…to all who received him (Jesus the Word), who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God…
I am very sure her choking was unplanned (she’s not given to theatrical moves), and she did have to pause a moment to clear her throat.
I, too, choke on those words when I let them get to me.
I…
who claim to have received and accepted Jesus the Word…
who desire to trust him for all that he is…
who is at best a wayward, careless child, and at worst a rebellious, indifferent one…
who daily squander the power that can give me true strength…
...I choke on those words. They stop me cold, if I let them.
Child can mean a young, still-dependent, not fully-matured person. Child can also mean an offspring of full age age and independence. Either way, they are born from and always and forever will be the flesh and blood of those who gave them life. I think the author of John had both conceptions of child in mind.
Here’s a New Year’s Resolution worth considering: I will become a more resilient, trusting, and—yes—obedient child of God by practicing peacemaking. As the man himself put it:
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
Can you and I make some—however small—peace this year within ourselves, with those closest to us, with and in our communities and our world?
A peacemaker…as in a healer, reconciler, truth-seeker, lover, uniter, and, when possible, compromiser.
It is rarely easy to make peace, and the making of lasting peace does not come automatically. Learning peacemaking is necessary to doing peacemaking. Sometimes we even have to make some “good trouble” along the way.
But we can make peace somewhere with someone if we will commit ourselves to it, clear our throats and our hearts of the phlegm choking them, and give it a try. And thereby become, in the process, who we’ve been from our conception: children of God.
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