The second summer I was there, my uncle and his family went on a one-week holiday down east, the first holiday he had taken in 30 years, and left me to look after the farm. So, the first day that they were away, I got up far too early, went out, opened the gate, called the cows and went into the barn to get ready. Then I opened the cow door and—no cows! Every morning that whole week I had to walk down to the pasture at the end of the farm and herd the cows up to be milked. Every morning! They didn’t know my voice, so they didn’t come when I called. Apparently, it works for cows as well as sheep.  (The sheep follow him for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow for they do not know the voice of strangers!  John 10: 4-5)

Which, perhaps, explains much of the news these days. There are many who don’t know the voice of the Saviour, or even that there is a saviour or a voice to know. From the bad behaviour in our own country to the madness in Gaza and Ukraine, over and over, we hear the stories of people lost and wandering, people who are confused and afraid and angry. So many in our time have only ever heard the name of Jesus or God as a casual curse. I heard once of a young child who was in church for the very first time. As the preacher spoke of our Lord the child turned to his mother and said, “Mummy, that man just used bad language, he said ‘Jesus!’ in front of everybody!”

How will people learn that they are not alone in this time, that there is one who is called Saviour because he saves? How will they see that there is one who walks beside them, who loves and cares for them every day of their lives?  How will they learn to hear and recognize his voice, to trust and follow him, if not through us? But we, too often, look at ourselves and we see our weakness and think, “What can I do? The Apostles did signs and wonders, they healed people, raised people from the dead, and spoke with power and in different tongues! I can’t do any of that!”  We forget that we are working with God. We forget to look at God’s strength and ability and instead look at ourselves, at our weakness and inability, and we freeze up. We must remember that “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10), and that we can be ready for those good works.

One of the most powerful examples of this that I have heard is a story American author, pastor and social activist Tony Campolo told of a time he visited Hawaii. Being from Philadelphia, the time difference had gotten to him, which is why he was wandering the streets of Honolulu at 3:30 am, looking for breakfast. Finally, he found a small diner open and ordered coffee and a donut. As he sat there, eight or nine prostitutes came in. They sat on either side of Tony, their talk was loud and crude, and he was just about to leave when he heard the woman beside him say that it was her birthday the next day.  Her friend scoffed, “Your birthday! So, what do you want from me?  You want me to throw you a birthday party?”

“Why do you have to be so mean? I was just telling you, that’s all,” the woman replied. “I’ve never had a birthday party in my life, why would I have one now!”

After they left, Tony asked the man behind the counter if those women came in every night. “The one sitting next to me, does she come in every night?”

“Yeah… That’s Agnes, she comes in every night.  Why do you want to know?”

“Because I heard her say that tomorrow is her birthday. What do you say we throw her a birthday party tomorrow night, right here?” Tony asked.

Harry, the owner, slowly smiled. “Hey, that’s a great idea!” He called his wife out from the back, and they arranged that Tony would get decorations and Harry would make the cake.

At 2:30 the next morning, Tony was back with decorations. Apparently, word had gotten out and the place was crowded. At 3:30 am, Agnes and her friend came in and everybody yelled, “Happy Birthday!”

Agnes was flabbergasted and shaken. She cried as they sang Happy Birthday, and Harry brought out the cake. After she blew out the candles, Harry handed her a knife to cut the cake.

“Is it okay if I don’t cut it just yet?” Agnes asked. “I just live a couple of doors down the street. Is it okay if I just take it home and show it to my mother? I’ll be right back, honest.”

“Sure, it’s your cake.” Harry said.

When the door closed behind her, there was a kind of stunned silence, so Tony suggested they pray. He prayed for Agnes, prayed that God would bless her. When he was done, Harry said, “Hey, what are you, some kind of preacher? What kind of church do you belong to?” Tony said that it was one of those moments when God gives you exactly the right words to say. Without missing a beat, he replied, “I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:30 in the morning!”

“No, you don’t! There’s no church like that!” Harry said. “If there was, I’d join it; I’d join a church like that!”

Wouldn’t we all!  A sign and a wonder. An opportunity to show the love of Jesus to those who might never otherwise have heard or recognized his voice. If we keep our eyes open, we too will see the good works that God has prepared for us to perform and then, who knows what signs and wonders we and God together will do!  More than we can ask or imagine; that, at least, we are promised!  In Jesus name. Amen.

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Of course, I do know why I find his commandments burdensome and that is simply because I don’t remember often enough that his first requirement was, “Abide in my love.” Now, when I hear the word, ‘abide’, I tend to immediately think of the old hymn, Abide With Me, probably because that was the only place I ever heard the word used. But as I thought of that hymn here, I realized that it is reversing what Jesus said, asking him to abide with me rather than that I may abide with him. And I thought of how many of our prayers and hymns are asking exactly that of God; to be with us, to be close to us, to help us in what we want to do. But Jesus is clear: first and foremost, abide with me, abide in my love.

Then, as I thought about abiding in Jesus, realizing that I was thinking of it as a quiet, passive, waiting for something to happen time, I was reminded of an experience, years ago, when I first watched the Hell or High Water event in Petawawa. ‘Hell or high water’ generally means for us ‘the worst that can possibly happen’ and is usually attached to a promise, such as “I’ll be there, come hell or high water!’”  But in Petawawa, it is an annual event, held in the spring when the water is still running high, in which kayakers, canoeists, and rafters race down the rapids of the Petawawa river.  I had only just heard about the event at a funeral I was conducting so, when the funeral was done, I went on down to the river to watch.  

There I stood, on the bank of the river in my formal clergy outfit, much to the amusement of some of the participants who didn’t seem sure whether I was there to bless the race or to offer last rites. But I watched in some awe as kayakers raced their tiny ‘playboats’ through rapids that looked like certain death to me. More, I saw others playing in standing waves that, I had always been warned as a canoeist, were a deathtrap.  One had his bow caught by the front of the wave, driving his boat under, but he just did a complete forward flip and returned to surfing the wave as if nothing had happened.  Then I saw him do it again, clearly on purpose this time!  They were having such fun that I kind of wished I was out there myself, death trap or not!

I realize that this event came to mind because what they were doing, those people playing in the rapids, was abiding in the river. It was not a static or dull abiding. They weren’t just sitting there waiting—they were at home, utterly comfortable, exulting in the power and the joy of the river. They had been there before, they were used to it, they were experienced, and so they knew how to use the power to create the joy. Me, I was just a spectator, a visitor, watching from the safety of the shore but longing to be a part of the action.

Too often that’s the way I am with Jesus. I visit, drop in for a chat, but I don’t abide. But I long for more, so I pray, ‘Be with me!’ Or I sing, ‘Abide with me!’  If, however, I want the real joy, if I want to be a part of the action, then I need to jump in, to take the plunge and abide with him. The more I do that, the more I learn to read and use the currents of his love, the power of his love, the more I find myself playing in those currents, lifted by the waves, racing through the rapids, even flipping now and again to immerse myself in that refreshing love. Then indeed, the commandment to love is not a burden but a part of the adventure, a joy in itself.  I might even find myself actually looking for opportunities to love, just as those kayakers were looking for waves to play in.

So may it be for all of us who love the Lord.  Amen.

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