
saying goes, to “let go and let God”, to trust blindly when nothing makes
sense, to take the first step even when you cannot envision the whole
staircase, to quote the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Second,
perfect faith must be coupled though with perfect love, out of deference to
Christ’s commandment to “love one another, as I have loved you” (John 13:34), a
love that far surpasses the limitations of human emotion. Perfect love is not
simply to want or seek the good of the other, but to be pained over their
welfare, to make the other priority over oneself, to be willing to suffer in
their place.
Finally,
faith and love are tested and perfected when the third commandment is
fulfilled; namely, sacrifice, the “giving” of oneself. For us Christians, this
sacrifice is the gift of time we give to the one who needs God through our
presence, our words, and our actions; but it is most especially valuable when
we celebrate the Eucharistic sacrifice together on Sunday. Put simply, if we
believe in God and we love Him, our place is at the sacrificial altar every
Sunday during the Divine Liturgy, in addition to the altar of every human heart
that we encounter daily.
All three
of these expectations are commandments of our Lord in the Scriptures; they are
non-negotiable and they are not optional. More of one and less of another is
not a solution. All three draw us deeper into the mystery of Christ’s life,
which becomes our life when we assimilate our ways with His ways. To believe in
one’s heart and love all people but refuse to be with them in worship is not
enough, precisely because faith and love remain deficient. When physical
illness prevents us from church attendance, that is one thing; but when
spiritual illness that is untreated causes us to become selective in our
philanthropy, faith and love become deformed into lies, catering to our own
shortsighted desires and needs.
By Fr. Stelyios Muksuris
Source: http://myocn.net/scriptures-most-valuable-secret/
CONVERSATION