JOHN 1:35-42
All three readings line up today, which is unusual for Ordinary Time. And they line up around the idea of dwelling near God, creating a proximity with God.
Samuel is inside the temple, sleeping, when he’s called.
Paul writes of our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit, through which we experience God’s indwelling presence.
And the two disciples desire to stay with Jesus where he was staying. We don’t know what happened when they did stay with him, but Andrew, at least, emerges wanting to get his own brother Simon to meet Jesus and proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah.
How do you dwell with God? How do you stay or abide with God? That’s different from worshiping or serving God, although there’s a connection.
It’s important to have a space, or to create a space, where we can just dwell with the presence and action of God in our lives, much as we would want and need to have go-to spaces for quality time with the most important people in our lives.
To no surprise to anyone who has heard me here over these last 4 years, I recommend developing a contemplative prayer practice to rest in God, to dwell with God. This is a time and space to let go of our thoughts, to sit in stillness, and to put yourself in a position to be fully near God.
To be a true disciple of Jesus means several things, but a desire to dwell with God, to grow ever closer, is the fuel for making all good things in Christ possible.