Worship - 18 May 2025

Summary of this week's theme

In 1967, the Bee Gees released New York Mining Disaster 1941, a song about being trapped underground and straining to hear signs of rescue. It captures a deep human hope: that someone would try everything to save us. That kind of relentless determination is what some call fierce love—a love that shows up, stays, and acts even when things are hard.

Fierce love doesn’t require dramatic acts. It’s present when someone accompanies a loved one to a daunting medical appointment, cooks for a recovering friend, or offers sanctuary to strangers. Fierce love sees pain, fear, and need—and chooses to remain, to comfort, and to help. This is the love Jesus commands: “Love one another as I have loved you.” It isn’t reserved for family, friends, or believers. It reaches everyone—strangers, outcasts, even enemies.

Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus offers this kind of love freely—to Nicodemus, to the woman at the well, to the man by the pool. He doesn’t require belief, background checks, or proof of worthiness. When he feeds the crowds, he doesn’t ask if they truly need the food. He simply feeds them. That is fierce love: healing, feeding, abiding.

God’s love is abundant and indiscriminate—something Peter had to learn the hard way. In Acts, Peter is challenged for baptising Gentiles, for stepping beyond the bounds of religious purity. But after a divine vision, Peter realises that only God can declare who is acceptable. Inclusion, not exclusion, is the mark of Jesus’ way.

Key to all this is listening. Every major conversion in Acts—Saul, Peter, Cornelius—involves someone listening deeply, often to an unexpected voice. And listening requires humility, courage, and persistence—the same qualities that define fierce love.

In today’s world, listening is listening is not a well-developed skill. But as disciples—learners—we are called to practice it. We may not always understand God’s love or agree on who is deserving of it. But it’s not up to us. God loves without limit—us, and the people we struggle to love. So our calling is clear: to love one another as Jesus loves us. Fiercely