Sermon: Remain in me.
John 15: 1-8/Acts 8:26-end.
Last week I shared some thoughts about a painting of Chagall that spoke of Jesus the Good Shepherd taking his people through the dark and dangerous days of persecution into a new and risen life.
Clare and I had the chance to visit another gallery, this time one dedicated to another great artist who spent the last part of his life in the south of France. He had a studio in an old castle on the rocky outcrop that forms the Antibe peninsula. The castle is built on the remains of both Greek and Roman buildings, and it seems that Picasso became fascinated by the legends of antiquity. His paintings are filled with fauns and nymphs and wild horse-like creatures.
One story that particularly fascinated him was the story of Ulysses. The painting I have chosen this week tells the story of Ulysses and the Sirens, with which we’ll all be familiar. Ulysses tied himself to the mast of his ship in order to prevent him being lured into the dangerous waters around the island where the Siren live by their beautiful voices.
The story has found its way into our language as we talk about siren voices leading us away from our duties and responsibilities. Leading us off course. We once had a Sat Nav like that! It had a beautiful female voice, but was not good with directions. We once ended up in a field! We decided to call her Delilah!
Whichever name we prefer, both stories work at the level of ‘parable’ The Sat Nav, like the mast of Ulysses keeps us on track because it works with a satellite which keeps a fixed position in space.
Knowing how to navigate through life, knowing where to look as we try to get our bearings in a world which pulls us in many directions is not so easy.
Remain in me ... Jesus here gives us a fixed point of reference to which we can ‘lock on’. As we journey through life we have not a set of rules, or even ideas, but a person who travels with us not just as guide and mentor, but also the very life within us.
‘And I will remain in you’ John 15:4. The journey we travel is not so much about the destination to which we go, but the person we become, for as we remain in him so he promises to remain in us. That must have been a difficult idea for his hearers to grasp and so he points at a vine, it produces grapes! Like the life of the vine, the life of Jesus flows into us as we remain in him.
‘He will bear much fruit’ Jesus homely metaphor would have been familiar to his hearers. Most people would have picked their grapes from the vine and would know that good grapes came from vines that had been severely pruned so that all the goodness of the vine went into the fruit. So now Jesus describes himself not as the vine but as the gardener and us as the branches. The gardener will need to keep the branches free of excess foliage so that the grapes grow big and sweet. Jesus, the gardener, is continually at work in our lives, maybe more so in the difficult and testing times when we do not like what is happening to us!
“If my words remain in you” Jesus even describes the tools he uses, they are Truth and Love. His words speak to us of a truth which is like a sharp tool that shapes us and makes us what we are. Sometimes it is used to cut away the excess and unproductive bits, but only so that we can produce better fruit. “That you bear much fruit”
“Remain in my love” If truth is the cutting tool, then love is the care and attention he lavishes on us. When he cuts, he cuts in love, for the love of God teaches us neither to loath ourselves, nor to worship ourselves, but to see ourselves as we truly are. We are precious but in need of forgiveness, restoration and healing. We will need to hear that ‘Good News' about our worth because many will tell us we are only worth as much as the car we drive, the house we own, or the salary we receive. The love of God is our security, for “greater love has no man than this, that he lays down his life for his friends”.
“You are my friends” As we travel we can use this pilgrim’s prayer. ‘Do not walk in front of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk behind me for I may not lead, but walk beside me that I might learn from you’, and indeed become like you.
A prayer for peace in the Holy land.
O God of all justice and peace we cry out to you in the midst of the pain and trauma
of violence and fear which prevails in the Holy Land.
Be with those who need you in these days of suffering; we pray for people of all faiths – Jews, Muslims and Christians and for all people of the land.
While we pray to you, O Lord, for an end to violence and the establishment of peace,
we also call for you to bring justice and equity to the peoples.
Guide us into your kingdom where all people are treated with dignity and honour as your children for, to all of us, you are our Heavenly Father.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Rev Simon Brignall
I am contactable from Thursday to Sunday.
Clare and I had the chance to visit another gallery, this time one dedicated to another great artist who spent the last part of his life in the south of France. He had a studio in an old castle on the rocky outcrop that forms the Antibe peninsula. The castle is built on the remains of both Greek and Roman buildings, and it seems that Picasso became fascinated by the legends of antiquity. His paintings are filled with fauns and nymphs and wild horse-like creatures.
One story that particularly fascinated him was the story of Ulysses. The painting I have chosen this week tells the story of Ulysses and the Sirens, with which we’ll all be familiar. Ulysses tied himself to the mast of his ship in order to prevent him being lured into the dangerous waters around the island where the Siren live by their beautiful voices.
The story has found its way into our language as we talk about siren voices leading us away from our duties and responsibilities. Leading us off course. We once had a Sat Nav like that! It had a beautiful female voice, but was not good with directions. We once ended up in a field! We decided to call her Delilah!
Whichever name we prefer, both stories work at the level of ‘parable’ The Sat Nav, like the mast of Ulysses keeps us on track because it works with a satellite which keeps a fixed position in space.
Knowing how to navigate through life, knowing where to look as we try to get our bearings in a world which pulls us in many directions is not so easy.
Remain in me ... Jesus here gives us a fixed point of reference to which we can ‘lock on’. As we journey through life we have not a set of rules, or even ideas, but a person who travels with us not just as guide and mentor, but also the very life within us.
‘And I will remain in you’ John 15:4. The journey we travel is not so much about the destination to which we go, but the person we become, for as we remain in him so he promises to remain in us. That must have been a difficult idea for his hearers to grasp and so he points at a vine, it produces grapes! Like the life of the vine, the life of Jesus flows into us as we remain in him.
‘He will bear much fruit’ Jesus homely metaphor would have been familiar to his hearers. Most people would have picked their grapes from the vine and would know that good grapes came from vines that had been severely pruned so that all the goodness of the vine went into the fruit. So now Jesus describes himself not as the vine but as the gardener and us as the branches. The gardener will need to keep the branches free of excess foliage so that the grapes grow big and sweet. Jesus, the gardener, is continually at work in our lives, maybe more so in the difficult and testing times when we do not like what is happening to us!
“If my words remain in you” Jesus even describes the tools he uses, they are Truth and Love. His words speak to us of a truth which is like a sharp tool that shapes us and makes us what we are. Sometimes it is used to cut away the excess and unproductive bits, but only so that we can produce better fruit. “That you bear much fruit”
“Remain in my love” If truth is the cutting tool, then love is the care and attention he lavishes on us. When he cuts, he cuts in love, for the love of God teaches us neither to loath ourselves, nor to worship ourselves, but to see ourselves as we truly are. We are precious but in need of forgiveness, restoration and healing. We will need to hear that ‘Good News' about our worth because many will tell us we are only worth as much as the car we drive, the house we own, or the salary we receive. The love of God is our security, for “greater love has no man than this, that he lays down his life for his friends”.
“You are my friends” As we travel we can use this pilgrim’s prayer. ‘Do not walk in front of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk behind me for I may not lead, but walk beside me that I might learn from you’, and indeed become like you.
A prayer for peace in the Holy land.
O God of all justice and peace we cry out to you in the midst of the pain and trauma
of violence and fear which prevails in the Holy Land.
Be with those who need you in these days of suffering; we pray for people of all faiths – Jews, Muslims and Christians and for all people of the land.
While we pray to you, O Lord, for an end to violence and the establishment of peace,
we also call for you to bring justice and equity to the peoples.
Guide us into your kingdom where all people are treated with dignity and honour as your children for, to all of us, you are our Heavenly Father.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Rev Simon Brignall
I am contactable from Thursday to Sunday.