A Burning and Shining Lamp

Jesus said, “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.

“You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. I do not accept glory from human beings. But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?” John 5:30-47 

Too many people seek their fifteen minutes of fame. They love the "reality" TV shows and beg to be a part of them. Celebrity is all important, yet, celebrity fades as quickly as is appeared and most are ruined by it. Human praise and glory are so seductive. We love being the star of the show, the line leader, the one everyone looks to for leadership. Human glory is but a candle burning bright and then melted down.

Jesus is inviting the religious leadership and us today to a different kind of glory. Not the clapping audience nor the devoted students, but rather a humble life dedicated to serving others. We fear being unseen and unnoticed. God invites us to not look to be noticed, but seek the deeper relationship with God that pushes us to love enemies and strangers. No matter our path in life, we are invited to turn and seek God on that daily walk. No success, no award nor any honor is greater than truly knowing oneself to be a beloved child of God.

Today I ask God to help me seek God in every moment and to not worry about human praise and honor. May we all be filled with God's love, which pushes us to serve and love the lowliest and disregarded around us.