Saturday, December 28, 2002

From his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace. John 1:16

What is this fullness of the Word that showers us with grace? Each of us may hear "fullness" differently, but there is no doubt it is pregnant with meaning. I hear it as wholeness, completeness, and the state of a human being who is, in truth, the image of God. Jesus came in flesh to dwell among us to show us God and to call us to allow God to make us the incarnations God intends us to be. He did not only talk about this with his followers he embodied it for them and for all time.

A person who is whole, completed by God - we may not put it into these words, but I believe we all long to be complete. We long for God, for a relationship with God that will assuage our existential loneliness and give meaning to the whole spectrum of our lives. We long for a relationship with God that will show us our place in the great scheme of things and give us the courage and the strength to take that place. The fullness of Jesus was his wholeness; his humanness lived according to the will of God.

Years ago when "Healing and Wholeness" was the subject of a United Methodist Women's spiritual growth study one summer, I found the most theologically significant definition of "whole" in the Random House Dictionary. Whole is "being fully or entirely as specified"! When we long to be whole, do we long for that? Do we long to be who God alone knows we are, who God made us to be before we were born? Our true selves are hidden in the mind and heart of God and only as we learn to grow into the Presence and the love and the will of God for us, can we become whole. Then, and only then, will God's image be revealed in us and will we begin to feel completed at last. Obviously, this is the work of a lifetime and it is not a work that we can do for ourselves, but one that God longs to do in us.

The reference to the fullness of Jesus foreshadows the whole scene in the Upper Room in John 13-17. In the gospel of John, there is no ritual of body and blood for sin and atonement established on the night before Jesus died. Rather, Jesus calls the followers together and shares with them the secrets of his own spirituality, his own relationship with God. He gives them the job that has been his, to know God and show God to others. He tells them this will be possible for them, as it was for him, because if they abide in him as he abides in God, the work will be done the fruit will be born by the power of God flowing through them. And the fruit will be love, love like the love God has for Jesus and that Jesus and God have for every one of us who strive to be disciples. The love will result in action as God shows the way. It will not be our love, but God's love, like sap, flowing through us. May it be so in us!

Reflection: Am I trying to bear fruit instead of abiding? Can I trust that God will produce the fruit of God's choice, if I remain connected to the vine that is Jesus?

Prayer: Holy Love, teach us to wait upon you in the silence, open and grateful, for whatever you will to do in and through us. Teach us to be faithful. Make us who you meant us to be before we were born, for we are your own. Amen

Hazelyn McComas

All contents copyright 2002 by the Wisconsin Chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action. Permission is granted to United Methodist congregations, individuals and groups to reproduce and distribute this devotional without charge. All other use requires the advance permission of the editor.