And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.   God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.   (1 John 4:16)

Today as we come to the last weekday of the Easter Season, prepare for the great Feast of Pentecost and receiving the Holy Spirit a new in our day and time, we have the closing of the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of John.

John talks about testifying to Jesus and, “his testimony is true.”  Have you ever been a witness or given testimony?  I needed to call 911 one day after driving past an accident that had just happened.  I had thought I was a good witness until the operator began asking me questions that I could not answer.    Testifying is important and yet in our human condition, we all see from our unique angle and perspective based on our previous experience.  No matter how unbiased we try to be. 

John comes from quite a unique perspective.  I can only imagine the first disciples and especially John who would have been young when the events of Jesus’ life happened.  Not only young, but close to Jesus leaning on his chest at the Last Supper. 

All throughout and especially in his letters John shares about God and Jesus’ love for us. This deep intimate love he experienced as a close friend of Jesus. He further names that Jesus wants this love relationship with each one of us.

Explaining love is challenging.  Have you ever tried to make someone who is scared feel safe or loved?  How can it be put into context without their own experience of love? It is hard to understand someone else’s explanation of love.  

John testifies to something intimate and tries in the Last Discourse to expand that to include us.  Those who have not believed from seeing, hearing and experiencing personally; but believe on the testimony of others.  We are specially blessed.

Recently my Dad died and I’m reminded of the close intimate love of which John speaks.  God’s love is not a distant theological concept; but real actions, deep intimate feelings as close as a parent’s love for a child.

From today’s gospel, I challenge each of us to get in touch with that deep intimate love that helps us to know the love of God and reflect on how we might be able to testify to God’s love each day as we go about our lives.

Are we being asked to befriend someone we see who seems lonely, the widow who’s lost her husband after 50+ years of marriage, the child who has grown up without someone on which to rely, the coworker who seems angry, but may have something going on under that anger about which we don’t know? 

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.   God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. (1 John 4:16)