From the Gospel of John for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, we hear that by believing in Jesus, we will do the work that He did and greater work as well. No pressure, but that seems like a lot to expect of a human compared to the Son of God. This is the mission that He has sent us on, and He gives us the guidance and gifts that we need to be able to accomplish it.
To give us the courage and strength to believe this, Jesus assures us that He is going to prepare a place for us, and He will come back and take us there. Talk about reassurance, stability and a solid foundation on which to stand! Talk about a great situation to look forward to! It seems like believing that would give us all the freedom in the world to do exactly what He asks us to do, but we still fail to believe.
This section of John’s Gospel starts with the invitation to not let our hearts be troubled. As we look around our world, we may have plenty of reasons to be troubled if the focus of our life was human stability. On its own, we would lose hope. What allows us to hope is the promise of Jesus. If we believe in Him, we aren’t stuck with just our own wisdom and power. So what does it mean to truly believe in Jesus?
I think it probably starts with believing that He exists, that He lived on the earth as we do, and that He embodies the power, glory and promise of God. He did some miraculous things while He walked the earth. Foremost among them was His ability to love His enemies and to do good to those who hated Him. Of course, He was able to multiply the loaves and fishes and give sight to the blind. He was able to forgive people of their sins and bring people back to life again. But He warned us not to become attached to signs and wonders, but to believe in the way that He lived. How do we enter into ordinary life like Jesus did?
I would imagine that we have been part of a church community in which the community notices a need and has to make a choice about whether to respond to that need. There is the proverbial question of whether we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. Do we, like Jesus, look out for those on the outskirts and peripheries of life, and make sure that they have what they need? Do we prevent them from being ostracized, simply because they’re in a minority or they have less power or money than we do?
This weekend we’re reminded of the
Greek-speaking widows and how nobody wanted to take responsibility for them in the early Church. The excuse was one that we’ve heard before and we’ve probably even used ourselves. We’re too busy. We’ve got too much to do already. Instead of falling for that excuse, the early Church asked others to come forward and ordain them for that ministry within the community. Isn’t that the nature of a true Christian community? Aren’t we supposed to make sure that even if some of us are really busy, we invite others to come forward so that their ministry might be recognized as well?
As we approach Pentecost, we are preparing ourselves to revitalize our Church through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We will all have some change and loss in our lives to deal with while we continue to try to be a disciple of Jesus. Unlike the early Church, which regularly experienced persecution and death, we will deal with some of our smaller losses and inconveniences. Will we let those keep us from doing what Jesus did and greater things besides?
Can we act more boldly for the work of Jesus in the world, or are we still too afraid?
Father Donald Wester is pastor of All Saints Parish in St. Peters.