Sermon

Sunday 21st May 2023

Acts1. 6-14, Ezekiel 36. 24-28, John 17. 1-11

Cleanliness

I have a big dog. Which means I also have a big mop. We’re starting to get out of the muddy season, but as many of you may know from personal experience, The phrase ‘mucky puppy’ is well and truly deserved. This may even be the reason some of you have chosen not to have dogs.

 I do my very best to mop the floor, but unless I get a toothbrush a painstakingly work through each crevice, inevitably little bits of ‘muck’ will remain. And even if I did, I couldn’t keep up with the mess. As quickly as I have cleaned up after my dog, he has made a mess again.

This is true of us humans. Maybe you can remember a time when you got so dirty? Anyone wearing white right now will be on guard against marks and dirt - dogs included. We all get mucky, dirty, messy, and however clean we get, it is only temporary, we will need cleaning again.

 In our baptism today we will use some water there, but that is not because Isla-Mae is mucky. This is not a bath to clean her. This is symbolic of how God cleanses us.

Because unlike our attempts to get clean, when God cleanses us, he cleans us entirely. Through and through. Every crevice, every stain, mark. We are so clean in fact that we are as new. God is perfect. He doesn’t do things half heartedly. If God has cleaned you - you are clean.

He cleanses us from idols. Now when I think of idols I think of the golden calf from the old testament, which is a shame really, because idols are far from an old fashioned idea. I can’t imagine myself bowing down to a golden calf. But what about money? Status? What about social media? Fitness goals or a healthy life style? Whatever we ‘worship’ is an idol, when it isn’t God. He cleanses us from the impurity of that. Those idols can be toxic, but God gives us a new heart: a metaphor for our desires and our attitudes. He puts his spirit within us and he calls us his people.

Belonging

In our gospel reading, Jesus talks about those whom God has given him. When you belong somewhere, you have a level of access.

Protection

At the end of the gospel reading, Jesus makes a particular request of God. Jesus ask God in his prayer for us, the Father will protect all those who have been given to Jesus.

We often pray protection for ourselves and for other people. We recognise that there are threats and dangers of all kinds, and it is common for us to pray prayers like this, especially during times of transition or stepping out in to new things. As I move on to a work in a new area, I know that my friends will pray protection for myself and for my family. I know that baptism can come with an element of desire for protection. It can feel like an assurance, a covering, a way of declaring publicly that this person has been baptised in the Holy Spirit, that they have been chosen by God, and that this automatically gives a protection. There was a time when baptism was seen as an urgent matter. We tend to be more relaxed now about the timing because we understand that this the holy work of God has already happened, we are making a declaration here of what God has already done.

But what are we asking for protection from? I think it is really interesting what Jesus says here - protection that they may be one.

Protection from divisions. Jesus’ desire is that we may be one, like the father son and spirit are one. He wants this for us because he knows how wonderful that is. That is how we are designed.

But it is really hard. And we cannot do it alone. Relationships do break down, and while we might find that we are able to maintain unity in one area, in another we simply feel we cannot. Many of us will know the pain that can cause. But this is what Jesus is praying for us. And it can only happen through the Holy Spirit. Through baptism, we are welcomed into one family, the one body of Christ. And we pray that we may be one. When we have communion, this also is symbolic of us being one. This is God’s desire for us.

 When I think about being one. And the barriers that might prevent that. I think a out trust. And how both sides need to trust, in order that they may be one.

Ultimately - It is in God we trust. I cannot know for certain that another person will not hurt me, but I can trust God to lead me through any circumstance and that his love will never fail.

And as today marks my last Sunday here at St Albright’s, I would like my parting words to be a prayer, which I have sung many times and in many seasons, and I think is relevant for us all today.

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders. Let me walk upon the waters wherever you may call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, and my faith will be made stronger, in the presence of my Saviour.

I pray this for all of us, wherever we find ourselves on the journey, that we may grow deeper in our trust in God and know that we are loved and belong with him. Amen

Rev Anna Davis