Year B, Epiphany 6, Wednesday

Inspired by John 4:46-54

“When [the royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum] heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.’  The official said to him, ‘Sir, come down before my little boy dies.’”  John 4:47-49

There is a common saying that goes, “There are no atheists in foxholes.”  While some dispute the accuracy of that statement, the fact remains that in times of great need and desperation, many who have been doubtful or skeptical in matters of religion are suddenly willing to pray to the One in whom they’ve never believed.  They hope for deliverance, even though they’ve never seen anything to convince them that such deliverance is possible.

While it might be tempting for ‘faithful’ Christians to pass judgment on those who rely on God as a last resort, in truth that is how faith works in most of us.  We try to obey the law, do good works, be a good person, and in many other ways earn God’s grace, but such grace is a free gift, and it is given to us because we never can obey the law diligently enough, do enough good works, or be a good enough person to achieve our own salvation.  It is only when we recognize that our own wisdom and abilities are simply not enough that we are willing to cry out to the Savior of the world, and accept his help.

In such cases, we do not pray because we have seen the proof of God’s existence with our own eyes and know that praying to him will accomplish what we want how we want it.  Rather, we pray because we’ve exhausted all of our own resources and there is simply nothing else we can do.  It doesn’t matter that we’ve never seen proof, or signs and wonders; we only know that we desire life—our own or the life of someone we love—and we cry out in faith to the author and giver of life himself.  We’ve failed ourselves, and in that final, desperate moment, all our hope is in him.

Let us pray.  Life-giving God, you remain when everything else fails.  Help us to seek you sooner, that we might experience your grace long before our final moments, and instead be able to live a life blessed by your love.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.