Servants or friends

Sermon for 17th May 2009 (Acts 10:44-48; John 15:9-17)

A young boy and his doting grandmother were walking along the seashore when a freak wave swept the child out to sea. The horrified woman fell to her knees, raised her eyes to the heavens and begged the Lord to return her beloved grandson. Lo, another wave reared up and deposited the stunned child on the sand before her. The grandmother looked the boy over carefully. He was fine. But still she stared up angrily toward the heavens. "When we came," she snapped indignantly, "he had a hat!"

This sermon is not about hats or miracles but love. Think, to begin with, of love songs you know……. loads of them. It doesn’t matter how many you write, or like one Paul McCartney song, how silly they are, they sell. We look for love, we crave love. Often we confuse it with sex; sometimes we seek it through something like it, respect, (fearing it’s opposite of being ‘dissed’), recognition, having value. For love, women, and now even men, will wear make up, spend a fortune on hair do’s, clothes, beauty treatments, even cosmetic surgery, trying to be someone’s idea of what is acceptable. For love and recognition, men will compete in all sorts of ways to be Pieterson or Button, Pitt or Berlusconi, even fighting or war, or ‘Has Britain got talent’ or worse, the Eurovision song contest.

In the Gospel reading Jesus is talks of a love greater than any other that we can seek, the love of God. Here we see Jesus teaching one of the fundamental lessons of any person’s spiritual walk. It’s a lesson that is incredibly simple in principle but takes a lifetime to understand, particularly if like the Gentiles in the Acts there are reasons to believe that could not be accepted in God’s love.

What’s the context? Jesus is with his disciples at the Last Supper. These are the 11 men who have faithfully followed Jesus for three years through thick and thin (Judas had already left the Supper to betray Jesus). It is these disciples, who have followed as faithful servants, in the heat of the day, the cold of the night, those who have not fallen aside as Jesus’ popularity fell away, or when the threats began, even now when they sensed something terrible was facing them. They had ‘earned their place at the table. They deserved to be there! They had been Jesus’ faithful followers and servants; they had done everything that their Lord and Master had asked of them, even when it seemed impossible, like healing the sick and walking on water! They were great examples of what calls us to be in our service of Christ, whether it’s in the church, our workplace, our home, our neighbourhood - lives totally committed and dedicated to God.

And yet………………

The disciples had so much more to learn about relating to Jesus. They knew him, rightly as Lord and Master. Now he was taking them to the heart of Christianity. God himself has coem amongst us to show us that he does not merely want us as his servants; he wants us his friends. He comes with unconditional love, that the very next day cost him everything, dying on a cross rather than giving up on love, in solidarity with all humanity, changing the world by dying for it. He calls us friends. In a very real way he is making us his equals. God who created the heavens and the earth, has stooped to become human, to raise us to be with him in heaven. He calls us... to love him, and in that love overspilling to love others. At communion, we kneel before our Lord, but also hear the words ‘I love you, my friend; serve this world with me’.

How we do that depends on our circumstances. For 14 years Paula and I have chosen to live in Walsall. Why Walsall??? Why not some nice country parish? Walsall is where God has called us to be, to share his love. When I do ‘mission’ in the workplace, visiting factories, I cannot go to convert people; I would be thrown out. I just listen - unconditional love. I don’t have to think about what I shall say to ‘bring someone to Christ’. I am Christ in the workplace. I can’t preach or evangelise, but sooner or later people ask me why I go there, so I tell them about what I know of the love of Christ, and because I know myself to be loved. And sometimes they want him too! Christ loves the world and I love it with him.

In the forthcoming European elections, I will use my vote and encourage others to use their votes out of love. I cannot give into disillusionment because some MP’s have let themselves get sucked into foolishness and greed over expenses. I cannot but affirm democracy where all, even the weakest, have a voice, have some say in changing this world. I have to use it to keep out extremist parties who claim to follow ‘Christian values’ but preach hatred on the margins of our society.

In my home, in my street, in my workplaces, in my town, I come to bring the same message that Jesus taught his disciples that day. God has called us to be friends as well as servants. He has come to teach us to follow as his servants. And he came down to earth to raise us up to stand alongside him as his friends, changed ultimately to be like God his very self, like our God, who John also tells us, is love.