Sunday 14 May 2023

Psalm 66

Background

John 14 is a passage where Jesus is preparing his disciples for the time when he will leave them. Part of this preparation is promising the Holy Spirit. Another part of the preparation is to ensure that the work that Jesus was doing continues. The key to our ability to continue the work of Jesus is to love Jesus.  

Jesus tells us that to love him is to obey his commandments. I must admit that I tend to baulk when people say to me "You must do what I say to show your commitment to me". Such an expectation can easily slide into patterns of abuse. I do not believe that a relationship with Jesus leads to abuse; sadly, there have been people in churches who have used power inappropriately and created situations of abuse. We cannot condone such misuse of power.

Our faith relationship with God is an exercise of free will: we choose to believe. The expectation after making that choice is that we will continue to opt into Christian values and priorities. Jesus summed up his teaching as two commandments: to love God with all of our being and to love each other as we love ourselves. How we love and the things we do because we love are elective and not prescribed. We are not being told what to do, but are invited to choose for the best because we believe love to be the best way to live.

To Ponder:

• Power and the potential to abuse go hand in hand. If I am in a position of power, what can I do to make sure my desires do not become abusive?
• If I am in a position where I am dependent on someone else what can I do to make sure I am not abused?
• When does a loving relationship cross the line to become an abusive relationship?