Goodbye For Now (John 15.9-17)
I’ve always been a bit of a
sensitive soul. I love spending time with people. I love seeing my friends, one
of the things that drew me most into ordained ministry was the community side
of it. Being with people in their time of need, in their joys and their
sorrows. The worst part of any relationship for me is saying goodbye.
I’ve always hated saying goodbye.
Often when I leave my friends or family, I have to go quickly, shoot off, and
not say too much, because if I do I find myself starting to sob. When someone
visits me from far away, I just can’t do the thing when you stand on the
doorstep and wave them off, it upsets me too much.
When I was a boy, we used to go and
visit my grandparents who lived near Whitby, and when it came to saying goodbye
it was awful. I tell you it made the wailing and gnashing of teeth scenes from
revelation look like a holiday picnic. I would get into the car and start
crying because I didn’t want to go. Grandma would start because she didn’t want
us to go either. Then Mum would start crying, then Dad would. It was such a
circus. We’d all be there in the car sobbing together, I’m sure it was quite
the sight.
I often wonder if there were tears
from the disciples? Perhaps they got left out because men aren’t supposed to
cry, and other such ridiculously toxic ideas.
This reading is actually quite
emotional. It’s from just after the Last Supper, it’s towards the end of a very
long and quite emotional section of teaching that Jesus does in John’s Gospel.
He’s saying goodbye to his friends. He’s explaining and describing what it
means to follow him and warning the disciples about what’s to come.
Jesus is saying goodbye for now. The for now
bit is important, because he assures them he has place for them, set out and
ready. Earlier on there was the famous quote we often use at funerals ‘I go
ahead of you… In my Father’s house are many mansions, or dwelling places… I go
to prepare a place for you.’ Did you notice the word ‘Abide’ keeps
coming up over and over again in this section. Abide in me. Abide. Not only is
Jesus saying goodbye for now, he’s also teaching us about following him.
About what abiding means.
Before this he’s spoken about
important things, it goes a little like this, seriously abridged of course.
Someone’s going to betray me. *cough* Judas. Peter, you will deny me. Don’t be
afraid. You still don’t know me. And then finally the Gospel reading we had
last week all about the vines. “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the
branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can
you unless you abide in me.”
He tells the disciples that the Holy
Spirit will come and guide them. He tells them not to be afraid, that he will
be with them. That he is the way, the truth and the life. That those who come
to Him find God, abundance and safety.
I honestly couldn’t have a better
passage to preach about on my final Sunday here, because in this section he
sums up all of his teaching and what it all means, as he prepares to leave
them. What is it he tells them to do? Love.
That’s it. Love is the fulfilment
of everything, the meaning of everything, everything we should pursue. It’s
what the law means, it’s what Jesus means, it is the foundation, the
cornerstone of everything we believe. Love.
Jesus says that he’s told them all
these things about bearing good fruit, about being good disciples, that he
prepares a place for them, but that all of this comes out of a place of love. That
if they keep these commandments with love in their hearts, then they abide in
him.
“This is my commandment, that you
love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay
down one’s life for one’s friends.”
The law of God, the commandments of
God are important, but if they’re not done with and through love, they are
meaningless. If the law, the Bible, our Faith isn’t interpreted through love,
it becomes just another worldly thing. That seeks after power, prestige and
exploits minorities.
So what’s our task? To live lives
filled with the love of God. Because the fruits of love last forever.
“You are my friends if you do what
I command you.”
Jesus commands us to love. One of
the things I keep having to explain to people, particularly in my generation,
and those who have no contact with church is that Christianity isn’t a purity
cult. It’s not about us, it’s about Jesus. It’s not about purity, it’s about
salvation. It’s not about the Law, it’s about grace. It’s not about being
ethically superior to anyone, just because we’re Christians doesn’t mean we’re
more moral or upright than others. We only need to spend five minutes looking
at our own history to see that. And it certainly is not about any form of hate,
it’s about… Anyone? The Love of God revealed to us in Jesus Christ our Lord.
We’ve not been made to be purity
robots, to not feel things. Purity, ethics, good works, they’re all important,
but they’re not what saves us, and they’re not unique to us. What is unique is
the love of God. That’s what saves us.
As I leave you, as I say goodbye
for now, just keep loving each other, even the ones that really annoy you. Work
out together how you can love the community outside the church. How you can
love this place even more.
Because that’s the fruit that will
last, that’s what will enable this church to go on into the next generation.
It’s up to you. The fruits of love. We’ve been appointed to share those fruits.
I leave you with a quote from the
letter to the Corinthians.
“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or
boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not
irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in
wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears
all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
Friends, thank you for this time
here. I’ve truly loved it, and as I go my prayer is that you continue to love,
to laugh and to endure, through Him who loves us, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Preached at St John The Baptist Old Lakenham, Norwich. 09/05/2021
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