5 Easter/Year B
May 2, 2021
Psalm 22:24-30; 1 John 4:7-21; John 15:1-8
OPENING PRAYER: Gracious God, the Giver and Sustainer of Life, help us to abide in you, and to let you abide in us, so that your life and your love, becomes our lives, and your will our will, to the glory of your Name. Amen.
Throughout the Easter season, our scripture readings have focused on resurrection experiences of Jesus’ first followers and have invited us to enter into these stories week after week, and to embark on our own journey through Eastertide…looking within and without for the signs of Jesus’ resurrection in our lives today, and wondering…now what…what does this all mean for us now, in this time, and in this place…How does this good news of God’s abiding love, transform our own life, and the lives of those entrusted to us, in our families and in our communities...
On this fifth Sunday of Easter, the scriptures invite us to go a little deeper to ponder these questions…to turn our thoughts and our hearts and our bodies to the center of all creation, where love first began…with the love of God for us, and for all of creation….and to stay there for a time… abide in the love of God, let God abide in you…think about what our relationship with the Risen Christ looks like when we abide in God’s love…when we put Jesus and his love, in the center of all that we say and do…in this life, this gift of a new day which has been given to us…
We are living in a fast-paced world these days…and we often jump from one thing to the next, and just skim over the surface of all the gifts of God, in the people and creation of God, surrounding us…we aren’t too good…at taking the time, to allow ourselves to go deeper in our relationships with God and one another…and when we short-change our time spent abiding in this love of God, and letting God abide in us, it cuts off our ability to love others, as God has so loved us….as Jesus has taught us, and invited us to follow him, and walk with him, in the way of love…
So, I am grateful for this time that we gather for worship each week to be reminded of our need to abide in God’s love, not only today…but on the other 6 days of the week…
In the hearing of the scriptures today, they remind me, once again, of the life-affirming Love of God…that is not only here in this place on Sunday mornings…but every day of our lives….
They remind me of the need to be more intentional about dwelling, remaining, and abiding in this love… this life-affirming Love of God…made known to us...in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ….7 days a week…
In the hearing of these scriptures today, I am reminded of the invitation to return often to this sacred space…and to abide in God’s love….as God abides in us….
Especially…in times of uncertainty, worry, suffering…especially… when the day to day distractions seem at times to drown out any sense of love or community with God and one another…
There are no shortcuts to abide in this love…there are no shortcuts to building and strengthening our relationships with God and one another…we must make time for it, remain with it, sit with it, breath in it, have faith in it, believe in it, look for hope in it, and trust in it…
We abide in this love…we dwell in this love…we remain in this love…we become this love… when we spend time in prayer to get to know God more intimately; when we read the scriptures and the stories that bear witness to what God’s love can do for us and for our world; when we listen to music, or sing hymns to proclaim the love of God….and at other times, we may abide in this love, when we sit quietly with one another, when we sit quietly in the outdoors, in the woods, by the ocean, listening for the songs in creation proclaiming God’s love song to us…a love, when shared…can bring hope and healing into the hearts of a wearied people…
We are called to return, again and again, to the source of all life…so that we can go out into the world, to be a beacon of God’s love and light of hope in this troubled world where fear often keeps us from living in the fullness of joy, intended for all God’s people…
This morning…let us listen once again to the Good News of God’s love as revealed to us in the life and love of Jesus Christ…
Jesus said: Abide in me as I abide in you…. abide in the Word of God…dwell in His love…remain with Him here for awhile…abide in His love…
God is love…His love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
God is love and he calls us Beloved…Since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.
God is love…God lives in us and his love is perfected in us.
God is love…And those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.
God is love…And His perfect love casts out all fear.
God is love…We love because God first loved us.
God is love…The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.
God is love…let us love one another as we have been so loved…let us love one another, as Christ has loved us…let us love one another, for love is of God…
On this day and every day… set aside time to get to know this love of God….abide in His love…
And now…. let us pray…
Hymn after sermon: Come, gracious Spirit, heavenly Dove (H512)
1 Come, gracious Spirit, heavenly Dove, with light and comfort from above;
be thou our guardian, thou our guide; o’er every thought and step preside.
2 The light of truth to us display, and make us know and choose thy way;
plant holy fear in every heart, that we from thee may ne’er depart.
3 Lead us to Christ, the living Way, nor let us from his precepts stray;
lead us to holiness, the road that we must take to dwell with God.
4 Lead us to heaven, that we may share fullness of joy for ever there;
lead us to God, our final rest, to be with him for ever blest.
(sung by Ali Hosford)
Rev Julie Platson
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, Alaska