Saturday, January 8, 2022

8 January 2022 - I must decrease


We have this confidence in him
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 

In an earlier chapter John told us that we can be confident to receive whatever we ask because we keep the commandments and do what pleases him. His point was that bearing good fruit was a better indicator of whether or not we belonged to the truth than our subjective state, or emotional disposition. This could be the basis of confidence in prayer and was meant to help persuade us in the event that event our own hearts condemn us, for, as John wrote, "God is greater than our hearts" (see First John 3:20). He didn't want our confidence in prayer to hinge on the thoughts of self-doubt that we might still feel even when living in Christ, nor even upon the just condemnations of our hearts where we still had room to improve, things we ought to have done but did not as well as things we ought to have avoided but did not. Instead, we were invited to look at our lives and see God at work within us, motivating us to keep the commandments and do what pleased him. We were meant to see the surprising ways in which our lives were different because they had become a response to the love of Jesus himself. The sense of it was, 'If God can do that in me, I have confidence in what he wants to do through my prayer to him.'

if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 

In today's reading John expands on our confidence in prayer. He tells us that our confidence is related, not only to the evidence of God at work in our lives, but also and relatedly, in that we ask according to his will. It is not just any prayer that God answers. Indeed it seems infrequent that he grants winning lottery tickets or new sports cars. These things are of course not bad, but they are not really related to the greater goods that he himself desires for his people. John teaches us that when we live our lives as a response to the love of Jesus we keep the commandments, and that in doing so, we become more attuned to the will of God. This takes place, beginning in prayer before it is manifested and refined by obedience in action. This virtuous cycle of obedience and prayer refines us such that we are more and more able to pray according to the will of God. As a consequence we become increasingly confident that he will answer those prayers, being prayers that he himself desires to grant. We should not short change the levels to which this can advance. Saints show us examples, walking in obedience, living lives of deep prayer, able to sense what the Father would have them ask, and then being confident, even unsurprised, that miracles would spring up all around them. To be so close to the Father's heart is not meant only for a select few officially recognized by the Church, but for all of us.  May we not be satisfied with anything less than the Father's will for us.

If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly,
he should pray to God and he will give him life. 

We know that God desires to restore sinners to the fullness of his grace, so that they too can be confident and receive that for which they pray. The slightly more challenging part of that reassuring fact is that he desires to work through us to help our brothers and sisters, to offer fraternal correction, accountability, and support as we journey together toward the fullness of the Kingdom. When we are grounded in God's love for us we can become so persuaded that this is his will that we become effective agents of it, pushing past where discomfort might have otherwise made it easier to stop.

This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. 
There is such a thing as deadly sin,
about which I do not say that you should pray. 

It is true that we are not able ourselves to restore those who have fallen into mortal sin. We can and should pray for people who have fallen into such a condition even if we cannot directly address the sin itself. We may even be called to speak to such people, for example to invite them to return to the full grace of the Church through Sacramental Confession. But we cannot resolve that problem simply between ourselves and one in such a state, nor can we substitute our own yes to God for the persistent unrepentance of another. 

We know that anyone begotten by God does not sin;
but the one begotten by God he protects,
and the Evil One cannot touch him. 

John already expressed his awareness that Christians would always continue sinning to some degree in this life. But here he reminds us that, although that is true, we should not settle for our current condition. God desires to protect us so that we can be more and more free from sin. We activate this protection when we begin to discern our actions and indeed the course of our lives according to the mind of Christ.

We also know that the Son of God has come
and has given us discernment to know the one who is true. 

Only by knowing the knowing the one is true God and eternal life will we be able to prefer him to the idols the world offers us as substitutes. It was precisely this preference that allowed John the Baptist to remain indifferent when it seemed that his popularity was decreasing and that his ministry was being challenged. He didn't mind if he was called to play only a supporting role. It was his joy in the bridegroom's coming, the sound of that voice, that made him indifferent to any consolations the world could offer.

The one who has the bride is the bridegroom;
the best man, who stands and listens for him,
rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. 
So this joy of mine has been made complete. 
He must increase; I must decrease.


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