John 15: 9-17

This is how today’s gospel may have been told from the point of view of the disciples:

To be honest with you, most of the time we were with Jesus, we were confused.

So much of what he said was hard to understand,

like half catching the melody of a song on the wind,

you know it’s a song and you know that if you could just hear a little more of it you would recognize it and be able to sing along.

That was us; constantly straining to hear and understand.

Usually, we’d talk together late at night or when Jesus wasn’t around.

And most conversations would begin,

“What did he mean when he said...?”

Or, “Was anyone else confused yesterday?”

For example, that time Jesus said, “I do not call you servants any longer because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.” When we found time to talk later, Pete started by joking that we had had a promotion.

We all laughed but Jamie said it was no joke. It really was a promotion.

“But,” someone else said, “Jesus has always called us his friends.”

“And treated us that way too,” someone else added.

Jamie said, “I know that.

I think he was telling us that there was a change coming somehow.

Like he was passing on the job to us in a new way...”

“Yeah,” Pete said, picking up the theme.

“That must be why he talked of loving each other as a commandment.

I mean, he’s always been on about us loving each other.”

“And everyone else!” someone else laughed.

“But now it’s a commandment,” Pete continued. “A new one.”

“Like one of the ten,” Tom said.

“Number eleven?” someone laughed.

“No,” Jamie said. “I think Jesus wants us to know that his commandment is at the heart of all the ten.

It’s the foundation.

Without this one, nothing else matters; with this one, everything else is covered.” There was silence for a while.

Then someone said, “Do you mean that if we follow the love commandment, we don’t have to worry about the others?”

“No,” said Jamie,

“I think Jesus is saying that by concentrating on this one, we’ll find that we are taking care of the others too.”

“Much easier,” someone said.

“Except for the bit about dying,” Tom muttered.

“Yes,” Pete said,

“What did he mean about laying down your life for your friends?”

There was a longer silence.

We all knew that Jesus had been talking more about death than we had remembered from the early days.

“We’re going to be by ourselves soon, I think,” said Tom, saying aloud what we were all starting to think.

“That’s why he is saying these things.

That’s why he wants us to know and remember the important things...”

“How can we love each other as much as he has loved us?” Pete said.

We all looked around at each other.

It was as if we had just stopped being teenagers and become adults and realized that we now had to take responsibility.

We were the ones.

It was up to us.

“So, maybe it really is a promotion then?” Tom said.

No one laughed then.

Even then, we had no real idea about what was going to happen, what it would mean for us, how central Jesus’ new commandment was going to become for us all.

I can tell you now, all these years later, that of all the wonderful things Jesus did and said, it is this one sentence that has kept me going;

“Love one another as I have loved you.”

(A New Commandment based on John 15:9–17. Seasons of the Spirit, 2018)

The gospels tell us that for most of the time the first disciples were with Jesus, they were often confused by him and what he said.

Even if they did not understand every word that Jesus said

they would hear the story at their own place of understanding.

As do we

Today he is saying “this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.”

What do we mean by love?

Jesus says if we keep his commandments we will abide in his love, just as he keeps his Father’s commands and abides in his love

This can sound like Jesus is giving us an easy way out

All we have to do is love

No share your stuff, or act on behalf of the downtrodden or talk to mean people

Just sit in a corner and think happy thoughts and maybe give away a few flowers

In reality there is so much more to it than that

To love one another is the foundation of the other commandments

If we abide in the love of Jesus then we will act for one another

Remember love is what motivated Jesus to obey God and act on behalf of humanity

Abiding love motivates commandment-keeping, and commandment – keeping is an expression of abiding love (as in John 14:13),

The only commandment given to Jesus’ own is the commandment to love; there are other imperatives (abide, ask, etc.) but only one command.

One way we can fulfill this commandment is by helping India in the fight against COVID 19

India is currently in the midst of a dramatic surge in COVID 19 cases, threatening its health care system and leaving already vulnerable families in crisis.

For more than a week, over 300,000 cases have been diagnosed daily. So far over 220,000 people have died in India and the crisis is only worsening.

Immediate needs are access to health care, medical supplies, and medicines, particularly oxygen. There is an urgent need to educate people on risk prevention and address vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine supply is insufficient and inaccessible to many, leaving herd immunity out of reach.

One way we can give is through PWS&D which will quickly channel the offerings to local groups that can respond well to the need.

The ways that we show the love of Jesus are not always in close at hand actions

In the latest issue of “Presbyterian Connection” in the article “In God’s Mission Together” Karen Plater remind us that Presbyterians Sharing is an opportunity for congregations to participate in God’s mission by supporting inner city work, ministry with Native Canadians, new church development and funding for special projects to name some of the work of Presbyterians Sharing.

As the disciples abide in Jesus love by keeping the commandment to love one another, so may we

They, and we, abide in his love by keeping the commandment to love, as the Son abides in the Father’s love by keeping his only commandment,

Jesus expressed the divine love for the world by coming into it and being present to it, (Meda Stamper. Found at workingpreacher.org “Commentary”)

Similarly, we who abide in Jesus’s love act for the good of others even though we are no doubt in a state of unsureness ourselves

We read in Acts that the early Christian community was characterized by love

Those who were not believers were drawn to them because of the way they loved each other

The early Christians were not at the centre of their world

They did not have political clout, and yet they attracted others to themselves because they were loving as Jesus had commanded

When I was at Knox College Dr. Stephen Farris suggested to us that we are coming closer to what it was like for the early Christians

We are not the centre of things now in the way the church as an institution once was in North America

This means that we have the advantage of being able to live Jesus before the world in a way that was not there a generation or two ago

We have the opportunity to show the world at large what is meant by Jesus’ command to love one another as he loves

The message is simple and has not changed over the eons

Not only are we chosen for joy, but we are chosen for love

This week is Christian family Sunday

And I though it only fitting that one illustration of love have to do with parenting

One little girl became angry at her mother, ran to her bedroom and locked herself in her mother's closet.

The mother, being concerned about the little girl, stood by the closet door and listened.

She could hear the little one gather up spit in her throat and say, 'Mother, I just spit in your shoes!'

Time passed. 'Mother, I just spit on your new dress.'

Time passed. No sound. Mother finally asked, 'Honey, what are you doing in there?'

'I'm waiting for more spit!'

That's the kind of life we can live.

We can live our whole life waiting for more spit.

That is, looking at ways that we might get even, get revenge, get our share, show them.

Looking for how to prove ourselves to be more right than the other

God being a good and wise parent has given us another way of living

While we are waiting for more spit

God invites us to live a life of joy and love

God invites us to be friends and so put aside the need for more spit

When we know that we have been made new in God

We can put aside the need for retribution and getting our own back

Instead of waiting for more spit we can take another look at our situation

Jesus offers another way to be righteous

He offers friendship and friendship is no small thing

William Barclay writes in his commentary:

'The idea of being a friend of God has a background.

Jesus would have been aware of all of the following implications when he called his disciples friends

Abraham was the friend of God (Isaiah 41:8).

In Wisdom 7:27 wisdom is said to make people the friends of God.

The Roman Emperors and Eastern Rulers had a practise that honoured their friends

A handpicked group who were called ‘friends of the king or, the friends of the emperor' were selected.

He talked to them before he talked to his generals, his rulers, his statesmen.

The friends of the king were those who had the closest and the most intimate connection with him, and who had the right to come to him at any time.

That's the privilege we have with God.'

We have a friend.

A beautiful, loving friend who has worked it out for us to be God's friends

That is a super gift from our God.

We don't have to see our God as way off in the sky on a cloud demanding that we do good work for [God].

Instead, we are close, intimate friends of his who can go right into his presence without fear.

chosen to be his friends,
chosen for love,
chosen for joy.
Jesus said:
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

My commandment is this: love one another, just as I love you… I do not call you servants any longer,… I call you friends.'
( Rev. Dr. James C Howell)

Jesus also said : “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you”

How did God love Jesus?

By sending him into the midst of conflict

How will Jesus love the disciples?

As the Father has loved him

God sent Jesus to a hurting world deep in trouble and gave him a bunch of disciples that needed to have the same lesson explained more than once

And how does Jesus love his disciples?

He says “I have called you friends, chosen you”

They did not prove their worthiness, they were chosen

Jesus said he would love as the Father had loved him

We might wish Jesus had said something else, like: "As the Father has loved me...well, I will spare you all of that; I will love you differently; I will let you live on an island of ease and weave a spell of protection around you."

But, no, it seems that Jesus' words of love are the same as the Father's;

and if we abide in his love, we may well confront challenges

being a friend of Jesus does not mean that all will be easy

being loved by Jesus may mean that people will wrinkle their brow and be totally puzzled by our weirdness,

we won't get ahead in the world,

we will be catapulted into serving in daunting places—

and that is why being loved by Jesus is so good. 

It's hard, unfathomable, something you have no ability to pull off

Being God’s friend is a tough job.

Love is intriguing, isn't it? 

Jesus' friends seem to be massive failures as friends—

But still he says "As the Father has loved me so have I loved you," and

"You are my friends; no longer do I call you servants, but I have called you friends." 

Jesus has "called" us friends. 

He doesn't say, "You have proven yourselves to be great friends." 

No, he simply by divine fiat ensures that we are friends

In the ancient world there was a wonderful notion of friendship. 

Aristotle said that a friend is somebody who helps you to be wise or to be good

A few hundred years after Jesus lived Kierkegaard said that to love another person is to help that person to love God, and to be loved is to be helped in loving God. 

We are absorbed in a common interest! 

We need some help in loving God, and Jesus was our ultimate friend, helping his followers to be wise and good, helping them, side by side, to love God. 

We may prefer to think of ourselves as loyal subjects or recipients of gifts from a Santa Claus God who swoops in on occasion, filling our wish lists--but a friend? 

What more generous, startling, wonderful offer could there be in all of Scripture?

Friendship can be hard:  Aristotle said, "The opposite of a friend is a flatterer," and Jesus would not flatter us or inflate our egos.

But he does offer friendship. 

No, that's not right. He simply declares you are his friend, like it or not, and irrespective of whether you've been a good friend in return or not. 

There is one other thing too. 

Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this--to lay down [ones]life for [ones] friends." 

And we are hearing this message during the season of Easter;

we know how the story ends,

we know Jesus suffered terribly,

but God could not leave his son, the one he'd loved, his friend, in the grave. 

How did the Father love Jesus? 

On the third day God raised him up

In Jesus we have the promise of joy

The promise of love

The promise of friendship the promise of new life

Like the disciples in the story I used at earlier, we may be straining to hear and to understand what it is Jesus wants for us.

The relationship of being God’s friend is one that invites us to discover where Jesus is leading us day by day

As we experience the world around us, we look to see where Jesus is and what Jesus is inviting us to do.

St Teresa of Avila, is reported to have shaken her fist at heaven and declaimed:

“If this is how you treat your friends, I’m not surprised you have so few.” Nonetheless, she thought it was worth it. She also said:

Let nothing trouble you,
let nothing frighten you.
All things are passing;
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
The one who possesses God lacks nothing:
God alone suffices.

Invitation to the Offering

 

On May 13, the church worldwide marks Jesus’ Ascension, which assures us that he will be present with his followers throughout every generation and in every culture and context. As we offer our gifts in thanksgiving, remember that they continue to honour Christ Jesus as Lord of all times and all places.

 

Prayer of Dedication

 

Generous God, we bless you for your gift of life renewed through Christ’s love. Bless us and the gifts we bring so that our lives may reflect the hope and renewal we have found in Christ throughout our community and in the world you love, in his holy name. Amen.

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession

God of our lives and our loving,

We thank you for the signs of resurrection that are all around us,

showing that life is stronger than death.

Give us the grace to recognize and embrace the gifts of new life

that your love makes possible for us all,

as we pray for your resurrecting power to renew the world amid all its challenges.

 

God of home and family,

today we thank you for our families,

especially for our mothers and grandmothers.

We are grateful for their love and attention, their hard work

and the deep hope they have cherished for each one of us.

We honour before you each mother, grandmother and great grandmother

who has died;

and we pray for all those who have felt isolated from their families

in these months of pandemic.

Reunite us in your love.

God of connections and compassion,

Today we thank you for our friends and relations,

for the neighbours and fellow citizens who help to make our lives complete.

We thank you for smiles shared, helping hands offered, commitments honoured. And we pray for all those around us who are facing particular challenges this day…

(Keep a brief silence)

Restore our hope with your love.

God of courage and new possibility,

Today we pray for all those who have felt life or love slipping through their fingers in the times of distancing we’ve had to endure,

and for those who have struggled with their physical or mental health,

whatever the reason.

We pray for communities trying to sort out how to recover from the pandemic

and for all those worried about their personal future.

Encourage us with your love.

God of forgiveness and renewal:

Today we pray for those whose relationships are need of repair

and for all who work for peace and reconciliation in the face of deep divisions.

We pray for families, churches, communities and countries facing conflict,

and ask that your Spirit open hearts and minds to deeper understanding.

Reconcile us through your love.

As friends and followers of Jesus, we offer the words he taught us,

precious to the whole family that claims his love:

 

The Lord’s Prayer