Sermon 8th May 2016

Today, our Vicar, Cameron Barker, preaches. The reading is from John 17 verses 20-26. 

Having gone away on holiday straight after this year’s APCM, the past 48 hours have been full of manic catching-up. As ever, taking even a short break from normal life offers the chance to re-evaluate things as you come to back them. I’ll spare you my resulting thoughts on modern technology – apart from those about corporate telephone systems!

So: when last were you able to speak to an actual human being, who could give you the one simple answer to the one simple question that you needed to ask?! ​And how did much you have to battle to do it – if you even managed to do so?! Maybe you’ll share my wry smile at this email that arrived while I was away, which invites us to imagine praying and hearing this:

“Thank you for calling My Father’s House. Please select from the following options: for requests, press 1; for thanksgiving, press 2; for complaints, press 3. If you would like to speak to Gabriel, press 4. For a directory of other angels, press 5. If you would like to hear King David sing a Psalm while you are on hold, press 6. To find out if a loved one has been assigned to heaven, enter his or her National Insurance number, followed by the # key. For all other inquiries, press 0; but for answers to questions about dinosaurs, the age of the earth, where Noah’s ark is, etc, please wait until you arrive here.”

Mind you, it could be worse! Imagine, as that email also suggested if you heard: “Our computers show that you have already called once today. Please hang up, and try again tomorrow.” Or: “This office is now closed for the weekend. Please call again on Monday after 9 a.m. - and good luck”. Thank God indeed, as that email concluded, that we can’t call Him too often; and thank God that we can always expect a personal hearing for our prayers; because God’s own love has been placed inside each and every person in whom Jesus lives!

I’m very much hoping that regular church-goers are aware of this key fact already. Anyone who was here on this Sunday 3 years ago certainly should be; because I spoke on these very verses before the AGM then. Either way, if you didn’t know it before (or had perhaps forgotten) the glorious reality is that Jesus prayed for us – yes, us – as one of the last things he did before his death. It’s usually important to put any Bible passage into its context; and especially so when it comes to Jesus’ own words. So, very briefly: John chapter 13 tells the story of Jesus’ last supper with his friends. From then until now Jesus has been trying to prepare them for the fact that he is about to die; in the next verse, at the start of chapter 18, he goes to the garden where he is arrested.

It’s a truism to state that somebody’s last words or actions carry particular significance. It’s especially so if the person knows that these are their last moments – as Jesus very clearly did. As his end neared, first he prayed for these closest friends; but then he went on to pray for all those who would believe in him through their message. Jesus prayed this for very good reason: because each generation since has needed him to. It’s another truism to say that the church is only ever one generation from extinction. Jesus’ human family still exists ‘only’ because for past 2 000 years those who’ve become his friends have passed on his message. It’s what he called his disciples to do; it’s what he prayed for them for; and then also for us doing it.

Today’s a key occasion when we check how we are doing with being the answers to Jesus’ prayer all that time ago. Yes, I know it’s weird to be asking that question in relation to a year that ended over four months ago; and to be making plans for a year that’s already this far gone. I’ve said this before – but also that it’s still a good thing to do. It really matters how we respond to Jesus’ enduring hopes for his church and world, because the blueprint hasn’t ever changed; and it won’t ever change either. It’s still God’s plan for all people to come to know that he sent Jesus to show them, and us, what his love looks like and does. And the method by which God wants to do that is by the way that his people – i.e. us – share his heart and mind.

Of course that applies much more widely than ‘just’ here at St Saviour’s, or St Paul’s, or across this parish. Taken to its full logical extent, it’s how the entire church – yes, i.e. all denominations; in all countries; and cultures – is meant to be and do. That is rather beyond our remit for today – or our competence, to be honest. But, like anyone working on any building, we have got to get our own part of it right; and today’s when we can ask, and see, if, and how, we are doing that. And I’d suggest that the best way to do that is by remembering, and applying what’s at the heart of this prayer. That is to ask whether it’s the same love of God that surrounded Jesus which surrounds us; and whether that love is the bond and the badge that makes God present to us, and to the world through us.

So here you go: whether you stay for the meeting (as I hope you will) or not, here’s a measuring stick that I’ll encourage you apply both to all that happens here, and to all that you do. Is it the same love of God that surrounded Jesus which surrounds us; and is that love the bond and the badge that makes God present to us, and to the world through you? It’s big, and weighty, stuff for sure; but it is what Jesus prayed for us – just before he died; it is what he wants for us, and from us. So how did we do with it in 2015; how are we doing with it in 2016; and dare we be willing to do what it takes in order to be better answers to this prayer that meant so much to Jesus that he prayed it when he did? If you dare to, let’s pray for that right now …