2021 - A Year for Belief

 

While the year of 2020 may have been tumultuously chaotic, it seems that one of the only things everyone seems to be unified on is the act of saying farewell to one of the most negatively disruptive years in modern history. Yet the mere act of flipping the calendar month doesn’t necessarily mean that our lives are suddenly changing for the better. Indeed, many of the effects of the previous year have carried over into the New Year as we are still collectively hit hard by job loss, sickness from Covid-19, mental health concerns from the lockdowns, cancellation of momentous in-person events, and a variety of other challenges in our lives that seem to have been amplified by the events of the previous 12 months. Nevertheless, there does exist a part of our lives that we can proactively focus on and build upon in 2021, and that is our level of belief. Reading of the Gospel of John can assist us in the exploration of this concept, especially chapters 11-12. From these two chapters, let us extract 2 key elements that the Bible reveals to us on how we can increase our level of belief.

Engaging in His Work
One of the most fascinating moments of Jesus’ ministry is recorded in John 11 where we witness the resurrection of Lazarus. Upon Jesus’ arrival at the village, Martha states, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (11:21, NRSV). But before we concentrate on Martha, we must not lose focus of Jesus’ underlying goal: this story is not about increasing Martha’s belief in Jesus (after all, Martha confirms her faith quite clearly in 11:27). Instead, this Gospel story is about increasing the belief of His disciples! In a shocking moment of transparency, Jesus confessed earlier in the chapter that He was glad to not have been near Lazarus when His friend died because it would end up increasing the belief of His disciples (11:15). 

The resurrection of Lazarus was a pivotal moment in Jesus’ ministry. From this point forward, we see that Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews (11:54). Rather, the events that transpired ended up solidifying the belief of His disciples so much that they were inspired to remain with Him. Even though the disciples may not have fully understood what Jesus had meant when He first invited them to travel to Lazarus, what was important was that they had enough faith to trust Him and follow Him (11:16). Similarly, if we are engaging in His work and doing ministry alongside Jesus like the disciples had been doing, He will increase our belief as well and inspire us to make the kingdom of God a priority in all that we do.

Staying Humble
On the heels of the Lazarus story that was intended to bring glory to God (11:4), John 12 drives this concept of glory further through three movements: First, Lazarus who recently shook the dust of death off of his shoulders is sharing his testimony and bringing many Jews to Christ (12:11); second, Jesus acknowledges His calling of being a sacrifice as He simultaneously invites God to receive His due glory (12:20-28); and third, John explains to his readers that the love of human glory is a dangerous stumbling block that prevents individuals from believing in Christ (12:37-45). Woven throughout each of these three portions of the chapter we see the theme of redirecting attention to God the Father. 

When we refuse to give glory to God, the negative impact on our lives can be powerful. First, we can become so consumed by the pervasive politics of our day-to-day lives that we would rather punish anyone who is taking away our clout than to focus on kingdom work (12:11); second, our obsession with worldly glory can spiritually blind us to the point where we become oblivious of when the Lord departs from us (12:36); and third, our rejection of Christ and the usurping of his glory will cause us to remain in spiritual darkness, thereby placing us in a position where we will be judged accordingly (12:46-48). It is when we stay humble that our belief is able to be increased, for it helps us recognize that we were never meant to be recipients of glory, but rather God the Father, and only Him.