What strong words we have in the reading from 1 John ‘ we ought to lay down our lives for one another ‘ then the question ‘how does God’s love abide in anyone who has the worlds goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help ‘.
I expect that the first statement rings true for those who have been directly involved in combat of war but it is not something I would readily think about and yet it’s exactly what Jesus did for me and you . to most normal people that would seem if not just a bit drastic then maybe even foolish but Jesus loves us that much .
Children’s talk
What of the second one . how do you react if you have a classmate who is in trouble – maybe being picked on by the school bully?
Do you decide to get involved to help your friend or do you quickly move away so that you don’t get into the same situation? I know that on at least one occasion when I was at school- a long time ago now – I was very glad when a classmate and friend stepped in to stop me from being hurt by a bully , putting themselves in the firing line instead .
Another thing that might happen is that someone at school drops their sandwich for their packed lunch and so has not a lot left to eat for lunch. Do you offer to share what you have with them even though it means you have less.
If you were hear on Mothers’ Day you might remember that we were asked to do things as if we were doing it for God and I think the same applies here.
Grown up talk
Now then grown ups having heard what the children think maybe you too remember a time when you were in the same situation .
How do we react now that we are grown ups ? we are told in Corinthians that ‘
‘when I was a child I thought like a child but when I was an adult I put away childish things’
Now I happen to think that when we are children we tend to as it were ‘ tell it like it is ‘ it’s only when we get a little older that we start to consider what we should say more carefully . is that reflected in our actions too?
As adults we are I think more prone to avoid people we don’t like to mix with and often they are the people who most need our help .
People who are struggling to make ends meet or have nowhere to live .
Are we prepared to put ourselves out to help them or do we prefer to ‘ walk away on the other side .
Even more important are those who don’t yet know about Jesus and how he can help them in their troubles. If we claim to follow Jesus then we can’t just walk away on the other side .
We heard last week from Louise that the disciples were given a task – to go and tell everyone about what Jesus has done for everyone .
If we are the ones who have then we should be only to pleased to help those we see who are struggling otherwise God’s love does not abide in us so the reading says .
The reading tells us to love not in word and speech but in truth and action . I think this means that we are to share the truth of what Jesus does but also to do something about making that truth evident to those we meet in our journey on earth in practical terms . that means that we are not to keep the secret to ourselves locked up in our church but to share it in whatever way we can, just like Jesus did in his time on earth .
You see the thing is that as the other reading says .
The risen Jesus is the cornerstone that was rejected but that there is no salvation we can find other than in what Jesus did for us and this is how we are saved .
So let us put our faith into practice ,even as we go about our daily lives ,so that we may gain that salvation .