Take Him at His Word

Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Daily Reading: John 4:43 – 54

Focus Passage:
"Unless you people see signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."
The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."
"Go," Jesus replied, "your son will live."
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. (Jn. 4:49 – 50)


The official with the sick son “took Jesus at his word.” What does it mean to “take Jesus at his word”?

Some contemporary expressions of Christianity reduce faith to a system of assertions and propositions we are to believe intellectually. They suggest that we agree with certain statements about God and Jesus. If we agree with those statements, especially in public, we believe.

Many Christians think that such belief in and of itself is the extent of Christian faith, reducing life with God to mental assent. I can speak about this mindset, because I’ve spent a good part of my life with this notion of belief. In truth, I watered down the Gospel when I reduced it to a simple, mental agreement with the words Jesus spoke.

“Do you believe in Jesus?”

“Yes, I agree with what he said.”

That kind of agreement makes little difference in our lives and little impact on the world.

To take Jesus at his word means to adjust your life, so that your reality is shaped by the words and life of Jesus. It is not merely hearing and agreeing with Jesus, but rather intentionally allows Jesus to shape your framework for life. You are willing to put down your own structure for thinking and living, taking up for yourself Jesus’ structure instead.

So the official who approached Jesus on behalf of his son adjusted his approach to life as a result of his encounter with Jesus. Taking Jesus at his word meant giving his life without reserve to what Jesus said to him.

This work of adjusting our life’s framework is the core of Christian spirituality. Over time, we give up our frameworks, the ways that we ordinarily see and approach life, in order to adopt a framework embodied by Jesus. This does not happen quickly or easily. Spirituality is the work of a lifetime.

“Taking Jesus at his word” is not a throw-away statement, but represents the center of the spiritual life. You and I are invited to adjust our lives God-ward, so that our actual lives are being transformed by the life of Christ. We take Jesus at his word, not by mental agreement, but by intentionally giving ourselves to his transforming presence.


For Reflection:
Spend some time reflecting on the words “take him at his word.” Explore them. Put them in your own words.

What do they mean to you? To what do they invite you?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dinnerless Camels

Dinnerless Camels Saturday after the Resurrection – April 18, 2020 Transformation does not happen by an act of the will. Responding to an altar call is important for some, but is certainly not the end as much as a new beginning. Benchmark life-events may help nurture us, but one-time events do not have the force to shift the deeply ingrained patterns within us. There are no quick fixes in the Christian spiritual life, no short-cuts to an adult spirituality. Rather, we must take care to feed the inner self, to nourish the soul, to give care to that which is at our center, for this inner self will emerge in the world as a transforming presence. We cannot expect ourselves to live differently in the world if we do not attend to this inward dimension of life. For example, in order not to be overwhelmed by a global pandemic, we must be intentional about ingesting spiritual nourishment that will give us resources to keep us from being overwhelmed by the pandemic flood. We have to ea
Read more

The Pattern Includes Resurrection

The Pattern Includes Resurrection Resurrection Sunday – April 12, 2020 Resurrection follows death. Every time. It is the immutable, God-given pattern for all of life. Death is not the end. Life is the end. In John 11, Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus, goes through a litany of titles for Jesus. Jesus tells her straight-out that he is the resurrection and the life. Then he asks, “Do you believe this ?” He is not asking if she believes in resurrection as an idea or as a theological proposition. He is asking if she believes that resurrection and life are God’s established pattern for the world. Affirming Jesus’ resurrection is not enough. Rather are you willing to enter into this rhythm of birth, life, death, and new life for yourself? This is not only new life. It is also real love. English mystic Evelyn Underhill wrote a great deal about spirituality in the last century. She taught both significant religious leaders and ordinary lay persons with a simplicity that I find c
Read more

Ordinary Work

Ordinary Work Good Friday – April 10, 2020 Brother Lawrence communicated with God by going about his ordinary work. For most of us, our “ordinary work” has changed in recent weeks. For Brother Lawrence, ordinary work meant working in the monastery kitchen and repairing shoes in the monastery cobbler shop. For us, “ordinary work” is very different. But this monk’s emphasis remains the same. Whatever we do, God is our center. God is the focus of who we are and what we do. This takes our eyes off preoccupation with the situation around us or off trying to please those around us. When we do our work in this way, we truly do “ pray always ,” as Paul suggested in 1 Thess. 5:17. You cannot “ pray continually ” or “ pray without ceasing ” if prayer is nonstop talking or conversation. But Brother Lawrence discovered the key to continual communion with God. Do everything you do in conscious contact with God. He thought it was a shame that some people pursued certain activities (whi
Read more