Praise of God or praise of men

John 5: 31-47

"I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. How can you believe if you accept praise from one another , yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?"

During Lent, we often have to contend with 'difficult' sayings of Jesus. Yet isn't he the only One who can confront us with the truth about our lives? We would not hear if someone else told us. We would rationalize our way out of it.

It is an awesome honor to be called by name and called the beloved children of God. However, be-ing the beloved is not just a warm fuzzy feeling we get when we sing 'Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so' (I have nothing against this song but it leaves our relationship with the person of Christ out of the picture). In this passage, Jesus warns us against reading the Scriptures as if "by them you possess eternal life". Faith can never be simply an intellectual assent to truths revealed by God (though it certainly includes that). Faith demands a profoundly personal and passionate gift of our minds and hearts to God.

Jesus says, as always, "come to me, that you may have life". He beckons us to relationship. The written word becomes the living Word in our hearts.

What drives God's word and God's love from our hearts? Here Jesus warns about self-centeredness and pride. Most of us do not think of ourselves as prideful. In fact we may 'pride' ourselves in not seeking the honors of this world. But can we quieten down long enough to listen to Jesus' voice?

In trying to hear God's voice calling me his beloved I encounter many hindrances. I may not reject Jesus as the religious leaders of his day did. I may even be "religious" as they were. But I seem to be enticed by other voices that tell me 'who I am' , because these voices feed the prideful spirit in me. They affirm me in those places where I experience brokenness and offer me security. However, God's voice, at those graced moments when I do hear his whisper, seems to say "Be not afraid of your weakness and brokenness. Embrace the pain that will hollow you out so that my love may fill you".

Becoming the beloved is to constantly seek and appropriate above all, God's affirmation of our lives.