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Sermon - The Sixth Sunday in Easter (B) - 17th May 2009
St Aidan's Anglican Church West Epping
Readings: John 15:9-17
Our faith brings us into contact with the God of all creation. But that is not an impersonal association like a relationship with the Tax Office. Earlier in this chapter Jesus described himself as the Vine and we are the branches. Our whole life, our energy for living comes from him; we are what we are because we are now , “in him.” Without him we are nothing and can do nothing So we remain in him. And as we remain in him we are called upon to bear fruit that will bring glory to God.
These are the instructions we receive in the early part of the chapter. But that is not the end of the conversation. Jesus has more to say about our relationship to him and what is expected of us now that we are grafted into the vine. This is a bit like a T.V. drama. That’s the story so far. But now we move on to the very heart of Jesus teaching – amazing teaching, which has its roots in the Old Testament but applied now in a far more radical form that the prophets might not have anticipated.
Jesus has described his relationship with his disciples as a vine and its branches. It is a picture that’s easy to grasp. It taps into Old Testament thinking where Israel was God’s vineyard, his special people. But this word picture to describe our new relationship with God and his Son doesn’t quite tell the whole story; this word-picture as it stands, is rather impersonal, its somewhat limited. And now Jesus moves on to fix that situation and to deepen the discussion. He tells his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.”
In this gospel, the relationship between Jesus and his Father is truly remarkable. We are given a window into heaven, as we have demonstrated before us the dynamics of the relationship of the Creator with his Son played out before us in our world. We might expect something incomprehensible. Yet what we often see is a simple Father-Son relationship And the love they share has no comparison. So when Jesus tells us that he loves his own just as the Father has loved him, we might be shocked and perhaps lost for words - can that really be true?
Wonderfully, the answer is “yes”, it is! The love of Jesus for all his people is just like the love between the father and the Son. Being loved like this, we are now caught up into the very life and love of God in a deeply personal way.
This picture of the vine and branches which on the one hand might have seem mechanical and merely functional has on the other, given way to a clear statement of a glorious reality: we are loved by God with the same love that exists within the Trinity itself.
But while we can be confident that that love is secure and settled, our enjoyment of that love is not always experienced, not always a reality in our lives. Because now, Jesus calls us to remain in his love, just as he remained in the Father’s love. And the way Jesus did that was through obedience. The coming scene in Gethsemane is all about obedience. Though we mightn’t like it, the Cross is an outstanding image of obedience. And in our reading today, in love, Jesus is calling us to this same obedience. Just as he obeyed his Father, so we are to obey Jesus’ commands.
But Jesus is not describing a method of working our way into heaven. He is not saying, if you want my love, this is what you must do to earn it. To think like that would utterly rob love of its meaning and its vitality. What he is saying is that our enjoyment of his love for us will be so heavily influenced by our obedience to his commands, in other words, the more we obey, the more we will enjoy his love, and the more we will enter into the experience of that love. As someone once said, “This obedience is not what makes them friends; it is what characterises his friends.” (Carson)
The consequence of taking Jesus at his word and remaining in his love -and obeying his commands - is that his joy will be in us and our joy will be complete (v.11). We know of course that Jesus was a man of sorrows, but that’s not the whole story. He was also a man of joy, great joy, in his relationship with his Father. Doing the will of the Father meant everything to Jesus because of his relationship to his Father; it was for the joy set before him – the joy of completing his assigned task and so bringing glory to his Father – and as a result, Jesus went through the terrible suffering of the cross.
If we remain in his love by obeying his commands, we will share in that joy. In this life we will have some insight into that love. In the next, its full blossoming. To put Jesus first, to give your all for God, is not to suffer loss; it’s great gain. Just as the man who discovered treasure in a field and sold all he had to obtain it. That man didn’t lose out, so we don’t lose out when we seek first God and his kingdom. Rather, we are blessed by sharing in Jesus’ joy.
Now we might want to ask Jesus what his commands are that we are to obey to remain in his love. There are, of course, many commands in scripture. The Ten Commandments are an obvious starting point. But Jesus summarises his commands in this way: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (v.12).
Essentially, Jesus repeats here what he said a little earlier “Love - as I have loved you”. Our love for each other mustn’t be mere sentiment; it is to be modelled upon self-giving sacrifice of Jesus himself. That is going to take some working out but we can’t dodge it if we want to be a disciple of Jesus.
But why does Jesus reduce his commands to this one? Why this one and not the command to love God with heart, soul, mind and strength? Clearly, that command is expected of us and everything else builds on and flows from it. The reason for fixing on this command may be because “love is the fulfilment of the law” (Rom. 13:10) and love, as Paul tells us, binds every other virtue together in perfect unity (Col. 3:14).
The call for disciples to love each other is made on the basis of Jesus example, “as I have loved you”. But here we have both the example as well as the energy to love each other - that Jesus laid down his life for his friends - and we are his friends.
We have tasted and seen that the Lord is good; we have been rescued from the dominion of darkness by a love which went all the way for us. Knowing that love and rejoicing in it gives us a power and an impetus to our lives as believers, so we are able to love each other as Jesus loved us.
We are loved by Jesus as his friends and are called to love each other as he has loved us. So now, in vv.15,16 Jesus explains why he is calling his disciples ‘friends’ and what it means for their mission.
They are no longer called “servants” but “friends” on account of what has been revealed to them: “I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” Servants are not in that position of intimacy; they don’t know their Master’s business but Jesus has held nothing back from them – everything he has heard from the Father he has told them - even if they haven’t quite understood it.
It’s important to see what Jesus means by this new description of his relationship with the disciples. In calling them friends he isn’t leaving behind the vine and branches imagery; they are his friends but he is still their Master.
Yes, he is our friend – that is true – but not in the sense of the friendship of equals. They are no longer called “servants” because they have been brought into the truth that only friends know – but Jesus remains their Lord.
As someone once said, “Jesus’ absolute right to command is in no way diminished, but he takes pains to inform his friends of his motives, plans, purposes.” (Carson)
And it is as their Lord who has made known to them the will of the Father that he has both chosen and appointed them to go and bear fruit.
As we’ve seen, fruitfulness is a very general phrase but here, with the emphasis on going and bearing fruit, it seems that Jesus is highlighting the mission of the church. His will is that they should bear fruit that will last – seeing the good news about Jesus makig a lasting impact in the lives of many people.
With this in mind, Jesus reminds his disciples that they can pray to the Father and he will give them whatever they ask in Jesus’ name. As we seek to do his will, as his friends, reaching out to others, we can ask for whatever we need and be assured of God’s help, according to his purposes.
And with this emphasis on the outreach of the church it is no accident that Jesus repeats in v.17 his command to his disciples that they love each other. The mission of the church is not a matter of words only; the world must see in the unity and love of the church something of the reconciling ministry of God.
May God grant us that kind of community, that kind of fruitfulness, and that kind of mission for his glory and praise.