December 2023
The following is a possible framework for the Witnessing of the Word. It can be personalised or altered: its purpose is to serve as an example of how this Saying might be used primarily in the context of a Prayer Group, but it may be used by individuals too. It is not intended to be definitive. In the context of a group: the periods of silence should be appropriate for your group - probably not less than 5 minutes, or more than 15 minutes.
Saying for the month: ‘I have said these things to you … that your joy may be complete’ John 15.11 (NRSV).
In your time of contemplation, you may like to shorten this to ‘that your joy may be complete’.
To begin the exercise, first spend a short while in relaxation and preparing to be still; you may want to relax your way through your muscles or you may find it helpful to become aware of the sounds around you and then put them aside as you offer this time of prayer to God.
Say this introductory invitation to prayer, then keep a further minute or two of silence: ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11.28).
Introduction to the first silence - a preparation for listening with the mind:
‘I have said these things to you … that your joy may be complete’
There are six references to joy in the Gospel according to St John - all bar one of them come in the three chapters in John which form the great discourse that Jesus gives at the Last Supper. In 15.11 Jesus says: ‘I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete’. Jesus has just told the disciples that he is going away. Naturally they are distressed and Jesus seeks to comfort them in John 14.1, saying ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me’. He says further on in chapter 16;22: ‘your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you’; the word ‘joy’ is key. Look at 16.22, 16.24, 17.13 ... Joy seems so unlikely given what Jesus has just told them.
In these three chapters, another key word is the word ‘love’. We are to abide in God’s love and to dwell totally in the love of the Father and the Son. Jesus seems to be trying to get the disciples to see and to understand the relationship, of which they are to be part, between the Father, the Son and the Spirit. He is struggling with their lack of comprehension. I imagine the disciples hanging on every word he says, but bewildered and confused – maybe a glazed look comes over their eyes.
He uses, in John 15, the wonderful illustration of the vine which is such a marvellous quarry for the kind of contemplation that we follow in the Fellowship: ‘I am the true vine’, ‘I am the vine, you are the branches’, ‘Abide in me as I in you’, As the Father has loved me, so I love you’, ‘Remain in my love’, ‘You are my friends if you do what I command, love one another’ ...
He tells them that he did not say these things before because he was with them, alongside them in person. Now he will no longer be there and he is trying to get them to face the new situation. The disciples are soon to be on their own. There is obedience to follow – a stern standard is demanded. Pruning and burning may be involved. But the promise is a rich one. It is not automatic of course because the fruit only comes as the link with Jesus is sustained. But when it is so, the bearing of the fruit is something that gives glory to God. That is the heart of our purpose on this earth – to give glory to God himself. Love is at the heart of this – a triangle of love – ‘those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them’ (John 14.21).
And this loving relationship leads to joy. ‘Happiness’ is not enough – it is not the kind of joy that you might experience at a party or when you go out with your friends – nor is it the kind of joy that you might experience as you laugh at a comedian on television. In the scriptures, there are two emphases on joy. One is coupled with the completeness of what Jesus did on this earth. The other is the joy that is one of the great characteristics of the world to come. In Revelation, joy is at the heart of the celebration of all creatures at the foot of the throne of the Lamb. To enter into the Kingdom is to enter into joy (Matthew 25.21). But there is a third emphasis. There is a joy for the disciples in the midst of suffering – to suffer with Jesus is to share in his glory and his joy.
Imagine yourself to be among the disciples at the Last Supper, listening to his extended teaching. You are bewildered by what he has to say – you cannot understand it fully now. At the same time, you are riveted by it – you cannot take your eyes off his face as he says to you: ‘my joy … in you … your joy … complete’.
We take this Saying into our minds, allowing the saying to speak to us:
‘I have said these things to you … that your joy may be complete’
A time is now kept for silence of the mind – perhaps between 5 and 15 minutes. The silence concludes with a short thanksgiving, and/or feel free to repeat the Saying.
The first silence ends with the words: Father, we thank you for the gift of your Word.
Introduction to the second silence - a preparation for listening with the heart:
'I have said these things to you … that your joy may be complete’
Now we seek to receive this saying deep down within us. As Christian disciples we are as closely part of Christ as the branches are to the vine; we are inextricably intertwined with Him. His work is our work. His hands are our hands. His feet are our feet. His mouth is our mouth. His love is our love. His joy is our joy.
The key to it lies in the mystery of the completeness of the task that Jesus set out to do – when done, it was completely and perfectly done. As his life, death, suffering, resurrection and ascension are complete – so his love and his joy are complete in us.
As we abide in him, we are linking ourselves with him in his completed task, the completed salvation of the world and of us. That completion is perfect. In this abiding in Jesus – and in this alone – you and I are in touch with something that is perfect. Hence the profound joy that we experience as we touch him and he touches us, and as we love him and he loves us. It doesn’t matter how this happens – in healing, in communion, in prayer, in thought, in contemplation.
As we put out our hands to receive Communion, for example, we are receiving Him – touching him – there He is in our hands – we are receiving Him and his perfection and completeness into our lives.
St Paul … I never think of him as a fun-lover! But joy is high on his agenda. It is one of the Christian characteristics of his fruits of the Spirit: ‘love, joy, peace’ (Gal 5.22). In Philippians 4.4 he repeats the concept over and over again – Rejoice! Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice!’.
So how do we come to receive this experience of joy? How do we come to experience joy in God and in Jesus? How do we recognise that he is there and experience his love within us? Often it doesn’t seem to be possible and we are at a loss as to how to do it. We may not feel ourselves to be very joyful or loving. One way is to be as silent and as still as we can. Instead of running around frantically looking for God, we make ourselves still, we make our inner selves quiet, and we wait for God to find us – which He surely will. It is good to remind ourselves of the way in which we attain this inner silence: we do not do it just by sitting here and saying nothing, but rather by engaging with it. We sit comfortably trying to reduce our physical tension; we relax all parts of our bodies, yet remaining alert; we breathe more slowly and deeply than usual; perhaps our eyes are closed or half-open. After a while the tension flows out of us and we are ready to listen and to receive.
And then in that stillness, we hear him speaking to us: ‘my joy … in you … your joy … complete’. We allow the Saying for December to come to the centre of our attention – the words are being spoken to you, to me; here is an amazing miracle; they are spoken all the time and for all time. We may well have distracting thoughts, but as they come we simply and carefully re-focus. Let the divine joy take you over, let it fill you completely. Nothing can take it away from you. Whatever the future holds – whatever anxiety, or pain, or sorrow, or fear – this love and this joy can never be taken away. They have simply gone too deep for words. We are an emptiness to be filled with the divine fullness. God will then be in us and we in Him: ‘my joy … in you … your joy … complete’.
We keep silence for a while.
Now we take this Word into our hearts, as we allow Jesus’ words to speak in us, to let it touch us and let it work more deeply upon our lives.
A time is now kept for silence of the heart – perhaps between 5 and 15 minutes.
The second silence ends with the words: Father, we thank you that your Word is alive and within us.
Introduction to the time of intercession – taking God’s word outwards into the world.
‘I have said these things to you … that your joy may be complete’.
Say the name of a person or a group of people, and after a short pause, repeat the saying. For example:
‘Alison and your family, God says to you: “I have said these things to you … that your joy may be complete”’ or ‘Alison and your family. God says: “my joy … in you … your joy … complete”’.
As we allow the word to speak through us we might direct Jesus’ word towards those people and situations where there is suffering, hurt and an absence of joy and where abiding in Christ would bring comfort. Conclude this time of intercession with words of thanksgiving: Father, we thank you that your Word has gone out through us to those for whom we pray.
The Conclusion
Feel free to use the Fellowship Prayer (below) or another closing prayer to conclude your time of contemplative prayer:
Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for all your unsearchable riches which pour forth from you as light from the sun, in boundless profusion and generosity, whether received, ignored or rejected. And now we offer to you, in so far as we are able, as an emptiness to be filled with your divine fullness, ourselves, our souls and bodies; all that we are, all that we have and all that we do. Amen
You may wish to say the Grace together before departing.