Rector’s Reflections Monday 27th November 2023
Preparing for Advent
Last week we looked at one the questions raised by the Parable of the Talents. You will remember that one of the slaves was frightened of his master, and this feeling of fear lead to his decision to do nothing with the gift he had been given, other than simply burying it in the ground. This led on to some reflections about our feelings towards God. Are we frightened of God? If so, what might we do about this?
God does not want us to be afraid of Him. He wants us to love him, and perfect love casts out fear. But it can be so hard for us to receive the gift of love. Our feelings can be so complex : we can know that someone loves us, from an objective point of view, and yet at the same time we can feel quite unloved.
Advent is a time for us to prepare ourselves to receive God’s love in all its fulness, and one way we can do this is by turning to the Bible. Many books in the Bible explore the theme of God’s love for individuals and communities; indeed, there are also passages which show that God’s love is not limited to human beings alone, but extends to the whole of creation. We might find it particularly helpful to have a look at the 1st Letter of John. This letter contains several profound statements on the theme of God’s love, and here are some passages from Chapter 4 of the Letter which seem particularly relevant :
“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among is in this way : God sent his only Son into the world so that might live through him…..Beloved, since God loves us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another , God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us…..God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among is in this : that we have boldness on the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because He first loved us.”
This passage talks about the “perfection” of our love towards God. I wonder how we might make our love towards God “more perfect”? What might this mean in the particular circumstances of our individual lives?