Fifth Sunday of Easter

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28 April 2024

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PREPARATION

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Acts 8.26-40

26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Get up and go towards the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ (This is a wilderness road.)
27 So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship
28 and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over to this chariot and join it.’
30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’
31 He replied, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.
32 Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:
‘Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
    and like a lamb silent before its shearer,
    so he does not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.
    Who can describe his generation?
    For his life is taken away from the earth.’
34 The eunuch asked Philip, ‘About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?’
35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?’
38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

 

REFLECTION

This is a great event for us as we move from the resurrection to Pentecost. We hear Philip guided by God, through the Holy Spirit, to go down a road for no other reason than being told to go. Did he hear a voice? Or was it more a sense of guidance? I ask, because I his actions are hard to understand. If heard a voice, then it makes sense, but if it was more a hunch, it is a big act of faith. I don't know what sort of person Philip was, but going up to a complete stranger is also a bit out there for me. Then he, when he hears what the man is reading, sees the connection with Jesus. Now he may have known the scripture, but had he made the link with Jesus, or did it come to him as he read it?

The thing is though, God sent Philip to share the message of Jesus' resurrection and offer to a new life. The resurrection is not just about Jesus' life, it is the doorway to bringing people to God.

 

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Psalm 22.26-32

26 From you springs my praise in the great congregation:

I will pay my vows in the sight of all that fear you;

27 The meek shall eat of the sacrifice and be satisfied:

and those who seek the Lord shall praise him—

may their hearts rejoice for ever!

28 Let all the ends of the earth remember

and turn to the Lord:

and let all the families of the nations worship before him.

29 For the kingdom is the Lord’s:

and he shall be ruler over the nations.

30 How can those who sleep in the earth do him homage:

or those that descend to the dust bow down before him?

31 But he has saved my life for himself:

and my posterity shall serve him.

32 This shall be told of my Lord to a future generation:

and his righteousness declared to a people yet unborn,

that he has done it.

 

 

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1 John 4.7-21

7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Saviour of the world. 15 God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgement, because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. 21 The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

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REFLECTION

John writes to the people that God is love and that God's people love. The death of Jesus is love; the resurrection is done in love. This love permeates life and action. I love this passage, but it is hard to understand how a person stays in this love. You cannot do it 24 7 can you?  I mean there is life to live and things to be done. Not to mention the problems and expectations of life. the holidays, the house payments, the career expectations. This love John talks about seems to be unrealistic. How can anyone be moved continually by this love. For me this is the role of every believer, to place the engagement with God's love as the focal point in our lives. Why? Because God sent God's self to live and die for us that we may be filed with love, forgiveness and toe surrender ourselves to God. 

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Gospel

John 15.1-8

1 ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. 2 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3 You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

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REFLECTION

Last week Jesus placed the relationship in terms of the Shepherd and the sheep. this week, Jesus puts our lives in terms of a vine. The trunk and the vines. The vines have the leaves and the fruit. There is a co dependance in this metaphor, life goes two ways. a vine is nourished through the leaves and the vine nourishes the branches. The love is like the sap moving through the vine and branches. The idea of living without the sap is impossible. The fact is there is a life without the vine. In our faith though the life lived without the vine is not life. This is the challenge of these readings, that they call believers to a life that is unique and even foolishness to the world. There has to be a really good reason to choose it.

                                                                  

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