And He said this to prove him, for He Himself knew what He would do. John 6
There is an interesting Greek word in this sentence from todays Gospel: peiradzo which means to try, to make trial of, to put to the test. In this positive sense it means to prove oneself true, which is the way it is always used with regard to Gods testing.
We are subjected to this kind of trial all the time. As God is ever present to us and we to Him, His hand is ever outstretched to take ours if we will reach for it.
We are ever being tried, often by circumstances (usually of our own making) Like the times we leave a little late for an appointment and then find ourselves behind the person driving 15 mph in a 45 mph zone. A time to prove ourselves. That may seem a trivial example, but it is just as opportune a time for us as the more serious trials.
Sickness, tragedy, financial loss, war, death: these seem more genuine I suppose, but in fact, life itself is a test for us, and all the tests we encounter are designed primarily to bring us to the end of ourselves and unto God, increasing our faith and love. To trust in Him and look to spiritual resources instead of natural ones.
Whatever the circumstances of our trials, they have been permitted by God for thou, O God hast proved us; thou hast tried us as silver is tried (Psalm 66.10). What do we learn through testing, trial, proving? What is the point? In 1 Peter 1. 6-7 we read:
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which He suffered, and being made perfect, He become the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him (Heb. 5. 8-9)
Can we, who have chosen life in Christ, chosen to die in Him that we might not die eternally, chosen to unite our lives to His and gain eternal life – can we expect to learn the obedience necessary to discipleship in some other way than Jesus Himself learned it in His own humanity?
Do we suppose that holy Baptism is the last thing God will ever require of us? No, of course not: instead, through that water we enter a constant process of being emptied out – not obliterated, but purified from the dross of sin which remains in us – poured from vessel to vessel like fine wine being decanted.
We can rebel, to be sure – we can refuse to submit to the purifying work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and thus remain what St. Paul calls a carnal Christian for the rest of our lives: an eternal babe in Christ not much good to ourselves or to the Body of Christ. Churches have been full of such even since St. Paul wrote to Corinth. They are sort of along for the ride, but when persecution comes, they quickly fall away.
There are also those for whom Christianity is a kind of intellectual enterprise. They may catch a glimpse of the truth of the Gospel and the eternal beauty of the worship of the Holy Trinity, but they never surrender. Religion is just one more amongst a series of cultural add-ons, a kind of holy hobby – something to drop in on
But for those who will submit, who will not flee when the trials come, but look them in the face and know that they are meant for the glorious purpose of their perfection in Christ, it is very different.
Its not that the trials dont chafe, or that the proving is pleasant; but we begin to find that the self we have constructed, and which we believe is our true one is really an illusion, even though so much of our energy is spent trying to selfishly preserve the individual.
To the Christian who rightly views trials, they are the furnace of purification – the school of obedience – in which we ultimately find, once the dross has melted away, the person of gold within, which is Christ: It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me
It is a principle of the kingdom that in the mystical Body of Christ we become partakers of His sufferings, the One who has borne all the suffering of the world, past present and future, for our sakes on the Cross
For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake (Phil. 1:29)
If we are in the Body, our suffering is for the Kingdoms sake. Our circumstances of trial and testing are part and parcel of the mystery of being in Christ. Even on his dunghill, Job was in the hand of God, being purified in the fire of affliction.
Philip’s trial this morning is a minor one, but the principle holds true for every trial and test: do we look merely to ourselves, to human resources and see only their inadequacy, or do we look to Christ who dwells in us and seek His provision, His abundance, His way through, He IS the Way, and all Philip had to say was The Lord will provide Even in the deepest trial He is the refuge, the way of escape, the beginning and the end. He will provide what we need for our perfection.