Thought for the Day – Sunday 17th May
Our lectionary reading for today takes us to the gospel of John where
we read at Chapter 14 verses 15-21 these words:
‘“If you love me, you will keep my
commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,
to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot
receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he
abides with you, and he will be in you. “I will not leave you orphaned; I am
coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will
see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am
in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and
keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my
Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”’
It could be said that the only commandment John attributes to Jesus is
that of loving one another. According to John it is that simple and that profound,
so much so that John states this command again and again and again in his
gospel – we are to love one another. We already have the promise of Jesus who
has shown us how to love and when we obey his commandment to us and live a life
of love where we are reaching out to one another in love then there is also the
promise of God sending the Holy Spirit to be with us forever helping us in living
out our chosen life of love. Loving Jesus and loving each other in such a way enables
us to be in relationship with God and all aspects of God – Father, Son and Holy
Spirit.
Let me ask you something - when you were a child did you ever have an
invisible friend?
I like to read the books of Bill Watterson, who had a daily comic strip
in many of the American newspapers at one time. His comic strip featured the
characters of ‘Calvin and Hobbes’, named I believe after John Calvin the French
Reformation theologian and Thomas Hobbes the English political philosopher. I
like to read them not just because they are funny and you can see the minds of
your own young children reflected in the antics of Calvin and Hobbes but also
because at their heart they certainly do reflect a lot of theology and
philosophy at times as well as lots of fun!
Anyway, Calvin is a little boy who has a very vivid imagination and
causes his parents and his teacher much angst by his often irrational and crazy
antics – indeed his parents often wonder how he can be as he is because he is
nothing like them in nature at all! Calvin has a stuffed tiger called Hobbes -
well he is always portrayed as a stuffed tiger to everyone else in the cartoons
but not when with Calvin then Hobbes is portrayed as a very real albeit lovable
cartoon tiger, so in the imagination of Calvin he is indeed very real and he
cannot understand why his parents don’t see him as such. The cartoon strips
always feature them together having many adventures, sharing deep moral,
ethical and philosophical conversations, at times, with Calvin trying to make
sense of the world and with Hobbes always trying to be the voice of reason for
Calvin – but not always succeeding.
You see, Hobbes is truly Calvin’s ‘invisible friend’, a friend who is
there for him at all times – the one he always turns to, the one he relies on
for everything from advice, to sharing worries, to sharing times of great fun
and joy, to seeking answers for his questions. Hobbes is just a constant
companion to Calvin – dependable, reliable, faithful, loving, caring, guiding,
a true ‘sounding board’ when required – Hobbes is a truly genuine friend to him
in his world.
Although we may not have had a childhood ‘invisible friend’ as Hobbes
is to Calvin, our passage today reassures us that as adults we do have an
‘invisible friend’ every bit as dependable, reliable, faithful, loving, caring,
guiding and a true ‘sounding board’ for us when we need a friend and that
‘invisible friend’ of ours is the Holy Spirit as promised to us when we love
Jesus and keep his commandment to love others.
At all times, even in these strange times in which we are living at
present, knowing we have the Holy Spirit within us – always - should bring us
an inner peace for its presence assures us that regardless of what we encounter
in life our ‘invisible friend’ is always there for us and we are being
constantly held in that friend’s loving care.
Friend for Life – A Reflection from Spill the Beans
Here I am - your friend for life.
Jesus sent me just as he said he would.
You know Jesus - always as good as his word.
And every word he said about me is the truth.
Truth!
That’s my middle name.
We are going to get to know each other better, you and I, and we’ll
discover a lot of truths along the way. That’s my job - to keep flagging up all
the important things Jesus taught you, to help you see how it all works in
practice, so stick with me and you’ll have no need to worry about forgetting.
I’m on your side - your Advocate - defending you; cheering you on; lighting
you up from inside!
Friend for life, that’s me.
So call on me, lean on me, work with me, rest in me.
You might find me a bit of a mystery at times, but only because I don’t
draw attention to myself.
I like to infiltrate, motivate, energise, with no need to be
recognised.
I’ll be like a bubbling spring of never ending freshness; a source that
never runs dry.
This is what Jesus was preparing you for - not absence and abandonment,
but presence and companionship.
Prayer
Loving Lord,
May we trust ever in your abiding assurance to be with us, and let this
guide our journey through this life, towards the promised future. May we trust
in your Word and the knowledge that we are never orphaned, never abandoned, but
held close to your bosom as beloved. May we strive, each day, to follow your
commandments, to live as you have told us, to be better, to do better and do
our utmost to better this world. May we be willing to reach out to others in
love, with courage and with boldness, confident that our path has been laid and
is ever guided towards you.
Lord, we give you thanks for your love and for our life through you. May
we have the courage to show the power of love, as you have, to all whom we
meet, to all your creation.
Gracious Lord, we have our being in the midst of your unending care,
and we rejoice in the knowledge that knowing you means knowing love, today and
every day. Amen
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