easter 6 Love, Obedience and Victory

 

Sixth Sunday Easter

Acts 10:44-48   Psalm 98   1 John 5:1-6   John 15:9-17

We are not in control, God is. Our preferences, our rules, our expectations are not always His. The apostles learned this over and over. They were amazed when the Holy Spirit fell on Gentiles. The did learn, and decades later 1 John declared that “everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah has been born of God.” YHWH is not a Jewish tribal God. Jesus came for all humanity.

Does Acts 10 mean that “everyone is welcome” with no strings attached? Well, the story ends with these words, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance (metanoia) that leads to life.” (Acts 11:18) So, yes, everyone is welcome, everyone is invited to the repentance leading to life.

In repentance we abide in Jesus and learn to love. For Jesus, love is more than a feeling of affection, or passionate desire, more than an emotional connection; love is obedience: “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.” A commandment is an order to perform a set action directed to an end goal. Love is submission to God’s will, whatever the cost. Love is Jesus on the cross.

When we say “Everyone is welcome!” and “Let us love one another,” we are inviting people to obey the commands of the Father. Jesus laid down His life for the sheep—and so we must also learn to love in this way.

It feels overwhelming, but 1 John says that our faith (literally our loyal trust) will win the victory over the world. We weak and fallible humans, who are born of God, are actually conquerors. How can this be? Acts 10 provides an answer—the Holy Spirit. God is with us in our daily efforts to “pray, work and study.” God helps us reach inwardly to one another and to reach out to others, especially those in need. The Holy Spirit guides our discernment—teaching us what God would have us do and who God would have us be. The Holy Spirit purifies our desire to live as Jesus lived. The Holy Spirit makes us what Jesus is, an obedient child of God. So, fear not, in Jesus Christ we will conquer the world!