6th Sunday of Easter St Andrew’s Milngavie 2024
Today we celebrated the 6th Sunday of Easter. Everyone was in good voice accompanied by John.
Christian Aid Week 12th -18th May
Envelopes will be available in church for donations.
There will be a collection for CA outside Tesco on Thursday 16h May – Liz Macdonald would appreciate any offers of help with this – even if it’s just for an hour. Please let Liz or me know if you can help.
This Week
Monday 3pm – Vestry
Tuesday 10am – Prayer Group in the Garden Room.
Thursday 10am – Said Holy Communion followed by coffee in Friendship House
Thursday 7pm – Ascension Day – 7pm Sung Eucharist St Bride’s – All welcome.
Coming up
Saturday 18th May – Church walk – visit to Inchmahome. Meet at the Port of Mentieth 11am with a picnic lunch. Booking of the boat is required so we need to have some idea of numbers, please let me or Tim know if you would like to come.
Sunday 19th May – 4pm Milngavie Choir Concert St Joseph’s
Readings for next Sunday 6th Sunday of Easter Acts 1:15-17,21-26 1 John 5:9-13 John 17:6-19
Today’s readings – Acts 10:44-48, 1 John 5:1-6, John 15:9-17
“You did not choose me but I chose you”
During these Sundays of Easter we have enjoyed wonderful readings from St John’s gospel great words of Christ.
“I am the good shepherd” was 2 weeks ago. John 10:11
Last week we had: “I am the true vine……abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine” John 15:1-4
And this week we have one of the greatest of all. “This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you” John 15:12
Although we are nearing the end of the Easter season, these are words which Jesus spoke on Maundy Thursday evening when he was spending his last few hours with his disciples, those who had been close to him over the past 3 years, those who had sat at his feet and listened to his teaching and saw his miracles. And here Jesus is comforting them and encouraging them as he gives them this command.
“You are my friends if you do what I command you” John 15:14
Jesus calls us to be his friends and the friends of God, and that is a tremendous offer. And in a sense a great shift of attitude. It speaks of the intimacy of God, no longer a God who is stared at longingly from afar or like the crowd whose only glimpse of the king is in the passing on some state occasion.
Jesus gave us this intimacy with God so that he is no longer a distant stranger but our close friend. Some of the most interesting words in this passage are when Jesus says that his disciples have not chosen him, but he has chosen them.
It is not necessarily we who chose God, but God who in his grace approaches us with a call and an offer made out of his love.
Last Sunday was Vocations Sunday, a day when the church reflects on the concept of vocation. It prays for new vocations to grow and be nurtured. This does not necessarily mean a called to the ordained ministry but a call to do God’s work in different contexts and it is extraordinary to think that even today two millennia on God continues to call his people.
We may wish to consider how that call may manifest itself in this modern and increasingly secular world we now live in. It’s a challenging time for the church for so many reasons. But we mustn’t be defeated because, in an ever unsettled and complex world the fact is the Christian message is such a good one. Now more than ever people need to know about the love of God and the hope of salvation which we freely receive from the risen Christ.
We are called to be witnesses of this as our forebears were. We see this throughout the bible God calls many people to him to do his work. In the OT he calls Samuel.
“The Lord came and stood there, calling “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samual 3:10
And he also calls King David.
“Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one.” 1 Samual 16:12
Isaiah’s calling is well documented and always read at ordination services. “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8
God often speaks to us when we are least expecting it, as was the case when Moses was called by God’s voice in the burning bush. Exodus 3:1-14
In the NT we have the extraordinary calling of Mary to be the mother of the son of God, the mother of Jesus.
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Luke 1:38
And then Simon Peter. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” So, they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. Luke 5:11
And finally, Paul the most dramatic of all “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” Acts 9:5ff
We are all called by God and we all have many gifts to offer and in different ways but God ultimately calls us to love each other and to serve. Jesus chose us first to come to him and then to go out to the world to proclaim the Good news of salvation. He chose us to go out to bear fruit. As Paul said in his letter to the Ephesians
“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us.” Ephesians 5:1