“Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”
-Collect for the Fifth Sunday of Easter
Karl Barth is one of my favorite theologians. His influence on the discipline cannot be overstated. When most German scholars capitulated to the Nazis, Barth lost his academic chair because he refused to sign an oath of unconditional loyalty to Adolf Hitler. He’s been praised alongside Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a Christian thinker who practiced what he preached.
That said, it’s recently been revealed that Barth was not as sanctified as once thought. His long-time assistant in penning the Church Dogmatics was more than an writing aide. He went so far as to ask her to move into the home he shared with his spouse and children. He betrayed his wife.
I don’t relay this story to dissuade you from reading Barth. His writing has not merely influenced my thinking, it’s edified my soul. I mention it to highlight a besetting temptation for those of us who enjoy thinking about God. It’s much easier to talk about God than to walk with God.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, “This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God.”1 Echoing Jesus, the collect reads, “Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life.” Knowing God is more than understanding God’s characteristics. It’s having a relationship with him.
While both knowing about God and knowing God take work, prayer has always been hard for me. I used to think impatience and distractibility were the extent of my problem. I’ve come to believe the deeper issue is that I haven’t internalized what I think about God. Getting involved with him has proved to be difficult, because I lack trust in the one I call trustworthy.
Martin Luther, another favorite theologian with a mixed moral legacy, wrote that unbelief is the root of all sin. We pray, “Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus,” because to know him “perfectly” is to trust him. When we trust him, we’ll “steadfastly follow in his steps.” We’ll live integrated lives. We’ll experience “everlasting life.”
The collect is bold. Its authors knew we’ll only know Christ perfectly in the life to come; nonetheless, we’re asking for an in-breaking of resurrection now. Like Barth and Luther, you and I live unintegrated lives. We think one thing and do the other. Despite our efforts, we’ve been unable to bridge this gap. Our last resort is to pray to the one who can, and trust that he “who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ” will “make you perfect in every good work… working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight.”2
John 17:3.
The Book of Common Prayer, “Burial II,” 503 (based on Hebrews 13:20-21).
Collect for the Fifth Sunday of Easter
It's always easier to point fingers, for example, at Barth or Luther, than to actually take responsibility for our own lives, acknowledging God's help!
Hi, Ben! You hit the nail on the head with this one. Like the other commentors here, I find prayer to be oh so difficult. It's tempting to think that, when I DO pray, the words just bounce off the ceiling, and hit me in the mouth. :( Slowly, however, I am learning to trust God more, even second by second.
Thanks again, for the excellent post. :)