Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Sixth Sunday of Easter. Our Church Services this morning are at the usual times of 9.15 at St Agnes' and 11.15 at St Thomas'.
If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.
Our first hymn this morning is "Longing for Light, We Wait in Darkness"
Today's Gospel
John 14:15-21 The Promise of the Holy Spirit
Jesus said, ”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”
Reflection
Our Gospel passage today is a continuation from last week, where Jesus is comforting His disciples following his disclosure that he will soon die. It’s part of what is known as Jesus’ ‘farewell disclosure’ during the Last Supper.
Last week we looked at Jesus’ message to follow Him, and what that meant following His commandment to love one another and follow His example. Here we see Jesus emphasising that same message – He starts by making it clear that the only way to show how much they love Jesus is keep His commandments. Jesus isn’t looking for signs of sorrow and mourning, He is looking for positive love in the way they love others as He loved them.
As I think about this, I try to put myself in the disciples’ shoes – they’ve been following Him for a few years and witnessed some pretty awesome events, and heard first hand how Jesus interprets God’s word in a new and refreshing way. So they must be thinking, How do we follow an act like that? How can we possibly follow Jesus’ commandments and live up to His example without Him by our sides to guide us?
Jesus, of course, knows and understands their innermost doubts and so He promises to ask the Father to send another advocate - the Holy Spirit. A comforter who will abide in them and be constantly guiding and encouraging them, strengthening them as they grow in the power of Christ to go forward and spread the good news of the risen Lord.
Jesus is addressing the questions and doubts that we heard about in last weeks reflection. But more than that, He is alluding to nature of the Spirit and the need to be open to it through our faith in Jesus and the Father.
When he says, “This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him”, Jesus is describing those who are still alienated from God and the knowledge of His son. Importantly, that does not mean that an unbeliever cannot become a believer. Everyone is capable of becoming a believer and turning to faith - that happens to people every day. It is up to the disciples and followers here and now, who have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to channel that precious gift and share it as widely as possible.
I mentioned the doubt that the disciples must have felt, being daunted at the challenge of carrying on Jesus’ footsteps after He had gone. How would they spread the message without Him?
I suspect many of us feel like that from time to time, and I’ve heard the worry expressed by several people in our churches. Sometimes it is voiced in words such as, ‘Why do so few people come to church nowadays?’
We too need to have faith and follow Jesus’ commandment to love one another and trust in the Holy Spirit that was sent for all to enable us to be active disciples. We can follow the examples of the first disciples and pray together and for each other, especially those who have yet to come to faith.
Perhaps as part of our personal prayer and reflection, we could pose these questions to ourselves – “ When and how did I show love to someone today?” Or maybe, when did I fail to show love to someone today? Whatever our answer is, we can pray that the Holy Spirit will help us to be truthful in our response, and if need be, encourage us to do better next time.
Because the Holy Spirit is not sent to judge us or to make us feel bad The Holy Spirit is sent to be alongside us, to guide us and comfort us and help us to carry on Jesus’ mission.
When was the last time you talked to someone about your faith either to your family, friends or even a stranger? If we don’t talk about Jesus to anyone outside church, how can we share the our faith effectively. Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us to share our faith and give the Spirit an opportunity to bring more people into the joy and love of our gracious Father.
Paul
Our Prayers
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the blessing of your Holy Spirit,
to be alongside us,
guiding, comforting and strengthening us.
Send us out each day in confidence,
to proclaim our faith to those we meet in our life journeys,
And bring new followers into your kingdom.
Amen
Today's final hymn is "Breathe on me, Breath of God"
Notices
Ascension Day is this Thursday, and there will be a service at St Thomas’ Church at 7 pm.
This week is Christian Aid Week, and we are having a ‘Big Brekkie’ on Friday 15th May from 8.45 to 10.45 am to raise funds for Christian Aid, so please come along and join us if you can.
