seventh sunday of easter

Over the last seven weeks the Gospel readings have taken us through the Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension, as we remember Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Last Thursday we celebrated Ascension, and now await the day of Pentecost, the real beginning of the church’s service in and to the world with the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Today’s Gospel recalls a quiet, private time Jesus had with his disciples, at the Last Supper. We could be forgiven for thinking about that final evening purely in the context of the Last Supper,and the arrest of Jesus, but there was much more to it than that, as we know from John’s Gospel.  This was the night that Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, to prove he had come to serve not to be served. This was the night Jesus prayed for his disciples, to strengthen them in the great commission he gave them, and which would become all too real after His Ascension. But, even in this private, quiet time, Jesus reminds his disciples, and also reminds us, that through them and through us today, the world will come to know God.  We are an important part of God’s plan of love and salvation, we are the followers who have come to believe because we have heard the Good News of our Saviour passed on to us by and through the Disciples.  And in our own quiet, private time with Jesus, as well as in our church gatherings week by week, we learn to be the bearers of God’s good news today. This passage may sound rather convoluted, “you in me, and me in you”, “I in them and you in me”, but what Jesus is telling us is that God loves us as much as God loves Jesus His Son, and through the words, and actions of Jesus, through the words and actions of the disciples, and then through the words and actions of his disciples today, you and me, the world will come to know God’s saving grace and love.

In those quiet, private times, Jesus calls us-his chosen ones- to be with him at his table.  Jesus invites us to share his bread, and wine, and conversation.  As we come together to share this meal with the Lord, He gives thanks for us.  Yes it is our Great Thanksgiving, for God’s work of salvation, but it is also Jesus’ thanksgiving for us – thanksgiving for the people God has given him to continue his work, and through whose words and actions others will come to believe in Jesus, the Son of God. And, this reading also tells us how confident Jesus is that His followers in every age will go out into the world, and work for the coming of God’s kingdom, will continue in the great mission of spreading the Good News.  This may be hard to believe in a world which seems on occasions to be so devoid of God’s love, but if you look there is real evidence of growth everywhere, the problem we often have is as a church we want to measure the growth of God’s kingdom in how many people attend our services on a Sunday, which frankly is not a true measure at all. 

We are competing today with so many distractions in this secular world, you will know all about that from your own families, so we must look for different signs of growth, and thank God we are seeing this growth taking root in this Church, with Praise and Play, the healing service, the Alpha Course, ad so much more.  As true followers of Christ we must do all we can to help those new shoots of Christian growth flourish. But, we must also realise that Jesus was not trying to organise a new Church, He was praying for unity, that all would be one, as He and the Father are one.  He wasn’t praying for a unity of administration or organization, it wasn’t in any sense an ecclesiastical unity. It wasn’t a forerunner of the Lib/Con Coalition. It was a unity of personal relationship between each one of us and God, what we have finished up with is different Churches all claiming to be God’s chosen. And people have, in the name of God, wrought more destruction and death over the centuries, than we care to remember. Have damaged more lives than we care to admit. 

We humans have really messed up this idea of unity.  The union between Jesus and God was one of love and obedience.  Jesus prayed that our union with God would be based on the same principles, LOVE and OBEDIENCE, a unity based entirely on the relationship between heart and heart. Despite our organisational differences, our individual beliefs, Christian unity should unite us together in love.  Love for each other and love for God the Father, through Jesus Christ. And as convoluted as the words may seem, there is an elegance about the wording, which leads us to an appreciation of the elegance of God’s purpose for us.  Creation is an evolving, changing and developing phenomenon that confirms for us the dazzling finesse of our God, and the perfection of the relationship that we share with God in Jesus Christ. Not a static relationship that becomes stagnant and oppressive. That this relationship could exclude anyone is beyond imagining, it truly is about unity. And Jesus points out that the world with it’s myriad expressions of diversity, is the object of God’s love, and that we should hold on to that fact in times of division, when deep misunderstandings keep faithful people of different persuasions at arm’s length, when honest beliefs stray from reality, when Christian leaders are prepared to divide Churches over issues which frankly mean nothing to people outside the church.  “That they may all be one”, was Jesus’ cry to God, but Jesus knew only too well that we are all created as unique individuals, not a stereotype of each other, each with our own unique gifts and talents to bring into the mix which is humanity.

This family table we call the Eucharist, is where we will learn by example and practice those manners of Christian living and full acceptance, which will make us credible witnesses of our Risen Lord.  Only by living the way we say we believe will we be able to do that. There are many more of us gathered here this morning than that initial group of misfits of fishermen and tax collectors that Jesus called to be His disciples, and followed Him around that Judean countryside, but just like them we need the time each week to come together as His close friends, to be with one another, to be with our Lord.  Time to be thankful for each other’s ministries, for each other’s lives and love for one another, and time to know that Jesus is thankful for us, the people, whom the Father has given to him. We need time to hear Jesus’ words and enjoy His loving presence among us.  Most of all we need time to come to this table where He has invited us to share his meal of bread, wine, conversation and love, to share in a very real sense his body given for us. And then sustained and fortified with his presence we can learn to be bearers of God’s nourishment, love, grace and care for a hurting, confused world.

The world longs for the love of God in Jesus Christ; we can hardly look around us and doubt that.  But if we have not practised Christian living until it becomes our second nature, the world may reject our invitation to God’s feast of merciful love.  We have to be authentic Christians to be believed, not people who appear to lead Christian lives. There is a vast difference if you reflect on it!! At that first Pentecost, the launching of the Church’s public life, God’s love overflowed in the disciples to the point where they were able to make the message of Jesus’ saving power understood to everyone.  It was credible, because they let God’s glory and not their own shine through.  When Christians – either individually or as the whole church – use their faith wisely, God’s love will shine through and prevail.  When we use our religion as a weapon to exclude or judge others, when Christian leaders use their positions of influence to justify their own beliefs, the message gets distorted and rejected because it is inconsistent and flawed.

People out there are not foolish, they can see when Christians fail to live lovingly, and fail to live up to God’s expectations for us.  How often do we hear people say “Why should we come to Church, look at all the problems you have, sort yourselves out first”.  And whether we like it or not it’s a good argument, we have to sort out our problems not hide them away. Did Christ turn His back on those who were different to others, who were not of the Priestly Class? Christ told us “let him who is without sin cast the first stone”.  We have to be authentic Christians in our lives, because each and everyone of us is a minority of one kind or another.

In coming together at this table, to share the bread and wine, the very body of Jesus offered to us, all who come to this intimate gathering are strengthened and renewed.  This is where our faith is strengthened, where we learn by example and practice what it means to be Christian in the world, where we learn that unity is made both possible and perfect by the extravagant and abundant love of God.  Not only for ourselves, but so we can go forth into the world, to do the work He has given us to do, as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord.  “That they may all be one” should be our rallying cry! Amen.