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Thought for the
Week 4 May 2008 – Seventh Sunday of Easter Alleluiah,
Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluiah!
“The law is an ass a idiot” said
Dickens through the mouth of Mr Bumble in Oliver Twist. Amazingly the law in Because wills speak from the moment of
death, a will becomes the first thing those left behind look for. More often
than not it is found in the hands of a solicitor, who will immediately look
at it to identify who the executors are, He will also identify one or two
other things which, although not required by law to be written into the will,
often are. Is the person to be buried or cremated? Are any bits and pieces to
be left for medical research or for donor purposes? What’s to happen to
children? -----Especially relevant in the case of a single parent or parents
dying at the same time. What happens to children, who is to
have their custody and to care for them, are of course important provisions
for single parents or young couples with children under the age of 16.Road
accidents, train crashes, aircraft crashes are sufficiently common events to
cause concern. Jesus didn’t leave a will. Jesus didn’t
have children to worry about despite what Dan Brown and N T Wilson have to
say on the subject. Nevertheless, he was concerned about those who believed
in him, and those who were to follow him; the apostles, the disciples and
those to whom the Throughout his ministry he showed this
concern, and often spoke words of reassurance and encouragement to those
around him as to the time he would be no longer with them. He knew that his
time on earth was limited, and that when he was gone the work that he had
begun in announcing the arrival of the kingdom was going to depend on frail
humanity. Paul recognised this when he wrote to the Christians in In John 14 Jesus is at pains to
reassure the disciples “In my Fathers house are many rooms ……. I am going
there to prepare a place for you.” But not only that; he is also going to
arrange for them and subsequent generations of followers to be in the custody
of, to be looked after by a Counsellor. who, unlike the human custodian under
a will whose duties finish on the child reaching majority, will be with them
for ever ---throughout life. Better than a human custodian, this Counsellor,
the Holy Spirit, is the Spirit of Truth ---- who Jesus promises will teach
all things, will remind the disciples of the things Jesus has said and
taught. We learn elsewhere that the Spirit promised to the disciples and
those following is a Spirit of power, of discipline and of love. It was a
Spirit that had gifts to bestow. Jesus knows that unless he returns to the
Father this Counsellor will not be able to come. Jesus did not make a will ---- he did
something much better. He ensured that those that loved him were well
provided for to carry out the task he left them, and leaves us, to make
disciples, to baptise and to teach. In return, his promise is to be with us
always. But he also prayed, as our Gospel reading shows ----- he prayed to
the Father in what is the longest recorded prayer we have for Jesus. In it he prays for himself --- but not
for himself. ------- What do I mean by that? Firstly he thanks the Father that he
has been able to fulfil the Father’s wishes and “complete the work you gave
me to do”; then He prays that he may be glorified, but not for his own
benefit, rather for the glorification of his Father. This is the prayer of a
man who knows that he is to be crucified, but he knows that it is not going
to end there. He will be raised from the dead; he will ascend into heaven and
to what end ----- that the Father may be glorified. The prayer does not end there --- Jesus
prays for his disciples. He knows they are to remain in the world, not of the
world but in it nevertheless. He also knows that the devil prowls around like
a roaring lion looking for someone to devour as Peter puts it. And so he
prays that the Father will protect them “……so that they may be one as we are
one” Jesus is here praying for his disciples,
not for all believers, which he does later on and then does pray “that all of
them may be one”. Its worth remembering that each time we take communion,
break bread or celebrate the Eucharist, whatever you are most comfortable
with, we say words which are meant to uphold that unity ----- “though we are
many, we are one body because we all share the one bread.” This prayer is Jesus talking to his
Father and making provision for his followers upon and after his death, which
he knew was to happen the next day. But what does this phrase mean then: “…… all
of them may be one”? The answer I believe lies in the
beginning of this prayer “Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you” Jesus
prays, and the next few words.”…… so that they may be one ….as we are one”. This is Jesus praying to
his father that the disciples will have with each other the same relationship
as the Father and Son enjoy with each other. Now this is the hard part. The oneness of Jesus the Son with God
the Father was and is unique. The Son had been with the Father since the
beginning of time. They were totally of one mind as to what was needed to get
the Israelites back on course and what was needed to bringing humanity back
into that living relationship with God that was lost as a result of the fall
and the waywardness of the Israelites. Equally as a result of that they both
knew that the result of offering humanity the way back was the glorification
of the Father for doing such a thing. Equally it would result in a
glorification of the Son for being prepared to undertake the sacrifice the
Father was prepared to make and without which there would be no glorification
and no hope left for humanity. What Christ was about to voluntarily undergo
would bring glory to not only the Son but the Father also. ------ The Crucifixion and the Resurrection
were both witness to and evidence of the oneness about which Jesus was
talking. What it seems to me Jesus is here praying for is that all his
disciples see the glorification of both the Son and the Father as one and the
same thing, having for its end all that came to pass upon the Son. Not as a
defeat, but as a victory for the Son and the Father, and that in that unity
they will go out to convince the world of the fact. Our reading from Acts complements
Jesus’ prayer to the Father. Jesus himself had said that “unless I
go away the Counsellor, Comforter will not come”. It was only in the power of
the Holy Spirit that the disciples could go out and fulfil the function that
Jesus left them to do, and for which he prayed for the unity that we have discussed. From our reading in Acts, “But you will
receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; you will then be my
witnesses in It is precisely what the Acts of the
Apostles is all about. How those disciples went out in the power of the Holy
Spirit and conquered the world. And thus Jesus ascended to his Father. The
exciting thing for us today is the knowledge that that same Holy Spirit is
available to us, to empower us. In a way, the world is no different today
than it was in the disciples’ time. Today we live in a very materialistic and
pluralistic society. It was a materialistic society then, with man’s wealth
based upon what possessions he accumulated. It was a very pluralistic society
with all the Greek, Roman, Middle Eastern gods, faiths and religions, and yet
these relatively poor, uneducated men went out and set their worlds on fire
with the Gospel of Christ. Are we able to do the same? I began with Dickens and Mr Bumble –let
me finish with A J Gossip from The Edge of the Crowd. Alleluiah,
Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluiah! Amen.
Melvyn Fancy: Reader, Anglican
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