And when he had come to Jerusalem he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.  But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.   So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem,  preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists; but they were seeking to kill him.  And when the brethren knew it, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him off to Tarsus.  So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was built up; and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit it was multiplied.

Today's Song of Praise is taken from Psalm 22:

        The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live for ever!
        All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.

        For dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.

        Posterity shall serve him; men shall tell of the Lord to the coming generation,
        And proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, that he has wrought it.

Today's Epistle is from the First Letter of John, beginning at the 3rd Chapter and the 18th Verse:

        Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth.  By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.   Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.  And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.  All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.

+ A Reading from the Gospel of John, beginning at the 15th Chapter and the 1st Verse:

        I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.   You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you.   Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.   I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.   If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.  If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.   By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.

        But here he was on their doorstep, claiming to be converted -- and if he weren't, he would be leading the Sanhedrin's police right into the center of the fledgling Faith.  They wavered, but then took the word of Barnabas that Saul of Tarsus, now calling himself "Paulus" -- the littlest one -- had indeed had a change of heart.

        They were not to be disappointed -- he immediately began aggressive evangelization, and got himself into enough trouble that they had to smuggle him out of Jerusalem, first to Caesarea, then to his native Tarsus, where, as a Roman citizen, he would have the protection of the civil authorities.  One wonders, however, if the last sentence of the reading: "So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was built up" is meant as an comment on Paul's work there, or as a comment on Paul's leaving -- i.e. that after he went, things settled down.

        Likely the former, as his record in later years -- the Epistles, both those which are undoubtedly his, and those written by his later students -- as well as the influence he had upon the thinking of the Church show.  Heretics still attack him for "having changed and twisted the pure thought of the original Apostles."  Along with Peter, however, he is the foundation upon which Christian and Catholic orthodoxy rest.
 

        The Psalms are the heart of both Jewish and Christian praise, and have been a joyful source of song and meditation for some three thousand years now -- since the time of David, in 1000 B.C.  The Hebrew originals are terse and often enigmatic -- where they do not appear to have been scrambled over time, which some obviously are.

        To translate the terse Hebrew into flowing poetry in another language is no mean feat, and has required no little poetical skill on the part of the translators.  The Church has tended to take pieces from the Psalms -- a verse here, a verse there -- and stitch them together into a song of praise for a particular occasion.

        In the Psalms, we often find joyful predictions of the Lord's work -- joyful expectation of His coming, and vindication of Israel.  We, of course, as Christians, interpret this as prophecy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ's coming, as well we ought.  Today's Song of Praise expands on several particularly Christian themes.

        First, the afflicted -- the down-trodden of the earth.  Christianity has always had a concern for "the least of my brethren", for the poor and the cast-away.  At our best, we have fed them, clothed them, and raised them up to an understanding that they also are the chosen of God.

        Second, the calling Christians have to continual prayer and praise:  "Praise Him, all ye nations, all the days of your lives.  We need to do outward work in the world, but we equally need to do inward work on ourselves, and one of those inward works is to illumine our souls with contemplation and praise of God's wonders.

        Third, Eternal Life.  "May your hearts live forever!"  The heart, it is said, is the seat of the soul, and Christianity has always taught that we are immortal souls which inhabit and enliven our mortal bodies.  We have Jesus promise that we shall all live forever in the Glory of the Father -- let us not forget it.

        Fourth, what is called the "Great Commission" -- to go forth and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  It is our job to convert the whole world -- not only people, but also the material and social structures -- to God's purpose, to bring them all to Him as a gift and as a joyful offering.

        And fifth, to pass this joy, this praise, this precious Faith to our children, and children's children -- that they and their posterity may join in praise, as we do with the Apostles and every generation since.  Come, Lord Jesus, Maranatha!
 

        In today's Epistle, the Apostle John works over the same theme that James does in his Epistle -- that it is not just by believing, by saying the words of Faith, that we are saved -- but by actually keeping Jesus commandments to love one another, and do well in the world. Jesus also said: "Not everyone who cries: 'Lord, Lord!' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father."

        The Apostles, including Paul, all make the point that you have to DO, as well as BELIEVE -- evidently they had those, in their day, who said that "All I have to do is accept Jesus as my personal savior, and I will go to heaven (no matter what I do)" -- as we do in ours.  This is hypocrisy and hubris -- and condemned by Scripture.

        John lived to an immense age -- into his 90s, dying about 100 A.D., and was immensely respected both for his age and for his witness as the last surviving Apostle.  In today's Epistle, he is talking ot his disciples and us as a fond father, delivering simply his constant message of Love -- the love of the Father, Jesus' love, and our love for them.

        The Father's commandment, he says, is to believe in the Name of His Son Jesus Christ (i.e. believe that Jesus is the only-begotten Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, and our Redeemer), and to love one another.  Here lies the precise difference between the Old and New Covenants -- while the Mosaic Laws enjoins the Jews to be just and righteous, Jesus' Law enjoins us to love both God and our fellow creatures.  "God is Love", says John -- and repeats it over and over in various way, so that we may get it again, and again, and again.
 

        Today's Gospel is also taken from the works of John, and uses the image of the vine to make the point that it is not by being ourselves that we achieve holiness and sanctification, but through Jesus -- by letting Him, His divine force, drive through us, and use us to illumine and transform the world.  We, in ourselves, are nothing -- as scripture says: "What is man, that Thou regardest him?" -- but "Through Him, and With Him, and In Him", we live and move, and have our being.  Jesus is the vine, and, as Dylan Thomas says: "...the green fuze that drives the flower..."

        In Jesus, all things are possible:  "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you."  By letting Jesus, and through Him, the Father, become the heart and center of our being, of our very existence, the wonders of the Kingdom unfold within us, and spread outward into the world.

        Ours is a joyful Faith, singing praise and Alleluias, marching forth to confront the darknesses of the world with love and light.  We are not creatures of the darkness, cowering in fear of retribution from a sadistic god, but true children of a loving Father, who calls us to himself.

        Let us go forth, then, praising and singing . . .

        In the Name of
        The Father     +
        And of the Son
        And of the Holy Spirit
Amen.