5th Sunday of Easter
5th Sunday of Easter
Readings: Acts 8v26-end; Psalm 22v25-end; 1 John 4v7-end; John 15v1-8.
Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
However, there is more to being God’s people than worshipping God and loving other people. For as Jesus tells us in the gospel of John, Jesus describes himself as the “True Vine” and his father as the farmer who takes care of the vines. Jesus says that because he is the true vine that we can be grafted into him as vine branches, branches that will bear fruit as we mature as Jesus’ disciples. Jesus also warns that his father will cut off, throw away and burn all of the branches that separate themselves from the true vine, as well as those that do not mature and bear fruit. I believe that this is a warning that in our mission as Christians we must grow and mature so that we bear the fruit that God has designed us to produce. Jesus also tells us that his father will help us to stay connected to Jesus, so we can mature and bear fruit, by pruning away everything that distracts us from being God’s people.
For God is up to all sorts, in the mission to save and bring people back to himself. As we heard in the book of Acts, God will even do the most extraordinary of things, just as he did with Philip. First God sent an angel to tell the disciple Philip to take himself at midday to the desolate road that connects Jerusalem with Gaza. Philip did as he was asked and once on the road, he saw a man riding a chariot. The spirit of God then prompted Philip to speak to the man in the Chariot and as Philip drew near, he could hear that this man reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. The words he was reading were about a lamb who was led to the slaughter, so Philip asked him whether he understood what he was reading. As the man had questions, he invited Philip into his chariot and Philip took the opportunity to answer the questions by preaching about Jesus. After this the man asked to be and was baptised and the spirit of God took Philip away. All so extraordinary, all so amazing, all so surprising – and yet all well within what God can and does do.
So today, let us grow like branches so that we become all that God wants of us. Then let us dare to follow as prompted and guided by God.
Let us pray: Most merciful God, we give you thanks for your son Jesus who came to earth to deliver and save the world. Help us to live like he did, so that we can be servants of others in the world for which he died. Teach us how to grow into the people you would have us be, so we pass on the good news to this and the next generation. Amen
Thank you for joining us.