Saturday after Epiphany Years 1 and 2 2025

Title

God will Give Him Life

Outline

I was listening to a podcast last Tuesday on which leaders of a college-age revival movement were interviewed

The conservative Protestant movement, called UNITE, is characterized by asking people who come to Jesus to do something, particularly to confess their hidden sins, first to God and then to a small group, and then to become part of a group that helps them struggle to further freedom.

Now this was refreshing in that repentance was called for and was made concrete and that it was not, “you have an experience and you are good for life” sort of thing. They also recognized the power of the demonic. But, having spent hours in confessionals at ACTS retreats, I was surprised at the disconnect with the history of the church and some of the risks they incur.

First, there is the matter of discernment

We love the verse, “if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, we know that what we have asked him for is ours.” But we forget this is about asking “anything according to his will” and that the context of what one is praying about if praying for a brother who is sinning a “sin [that] is not deadly” in which case God will give life to the sinner. We remember Ananias and Sapphira with respect to physical life, but there is also spiritual life.

1 John says, “no one begotten by God sins; but the one begotten by God he protects, and the evil one cannot touch him.” Apparently one can also turn from the life God gives and God’s protection and end back in the world that is “under the power of the evil one.”

That should inform our prayers for students, friends, and family and also make us more cautious about staying clear of sin.

Second, there is the reality that full freedom is a process

I will not say much about this but point to Kevin Well’s book The Hermit in which a wife’s coming to freedom included her husband’s repenting of his own failures, psychological counseling, an addiction recovery group, several godly priests, one of whom was an exorcist, and especially the woman’s using the sacraments and sacramentals in a serious consistent effort to come into the freedom of the love of Christ.

Third, the Church is central to the process

In John’s gospel we have both John the Baptist and Jesus overlapping in their formation of a community of disciples with John’s numbers decreasing and Jesus’ increasing. John points out that he was only “the friend of the bridegroom,” and that Jesus was the “Messiah” and therefore that John gladly hands off to Jesus and his band of disciples. If Paul in Ephesus is a follow-up to this, Jesus’ disciples rebaptized John’s followers and disciples of Jesus. Whatever the case, baptism led to a discipleship process that gave freedom.

More can be said, but live out these points:

First, sin is a serious business, but your prayers and sacrifices can be part of freeing people from sin, so long as they have not chosen rebellion. And watch yourselves and stay far from that line.

Second, freedom from evil is usually a process that can involve prayers, recovery groups, psychologists, our own repentance, priests and exorcists. Let God orchestrate the order.

Third, freedom is from life in the world to life in the Church. Integration of the person into that the life of that community of Jesus is essential for full freedom.

Thanks be to God who sets us free for life.