World-conquering faith
Sermon preached at St Paul's Church, Oadby
Sunday 7 May 2006
Simon Harvey
There is no audio recording of this sermon, but the text is shown below.
The bible readings used in this sermon are 1 John 5.1-6 and John 15.9-17
.
Have you ever known someone who fell in with the wrong crowd? Someone who was basically alright, but one day found themselves with a new circle of friends, who led them astray? Perhaps you can think of someone you went to school with. Perhaps that’s even your story. Sometimes it’s called ‘peer-pressure’. When a basically decent person comes under the influence of a strong personality, they can soon find themselves doing things they wouldn’t have thought about before. And those of us who are parents, or grand-parents can become anxious about the influence our children are under at school or university or around the streets of Oadby.
But the same kind of influence can also happen for good. Let me tell you a story with a great ending.
Jackie was in a whole load of trouble. She’d made some mistakes in her life, found herself in a mess. She was pretty and always had a lot of attention from the boys. But she also got attention from her father, who abused her and took away her innocence. It got so bad she had to leave home. She stayed with mates for a while, but there were always so many arguments, she ended up moving on from place to place. Some friends ended up in trouble with the law, some just lived for drink, drugs and having a laugh. Jackie knew that things were always going to be hard for her so she was going to have to be hard with other people. It seemed that everyone she met wanted something from her but even so, she never gave up hope that one day life could be better.
Then one day Jackie met Helen at a church project. Helen was a good fifteen years older than Jackie but somehow, they found it easy to talk and get on. Jackie found it hard to understand why someone like Helen wanted to get involved with her and her problems. Helen had a home and a husband and ‘a life’, yet she really cared. She was genuine. And it was clear who was making the running and taking the initiative – Helen was choosing to be friends with Jackie, even though Jackie couldn’t understand why.
As they spent more time together, Jackie realised that Helen’s friendship was real, with no strings attached. Here was someone who didn’t want to exploit her. She became more relaxed, allowed Helen to know more about her and her past. And Jackie changed. With Helen’s encouragement and unconditional acceptance, you can imagine what happened. Jackie grew happier, healthier and more confident than she had been since she was a small child. Just knowing that someone care about her, valued her, and loved her gave her the chance to live a better life. She grew.
When Jackie thought about it, the more time she spent with Helen and her husband, the more she noticed that she was seeing life the way that Helen did. Just hanging round her made her feel good about herself and good about other people. Jackie wasn’t the tough, hard, person who feared allowing other people to get close anymore. She was becoming more like her friend. And she noticed how people around her responded to that.
When Jackie’s brother told her he was leaving his partner, Jackie knew that his little boy would need help. Without stopping to think about it for long, Jackie took the boy in and they got a council flat together. She found herself being there for the boy, just like Helen had been there for her.
Today, Jackie’s doing really well. I saw her a few months ago, and life’s really good. Though you’ll understand I changed her name and some details of her story.
Has someone chosen you? Has someone come close to you and offered their friendship to you, accepting you just as you are? Have you ever been befriended and loved by someone so good and found that in the friendship you’ve shared, you’ve gradually become more and more like them?
Who is the good friend, who’s chosen to befriend you?
[…]
Jesus said, “You did not choose me but I chose you.”
“You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer… but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.”
Let’s be clear: You did not choose to be Jesus’ friend. He chose to be yours. There’s a world of difference. We speak all the time of what we choose to do, how we’ve chosen to live, which ways of believing and belonging we’ve decided on, as if living the Christian life is always something done on our terms. But the gospel is not about our deciding – it’s all about what God is doing in Jesus Christ. The gospel is that not that we love God, but that he first loved us. The gospel is not that you have found a friend in Jesus, but that Jesus has made a friend in you.
And just like a good friendship – like the friendship that Jackie had with Helen – it involves commitment. If we stay close with him we find ourselves becoming more and more like our friend Jesus. This is what the gospel and letters of John are saying to us. They’re encouraging us to know that when you ‘abide’ with Jesus (‘hang around with Jesus’), spend time getting to know him and his character and seeing life as he sees it, noticing who matters to him, when you trust yourself to him, something will rub off on you – you’ll become more like him. And to make it clear, our friend Jesus spells out his command, “love one another, as I have loved you” – “be like me in your loving and living.”
Two weeks ago, Hugh preached on the passage in the first letter of John in which the church is reminded that Jesus asks his disciples to love one another. Last week, we looked at the message that ‘perfect love drives out all fear’. Today, we hear that as we do what Jesus asks, as we love one another, we fulfill his commands and conquer the world with love. John’s gospel tells us in doing this, as we love as he loves, our joy may be complete, our hearts and lives will be filled with peace and joy.
I believe that at the moment God is saying something to us as a church. I believe that we are being encouraged to pay more attention to the way in which we are making progress in being more like our friend Jesus. How much have we become more like Jesus this year? How much more like Jesus are you, than you were?
Because believing in God isn’t enough. Because having faith in Jesus Christ leaves something more to be done. In Jesus, God loves us as we are… but he loves us so much he doesn’t want to leave us as we are. If we accept the friendship of Jesus, then we have to stay with him, ‘abide’ with him, and let his character rub off on ours.
When I think about my life, I want to be more than I am now. I realise that the purpose in my life is not to be found in being more busy, or more wealthy, or more successful. I want to be more like Jesus, because that’s a life worth living.
And I believe that as a church together, we might be more than we are now in all sorts of ways, but that unless we are becoming more like Jesus, day by day and month by month, the whole enterprise of our church is pretty pointless. Becoming more like Jesus, corporately and personally, isn’t an easy path. It will take us into places where we feel vulnerable, serving people around us with the compassion of Jesus, proclaiming the truth of the gospel with the conviction of Jesus, living as God calls with the wholeheartedness of Jesus. But we didn’t choose this path, he chose us and chose us for lives that would bear fruit.
In the summer months, we’re going to be looking at gospel readings which reveal the character of Jesus, and I hope that we will consciously examine ourselves, to identify where we need to make more progress in being Christ-like. We’re soon going to be celebrating Pentecost, and thinking about the work of God’s Holy Spirit among his people. Paul explained what kind of fruit should grow in a Spirit-filled church – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
These are the fruit of faith which conquers the world. Let’s experience more and more of them in and through the things we do – in our gathering here in worship, in our deepening friendships with one another, in our reaching out to other people. All because we are growing more like the friend who chose us – the friend we have in Jesus. Amen.
Sunday 7 May 2006
Simon Harvey
There is no audio recording of this sermon, but the text is shown below.
We speak all the time of what we choose to do, how we’ve chosen to live, which ways of believing and belonging we’ve decided on, as if living the Christian life is always something done on our terms. But the gospel is not about our deciding – it’s all about what God is doing in Jesus Christ. The gospel is that not that we love God, but that he first loved us. The gospel is not that you have found a friend in Jesus, but that Jesus has made a friend in you.
The bible readings used in this sermon are 1 John 5.1-6 and John 15.9-17
.
Have you ever known someone who fell in with the wrong crowd? Someone who was basically alright, but one day found themselves with a new circle of friends, who led them astray? Perhaps you can think of someone you went to school with. Perhaps that’s even your story. Sometimes it’s called ‘peer-pressure’. When a basically decent person comes under the influence of a strong personality, they can soon find themselves doing things they wouldn’t have thought about before. And those of us who are parents, or grand-parents can become anxious about the influence our children are under at school or university or around the streets of Oadby.
But the same kind of influence can also happen for good. Let me tell you a story with a great ending.
Jackie was in a whole load of trouble. She’d made some mistakes in her life, found herself in a mess. She was pretty and always had a lot of attention from the boys. But she also got attention from her father, who abused her and took away her innocence. It got so bad she had to leave home. She stayed with mates for a while, but there were always so many arguments, she ended up moving on from place to place. Some friends ended up in trouble with the law, some just lived for drink, drugs and having a laugh. Jackie knew that things were always going to be hard for her so she was going to have to be hard with other people. It seemed that everyone she met wanted something from her but even so, she never gave up hope that one day life could be better.
Then one day Jackie met Helen at a church project. Helen was a good fifteen years older than Jackie but somehow, they found it easy to talk and get on. Jackie found it hard to understand why someone like Helen wanted to get involved with her and her problems. Helen had a home and a husband and ‘a life’, yet she really cared. She was genuine. And it was clear who was making the running and taking the initiative – Helen was choosing to be friends with Jackie, even though Jackie couldn’t understand why.
As they spent more time together, Jackie realised that Helen’s friendship was real, with no strings attached. Here was someone who didn’t want to exploit her. She became more relaxed, allowed Helen to know more about her and her past. And Jackie changed. With Helen’s encouragement and unconditional acceptance, you can imagine what happened. Jackie grew happier, healthier and more confident than she had been since she was a small child. Just knowing that someone care about her, valued her, and loved her gave her the chance to live a better life. She grew.
When Jackie thought about it, the more time she spent with Helen and her husband, the more she noticed that she was seeing life the way that Helen did. Just hanging round her made her feel good about herself and good about other people. Jackie wasn’t the tough, hard, person who feared allowing other people to get close anymore. She was becoming more like her friend. And she noticed how people around her responded to that.
When Jackie’s brother told her he was leaving his partner, Jackie knew that his little boy would need help. Without stopping to think about it for long, Jackie took the boy in and they got a council flat together. She found herself being there for the boy, just like Helen had been there for her.
Today, Jackie’s doing really well. I saw her a few months ago, and life’s really good. Though you’ll understand I changed her name and some details of her story.
Has someone chosen you? Has someone come close to you and offered their friendship to you, accepting you just as you are? Have you ever been befriended and loved by someone so good and found that in the friendship you’ve shared, you’ve gradually become more and more like them?
Who is the good friend, who’s chosen to befriend you?
[…]
Jesus said, “You did not choose me but I chose you.”
“You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer… but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.”
Let’s be clear: You did not choose to be Jesus’ friend. He chose to be yours. There’s a world of difference. We speak all the time of what we choose to do, how we’ve chosen to live, which ways of believing and belonging we’ve decided on, as if living the Christian life is always something done on our terms. But the gospel is not about our deciding – it’s all about what God is doing in Jesus Christ. The gospel is that not that we love God, but that he first loved us. The gospel is not that you have found a friend in Jesus, but that Jesus has made a friend in you.
And just like a good friendship – like the friendship that Jackie had with Helen – it involves commitment. If we stay close with him we find ourselves becoming more and more like our friend Jesus. This is what the gospel and letters of John are saying to us. They’re encouraging us to know that when you ‘abide’ with Jesus (‘hang around with Jesus’), spend time getting to know him and his character and seeing life as he sees it, noticing who matters to him, when you trust yourself to him, something will rub off on you – you’ll become more like him. And to make it clear, our friend Jesus spells out his command, “love one another, as I have loved you” – “be like me in your loving and living.”
Two weeks ago, Hugh preached on the passage in the first letter of John in which the church is reminded that Jesus asks his disciples to love one another. Last week, we looked at the message that ‘perfect love drives out all fear’. Today, we hear that as we do what Jesus asks, as we love one another, we fulfill his commands and conquer the world with love. John’s gospel tells us in doing this, as we love as he loves, our joy may be complete, our hearts and lives will be filled with peace and joy.
I believe that at the moment God is saying something to us as a church. I believe that we are being encouraged to pay more attention to the way in which we are making progress in being more like our friend Jesus. How much have we become more like Jesus this year? How much more like Jesus are you, than you were?
Because believing in God isn’t enough. Because having faith in Jesus Christ leaves something more to be done. In Jesus, God loves us as we are… but he loves us so much he doesn’t want to leave us as we are. If we accept the friendship of Jesus, then we have to stay with him, ‘abide’ with him, and let his character rub off on ours.
When I think about my life, I want to be more than I am now. I realise that the purpose in my life is not to be found in being more busy, or more wealthy, or more successful. I want to be more like Jesus, because that’s a life worth living.
And I believe that as a church together, we might be more than we are now in all sorts of ways, but that unless we are becoming more like Jesus, day by day and month by month, the whole enterprise of our church is pretty pointless. Becoming more like Jesus, corporately and personally, isn’t an easy path. It will take us into places where we feel vulnerable, serving people around us with the compassion of Jesus, proclaiming the truth of the gospel with the conviction of Jesus, living as God calls with the wholeheartedness of Jesus. But we didn’t choose this path, he chose us and chose us for lives that would bear fruit.
In the summer months, we’re going to be looking at gospel readings which reveal the character of Jesus, and I hope that we will consciously examine ourselves, to identify where we need to make more progress in being Christ-like. We’re soon going to be celebrating Pentecost, and thinking about the work of God’s Holy Spirit among his people. Paul explained what kind of fruit should grow in a Spirit-filled church – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
These are the fruit of faith which conquers the world. Let’s experience more and more of them in and through the things we do – in our gathering here in worship, in our deepening friendships with one another, in our reaching out to other people. All because we are growing more like the friend who chose us – the friend we have in Jesus. Amen.
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