Sunday the 5th May 2024 - Sixth Sunday of Easter

Acts 10:25-26,34-35,44-48/ Psalm 97(98)/ 1 John 4:7-10/ John 15:9-17

As the Easter season continues, we are given a deeper understanding of the nature of God. Jesus, God who became human to fully understand the human condition we live in, the God who can feel our joy and pain, God who can laugh, cry and yes, die with us. God who can relate fully to us and our situations but also a God that we can relate to as a friend and companion. God the Father who is the definition of love. A love that is free of any conditions, a love that is poured out, lavished, on us. A love that can take away our sins and draw us ever closer into the shared relationship of the Trinity. God the Holy Spirit that choses us before we choose God. The power of God that comes down on us and drives our ability to believe, to spread that belief, to bear a lasting fruit for the glory of God.

The readings today reveal the nature of God which is love itself. God is the definition of love. All love flows from God who seeks us out without any action on our part. God is the God of all, without factions, or groups or denominations. God has no favourites among those he created, we are all unconditionally loved by God regardless of who we are, where we come from, what status we might have in the world or how we view ourselves against others. The love we show to God and our neighbour is a response to the love God lavishes on us. God does not love us because we love God, God loves us because he created us and chooses us. Our love for God and each other is the response to the boundless, limitless love God has for us.

In the first reading the power of the Holy Spirit is witnessed by those who may have thought of themselves as exclusively chosen to be the people of God. The Holy Spirit came down on an outsider, Cornelius a gentile, and all his household. This was before they were baptised and indicates strongly the boundary breaking nature of the gospel message. The redemption from sin and the unconditional love of God is available to all who are open to it. Baptism puts a seal on that gift of love enveloping those who receive it into the death of Christ so that they can also join him in his resurrection.

Our response to God’s unconditional love for us should be a return of that love to God and our neighbour. This is where we can fail. Often the giving of our love can be conditional, what will we get out of this or that relationship? This is not the love we are called to show as friends of Jesus. Jesus gave us the perfect example of love. His obedience to the will of his father is a result of and a sign of the love between them. Our obedience to God’s commandments should be a sign of our love for God.

Jesus shows his love through the highest form of love by surrendering his life for his friends. We are his friends and the recipients of this love. We are not the slaves of God but through Jesus we have become friends, friends in the fullest sense not merely acquaintances but enveloped in the relationship between God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We do not choose God, he chooses us.

God is a God of all and his gift of redemption, given through Jesus, is a gift to all. It is not reserved for an exclusive group. There should be no ‘us and them’, we are all friends of God and equal in his sight. We should be known as Christians by our love. If that is not always the case, then we need to review how we are responding to God’s love for us. Our love for others might not always be unconditional, we need to look to the outcasts of society, victims of any kind, the poor, the unloved, the displaced and refugees, prisoners, people caught in addiction, to show love to them without judgement. We are called to share the love we receive from God with our neighbour. That neighbour can be anyone and often will be someone we might ordinarily seek to pass by. By honouring this commandment we will bear lasting fruit for the glory of God.

God Bless Brendan