Sermon 2nd May 2021 – 5th Sunday of Easter Text: John 15:1-8 – The greatest love of all

 Sermon 2^nd May 2021 – 5^th Sunday of Easter

Text: John 15:1-8 – The greatest love of all

 

ISM’s and Phobias seem to be dominating our world at present. Racism, sexism, ageism Homophobia – transphobia – Islamophobia Whenever we disagree with something or someone we instantly fall into one of these or one of the many other categories which we may not have had any idea existed or we may be shocked to think that someone might categorise us this way. “I’m not racist” – “I’m not sexist”

 

With Jesus as the vine, we don’t have to be born into some particular race, nationality or class of people to belong and be part of him.  Anyone can belong to Jesus’ community and receive, through this vine, the life he gives us from God.  We put aside what the person looks like; how many possessions they have; or where they were born.  We all belong to the true vine. This is our identity.

 

St. John, reinforces for Christians who know this unique identity as children of God, created in God’s image and included in the vine says: "We should … love one another just as he commanded us. Worldly organisations have ways to show you belong – membership cards, uniforms for example, but the sign that shows we belong and remain in the true vine, is that we love one another.  And even more unique is that our love isn’t just for "our own" – it’s not an insiders type of love. We love those who are not even members. In fact Jesus commands us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us.

 

This love flows out to others from Jesus to us and, especially, as we see in the example of Jesus’s lifetime, to the unloved and the excluded, because those were the ones Jesus particularly loved.  Examples of this unconditional love include Zacchaeus, the lepers, the woman caught in adultery, the unclean woman who washed his feet – all people who were despised by others. Since we now have the vine’s life flowing in us, we are called to love as he loved as part of the vine. As John says – we love because God first loved us.

 

The love that is pumped into us through the vine is then pumped out to others, otherwise we are in serious danger of clotting that love. And we know how dangerous and life threatening a blood clot can be in the human body – as a community of faith grafted into the vine, when we stop pumping that love then our community of faith becomes in danger of dying also. Interestingly, in our Gospel reading, John does not say that Jesus is the root, or the stump of the vine.  Otherwise those branches closest to the stump or root could claim they would have a privileged place of honour like first class passengers on a plane who sit nearest to the front. Or like James and his brother John who wanted Jesus to assign them places of prominence in the Kingdom closest to Jesus – one on his left and one on his right. There are no rankings of "first class members" in the church. And if there were then as Jesus says – the least becomes the greatest – the last becomes the first.

 

So Jesus doesn’t call himself the root, or the stump, instead, the image he uses of himself is the "true vine".

We are the "branches" who are to bear "much fruit."  No one is denied the source of life from the vine; nor are any exempted from bearing "much fruit".  But the fruit comes from living in the vine. Jesus is the source of everything we do whether it’s as the branches of the vine, or drinking from the living water or eating the bread of life. The fruit we bear will vary but none is more important than the other.

Just as there are many different types of fruit trees – so too there are many types of fruit that we as Christians produce.

But there are some fruits that we as Christians all produce which St Paul speaks about when he teaches us about the fruits of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. And notice what the very first fruit is – Love. And when Paul speaks about the 3 great gifts – faith, hope and love – but the greatest of these is love. Love, as well as being the fruit actually grows the fruits in our lives. And that means that if we stop loving then our faith not only doesn’t grow but it begins to die. Just like a branch that is broken from a fruit tree, the fruit may live for a short while on the branch but now that it has been removed from the tree or vine it no longer has the life source pumping into it. And that’s what happens to our faith when love is removed, which is what John says too: Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.

 

We never have a reason to not love. No matter how great the hurt is that someone has inflicted on us, healing won’t come through revenge or hate but by love and forgiveness. John pulls no punches and gives no loopholes when he says: Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.

 

As Christians we have been given a great privilege to know the love of God. A love that we need in our lives because at times there is nothing lovely about us that God should love us. And this can make us doubt our salvation – how could God possibly love me. But he does – unconditionally – as Paul says in Romans - God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

 

Our relationship with God is not based on anything lovely in us as the saying goes – we are not loved by God because we are beautiful but we are beautiful because we are loved by God. And God said that to Israel as to why he decided to choose them as his chosen nation and people: The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.  But it was because the Lord loved you. But we won’t truly understand or feel this love if we withhold that love from others. As John said; let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.

 

Love is more than an emotion, as we heard from John in last week’s reading: let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. God’s love was shown in action when Jesus laid down his life for us.

And sometimes love demands sacrifice from us when we are called to love we do not want to love. But in love we also find great comfort as perfect love casts out fear. And that fear which is cast our is the fear of knowing that God loves us and assures us of our sins being forgiven and eternal life assured which is how John summarises God’s love: Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment. So let us love one another as Jesus has loved us and by this all people will know we are Jesus disciples and loved children of God.

Sermon 25th April 2021 – Good Shepherd Sunday Text: John 10:1-8 – Sheepish behaviour

 Sermon 25^th April 2021 – Good Shepherd Sunday

Text: John 10:1-8 – Sheepish behaviour

 

To be called a sheep is not a very flattering thing. It is a term usually used when referring to a person who doesn’t think for themselves but just blindly follows everyone else. Sadly this is often how people see Christians – as sheep. People who blindly follow a religion without thinking for themselves.

People who have been brainwashed to blindly accept teachings from a book written thousands of years ago that has no relevance today. I’m sure you’ve heard that reference before and maybe have even been called a sheep yourself for believing in God.

 

When you see sheep in a paddock you can understand why they have that image of blindly following. The shepherd just has to get one or two sheep going a certain way and the rest will follow. You’ll even see that if one sheep jumps an imaginary fence that the rest will also jump that fence which is not there. But is that the image of sheep that Jesus wants us to have of ourselves as he calls himself our Good Shepherd?

 

Is Jesus calling himself our Shepherd because he expects us to blindly follow him without any thought process? Not at all. That’s not the image that Jesus is wanting to portray by calling himself our Shepherd and we his sheep. The relationship of Shepherd and his sheep is one of trust.

 

Listen to how Jesus interacts with Peter when he restores him as his Apostle. Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”  “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”  Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

 

Jesus’ concern for us was not that we blindly followed him but that we were cared for and nurtured. Shepherds were often considered to be at the bottom of the rung of success in Jesus’ time – hence the continuing humble birth when the angels first appear to Shepherds to tell of Jesus’ birth.

But listen to David when he is begging to be given the opportunity to fight Goliath. He calls on his credentials as a Shepherd when speaking to King Saul: David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; all to protect his sheep.

 

And Jesus too talks about us as sheep and his care and concern for us when he is prepared to walk away from everything to come and find us

Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.

 

Does that sound like a God who just wants us to blindly follow him with no regard at all for us? Or then we have today’s explanation by Jesus of what it means to be our Good Shepherd: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Being sheep is nothing about us – it is all about Jesus being our shepherd. He lays down HIS life for us.

That’s what he did on Good Friday – he laid down his life for us in order that we may be raised to new life as he was when we die.

 

This relationship of sheep and shepherd is about the shepherds love and devotion to us and not about any expectation on us to blindly follow and be subservient to him. And that’s exactly what John said in our 2nd reading:

We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us. Jesus greatest concern is for those who do not put their faith and trust in him because no one cares for us like God who created us. Jesus calls them “the hired hands” – people who have no vested interest in us so they protect only themselves and at the first sign of trouble they leave us for dead: The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.

It’s all about “care”. And our first reading from Acts is very clear what that care all about – it’s about our eternal life. Jesus came as our Good Shepherd to lead us home to our eternal life in Heaven as he lays down his life for us – as God made him who had no sin to become our sin so that we might become his rightousness. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved." And that is confirmed also by our Psalm today: Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

 

As we journey through life it is very easy to be led astray by false  shepherds. We follow the almighty dollar. We follow our careers. We follow our possessions – believing these will bring us hope and security.

What these do is that they can make us quite selfish – thinking of ourselves – just like the hired hand. In times of trouble, false shepherds are no help – they flee at first chance; Our careers, our money, our possessions – these are useless when we are confronting serious life and death issues.

But Jesus laid down his life for us so we can be assured of eternal life through him.

 

Being a sheep also means being a part of a community, a herd. Community is where we find support and security particularly during those times of concern and insecurity, which we all face. When Peter sank while walking on the water because of his concerns over the wind and the waves – Jesus took his hand and placed him back in the boat with the other disciples.

When the Good Shepherd found the lost sheep he carried him home – back to the flock of sheep. Sheep know that they need other sheep, desperately – because their very lives depend on it. That’s why they follow the shepherd because they know that they are safe in his hands.

 

Likewise, God places us within communities of faith to strengthen our faith and also to use us to strengthen one another. As John said in our 2nd reading: We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us-- and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.

 

I have no problem being called a sheep. Just like I have no problem when people say that my Christian faith is a crutch. Even though it’s intended as an insult that’s exactly what my faith is. We use a crutch when we are hurt and need support. Your rod and your staff – they comfort me. We don’t blindly follow a religion as Christians – we follow our Good Shepherd because he has promised to take us home with him to heaven.

 

So let us not be ashamed to be called sheep in following Jesus for there is no other name by which we can be saved.