Sermon for 13 May 2001, 11am Matins, Froxfield Green, published on www.trikeshed.com

Bible readings: Acts 11:1-18, John 13:31-35

So the starting gun has been fired and they’re off! Like it or not, we are now in the swing of a general and local election campaign. At elections I often think about the different parties, how they manage to form and carry people together with a common purpose. You can be cynical and laugh at the antics of this or that party, but it is still quite amazing how such diverse groups of people in our me-first society can present any kind of unity at all.

Today’s Gospel reading was very short, so I was more inclined than ever to look at where it is placed in the amazingly held together structure that is the Gospel according to St John. Jesus talks about his glorification, how God will glorify the Son of Man at once. Something is happening now! He calls his disciples little children and gives the famous New Commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. This is such an important moment, that it makes the setting in the Gospel even more poignant. Look at what comes before and after these verses.

Before, it is Judas. Satan enters into Judas and sets off the inevitable train of events that will lead to the Cross. However much Jesus knows it must happen, he must be devastated to see his disciple and friend going out into the night to betray him for cash. Yet somehow this man, however unspeakably evil his act, plays his part in Jesus’ journey to glory.

And then afterwards it is Peter, likeable, impetuous Peter, who wants to follow Jesus wherever he goes, to lay down his life as soon as possible if not sooner. But Jesus warns him that before dawn he too will have betrayed Jesus’ trust by lying about him, denying that he ever knew him. Not very auspicious for Peter’s future, and yet look what Jesus makes of him. In this most joyful of seasons, Eastertide, the story of Peter’s threefold "Yes Lord" by the lakeside, putting right that terrible wrong he did, is one of the most moving of the resurrection accounts. And see what he becomes, that powerhouse, filled by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and, for all his loyal Jewish beliefs, being chosen as the one who brought baptism to the Gentiles, which for the most part means you and me.

And in the middle of it all, Love one another as I have loved you. Of course, "love one another" is not a new commandment. What is new was "as I have loved you". What is new is that this master of his followers is their servant. He washes their feet. He lays down his life for them. That is the new commandment, to love in this completely topsy-turvy way. This is the proof of being a true disciple. Only that sort of love can bind together such a disparate bunch of vagabonds as these disciples and turn them into the Church.

This week on television I happened to watch the start of a new satirical series about living in suburbia in which the people are nearly all nasty to each other. I’m sure it’s all tongue-in-cheek – in any case, it’s not true in the countryside, in Froxfield. Not even entirely true in Sheet, despite what you might think from reading the papers [the church was involved in a plan to build new houses in the village] Programmes based on being selfish and unloving seem to be the fashion, and although it’s all a bit of fun, it gives away a bit about our society. Back on the election for a moment, one big concern is not about who people will vote for but about whether people will vote at all. Voting is about citizenship, being concerned about others, public life, cooperation – doesn’t seem to fit with the selfish shopping culture we have created. Love one another as I have loved you. It may seem that we’ve lost, that to be a servant, to make sacrifices for the good of others, even to put a cross on a piece of paper, has become too bothersome for the modern person. Not exactly Kingdom of God material, are we? But then, neither was Peter or any of the disciples.

The wonderful message of Eastertide is that however hopeless we might be, we are Kingdom of God material. Through this simple new commandment, through Jesus revealing his glory and the nature of true love in dying and rising for us, through the Holy Spirit, we can change the world. Peter’s vision of the sheet with all the animals [the Acts reading] showed him and us that nobody need be left out, however corrupt like Judas, headstrong like Peter, or however unsuitable or unclean someone is considered to be.

© Mike Knee, 2001

Home