(Listen to this homily here).
This will be John 15 part two. Last week I preached about the first eight verses of this
chapter. Remember the image of the
vine and the branches? We also
heard about the themes of remaining in God, love and bearing fruit.
Today
we heard my favorite verse in all of Scripture. To prove I’m not just blowing smoke and making up my
favorite verse, here’s a little show and tell for you. This is my holy card…on the front side
is St. Sebastian, my patron saint.
On the back, you eagle eyed people can see a verse—John 15:13: “Greater love has no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends.” This verse is also etched into the bottom of my chalice.
A
few powerful points as we continue walking through John 15.
First,
laying down one’s life. Jesus is
the ultimate example as he laid down his life on the cross for his friends—his
friends of old and his friends today.
He offered himself as a pure sacrifice for our sins.
The
Second Vatican Council had an insightful message about laying down our
life. In Gaudium et Spes the Church taught that, “Man cannot fully find
himself except through a sincere gift through a sincere gift of himself.” We are unrecognizable—even to
ourself—if we do not lay down our life in love for others. This is what Jesus did, and this is
what we must do.
Another
point—friendship. This theme also
has a special place in my heart.
For many years the description of friendship in the Scriptures has
inspired me. Here’s another show
and tell item—this is my Master’s Thesis [showing it in book form]. Don’t worry, I won’t make you read
it! The culmination of my research
came in Jesus’ declaration, “I
no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is
doing. I have called you
friends.” This features an
entirely new way of relating to God.
In
the Old Testament, only two individuals (Moses and Abraham) were described as a
friend of God. And such a
description was only used once!
Every individual in the Old Testament—David, Solomon, Isaiah and the
rest—were always called a servant or slave of God—never a friend. Now Jesus says to his disciples, and to
us, “I have called you friends.”
Remember
that Jesus isn’t referring to us as friends as a sort of drinking buddy,
fishing partner or chum. True,
Jesus wants to be with us through every day life, but the friendship to which
he refers is much deeper. In
ancient times, the greatest love that was humanly possible was the love between
friends. This exceeded the love of
a man and his wife! The spirit, it
was thought, was not clouded by passions and the love was a disinterested
sort. Jesus calls us to
friendship, and that is completely new.
Another
theme addressed—“You did not choose me,
but I chose you.” So often we
think about how we can grow in our faith.
How can I pray more? How
can I discover God in new ways? In
what ways can I serve better?
These aren’t bad, but the fullness of our spiritual lives does not come
in finding God—it comes in recognizing that God
finds us. There’s a great poem
called The Hound of Heaven which
describes God as a relentless hound that hunts us across the globe. God is searching for us long before we
search for Him. Our faith isn’t so
much as finding God as letting us be
found by God.
Finally,
everything is about joy: “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in
you, and that your joy may be full.” Jesus wants us to be happy. God wants us to be happy. The Church wants us to be happy. We can only experience joy through what
Jesus teaches us in this powerful passage of Scripture. We must lay down our life for others,
seek friendship with God, be found by God and allow joy to grow in our hearts.
I’ll
finish this week as I did last week—please take John 15 to prayer. Discover what God wants to speak to you
in this powerful section of the Bible!
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