Lord, to whom can we go?

 August 25 2024: Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18, Ephesians 6:10-20 and John 6:56-69

Marc Anderson, an American entrepreneur, wrote an essay on artificial intelligence in which he said this: ‘I am here to bring good news: AI will not destroy the world, and in fact may save it’. [The Guardian Magazine, 24 August 2024: why we should fear AI by Yuval Noah Harari]

Those words may well leap out of us: good news and salvation.

The stuff of hope and healing, justice and joy shifting from the realm of creator to the creation’s creation. 

Image from Y N Harari's webpage for Nexus

For many of us, AI is the impact of Chat GPT and concerns about how to assess essays; or perhaps the worry of a takeover of humanly imaginative endeavours, leaving us with the mundane tasks we’d hoped to jettison. 

Rather than seeing AI development as a risk that we should fear, Anderson  regards it as ‘a moral obligation that we have to ourselves… to our future.’

Others sound a more cautionary note. 

For example, in his book Nexus the historian Yuval Noah Harari looks at the flow of information from the stone age, through the Bible to early modern history to today’s rise in popularism. As he examines the relationship between information and truth, he addresses the choices we face when confronted with non-human intelligence. 

How will digital empires impact on our freedom and security he asks? Can we find a hopeful middle ground rooted in shared humanity?

We have always faced such choices: about freedom and agency, power and “powers”. Today’s readings offer wisdom and insight into where we are to find good news and the hope of salvation.

The book of Joshua follows on from Moses’ parting words and begins to trace the history of God’s people as they settled in the promised land. Part of the story includes the mistakes that were made; the things that led to a time of exile - for example worshipping other gods, failing to show compassion and mercy to the vulnerable, seeking human rather than divine rule, exploitation rather than justice. 

All this is told with the benefit of hindsight. We glimpse one moment when mistakes are named and faithfulness to God is restored.

The challenges and difficulties of present circumstances are named. The promises, which may have faded from memory, are recalled. The bigger story of freedom and protection is retold. 

Remembrance leads to recommitment. Reverence of God leads to service of others. 

Faithfulness overtime relies on such moments of renewal: acknowledging what’s gone wrong, recalling moments of blessing with hope, and being intentional about our own priorities or actions - in worship and compassion.

That movement is not always easy. 

Last week we were immersed in reflecting on the living bread - and our need to be fed. We recognised that this bread gets inside us and changes us. Yet today, we are confronted by a critical moment of choice.

‘This teaching is difficult, who can accept it?’ says one of those who were following and learning from Jesus. In response, Jesus continues to hold out the promise of his words which give spirit and life. He continues to hold out the promise of his very self.

He also looks around him and asks his own question: ‘Do you also wish to go away?’  Do you go, holding on to the offence; or do you want to choose life this day?

Peter’s response is equally direct and from the heart:  ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.’ 

It is a choice which comes from relationship - just as Joshua and the people recommitted out of their remembrance of being beloved. Peter speaks out of being fed and made whole, forgiven and challenged, taught and embraced. He speaks out of being known and loved. 

We know that Peter will still run into misunderstandings; his ego will sometimes get in the way, his boldness will tip into denial. Yet he will also grow in faith - he will run to the empty tomb. He will be recalled, by name, to love and service by his crucified and risen Lord.

In this moment, though, he longs for and reaches out for the intimacy of continuing and deepening relationship with Jesus: of being fed by enriched bread, the bread of life.  

In him we glimpse something of the process of faith and faithfulness. Peter continues: ‘We have to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’  His commitment is rooted in relationship - in abiding in Jesus. He has come to believe as trust grows mingled with knowledge and experience. 

Moment by moment we are invited to live as God’s beloved, forgiven, healed and restored children. We are reminded that God has already chosen us, loves us. And therefore we are invited to choose God’s love in return. By the power of the Spirit, we continue to abide in this love.

Such choosing and abiding is a gift: individually and collectively. This teaching, this commitment, is hard but also life-giving.  

This is good news and salvation: hope and healing, justice and joy offered by creation’s creator.  Offered as Jesus places himself in human hands - reconciling the world to Godself as he is lifted up on the cross.

Good news and salvation is offered to us as we take the body of Christ into our hands; being fed by the bread of life, so that our lives might reflect his love.  We eat and live. Sustained in times of strength and weakness. Serving others out of that same well-spring of limitless love; using our influence, time, resources to bring life to others.

So we come back to the choices we make about our freedom and agency, power and the powers of the world. Our freedom is a great gift of God to creation yet we are so often pulled in different directions; our hearts divided over the desires and opportunities we should pursue. 

In Ephesians, those struggles are named - including the external influences and forces at work in the world. Perhaps we might add the technological to the cosmic powers we have to confront.  How do we seek after truth rather than controlling information; or respond with caution to tech that we do not understand, for the sake of our moral obligation to creation?

In response we hear of the ‘armour of God’: a visual and memorable shorthand for what God already provides for us as we navigate our world; day by day we choose to be clothed in them.  These are things which enable us to hold onto the hope of our shared humanity: reshaping our imagination; being creative with grace; seeking freedom rather than exploitation. 

The list begins with truth - the life and love of God revealed in Jesus and at work in us through the power of the Spirit. We are invited to a life not of self-righteousness but one built on right relations; we are to take as shoes whatever makes for walking in ways of peace. All that protects us - the good news of salvation - is obtained in Jesus' life, death and resurrection. To whom can we go? He has the words of life!

The sword is of the Spirit, the word of God: the daily choice of choosing life and hope, joy and peace, justice and compassion.  The creator’s gift of salvation to creation - mediated by human lives. As we remember God’s saving acts at this Eucharist, proclaiming the mystery of the gospel, may our faith and faithfulness be renewed in worship and service. 

© Julie Gittoes 2024

Friendship: virtue, choice and glue

 St Barnabas 2023: Acts 11:19-end, Galatians 2:1-10 and John 15:12-17

Call to mind for a moment, if you will, one of your friends. 

Perhaps it’s someone you've not seen for a while, someone you speak to regularly or someone you were close to for a particular season of life. A friend you’ve known for years or someone you’ve recently connected with. 

As you call them to mind, give thanks for them - their personality or influence, kindness or wisdom. As you think of them, notice the love or encouragement you’ve received from them; what you might appreciate as a particular grace from God in them.

In his 2015 poem, ‘The Friend’ Matt Hart writes:

You put your hand on her shoulder,

or you put your hand on his shoulder.

The friend is indefinite…

… you’re talking

together about the glue of this life…

He goes on to explore this hand on shoulder way of relating in friendship: the nearness and familiarity; there in the crisis and as we recount the best of things; in the dreams and the imaginings, in faith and belief;  the specific and the universal colliding and coinciding - we find, he suggests, a higher power in such a friend.

As we give thanks for the life of Barnabas the apostle today, we are drawn into a rich and enriching way of thinking about friendship. 

In him, we are given an example of someone who was generous in his time, resources and judgements. Someone who was unselfish in his service to others, even or especially in the face of disagreement. Someone who was gifted with a particular grace of being able to encourage.

Thomas Aquinas regarded friendship as one of the things to be most prized and valued on earth. Such high regard comes not from the good fortune of simply being blessed by a good friend, but by the way in which God, in Jesus, relates to us as friends.

For Aquinas, human flourishing and charity could be summed up as friendship with God. This gives us a common ground and equality which opens up the possibility of freely relating to God; it also opens up the possibility of friendship with those who are different to us or with whom we disagree. 

This takes us to the heart of John’s Gospel - where Jesus speaks not only of keeping God’s commandments of love, but also of abiding deeply in God’s love. Such abiding is joyous; such loving is generous. 

The one who had abided close to the Father’s heart comes near to us - placing a hand on our shoulder, inviting us into a life of loving service. A life rooted in friendship with God and each other - showing honour, sharing delight, growing in wisdom, deep trust and mutual love.  

This kind of friendship flows from the Father’s love for us - a love intimately involved in the whole of creation, revealed in Jesus and continued in the Spirit - a higher power of life, fullness and flourishing.

Aquinas dwells on the passage we heard today and asks: when all our Lord’s sacred discourses are full of his commandments, why does he give this special commandment respecting love, if it is not that every commandment teaches love, and all precepts are one? Yet, he goes on to note that the highest, the only proof of love, is to love our adversary…. Our Lord came to die for his enemies, but he says that he is going to lay down his life for his friends, to show that by loving we are able to gain over our enemies, so that they who persecute us are by anticipation our friends.

That sounds like a lot for us to take on - when our friendships are both close and indefinite, when our love of them forms part of the glue of life, how can we be bold enough to extend such love into the realm of disagreement?

My friend and colleague Gabby [Thomas] has reflected on this challenge in relation to areas of disagreement within the life of the church - and the calling, choice or invitation to mutual flourishing. She locates this first in God’s grace. Friendship located within God’s grace - putting friendship with God first and then friendship with the other.

Jesus says to the disciples: you did not choose  me, I chose you. And perhaps it is that habit of choice that we also take into our friendships - the familiar, easy, challenging and complex. This is Gabby notes a movement towards God and others in the Holy Spirit - it does mean calling out unkind or ungenerous behaviour, as well as offering encouragement and consolation. 

This kind of friendship, writes Aquinas, is: a kind of virtue in as much as it is a habit of choice.

Icon of Barnabas

Such habits and choices become the Spirit-infused glue of our life together.  We see this in Barnabas’ life - in the risks he took, in the boundaries he crossed, in the gifts he affirmed in others and in his patient encouragement in the face of disagreement.

He is described in Acts as: a good person, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. He was fully himself as Barnabas - created, called and chosen by God, with his own particular gifts and goodness. He was also a person of faith, open to the work of the Spirit in those daily, moment by moment choices and habits of friendship. 

He was so united with the apostles in prayer, fellowship and the breaking of bread, that he gave all that he was and all that he had to support the church. Personally, this meant selling a field and giving the proceeds to the apostles to build up the community and strengthen or sustain their witness. Collectively, it meant as we hear Paul recount in Galatians, that within the economy of grace and friendship, the poor were never forgotten.

We see the habits of generosity and encouragement in his dealings with others - with friends within the fellowship of Jesus. 

He gave the younger man Mark a second chance - making allowances for youthful energy and enthusiasm. He was a wise elder, taking time to understand and giving him space to grow in maturity. He consoled, encouraged and supported him. 

He gave the older man Paul a chance too - being generous in his judgement of him, based on his own values rather than the opinions and fears of others. With Paul in particular, he not only rejoices in the grace and gifts of others, but committed to the work of building up Christian community and shared ministry. He was reliable, compassionate and kind over the year they spent together.

It was in Antioch that we see Paul and Barnabas reaching across theological divides and disagreements; bridging Jewish and Gentile communities, building trust and loyalty, collaborating with patience and enthusiasm. Together, they listened to the prompting of the Spirit as they faced the struggles of the present - attentive both to the legacy of the past and the hopes for the future.

 

Barnabus in particular connects Jerusalem and Antioch in himself - in his friendships and loyalties, bound together as bodies within the Body of Christ. Through the one Spirit, two peoples and communities are drawn into a shared life. In friendships forged across differences, a new reality is made possible. 

 

Such friendship was not about being like-minded but the choice to spend time together and to find in that the gift of mutual flourishing. The commitment to friendship in community was a conviction of both heart and mind - building bonds of trust and offering time and money to that work. Their collaboration, their friendship, begins to remake the world.

Friendship is a way of holiness - habits, choices, practices which draw us more deeply into the life of God for the sake of the world. Such friendship embodies the depth of God’s love, the life and teaching of Jesus and the vitality of the Spirit, breath by breath. 

As friends, hands are raised in signs of forgiveness and blessing - tracing the cross in bodies and in air; the hands we extend towards each other also reach out to receive Christ Jesus in the gift of the sacrament.  Friendships may be indefinite, but here we are  talking together about the glue of this life…

The glue of God’s love mediated friendship with Jesus; the glue of the life-giving Spirit sculpting and reforming. In worship we attend to the dazzling brightness of such love; in the world, we are involved in responding to human need, to those places of loving concern, human and divine. 

In that task, may we be friends: united in prayer and the breaking of bread; generous in judgement and service; encouraging and building up; choosing those habits of goodness and kindness. All this, in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Spirit.

(C) Julie Gittoes 2023