Easter IV 2025

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts, be alway acceptable unto Thee, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

From the Epistle: “EVERY good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Today’s verse has always been one of my favorites.

The thought itself is profound, but to be honest, it was the beauty of its poetry which first moved my soul.

To my taste, it ranks with I Corinthians 13: 4-8,

“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Charity never faileth.”

Verses well worth committing to memory.

But to return to the though behind today’s verse, the first phrase, “EVERY good gift and every perfect gift is from above,” is a profound reminder of how we should regard all the good things of this life.

In our narcistic age, we are always tempted to treat the good things we have as being the fruits of our own labors, a source of pride and vainglory.

From a spiritual point of view, such exultation is completely and utterly absurd.

To reduce it to its basics, who gave us life in the first place?

Who gave us healthy bodies and good minds so we could work and succeed?

Who gave us the blessing of being born in a rich land which afforded us the opportunities to develop our God-given talents and abilities, and with parents who encouraged us to do so?

Would we have all those good things we if we had been born in say, Somalia, where the Gross National Income per capita is $590?

Taking it from another perspective, we remember the line from the General Thanksgiving, ‘We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all, for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.”

The blessings of this life pale into insignificance compared to God’s “inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.”

All the blessings of this life are temporal, fleeting, whereas our future blessings will be everlasting.

If all we had to look forward to is oblivion, at the best, the fear of losing our blessings would take away our full enjoyment of them.

Saint Paul put it so well, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” (I Cor. 15:19)

I could go on and on, but the point is clear, “EVERY good gift and every perfect gift is from above.”

The next phrase is also very beautiful and deeply meaningful.

“And cometh down from the Father of lights.”

This is the only instance of God being called the “Father of lights” in the Scripture, but it echoes so many other uses of light as a metaphor.

Light symbolizes truth, goodness, wisdom, hope, and salvation.

It is often juxtaposed with “darkness,” which symbolizes the opposite: lies, ignorance, fear, and damnation.

It is no accident the very first thing God created was the light.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

And the earth was without form, and void;

and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

And God saw the light, that it was good:

and God divided the light from the darkness.” (Genesis 1:1-4)

What a light the light of creation must have been!

If astronomers and cosmologists are right, all the energy in the universe was released in that unimaginably bright burst of light.

Throughout the Scriptures, light represents the presence of God, and darkness represents his absence, or to put it more simply, darkness represents Hell.

“And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 25:30

In the New Testament light is associated with Christ.

In the Preface to John’s Gospel, we have:

“In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” (John 1:4-9)

Jesus spoke of himself as being light.

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

Or again, “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.” (John 12:46.)

Well does our verse call God “the Father of Lights.”

Which brings us to the last phrase, “with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)

It seems as if the images in this last phrase may be taken from Astronomy.

There are stars, such as Algol and Mira, whose brightness varies over time, which were undoubtedly known to people of James’ time.

Then, too, the moon for example, changes its brightness each month as it turns its face away from the sun and then back.

The point, clearly, is God’s light is constant.

We never need to worry about God changing his mind.

Of course, if you think about it, the idea of God changing his mind is absurd on the face of it.

One only changes his mind if he finds out what he previously thought was wrong.

God can never be wrong, because he is omniscient.

He knows the beginning from the end and the end from the beginning.

His steadiness is a great blessing.

If he were subject to change, we could never know what to expect.

He said this was good yesterday, will he still think so tomorrow?

If he changed his mind, could we ever count on his promises?

He promised us, “I am the LORD, I change not.”

Or as the Epistle to the Hebrews puts it, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

“EVERY good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)

How then should we respond to this?

First, we should do exactly what we are doing, which is to say, giving thanks.

We give thanks for all his good and perfect gifts.

We give thanks for the light he gives us to find our way.

We give thanks to him, that he is steadfast, faithful, and trustworthy.

But second, our gratitude should move us to carry on the work he has given us to do.

He told us, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:5)

He has gone to the Father, but now we are here to carry on his work.

He told us, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

Amen.

And now we ascribe, as is most justly due, unto Thee, O Lord, all might, majesty, power, and dominion, both now and forever. Amen.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (St. Matt. v. 16.)