Easter 6B Panzer Liturgical Service, Stuttgart, Germany
Acts 10:34–48, 1 John 5:1–8, John 15:9–17 May 6, 2018
We live in The Between Times – the times between Jesus initial ministry and his coming again in glory. We use the lessons that he taught to prepare to be ready for his return. In the early Church, Christians believed that they would live to see that day, so the early New Testament writings are filled with encouragement and warnings to hold on just a little bit longer… Jesus was coming back soon! But Jesus didn’t come back soon. Almost 2000 years have passed since his death and resurrection… 2000 years of individuals and organized groups of Christians trying to figure out how to keep his teachings alive, relevant and faithfully lived.
And in those 2000 years, a lot has changed. Christian Theology – the study of God, Jesus and the living of faith – has evolved, and in that time, we have gone from being a universal Church with a single focus of caring for one another to multiple denominations, too numerous to even count. In the military chapel community, we specialize in downplaying our denominational affiliations, if we even have them. Especially overseas, we realize that our unity comes not in emphasizing our differences, but in celebrating our common ground.
For many, church is just a place, not a way of life. But a life of faith is more than just a Sunday’s work. A life of faith is a life of discipleship, of daily making the choice to follow Christ and to serve him and the world in all we do.
Jesus spent his ministry teaching important lessons. Following Jesus wasn’t about memorizing scripture or learning the progression of theological thought. Life with Christ was imitating the actions of Christ. It meant welcoming people that others rejected. It meant learning to see good in what the world judged as bad. It meant being willing to put the needs of others ahead of your own needs, even if in meant leaving your own life behind.
When I read the passages for today, I realized there were some things I especially wanted to make sure we all realize.
*WE ARE CHOSEN
In school, it’s natural to pick sides. We tend to hang out with people who are like us, who share our interests, people we like spending time with. But it’s easy for the groups that we hang out with to become exclusive, and for us to cut off others in order to keep feeling like the friendships we have are special. Eventually, we can think about friendship in terms of how it makes us feel, not how it influences the way we behave.
Jesus taught us something different about friendship. Jesus chose people to be with him from all different walks of life. He didn’t expect them to biblical scholars or teachers. He invited everyone who heard him teach to just follow him. He asked them to watch the way he honored God and treated others and to do the same themselves. In today’s lesson from John 15, we hear Jesus telling his disciples and others gathered the days before his death that friendship with him is one of the most important gifts ever given. This friendship is defined by more than just feeling good about being a part of the Jesus crowd. Friendship with Jesus means acting and living a certain way.
‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Jesus’ commandment is a tall order because it goes against our nature to sacrifice ourselves for others. Many of us have had some pretty good role models in that area as a part of the military community, but it’s also true that we don’t know what that will look like for us until we are confronted with the possibility. Following Jesus is a full-time, lifetime commitment. And it is hard work, but fortunately, we are not in this alone.
Remember this: Jesus chose you. He chooses you today. He will choose you tomorrow. And he asks that we respond to his calling … that we say yes to living a life of faith and trading mere happiness for joy… for completeness… for being a friend to him and friends to one another.
WE ARE CALLED TO LOVE
In the reading from 1 John, the writer reminds us that this whole life of faith is about love. It’s about loving God. It’s about loving one another. It’s about obedience in a way that is not a burden, but life-giving and life-changing. It’s easy to think about what kind of life Jesus has called us to live and to think that we are giving up something in the process. But in reality, whatever we give up makes more room for God, more room for loving him, more room for serving him.
Last week, the Gospel lesson talked about how we have to abide in God’s love. Now “abide” is not a word we use a lot these days, so I looked up the definition. The one I found most helpful was “to remain, continue or stay.” It’s easy to walk away from the faith. People turn their backs on church and on Jesus because of disappointment and anger and sadness. Some days it’s hard to stay, especially when we get distracted from the main thing Jesus taught. The world threatens to pull us in many directions, but when we hold fast to Christ, we have the possibility of living lives more amazing than we ever imagined.
Is this easy? No, it is not. In fact, it’s not something we can do by our own power alone. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we put into practice the most important lessons that Jesus taught his disciples. And in those moments, the world is transformed into the one that God created for us.
One of my favorite newsletters comes from Acts of Faith religion section of The Washington Post. It’s called Inspired Life and they always have stories of what it means to live by faith. In March, they told a story of a man who usually shovels the walks of the elderly folks in his neighborhood. But with 3 feet of new snow, he knew that he could not get the job done alone. So, he tweeted out the time and location where he would be on Saturday morning and asked 10 people to show up to help. 120 people were waiting when he got there, so they shoveled out the whole neighborhood, and then went out to lunch. 60 of them turned up the next day to find more people in need of a cleaned off walk or shoveled out cars.[*]
Last week, on a bridge overnight in northern Detroit, police said a man looked down at the midnight traffic on Interstate 696 and considered the fall, twenty feet down, as far as anyone could tell. The police came, blocked off traffic, and negotiators started talking to the man. He was deciding to jump or not to jump. But a little while later, a semi-trailer drove slowly past the barricade and pulled up directly beneath the man. A second rig join, then another and another, until there were 13 trucks, covering both sides of the 10-lane highway – a metal safety net to break the man’s fall should he decide to let go.
It took about four hours, but the end of the standoff, the man who had once thought no one cared, had two police escorting him off the bridge and into a hospital. Police cleared out of the highway, and the 13 rigs and their drivers also went on their way.[i] These drivers didn’t know the man. And the time spent waiting for this crisis to be resolved undoubtedly kept them from getting to their next checkpoint or deliver on time. But there was a universal feeling among them that if they could do anything to keep this man safe, that was the most important thing. When one of the truckers was asked about the help they gave, he replied that they were determined to see that he got out of there anyway but down… that was not happening on their watch.
For the youth and adults of the Appalachia Service Project in Kentucky and Salkehatchie Summer Service in South Carolina, it means confronting poverty in ways that once seemed foreign. Repairing homes and rebuilding lives are only a part of what those ministries are about. These camps put faith into action. Youth and adult volunteers head into rural, low-income towns to work in difficult conditions, allowing themselves to be the voice, hands and feet of Christ. In addition to the building projects, they also make bonds with families of different backgrounds from their own, learn about teamwork, and make lifelong friendships. How many of us are willing to go into a setting we are totally unplugged from our routines, strip of familiar roles and expectations? Let me tell you from experience, that is often what growing in faith often requires.
James Shaw Jr came out of a Waffle House bathroom to his worst nightmare. An armed gunman was reloading his rifle after opening fire in the restaurant. He came up from behind the man, wrestled the gun away and threw it behind the counter. Four people died, but many others were saved. And in the two weeks following, Mr. Shaw has raised almost $200,000 for the families of those killed and injured. He refuses to think of himself as a hero. He could have hidden in the bathroom until it was all over. But that wasn’t good enough. Saving his own life meant saving the lives of everyone around him. His daughter was counting on him.[ii]
The love to which God’s calls us is a love that is seen, lived out every day in the lives moms and dads and kids and friends who don’t live their faith in secret, but for everyone to see. Christian love is a love that is inclusive. It includes all people; even people that others may shun. The reading from Acts makes it perfectly clear – the Holy Spirit will come to all who will receive it and we are to love one another as sisters and brothers in faith. Godly love bears fruit in our lives – the fruits of the spirit are not money and power. They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.[iii]
Jesus talks about friendship in a way that requires action. It’s not enough to say that we are friends with each other or with him – we have to show it in the things we say and do. This is almost always hard work, and sometimes it feels like the messiness of the church is not the best example of what to be a friend of Christ.[iv] But that doesn’t mean we don’t have to live out Jesus’ friendship anyway, in church and in the world, abiding in Christ and living his love in every way we can.
Peace, Deb
[*] Allison Klein, "A Chicago Man Asked for 10 Volunteers," The Washington Post, February 12, 2018.
[i] Avi Selk, “A man nearly jumped off an overpass. 13 truckers made a safety net,” The Washington Post, April 24, 2018.
[ii] Amy Helf, Waffle House Hero, Honored By Lawmakers, Raises Thousands For Victims' Families, NPR,org, April 26, 2018. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/26/606004053/waffle-house-hero-honored-by-lawmakers-raises-thousands-for-victims-families
[iii] Steve Scott, “A Lasting Legacy of Love,” Holy Cross Lutheran Church and School website, http://holycrosslutheran.net/sermons/a-lasting-legacy-of-love-john-15-9-17/
[iv] Melissa Bane Sevier, “Friended,” Contemplative Viewfinder, May 5, 2015, https://melissabanesevier.wordpress.com/2015/05/05/friended/
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