Reflection on the readings for the 3rd May, the 5th Sunday of Easter
- May 8
- 5 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Readings: Acts 7:55-end; John 14:1-14
Today’s reflection is by Reader, Pete Gillions.
If this passage from John was accompanied with mood music, it would be dark and foreboding because Jesus is well aware that he will soon be facing His death. Jesus is together with His disciples and John gives us a very intimate insight into Jesus trying to assure his disciples. What is very clear to see is that the disciples desperately struggle to understand what is really going on. But it is the words Jesus speaks into their struggle that can help us in our own struggles as we try to connect our faith and our lives together. The truth is often our faith and our lives don't connect as well as we would hope. Not all prayers are answered in the way we wish. And sometimes things happens that do not make any sense to us at all. And we are left asking where is God in this. Jesus speaking to His disciples faces those questions head on with words of hope and assurance. But that doesn't mean all our questions are answered. Over the years I have come to two conclusions about what I believe. The first is our minds are simply too small to understand the mystery of God. The second is our hearts are too small to contain his love.
Our minds are too small to understand the mystery of God. For example, I was around 12 years old when my Grandad died and I was brought up to believe that he would now be in heaven. But I had a puzzling thought. When I get to heaven my grandad, Alfred, would be the old man I knew. But His grandad would expect to meet Alfred as a young boy. How does that work? Even Jonathan doesn't know. And there are much bigger questions about why God allows injustice and suffering. Our minds are too small to understand the mystery of God. But that doesn't mean it is all nonsense. Part of the problem is with the word believe. If you believe something then the implication is that you intellectually agree with it or fully understand it. That you have an explanation for everything. For example, science tells us day follows night because the earth is round and spins on it axis every 24 hours as it rotates around the sun. But our faith in God is a different but equally reasonable sort of knowing. Actually, a much better word to use in connection to faith is not belief but trust. That we trust in God.
So Jesus, as He is entering the eye of the storm says to His disciples “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You trust in God; trust also in me. Then he goes on to give the reason why they should trust him – because of what they have seen Him do. When all around them appears threatening and uncertain Jesus says remember what you have seen of God working in and through me. So what did the disciples see of Jesus. They see him as a man who is thirsty and goes to an unknown woman for a drink, as someone who gets tired and seeks solitude, as someone who enjoys a party, and as someone who breaks down in tears at the loss of a friend. Again and again the disciples see Jesus reaching out to those on the margins of society with words of welcoming acceptance. The disciples would also see Jesus to be a disturbing figure. Using powerful stories, He challenges the status quo and is particularly uncompromising when He speaks with the religious leaders challenging their misconceptions and assumptions. The miracles Jesus perform show that He is more than a man. And Jesus own words confirm this. Whatever people ask him, Jesus has only one answer, The Father. Where have you come from – The Father. Where are you going – The Father. What are you doing? The works of the Father. What are you saying? Nothing of my own, but what I have learned from the Father. Jesus is always completely free, completely Himself, but at the same time is closely related to and with the Father.
In fact it is the claims that Jesus makes about Himself make it clear that Jesus identity is not just as someone who has come from God but as someone who is God in human form. He claims to be the way and the truth and the life. Jesus is saying to his disciples even though you cannot understand all that is happening at the moment remember all you have seen and trust me. What the disciples go on to witness is not only the cruel death of Jesus but His resurrection and that changes everything. It changed everything for them and it changes everything for us. The heart of the gospel is that God is love, that death is conquered and we have a sure foundation for hope. We can truly trust in God despite all of our genuine questions not being answered.
A few years ago folk on a course I attended were asked to write their own creed, to describe for themselves how they see God. One lady wrote this:
“I trust in a God of Love. Who through their every move has guided, worked for good, persisted in pursuit of connection and relationship with me. Who has taken my faults and made them into challenges. Who takes my beauty and celebrates it even when I can’t. Who restores my soul, leads me to peace, and counsels me. Who desires me intimately as they do all who they have created. Who waits patiently for me when I can’t hear their call, sings over me while they wait, and embraces me when I come to them. Who has always loved me and always will.
“I trust in a Jesus who challenged. A revolutionary lover of all, who saw beyond boundaries of gender, sex, class and life choices. Who knew his purpose was to shift perceptions, and who died because he did so. Who was fully human and yet the divine dwelled within him, a model to us all. A man who laughed, cried, shared, tired, sang, shouted, needed and loved. Who lost everything, over and over, yet who gained everything for all. Who is my friend.
“I trust in a Spirit of life. Through whom connection is sought and relationship is build and is ever present in everyone. Who is not confined by barriers of disability, loneliness, misdeeds or disbelief. Who is central to our passions, our inspirations, our loves and our desires.
“I believe in a journey. Walked in companionship with God and people. Where experiences shape us and beliefs can change. Where compassion is key and learning from those we encounter allows us to grow. Where meeting with others and sharing support should be actively sought. Where following our God given hearts desires leads us down the path to our true purpose, and despite turmoil, gives us the key to peace.”
I wonder what your creed would be? How you connect your life story to the love of God. Last week at the meeting after Church we were asked to share some event from the past year in Church that had spoken to us. What was shared spoke of our journey together, the good times and the desperately difficult times. Our faith does not give us an answer to every question. But through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus we see a God who we can truly trust with our lives, who is present with us in our troubles and promises to one day restore all things. A God of hope and love who calls us to Himself and to each other.
Our minds may be too small to understand the mystery of God and our hearts too small to contain his love. But we have a God who says “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You trust in God; trust also in me.” We have every reason to do so.
Amen