On Sunday 3 June we will celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee. We will do this by remembering her in our
prayers here in church, and perhaps by taking part in a street party or other
celebration. She is our monarch, our
ruler, and yet I wonder if there is anyone here who has ever received a direct
personal command from her. When I was
installed here as vicar I had to take to repeat the vow of obedience to Her
Majesty, as well as the oath of canonical obedience to the Bishop of Guildford. I have only, however, seen her at a distance.
She nevertheless remains the queen, and we should obey
her. Of course, our laws come from
parliament, and the prime minister and other government ministers. I suspect that if Her Majesty did knock on
our front door, we would be amazed and thrilled, and would probably do whatever
she asked. But perhaps we would do the
same if it were Tom Jones, Lewis Hamilton, Meryl Streep or Michael Caine at our
door; we might react the same, out of politeness if nothing else.
In our passages today we see the power of God at work and
receive his summons to obey. Of course
they are snippets of much longer works, and so it is as if we had heard one
song from a musical; it perhaps only makes sense if we know the whole story
which gives our snippet meaning.
Jesus has washed the disciples’ feet, predicted his own
betrayal and death, predicted that Peter will fall away, told them not to allow
their hearts to be troubled, that he will be the way, the truth and the life
who will lead them to the Father, and that he will send someone to take his
place – the Holy Spirit. He says that he
is the vine and they are to remain in him.
He tells them that he has loved them as the Father has loved him, now he
says that they are to remain in his love and keep his commands.
The strange thing is that carefully tells them that they are
not slaves. They are his friends, and he
is explaining to them what he is doing, almost as if they are equals. They are in a relationship of love and
trust. He is coming to his own, and
inviting them to receive him. It is the
same language that we use when we talk of encountering God and growing in
him. It is up close and personal. In fact we need to be open to all that he has
for us, all that he would teach us. If
we read it again, can we hear Jesus speaking:
I have loved you. You,
keep my commands. You, remain in
my love. You are my friend. I chose you.
So we learn that God is in charge, that Jesus has designs on
our lives. The initiative is God’s. His ways are not always our ways. We can and will be taken by surprise. Adam and Eve thought God was making a number
of suggestions for them to consider, and the one about the fruit was up for
debate. There was a lot of trouble about
that. We ourselves veer between renegotiating what
we believe to be good and true and God-given on the one hand, and feeling
desperate and guilty about our own disobedience on the other.
But God is in charge.
He welcomes us into his forgiving ways and invites us to submit to his
will. Jesus calls us friends.
We are amazed at the gifts that he gives us. We cannot earn
them or aspire to them. We are amazed
when he chooses to give his gift of life to others. In the snippet from Acts, Peter has just been
sharing the good news that Jesus died on the cross for sins, when his Gentile
audience grasps this truth, believes in Jesus, is filled with the Holy Spirit
and receives the gift of tongues. We
learn from this first that we are not in control; God loves to bless. We learn second that it is all free, unearned
grace; when we talk of gifts, it is never in the context of our achievement or
worthiness or us seeming to take the credit.
It is always God demonstrating his love, grace and power as he entrusts
us with gifts and abilities to be stewarded and used to bring in his kingdom.
We see that in Acts and we see it also in John. Jesus is bringing in his kingdom and
commanding us to fall in with his ways.
He does this, though, as the suffering servant whose love is so great
that he lays down his life for his friends.
He comes to his own, to each of us, to you, and gives the
invitation to receive him. To align
ourselves with him. In the garden he
said that he was willing to obey. We
also delight to obey. That is what we
are really saying when we repeat “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth
as it is in heaven”.
May we each be open, open to the work of his Spirit, open to
the fullness of his love, and open to share his love with each other and the
wider world that is his.
Discussion Starters
1.
What do you think that Jesus means when he talks
of our receiving joy (v. 11)?
2.
Why do you think we need to be reminded to love
one another?
3.
You have been chosen to bear fruit ... What do you think Jesus is trying to tell
you?
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