Called to loving communion

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary invite us to contemplate becoming friends of God as the Love of God is revealed to us by the Spirit.

A communion of friends

The narrative in the Acts of the Apostles centers on the conversion of the “God-fearer”, Cornelius.

* [10:1–48] The narrative centers on the conversion of Cornelius, a Gentile and a “God-fearer” (see note on Acts 8:26–40). Luke considers the event of great importance, as is evident from his long treatment of it. The incident is again related in Acts 11:1–18 where Peter is forced to justify his actions before the Jerusalem community and alluded to in Acts 15:7–11 where at the Jerusalem “Council” Peter supports Paul’s missionary activity among the Gentiles. The narrative divides itself into a series of distinct episodes, concluding with Peter’s presentation of the Christian kerygma (Acts 10:4–43) and a pentecostal experience undergone by Cornelius’ household preceding their reception of baptism (Acts 10:44–48).

The First Letter of John declares that Love, as we share in it, testifies to the nature of God.

* [4:7–12] Love as we share in it testifies to the nature of God and to his presence in our lives. One who loves shows that one is a child of God and knows God, for God’s very being is love; one without love is without God. The revelation of the nature of God’s love is found in the free gift of his Son to us, so that we may share life with God and be delivered from our sins. The love we have for one another must be of the same sort: authentic, merciful; this unique Christian love is our proof that we know God and can “see” the invisible God.

The Gospel of John exhorts us to grow into friends of God, as modeled by Abraham.

* [15:15] Slaves,friends: in the Old Testament, Moses (Dt 34:5), Joshua (Jos 24:29), and David (Ps 89:21) were called “servants” or “slaves of Yahweh”; only Abraham (Is 41:8; 2 Chr 20:7; cf. Jas 2:23) was called a “friend of God.”

Barbara Dilly finds two themes in the Gospel that may invoke tensions are inside of us.

There are two themes: 1) we are all human beings and God shows no partiality among those who act uprightly; 2) some are the chosen ones.  I do think those tensions appear elsewhere in the Bible. In fact, so much so that some Christians think that you must be a Christian of a certain sort who obeys specific narrow rules to be saved.  They feel so strongly about that they feel they are obliged to condemn those who are not among their ranks. They think that is their calling.
Well, the lessons for today clearly argue against that way of seeing the world.  Not only does God not show partiality to anyone who is acceptable to him, he is clear about what is acceptable.  It isn’t labels and laws. It is about love!

This article from the Christian Churches of God discusses Abraham as “friend of God.”

The parallel for us as Christians is that we make an agreement with God at baptism. We say, Yes! We’ll go where you want to go. We’ll do what you want to do. At baptism, we covenant with Him to love Him and obey Him. He in turn promises forgiveness, the gift of His spirit, and eternal life in His Kingdom. If we stick to our covenants with God and make sure we submit our wills and desires to His will – if we let Him set the pace and determine the route we will take, then we will be in agreement with Him which is one of the necessary factors for Him to call us His friends.

Don Schwager asks What does it mean to be a friend of God?

Friendship with God certainly entails a loving relationship which goes beyond mere duty and obedience. Jesus' discourse on friendship and brotherly love echoes the words of Proverbs: A friend loves at all times; and a brother is born for adversity (Proverbs 17:17). The distinctive feature of Jesus' relationship with his disciples was his personal love for them. He loved his own to the end (John 13:1). His love was unconditional and wholly directed to the good of others. His love was also sacrificial. He gave the best he had and all that he had. He gave his very life for those he loved in order to secure for them everlasting life with the Father.

Friar Jude Winkler shares background on the gift of the Spirit to “God fearers” and beyond. The First Letter of John cites expiation for our sins and John In the Gospel indicates we are saved by Jesus revealing the Love of God. In the Life of the Trinity, we have to love one another in the small everyday events of our life and become willing to die to self especially for those we think do not deserve it.

The Orthodox Church in America shares Doctrine and Scripture understanding of the Letters of Saint John.

The first letter of Saint John proclaims that Jesus is truly “the Christ,” the Messiah and Son of God who has come “in the flesh” to the world as “the expiation of our sins, and not ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (2.2). Those who believe in Christ and are in communion with Him and His Father have the forgiveness of sins and the possibility not to sin any more (1.5–2.12). They “walk in the same way in which He walked” (2.6) being the “children of God” (3.1, 5.1). They know the truth by the direct inspiration of God through the anointment [chrisma] of the Holy Spirit (2.20–26; 6.7). They keep the commandments of God, the first and greatest of which is love, and so they are already recipients of eternal life, already possessing the indwelling of God the Father and Christ the Son “by the Spirit which He has given us” (2.24–3.24).

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, underlines that we come to know who God is through exchanges of mutual knowing and loving.

God’s basic method of communicating God’s self is not the “saved” individual, the rightly informed believer, or even a person with a career in ministry, but the journey and bonding process that God initiates in community: in marriages, families, tribes, nations, schools, organizations, and churches who are seeking to participate in God’s love, maybe without even consciously knowing it.

Our evangelization efforts need to attend to the advice of Fr. Richard that “until Christ is passed on personally through faithfulness and forgiveness, through concrete bonds of union, I doubt whether he is passed on by words, sermons, institutions, or ideas.”

References


(n.d.). Acts 10:34-43. Retrieved May 6, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/acts10.htm

(n.d.). 1 John, chapter 4 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 6, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/1john/4

(n.d.). John, chapter 15 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 6, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john15:29

(n.d.). Why was Abraham called "the Friend of God"? (No. 35). Retrieved May 6, 2018, from http://www.ccg.org/weblibs/study-papers/p035.html

(n.d.). Creighton Online Ministries - Creighton University. Retrieved May 6, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved May 6, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(2018, April 28). Daily Meditations Archive: April 2018 - Center for Action and .... Retrieved May 6, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/2018/04/