REDEEMING THE TIME IN FAITH


TUESDAY, FIFTH WEEK OF EASTER

Act 14:19-28; Ps 145:10-13,21; Jn 14:27-31

Constancy in Faith and Hope

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the creation of a new heaven and earth. Saint Gregory of Nyssa explained in his sermon that the new heaven is the firmament of faith in Jesus Christ, and the new earth is a good heart that drinks up the rain of the word of God and yields a rich harvest of good and spiritual works. Faith in the risen Lord is, therefore, the firmament from which the rain of the word of God distils to our believing hearts. Just as the physical firmament is a constant covering and horizon for the physical earth, our faith in the risen Lord must form our mindset and horizon of our spiritual life. We do not live our spiritual lives in isolation from the physical daily life, but the spiritual enters and transforms our daily living. We are to imbue the daily living with our faith in the resurrection of the Lord and his enduring presence with us. Saint Paul explains this with his concept of redeeming the time in Ephesians 5:16. The days are evil if we spend the days without the consciousness of the risen Lord. We redeem the days in the presence of Jesus Christ, whose resurrection commences our eternal day in God.

The story of the missionary works of Saints Paul and Barnabas in the Acts of Apostles illustrates how to redeem the evil days of our temporary lives. They redeemed their days doing the will of the risen Lord, guided by the Holy Spirit. They spent their lives proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom of God that is now with us with the resurrection of the Son of Man from death. Paul and Barnabas took their time to soak in the rain of the word of God and proceeded to produce good fruits in praise of God, who called them to eternal life. Sufferings and persecutions did not deter them but fuelled their desire to accomplish the will of God. “Some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and turned the people against the apostles. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the town, thinking he was dead. The disciples came crowding round him but, as they did so, he stood up and went back to the town. The next day he and Barnabas went off to Derbe.” In the new heaven and earth, faith connects us to the risen Lord directly as the eternal Sun that illuminates our firmament. The Holy Spirit joins the Christian hearts in the love of God. Once the sunlight is steady and the rain falls abundantly, fertile soil produces good fruits. So, the good and bad experiences are what we need to produce good fruits. As Paul and Barnabas stated, “We all have to experience many hardships before we enter the kingdom of God.”

To utilise every situation of life, we have to understand the principles of our spiritual life and growth. One who understands these principles and abides by them becomes a friend of God and praises God in all things. “All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord, and your friends shall repeat their blessing. They shall speak of the glory of your reign and declare your might, O God, to make known to men your mighty deeds and the glorious splendour of your reign.” By their faith in the risen Lord, Paul and Barnabas understood these principles and redeemed their time by proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom of God. To discover these principles is to know the peace that only Jesus Christ gives. “Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” The peace our Lord gives characterises the new heaven and the new earth, for it is a new reality the Father orders through his word to himself as the ultimate end of all things. Faith in the Word of the Father is the principle of our spiritual victory over the world and its prince. It is the means of redeeming our time and lives. “I shall not talk with you any longer, because the prince of this world is on his way. He has no power over me, but the world must be brought to know that I love the Father and that I am doing exactly what the Father told me.” Let us believe that we may enjoy the new heaven and earth in Jesus Christ.

Let us pray: O God, who restore us to eternal life in the Resurrection of Christ, grant your people constancy in faith and hope, that we may never doubt the promises of which we have learned from you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. 

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