I am coming to you, Holy Father!” Jesus dwelt in God and his heavenly Father dwelt in him. He was constantly coming to his heavenly Father in prayer, so this prayer seems strange. Jesus was entering a significant time of transition, looking forward to the time soon when he would return to his Father in heaven. His ministry on earth was coming to an end. He was going home to a place of more love, joy, truth, and power. He is leaving behind those who he has cared for so he tenderly entrusts them to his Father’s love, asking his heavenly Father to protect them when he is gone. Times of parting from those we love are painful. Handing over power and responsibility to those we have nurtured and cared for hurts. When a child goes to school, university or leaves home to get married or better work parents can feel bereft and lost, having to rethink their roles. Parents know it is for the best! The children will have fresh opportunities, become more independent and more fruitful than if they stayed. They may have successful careers and children of their own. Parting is painful for both those leaving and those staying behind. It is an end and a beginning of a different kind of relationship. Dying is another time of transitions. Sometimes we wait to the end of our lives to say what needs to be said to enable our loved ones to know how much they are valued and live on without us. We let go of loved ones hoping they will develop and grow in character, move closer to God and become more useful in the work they have been given to do. There needs to be an end to the way life was to enable the better life to come. Jesus was moving on. His ascension into heaven was ultimately going to be better for him and us. It was an end and a beginning. We cannot explain what happened. In some ways it is funny. Jesus had convinced his disciples of the reality of the resurrection. He was flesh and bones and not a ghost, someone who could be hugged, held and would eat with his friends like any normal bloke. He was real, not a hallucination, dream or vision. Jesus who had died and risen from the dead drifted away from them, slowly ascending into heaven on a cloud. It was an end to Jesus being seen in the flesh on earth, a final end in victory to his suffering; the tiredness, and normal aches and pains humans suffer and barbaric horror of crucifixion was over. Jesus could no longer be captured and killed by those who hated him. All that had been written about him dying and rising from the dead in Moses and the prophets had been fulfilled. When he said, “It is finished” on the cross he was signifying he had completed the work God had sent him to do. He had loved his disciples till the end, teaching them to love one another as he loved them. He had told crowds about God’s kingdom of justice and peace, healed the sick, cast out evil and raised the dead and taught his followers to do the same, sending them out on mission trips. What Jesus did in his three years of ministry on earth was limited in time and space. The next part of the Father’s mission of love could only be completed by Jesus going away. Repentance in Jesus name and forgiveness of sins would only be preached throughout the world, starting in Jerusalem, if the disciples received power from on high. The world was not going to learn about Jesus through heavenly pyrotechnics but through ordinary men and women like you and me being empowered by the Holy Spirit to share Jesus with everyone we meet. It was important that Jesus went up and his friends weren’t left wondering where he had gone. Ascension was symbolic of him going to a higher realm, of his Kingship, far above all principalities and powers, of going to the place of power at his Father’s right hand where he could pour out his Spirit on all flesh and give gifts to all who followed him. In our gospel Jesus prayed as he released those he loved into the hands of his heavenly Father. His relationship with them wasn’t coming to an end because he was going home but it would be different. Jesus highlighted three ways in which his disciples could have more of him. We are enabled to become more Christ, like, have a deeper relationship with him, and see Christ moving across the world. Jesus prayed, “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world.” The name of God in the Old Testament showed the character of God. When God revealed his name he was revealing himself. That’s why we pray and act in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus had shown his followers, by his very nature what the Father was like. When they had seen him, they had seen the Father. They had seen God’s heart of love and compassion, seen him in action, healing the sick, setting the bound free and suffering for those he loved. The name of God for Jewish people was considered to be so holy that it was never pronounced except by the High Priest once a year when he entered the Holy of Holies. Ordinary people were not expected to know, far less speak the name of God. God was remote, invisible and scary. Jesus had shown those who followed him how to have a deep relationship with God. They had lived in community, followed him around, seen Jesus pray, shared food and learnt how Jesus’ close relationship with his Father enabled him to do what he did. Jesus brought God so close to his followers so that each one could know God and have a personal relationship with him. Like Jesus, we can call him Father, tell him what is on our hearts and know his loving embrace Jesus prayed, “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” He recognised that when he had gone to heaven things were going to be tough for those he loved. They would be hated, persecuted and some killed as he was about to be but however tough life got, they belonged to Jesus. His stamp was on their lives. We belong to a different realm where we are in fellowship with God, our Father, Jesus who died for us and the Holy Spirit. We are part of the fellowship of heaven, living as one, not only with our fellow church members but with the company of those who have gone before us. When Jesus prays that we may be one even as he is one with the Father he is praying that we might have the deepest possible intimacy with him, a relationship of tenderness and delight in which our joy too might be complete. Jesus continued, “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” As God sent Jesus into the world so he sends us into human society which organizes itself without God to make him known. We share by our words and actions the life and love of God in tough places where we live and work. The passage says that Jesus prayed that we would be sanctified or set apart to do his work. We have been set apart for a particular task which only we can do, one in which we show Christ’s character in us, a task in which we do what Jesus would do in that situation because we have a deep relationship and are one with him. Our times of intimacy and prayer are times of equipping for this work. Jesus ascended into heaven so that we might be the people he intended us to be sharing his love and his ways in our places of work and homes.
I am coming to you, Holy Father!” Jesus dwelt in God and his heavenly Father dwelt in him. He was constantly coming to his heavenly Father in prayer, so this prayer seems strange. Jesus was entering a significant time of transition, looking forward to the time soon when he would return to his Father in heaven. His ministry on earth was coming to an end. He was going home to a place of more love, joy, truth, and power. He is leaving behind those who he has cared for so he tenderly entrusts them to his Father’s love, asking his heavenly Father to protect them when he is gone. Times of parting from those we love are painful. Handing over power and responsibility to those we have nurtured and cared for hurts. When a child goes to school, university or leaves home to get married or better work parents can feel bereft and lost, having to rethink their roles. Parents know it is for the best! The children will have fresh opportunities, become more independent and more fruitful than if they stayed. They may have successful careers and children of their own. Parting is painful for both those leaving and those staying behind. It is an end and a beginning of a different kind of relationship. Dying is another time of transitions. Sometimes we wait to the end of our lives to say what needs to be said to enable our loved ones to know how much they are valued and live on without us. We let go of loved ones hoping they will develop and grow in character, move closer to God and become more useful in the work they have been given to do. There needs to be an end to the way life was to enable the better life to come. Jesus was moving on. His ascension into heaven was ultimately going to be better for him and us. It was an end and a beginning. We cannot explain what happened. In some ways it is funny. Jesus had convinced his disciples of the reality of the resurrection. He was flesh and bones and not a ghost, someone who could be hugged, held and would eat with his friends like any normal bloke. He was real, not a hallucination, dream or vision. Jesus who had died and risen from the dead drifted away from them, slowly ascending into heaven on a cloud. It was an end to Jesus being seen in the flesh on earth, a final end in victory to his suffering; the tiredness, and normal aches and pains humans suffer and barbaric horror of crucifixion was over. Jesus could no longer be captured and killed by those who hated him. All that had been written about him dying and rising from the dead in Moses and the prophets had been fulfilled. When he said, “It is finished” on the cross he was signifying he had completed the work God had sent him to do. He had loved his disciples till the end, teaching them to love one another as he loved them. He had told crowds about God’s kingdom of justice and peace, healed the sick, cast out evil and raised the dead and taught his followers to do the same, sending them out on mission trips. What Jesus did in his three years of ministry on earth was limited in time and space. The next part of the Father’s mission of love could only be completed by Jesus going away. Repentance in Jesus name and forgiveness of sins would only be preached throughout the world, starting in Jerusalem, if the disciples received power from on high. The world was not going to learn about Jesus through heavenly pyrotechnics but through ordinary men and women like you and me being empowered by the Holy Spirit to share Jesus with everyone we meet. It was important that Jesus went up and his friends weren’t left wondering where he had gone. Ascension was symbolic of him going to a higher realm, of his Kingship, far above all principalities and powers, of going to the place of power at his Father’s right hand where he could pour out his Spirit on all flesh and give gifts to all who followed him. In our gospel Jesus prayed as he released those he loved into the hands of his heavenly Father. His relationship with them wasn’t coming to an end because he was going home but it would be different. Jesus highlighted three ways in which his disciples could have more of him. We are enabled to become more Christ, like, have a deeper relationship with him, and see Christ moving across the world. Jesus prayed, “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world.” The name of God in the Old Testament showed the character of God. When God revealed his name he was revealing himself. That’s why we pray and act in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus had shown his followers, by his very nature what the Father was like. When they had seen him, they had seen the Father. They had seen God’s heart of love and compassion, seen him in action, healing the sick, setting the bound free and suffering for those he loved. The name of God for Jewish people was considered to be so holy that it was never pronounced except by the High Priest once a year when he entered the Holy of Holies. Ordinary people were not expected to know, far less speak the name of God. God was remote, invisible and scary. Jesus had shown those who followed him how to have a deep relationship with God. They had lived in community, followed him around, seen Jesus pray, shared food and learnt how Jesus’ close relationship with his Father enabled him to do what he did. Jesus brought God so close to his followers so that each one could know God and have a personal relationship with him. Like Jesus, we can call him Father, tell him what is on our hearts and know his loving embrace Jesus prayed, “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” He recognised that when he had gone to heaven things were going to be tough for those he loved. They would be hated, persecuted and some killed as he was about to be but however tough life got, they belonged to Jesus. His stamp was on their lives. We belong to a different realm where we are in fellowship with God, our Father, Jesus who died for us and the Holy Spirit. We are part of the fellowship of heaven, living as one, not only with our fellow church members but with the company of those who have gone before us. When Jesus prays that we may be one even as he is one with the Father he is praying that we might have the deepest possible intimacy with him, a relationship of tenderness and delight in which our joy too might be complete. Jesus continued, “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” As God sent Jesus into the world so he sends us into human society which organizes itself without God to make him known. We share by our words and actions the life and love of God in tough places where we live and work. The passage says that Jesus prayed that we would be sanctified or set apart to do his work. We have been set apart for a particular task which only we can do, one in which we show Christ’s character in us, a task in which we do what Jesus would do in that situation because we have a deep relationship and are one with him. Our times of intimacy and prayer are times of equipping for this work. Jesus ascended into heaven so that we might be the people he intended us to be sharing his love and his ways in our places of work and homes.
We are attached to Jesus the vine and rooted in God’s love because Jesus has reached out to us in love. We did not choose him but he chose us to be fruitful. The initiative was and is his. He chose us before the foundation of the world. Human beings were always going mess up and it was always part of God’s plan that Jesus would die in our place so we could be forgiven. He also uniquely chooses each of us as individuals. We are special.We cannot come to Christ through our own efforts or baptism in water. We cannot judge who is a Christian and who isn’t or when a person’s faith journey began. We cannot become Christians through being kind. There are plenty of caring people today who would hate to be called Christians. We cannot become Christians through going to Church, reading the Bible or praying, though they are all important if we are to remain abiding in Jesus. We can do all these things and still not have a relationship with God.Some of you might be worrying that you haven’t been chosen by Jesus because Jesus doesn’t seem real to you. Jesus assures us that we are loved and chosen through his words. “God so loved the world (that includes us), that he gave his one and only Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Eternal life is completely dependent upon God’s love, not our feelings. Jesus died upon the cross for each one of us, whether we believe it or not.Jesus assures us that he loves us as much as his heavenly Father loves him. His relationship with his heavenly Father shows us what it is like to have a unique, trusting relationship with one who knows our deepest needs. He dwells close to the Father’s heart, having theclosest possible relationship with him. He is known through and through and knows the thoughts of God yet he makes known his longings and thoughts when he talks to God in prayer.Jesus asks us to dwell in that love, having the closest possible relationship with him. He calls us friends. We don’t do what he wants us to do because we are slaves. We do it out of love.Being the slave of God was a title of the highest honour. Moses, Joshua, David, Paul and James were all proud to be called slaves of God. Jesus has something better for us. He says, I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. When we dwell in God’s love he reveals what is on his heart and mind.<sup> </sup>Whilst we cannot become Christians through our prayers, there is no way we can remain in relationship with him without spending time with him, telling him we love him and listening to him.We get to know Jesus by finding out as much as we can about him through reading the Bible, particularly the New Testament When we dwell in love we are filled with joy.<sup> “</sup><sup> </sup>I have said these things to you,” Jesus said, “ so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.”When two people are married they enjoy being in each other’s company. We are called to enjoy being in relationship with JesusJesus doesn’t want us to be unreal. There will be times in our lives, just as there was in his, of deep sadness. Jesus remains with us, loving us through. Joy always comes from love. Real joy is attractive to others. They want what we have. Just as a married couple can go their separate ways and divorce, we too, can separate from God. Once a Christian doesn’t mean we will always be one.To stay close to him, Jesus says we have to keep his commandments by loving one another as he has loved us. When we disagree we need to learn how to do it in love. So much damage has been done because Christians have hated one another. No wonder, those outside the church haven’t wanted to belong.The world needs to know what true love looks like; what God looks like for God is love. He calls us to be models of his love. Jesus showed us what true love looks like by laying down his life for us. He showed us love in action and calls us to go out into the world and love as he loves.We will produce fruit that lasts when we keep close to Jesus, showing his joy and love. Christ’s church will never die while his life flows through us and we keep his commandments. When we do so Jesus promises he will give us whatever we ask. The early Christian disciples were not going to share their faith with people who weren’t Jews because they believed Jesus had come to bring salvation to the Jewish people alone. In our Acts reading we God taking the initiative and reaching out to Cornelius, a Roman centurion and his family. Cornelius was god fearing, gave generously and prayed to God regularly but this didn’t make him a Christian.An angel spoke to Cornelius in a vision telling him to send for PeterMeanwhile, while Peter was praying he had a nightmare. Three times he was asked to kill and eat the animals that Jews believed to be unclean. His views about what was clean were being challenged through God’s initiative so that when servants from Cornelius arrived asking him to come to Cornelius house, he was prepared to invite them into his house as guests. Peter listened to what he has been shown in prayer and showed love in action by giving non Jews board and food and by travelling with them the next day.When he arrived he discovered Cornelius had gathered his friends and family to listen. He began his talk by saying, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favouritism <sup> </sup>but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.” God is not racist. He then shared with the sizeable gathering the message that Jesus who died and rose from the dead was appointed as judge of the living and the dead and that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came upon the gathering just as he had come on the disciples on the day of Pentecost and they spoke in tongues and praised God.The Holy Spirit brought these Gentiles into a relationship with Jesus, not Peter, though he played his part.The Jewish Christians were astonished. Whereas the usual pattern of coming to faith and being accepted as followers of Jesus was repentance, trusting Jesus, baptism followed by receiving the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands, God had shown that he draws people into his family and decides who is in and out.Acceptance and love was shown by the Jewish Christians through baptising them, into their community of love. As we like Peter and Cornelius pray “Thy Kingdom Come” over the next two weeks, may we experience and know the depths of his love for us, be filled with his joy, know how he would have us reach out in love for others and like Cornelius and his family be filled with his Spirit.
We are attached to Jesus the vine and rooted in God’s love because Jesus has reached out to us in love. We did not choose him but he chose us to be fruitful. The initiative was and is his. He chose us before the foundation of the world. Human beings were always going mess up and it was always part of God’s plan that Jesus would die in our place so we could be forgiven. He also uniquely chooses each of us as individuals. We are special.We cannot come to Christ through our own efforts or baptism in water. We cannot judge who is a Christian and who isn’t or when a person’s faith journey began. We cannot become Christians through being kind. There are plenty of caring people today who would hate to be called Christians. We cannot become Christians through going to Church, reading the Bible or praying, though they are all important if we are to remain abiding in Jesus. We can do all these things and still not have a relationship with God.Some of you might be worrying that you haven’t been chosen by Jesus because Jesus doesn’t seem real to you. Jesus assures us that we are loved and chosen through his words. “God so loved the world (that includes us), that he gave his one and only Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Eternal life is completely dependent upon God’s love, not our feelings. Jesus died upon the cross for each one of us, whether we believe it or not.Jesus assures us that he loves us as much as his heavenly Father loves him. His relationship with his heavenly Father shows us what it is like to have a unique, trusting relationship with one who knows our deepest needs. He dwells close to the Father’s heart, having theclosest possible relationship with him. He is known through and through and knows the thoughts of God yet he makes known his longings and thoughts when he talks to God in prayer.Jesus asks us to dwell in that love, having the closest possible relationship with him. He calls us friends. We don’t do what he wants us to do because we are slaves. We do it out of love.Being the slave of God was a title of the highest honour. Moses, Joshua, David, Paul and James were all proud to be called slaves of God. Jesus has something better for us. He says, I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. When we dwell in God’s love he reveals what is on his heart and mind.<sup> </sup>Whilst we cannot become Christians through our prayers, there is no way we can remain in relationship with him without spending time with him, telling him we love him and listening to him.We get to know Jesus by finding out as much as we can about him through reading the Bible, particularly the New Testament When we dwell in love we are filled with joy.<sup> “</sup><sup> </sup>I have said these things to you,” Jesus said, “ so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.”When two people are married they enjoy being in each other’s company. We are called to enjoy being in relationship with JesusJesus doesn’t want us to be unreal. There will be times in our lives, just as there was in his, of deep sadness. Jesus remains with us, loving us through. Joy always comes from love. Real joy is attractive to others. They want what we have. Just as a married couple can go their separate ways and divorce, we too, can separate from God. Once a Christian doesn’t mean we will always be one.To stay close to him, Jesus says we have to keep his commandments by loving one another as he has loved us. When we disagree we need to learn how to do it in love. So much damage has been done because Christians have hated one another. No wonder, those outside the church haven’t wanted to belong.The world needs to know what true love looks like; what God looks like for God is love. He calls us to be models of his love. Jesus showed us what true love looks like by laying down his life for us. He showed us love in action and calls us to go out into the world and love as he loves.We will produce fruit that lasts when we keep close to Jesus, showing his joy and love. Christ’s church will never die while his life flows through us and we keep his commandments. When we do so Jesus promises he will give us whatever we ask. The early Christian disciples were not going to share their faith with people who weren’t Jews because they believed Jesus had come to bring salvation to the Jewish people alone. In our Acts reading we God taking the initiative and reaching out to Cornelius, a Roman centurion and his family. Cornelius was god fearing, gave generously and prayed to God regularly but this didn’t make him a Christian.An angel spoke to Cornelius in a vision telling him to send for PeterMeanwhile, while Peter was praying he had a nightmare. Three times he was asked to kill and eat the animals that Jews believed to be unclean. His views about what was clean were being challenged through God’s initiative so that when servants from Cornelius arrived asking him to come to Cornelius house, he was prepared to invite them into his house as guests. Peter listened to what he has been shown in prayer and showed love in action by giving non Jews board and food and by travelling with them the next day.When he arrived he discovered Cornelius had gathered his friends and family to listen. He began his talk by saying, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favouritism <sup> </sup>but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.” God is not racist. He then shared with the sizeable gathering the message that Jesus who died and rose from the dead was appointed as judge of the living and the dead and that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came upon the gathering just as he had come on the disciples on the day of Pentecost and they spoke in tongues and praised God.The Holy Spirit brought these Gentiles into a relationship with Jesus, not Peter, though he played his part.The Jewish Christians were astonished. Whereas the usual pattern of coming to faith and being accepted as followers of Jesus was repentance, trusting Jesus, baptism followed by receiving the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands, God had shown that he draws people into his family and decides who is in and out.Acceptance and love was shown by the Jewish Christians through baptising them, into their community of love. As we like Peter and Cornelius pray “Thy Kingdom Come” over the next two weeks, may we experience and know the depths of his love for us, be filled with his joy, know how he would have us reach out in love for others and like Cornelius and his family be filled with his Spirit.
