The Story if Bearing Fruit and Growing - January 7

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 103; PM Psalm 114, 115
Deut. 8:1-3; Col. 1:1-14; John 6:30-33,48-51

Last night, I walked into the nave of Saint Stephen’s, following the Christmas light on the Feast of Epiphany. Some of the stars of our wonderful Christmas pageant from Christmas Eve returned to play this role in the Epiphany story. One of the things that happened last night—maybe more than at some other times we gather as the Body of Christ—is that the biblical story came alive. On our best days, and in our best liturgies, the biblical story is so much bigger than the words that are spoken; it is lived out among us. When we preach our best, when we pray and sing and move and gather well, the narrative of Scripture breaks open our own lives in powerful and hopeful ways.

I’m struck today especially by the opening of Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Paul simply begins with gratitude. He gives thanks for a community that has received the gospel, shared it, and allowed it to bear fruit in their lives. This is not an abstract faith Paul celebrates. He points to a faith that is visible—heard through the proclamation of the word, embodied in love for one another, and rooted in a hope that has already begun to change how they live. The gospel, Paul says, is “bearing fruit and growing” among them, just as it is throughout the whole world. In other words, the story of Christ does not remain a story on the page or even spoken in some public way as they gather. It takes flesh in real communities, in relationships, in practices of love, generosity, and faithfulness. It has taken root because it has been shared by others in a way that is transformative.

Today, I give thanks for all the people who have creatively and faithfully told the biblical story in my own life. Teachers, youth leaders, faithful friends, and mentors—and, in my own context, our wonderful and creative children’s formation team here at Saint Stephen’s—who help the story of God come alive again and again. Who in your life do you give thanks for inspiring you? Whose faith has helped the gospel bear fruit in you?  Who has told you the story of God’s faith and helped it to transform the way you see the world and the children of God?

Faithfully,

John+ 

Questions for Self-Reflection:  Who are the people who have inspired you in your faith?  Consider writing them a note today and letting them know.  Begin with gratitude!