Every house it seems has a picture of rainbow in the window.

John 17.6-11                          Jesus prays for his Disciples….

⁶ ‘I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸ For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. ⁹ I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰ All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. ¹¹ I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

Every house it seems has a picture of rainbow in the window.

At St Barnabas, our children’s leaders and young people have made this beautiful rainbow to go into the church window, with the words “Kindness, Peace, Hope, Love”. They have also made sure each one of our older church members has a rainbow picture to display in their own home.

I love it that the rainbow has been reclaimed in these months, because it is a Christian sign of hope, taken from the story of Noah’s Ark and the flood. When the floods recede God sets a rainbow in the sky as a guarantee of the connection between God and all living creatures, all life on earth. A rainbow is a reminder of the possibility of a fresh, new beginning after dark storms have passed.

God binds himself to his creation in a beautiful arc of many colours. Christians believe that in Jesus, earth and heaven are also connected in a new way! Jesus - fully God & fully human. In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, we heard Jesus pray for his disciples, his followers, before he goes to the cross. The agonising pain of crucifixion, the dark tomb, then the Easter dawn Resurrection of new life from the dead, and the return of Jesus to heaven which we have remembered this week on Ascension Day – these events are still ahead of him, as Jesus prays that his followers, while still being ‘in the world’ will be protected from it.

Clearly Jesus is not calling his followers to turn their backs on the created world. Elsewhere in the stories about Jesus it is clear that he delights in the beauty of all that he encounters in the ordinary life around him, the flowers of the field, the birds of the air, the companionship of friends, the laughter of children. But Jesus is also quick to challenge injustice and deceit, and all that distorts and destroys the goodness of God’s creation.

As Jesus was, so should his followers be…

We have learned, I think, over the last months, just how much our lives are bound up with each other. We have come to value our companionship because we have had to be physically apart, aware too of the fragility of human life. We have noticed perhaps as never before the beauty that is around us, valued those we love. I hope that has led you into prayers of thankfulness,

As we have appreciated the beauty, so we have also been saddened by the way in which that beauty has been threatened by human selfishness and greed. 

We are joined to heaven, yes, but rooted still in the earth that is our temporary home.

Can I encourage you this week to give thanks for all that is beautiful, and give thanks for those whose lives have touched your own, by participating in the Prayer activity we have suggested, to take a cord, or a ribbon and tie 5 knots in it as you commit to pray for 5 people who need God’s touch during this week.

But also can I encourage you to challenge – in yourselves and in others - all that the world distracts us with, that is contrary to Jesus message of Kindness, Peace, Hope, Love.