John 15 : 9-17 (NRSV)
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
Daily Byte
In Jesus the whole idea of relationship with God changed. From a distant monarch, unapproachable and dangerous to behold, Jesus shifts us to discover God as loving, welcoming parent. More than that, Jesus calls us friends, close friends, friends for whom the Christ would lay down life! This is a God who is close and intimate, and a love that changes everything. But, of course, the love needs to be spread around - any friend of Jesus must be a friend of ours. That’s why Jesus calls us to love one another even as we have been loved, to befriend one another even as we have been befriended.
Think about the people you worship with each week. Who do you consider your friends? Who would you struggle to be friends with? Who is easy to love and who is not so easy? How does it change things when you realise that just as Christ offers to be your friend, so Jesus offers to be the friend of all of these others? Are you willing to try and fulfil the call to love them as Jesus loves you? As you worship this week, ask God to fill you with love for those who gather with you, and seek, in some small way, to show them love.
Pray As You Go
How many ways You have cared for us, O God;
How many companions You have given
to share our difficult and joyous journey.
And yet we forget Your care,
and reject Your messengers.
Forgive us for failing to recognise You
in those who are different from ourselves.
Forgive us for rejecting other people -
children of Yours who are equally loved.
Forgive us for believing the lie
that says we can do it our way, and we can do it alone.
Teach us to love as You have loved us,
to embrace and welcome others
as You have welcomed us,
to enjoy and commit to the family
which You have given for our comfort and nurture.
In Jesus’ Name.
Today’s devotion is taken from Rev John van de Laar’s outstanding book ‘The Hour That Changes Everything: How worship forms us into the people God wants us to be.’ Used with permission
To order copies of this book and for other superb worship resources visit http://www.sacredise.com
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