“Reflections”

Terry Quinn 18/08/2024

Readings - I Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14.  Psalm 111.  Eph 5:15-20.   John 6:51-58.

 Dorothy Day wrote an autobiography called, “The Long Lonliness”.  She said

‘We have all known the long lonliness and we have found that the answer is community.’ 

She also said,

‘The older I get, the more I meet people, the more convinced I am that we must only work on ourselves to grow in grace.  The only thing we can do about people is to love them.’

Today we look at four pieces of writing: the 1st Book of Kings (written sometime during or soon after the Babylonian Exile, 587-537 BCE); Psalm 111 (compiled from various sources about 2,500 years ago); the Letter to the Ephesians (written around 80-90 in the 1st Century of the Common Era); and St John’s Gospel (written about 90 CE).  I hope to point out to you this morning that these exerpts are not old and stale news. 

Gilbert Keith Chesterton said that democracy tells us not to neglect a good man’s opinion even if he is our father.  We Christians have long traditions.  Chesterton described tradition, far from being ‘dead people’s baggage’, as the “democracy of the dead”. Tradition, he said, refuses to submit to “the small oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about.”

(Chesterton: ‘Orthodoxy’ and ‘The ethics of Elfland’.)

Today’s exerpt from the Books of Kings speaks optimistically about the early days of King Soloman, how wise and pleasing to God he was.  The Books of Kings, however, tell us about all the Kings of Israel and Judah from the beginning up to the total destruction of Kingship itself, and Temple and the aristocratic ruling families in 587 BCE.  German scholars of these books say that they relate the destruction of Jerusalem as a result of divine judgement on the waywardness and disobedience of almost every Hebrew King.  If sin means missing the mark, the Hebrew Kings didn’t even hit the dartboard.  This biblical story of the Kings of Israel and Judah is called by scholars the Deuteronomic History. Besause this history begins with the BooK of Deuteronomy and flow through the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. But this grim history has an important stakeholder present, namely, divine compassion. Jesus said in his Last Supper discourse, ‘I will not leave you orphans’.  This is true of both testaments in the bible.

Psalm 111 has each line beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. It’s called acrostic alphabet, A to Z... This technique indicates completeness in what it is saying, namely the permanent relevance of the involvement of God in our lives. We’re never without divine compassion.

‘Great are the deeds of the Lord we remember his wondrous acts’.  And  ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom’. 

The psalm says that the good life begins with the fear of the Lord.  Well, what is ‘the good life’ and what does ‘fear of the Lord’ mean? 

The good life is the one that grasps reality, holds to the way of understanding, and perception, giving an attentive mind both to the ‘now’ and to the lessons of wisdom.  All summed up as the good life. The psalm also says that God gives food to those who honour him.  And the Hebrew word YIRAH/YAREH does mean fear as in scare and flight, but it has other meaings as well: revere, reverent, dutiful, giving honour.  According to this psalm, the outcome of revering and giving honour to the Lord is ‘getting a good understanding’, gaining the food and nourishment of wisdom.

Let’s turn to the Letter to the Ephesians.  This reading is like a series of do’s and don’t’s: be intelligent don’t be sensless, redeem the age, don’t get drunk, rather be filled up with the Holy Spirit. This letter was written after Paul had died.  It was probably circulated to many churches around Asia Minor.  It talks about the need for constant renewal of life in the light of Christ.  The letter compares the darkness of sin to the light of Christ.  This light and joy comes from the Holy Spirit as on the day of Pentecost.  The letter urges us to make each day, a day of outpouring of the Holy Spirit for ourselves and others.

And lastly, if ever there were strong words in the Bible, those in John Ch 6 must be high on the best contenders’ list.  Gold medal stuff.  John’s account of the last supper does not focus on the table but the tin wash dish.  At the last supper Jesus strips, takes water and a wash dish and washes the feet of his disciples and he commands them to do the same to others. For me John Ch 6 is the forerunner of what is said in Chs 14-17, the Last Supper discourses.  Here, John’s Gospel leaves the Synoptic Gospels far behind. The gist of Ch 6 is the foremost divine promise in the Bible, the pledge of indwelling, ‘you live in me and I live in you’; ‘as I draw life from the Father, you draw life from me’; ‘whoever eats this bread will live forever.’  This is no short lived experience.  Note how this excerpt (John 6: 51-58) is framed by the word ‘bread’: 1st line: ‘I am the living bread!’ Last line: ‘Anyone who eats this bread”.

In our passage here, Jesus is mentioned, the Father in heaven is mentioned, but what about the Holy Spirit?  Jesus said, ‘It is the spirit that gives life... The words I have mentioned to you are spirit and life’(Jn 6: 62-63).

Let us think about the Holy Spirit.  In the full light of the New Testament itself the Spirit is the stark reminder of the divine mystery, indeed from Genesis to the Book of Revelation.  In our struggles to know and love God, the work of the Holy Spirit is to hold us and calmly, almost secretly, draw us to ... silence.  As Karl Rahner said, the purpose of theology is doxology.  The purpose of scripture is to lead us to praise God.  Silent praise. 

And when it comes to the Sacrament of Holy Communion, what is the role of the Holy Spirit?  From the words of the New Testament and the traditions of the Christian communities for 2000 years, it falls to the Holy Spirit to bring the bread and the wine, the meal of the supper and the ultimate sacrifice of Christ, to their most intense fulfilment.  It does so by making the this bread and wine here before us, the bread of eternal life and the wine of the fully realised Kingdom of God.  In Ch 5:17 of John’s Gospel, Jesus says, ‘My Father goes on working and so do I.’ Well, here is the work of the Holy Spirit making this bread like no other bread and it is by the very same power which raised to life the slaughtered body of Christ on the hill of Calvary.  Indeed the action of the Holy Spirit at our Holy Communion is the leading agent of the divine mystery in our midst.

Let me conclude with a summary from the letter to the Ephesians (3;14-19).  I want you to notice the word in the last sentence.  There is a difference between apprehending something and comprehending it.  Apprehension is partial, there is much more to learn, comprehending is a more complete understanding.  With regard to the work of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity, we will never fully comprehend it, ever.  It is only through Grace, which in the long run means God Himself, that we can ever use the word comprehend.

‘For this reason I kneel before the Father that he may grant you to be strengthened in the inner self with power through his Spirit and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. So that rooted and grunded in love, you may have strength to comprehend what is the breadth and length and heigth and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fulness of God.’