6th Sunday in Easter B
6th Sunday of Easter Year B – Love One Another
Have you ever wondered about the appropriateness of the weekend’s readings for us here today? Have you ever questioned just how you can take something from them and make them relevant to our living today? I have. I do. Lots of times, I have to look really closely at them and think really hard about who, what, where, when and how I can make the translation and transmission into my daily life? Lots of time I find it hard and it is only the close, careful, considered and slow reading that brings forth the glow of light that enables me to see where I need to go and what I need to do.
But I think that this week’s readings are not like that. This week’s readings shout out their message loud and clear for any and all to hear, “Love one another.”
Peter, in the Acts today, speaks clearly and loudly about God not having favourites but that anyone, of any nationality, who fears God and does what is right, is loved by Him, is acceptable to Him.
In the first letter of John, he speaks of our need to love one another as a sign of our understanding God’s love for us.
Our gospel reading from John has Christ telling us, “What I command you is to love one another.”
You may think that this is a simple, short but honest and direct instruction and not really worth much thought or weighty consideration but it is not so. Not so at all!
When Jesus spoke to the young scholar in answer to his question, “Master, which is the greatest of all the commandments?” He answered him with, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your strength. And the second is equally important, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself. You shall love your neighbour just as your heavenly father loves you. These two are the greatest of all of the commandments.”
With these two commandments Jesus was speaking to the heart of being a Jew in his time. Just about every prayer service or prayer-moment began with the first of these commandments, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is one.” But the second presented a far greater and much more fundamental challenge to their thinking and to their lives.
Who exactly is this neighbour of which Jesus speaks? If he is a fellow Jew, then alright, no problems here. Well, that is if he didn’t fall into one of the many named and shamed roles, jobs, positions that had fallen from grace or that were never in fact, in grace. Shepherds, any type of animal-herder, tax-collectors, money-lenders, widows, orphans.
And this was before we get to the actual foreigners. And these foreigners were not defined by the colour of their skin, no! These were anyone and everyone who was not a good and practising Jew.
For the Jews, their neighbours were very clearly defined and understood. Theye were them. Theye were each other. They were their fellow men (usually) that they met and prayed with down at the synagogue, each day or week. They knew exactly who their neighbours were.
And it was this restricted knowledge that Jesus wanted to check and to challenge with them. He wanted them to lift their horizons and look further afield with open eyes, open minds and open hearts and to welcome people, anyone and everyone, into their midst. He wanted them to challenge their status quo of narrowmindedness and to positively seek to see God in all peoples.
This was big. This was huge. This was a challenge that underpinned their very faith-existence. That they now had to identify and recognise and welcome in each and every person and treat them as the gift from God that they were. That they are.
No longer the barriers between them and them; them and us. No longer the elitism of their Jewish faith, that they and only they were saved. That they and only they were the chosen people. That they and only they knew the will of God. And that everyone, yes everyone else was doomed to die.
Jesus challenged this thinking. He challenged this way of living and he said it was wrong. He said to them that there had to be a better way and that in fact, there WAS a better way.
All mankind are brothers and sisters in God. Every person should be loved as though they were your neighbour and you should live your lives accordingly: with love, with friendship, with concern, with respect, with welcome and with inclusion.
A very simple message but a very profound one and one that cut to the heart of every Jew.
It is rare indeed when we have this consistency across all three readings, where we have the same message being proclaimed unambiguously, loudly and clearly. And I think it is quite rare when we can, at a glance, see the relevance of the message to our lives today.
Who is my neighbour? And do I show my love through my actions, my behaviours to one and to all, each and every day? Do I? Really?
Even within our smallish church community here at St John’s, do we see one and all as our neighbour and do we greet and welcome them as such each and every time that we meet them? OR – or are we still small groups gathered together but still fundamentally separate and set apart? Are we still St John’s and St Luke’s, with a smattering of St Anne’s, gathered together but still so very clearly set apart. We are still us and they are still them?
But there are divides within and among these groupings too, There’s the young and the old; there’s the parents and non-parents; there’s the music-lovers and music-haters and the list could go on. The list of possible sub-sectors within our parish family. Who is my neighbour?
How do we show our love for our neighbour? How do we show that we care, that we understand that we are brothers and sisters in Christ and that we care, we really care all that we see and meet here in our church and all those that cannot get to the church for services AND, and – all those that are beyond our doors, those that never come in but who live their lives as best as they can.
“You shall love your neighbour as yourself. You shall love your neighbour just as your heavenly father loves you.” How do I love myself? I make sure that I am well, that I am looked after as best I can. I take care of me when I am down or out or not so grand. I mix me with others so that I can grow socially and so that I can get the chance to look after others too. I try to make sure that I am happy and contented.
How does God love me? He love me unquestioningly. He loves me with all that he is. He loves me without favour. He loves me in spite of all that I am and all that I do. He seems to find new and different ways to show his love of and for me every day. So how can I translate this into my love for my neighbour?
It is difficult but not impossible! We have to look at how we can let people know that they are cared for, worried about and loved. We have to look to how we can do things differently. We have to speak more clearly and more often. We have to look to identify ways and means of showing our wants and needs, our thanks, our appreciation, our care and our love.
One of the greatest things about the several lockdowns we had during Covid was the way that people sought out ways to check on their neighbours; to look out for them; to care for them. This was brilliant! People went out of their way to make sure that others were okay. They may not have thought that they were showing their love for one another, they were simply being good neighbours, but this is what they were doing. They were showing their love and care and concern for each other. They were also more aware of empty seats here in church. Where was Bob or Mary and were they okay? Would they need food or drink or prayers or communion?
When we think about how our church is cleaned and prepared every week and at how the flowers always seem to be fresh and cared for, these are signs of people’s love for us as church community. These people have gone out of their way to give of their time, their energy and their creativity to let us know that we are loved. They have taken the opportunity to get involved and show their love of God through their loving labours. What am I doing? What are you doing?
When Jesus commanded us to love one another, this is what He was talking about. He was tasking us to look at ways and means of letting people, each other, know that we are one body in Christ. One unit in which each part is as important as the next and that the unit cannot operate fully, properly or successfully without every part working to support the other.
We are one body in Christ. We are one family, God’s family and within that family it is our job, our role, our requirement and our purpose to make sure that every member feels loved, cared for, involved and fully included, at all times. Whether it is shopping for a neighbour, cleaning the church, arranging the flowers, reading at mass, whatever! These are all ways of showing our love for each other. Perhaps we could consider them and think about which of these we could do more often, or even, at all.
What I command you is to love one another – just as I have loved you.
Lord, help me to show your love for me in my love for others through positive, creative and supportive actions each and every day. Amen
Bidding Prayers – Lord we ask that we continue to grow in our love of you and to grow and show this love in our everyday dealings with our neighbours.
1. That we seek opportunities to show our love for God in our everyday lives and living, with all our minds, hearts and strength. Lord in your mercy
2. That we seek out our neighbour and identify with them what their real needs are and work with them to answer and fulfil them. Lord in your mercy
3. That countries and peoples at war and conflict with each other can recognise that we are all brothers and sisters in God, and come to live in peace and harmony. Lord In your mercy
4. That our parish communities can come together as one here in St John’s living lives that filled with shared love, respect and regard. Lord in your mercy
5. That any and all who are suffering from any form of illness are comforted by our loving prayers and actions. We remember all those who are taken the Holy Eucharist each week and those who are not, who may be neglected and feel forgotten or unloved. Lord in your mercy
6. That those who have died recently might find eternal rest with God their heavenly father. We remember especially at this time Marie Hall whose funeral service is at Landican at 12pm this coming Thursday. Eternal rest grant unto her O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen. Lord in your mercy
7. That Mary our Mother and the Mother of our Saviour join her prayers with ours as we now say together, Hail Mary . . .
Heavenly Father, you love us no matter what we do. We ask that you hear the prayers that we make to become better versions of ourselves, filled with your love and showing this love in all that we think, do or say. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen