Walk the Talk

A Reflection on the Second Reading for April 18th, 2021:
Third Sunday of Easter

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1 John
2.1-5

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him.
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Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

This reading has two messages for me. The first is a challenge — to live an authentic Christian life, and the second, a message of hope!

I looked up what living an authentic Christian life will entail and I find myself being so thankful that a line in the reading says, “[W]e have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous…” I will need all the help I can get, because it certainly is not an easy road. That line is also the message of hope, which assures me that I will make it — with God’s Grace.

Saying that I believe in God, and praying to Him everyday (I even have a regular prayer time) does not seem to be enough! If I do all that but I don’t have compassion for those in pain, in need, and in want then I am not doing enough! I however believe that if my prayers are sincere and heartfelt, I will be imbued with compassion. This will be a natural consequence of my closeness to God. Compassion alone though, is only one aspect of living an authentic Christian life.

In a nutshell, living an authentic Christian life means “walking our talk” or doing as we say. There are so many guidelines to living an authentic Christian life. This is a popular topic among many pastors and lay leaders. There is an abundance of material on Google, YouTube, and Bible Gateway so I will not hone in on any one particular guideline. 

What I think is essential and which this reading specifies, is obedience to the commandments. For if we truly live by the commandments, we will be on our path to living an authentic Christian life.

It is not easy, but it is doable and God alone will measure our success at doing it. In fact, God will make sure that we achieve success in our single minded attempt to live by His commandments.

An example was given of Paul being in prison. To the world, he was not a success, since he had been thrown into prison and therefore it was thought that his mission had ended. That was, however, not the case. Because he had to be watched by a special guard of Caesar everyday, he was able to evangelize the guards who were part of Caesar’s household. These imperial guards were the cream of the crop — from them would come the future leaders of Rome! Paul was just being himself, spreading the Word to the people around him as before. This time though, the people around him were the prison guards and the Imperial guards. God certainly had a hand in this, looking at it in hindsight.

This reminds me of common sayings like, “I will do my best and God will do the rest,” or, “Work as if everything depended on you and pray as if everything depended on God.” If we want to live authentic Christian lives, these sayings can be our mantras for our journey.




​Liz Venezuela
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