5th Sunday After Easter – Year C May 15, 2022
John 13:31-35 & Acts 11:1-18 Panzer Liturgical Chapel
When we read the story of Peter’s dream from Acts, we see another great moment of conversion, much like Paul’s experience with Jesus on the road to Damascus. This is the very moment when the Kingdom of God was officially opened to you and me – Gentiles in every sense of the word. Peter had a radical insight that day – God’s kingdom is for all. And when we think about how long it took for Peter to finally understand what Jesus was always teaching and preaching and living, it gives us hope that God will never get tired of waiting for us to get it, too.[i]
It is good news for us that this is not just a passage about the things that happened to Peter, but insight into his journey of discipleship – Peter, the Rock, was still a work in progress… and he woke up from his dream with a new vision of what it means to be a part of the family of God… all persons are sacred, and chosen… and all who love God and the things God cares about, everyone who loves and does right by others, are accepted and affirmed by God.[ii]
We don’t usually argue about food restrictions or dietary laws. We don’t talk about circumcision, which was a major point of difference among many of the first Christians. But we are inclined to argue about other differences we see in one another and whether or not they keep us from being fully included and fully welcomed into our Christian communities. Just like the first-century Christians, we use scripture as a way to fortify our own opinions and beliefs, rather than go back to Jesus’ words at his last supper.[iii]
Having been in ministry with disciples, having shared in the Lord’s Supper and washed the disciples’ feet, Jesus begins to talk to those gathered about what it would be like when he was gone. In this beginning passage from the “Farewell Discourse” in chapter 13 through chapter 17, Jesus gives his final words of love and direction, knowing they would soon be parted by the crucifixion and death.
Jesus gave them this last great lesson because he knew that they still didn’t quite understand what his ministry had been about. He knew them well enough to know that Peter would deny him. He knew that Judas would betray him. He knew that the other disciples would stay at arm’s length through the coming hours and days, even though they did not know it yet themselves. He knew these things because he had spent lots of time with these people. He had seen them react to the good and the bad. And he loved them despite what he knew.
Jesus was the glue that held them all together. He called them from different walks of life to become itinerant preachers. For years, they followed him from place to place, being who he needed them to be. Whatever you call them – disciples – students – followers – witnesses – in all of those roles they were learning more and more about who Jesus was. But it wasn’t until after this night that they began to put the pieces together. It took the shared meal, the arrest, the execution, and finally, the resurrection to help them see the whole picture.
And throughout it all, love held them together. Love gave them the courage to follow when he called. Love gave them the vision to see a new future. Love kept them together when it seemed that things could not get any worse. And love called them from their grief to begin a new life together, becoming what we know call the church. It’s this love that guides and directs us here today, calling us to be the love of Christ in the world.
Many of us think that the call to a life of faith means we have to change the way we behave. But if we want lasting change, we have to first change the way we see and think about the world. The Christian life, a life infused with God’s love, is lived out in our relationships with others. It is defined by every moment of our being, not just when we have important decisions to make. As people of faith, the love of Christ must be woven into the fabric of our being, the foundation on which all of our choices are made.
We use the word love a lot. We use it to mean physical attraction, deep affection, common courtesy, or mutual affection. But that’s not all there is to love. And when we talk about love while our actions are unloving, it gets confusing for us and for anyone who tries to see the harmony between what we say and what we do. And the biggest problems arise when we try to live our lives believing in the power of our own gifts and talents, no longer looking for the Spirit’s presence in our lives.
At this last meal, Jesus made a promise – to the disciples and us. He promised us an Advocate – a Comforter – and to be present with us even when he was gone. And the message the Spirit speaks to us is always about how we are called to love one another. The Spirit’s conversation within us and among us feeds and nurtures us and, at some point, gives us the courage to reach out so that we can be the hands of Christ to others.
Love is many things. Yes, it is romantic and parental and friendly. But love is also found in sacrifice. Love is found in holding one another accountable. Love is about putting others’ needs above our own. Love comes in giving praise and encouragement when it is needed, but also the willingness to be grabbed up by the collar and hear, “I love you… How can we pull this all back together?”
In short, if we are willing to reduce Christ’s commandment of love to merely a reciprocal mutual admiration society, we are not doing a very good job of following Christ. Love is hard work. It takes a lifetime to do it well and with the right intentions. It takes courage to love those whom we do not like. It takes humility to grow out of our comfort zones and love others in ways we never imagined we could love. Sometimes it seems that we get nothing for it… except the satisfaction of knowing that we have done what Jesus asks of us. Sometimes we are showered with love we feel we don’t deserve. And ultimately, grounded in him, the love of Christ will always keep us connected to one another and to him.
There are many amazing stories about unending, unswerving, unbelievable love that are told every day, but some days you have to look for them. Read the newspaper, watch TV, listen to the radio, and you will get a taste of some of the horror that fills the world. Nobody has to remind us of our predicaments. But if we listen well enough, we can hear stories that amaze us. These stories remind us that given the opportunity, we can indeed follow the new commandment that Jesus gave – “love one another, just as I have loved you.”
I can think of many such stories and people. But it would be too simple to lift up the life of Mother Teresa of India, Bishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, or Desmond Tutu of South Africa. Their experiences are so different from our own that we might put them in a class by themselves. Instead, I lift to you a woman like you or me, who went with her fiancé to the Hyatt Hotel in Boston to arrange their wedding banquet. They poured over the menus, choosing foods, china, crystal, and flowers to reflect such a joyful day. The bill totaled over $13,000. Leaving a check for half, the couple went home, anxiously awaiting the happy day.
Well, as it turns out the groom was more than a little anxious. And the day the announcements were supposed to be mailed, he called the bride-to-be to call it off. In her pain and anger, she went to the hotel to cancel the reservations. The events manager could not have been more understanding, but about the refund, she said, there was bad news. “The contract is binding - you are entitled to $1,300 back. You have two options – forfeit the rest of the down payment or go ahead with a banquet that uses the money you’ve already paid.”
Now here is the part about love. It seemed crazy, but the more the jilted bride considered it, the better she liked the idea of having the party anyway. And in her disappointment, she decided to treat the people of Boston to a night they would never forget. And so, on a Saturday night in June, there was a party. The hostess changed only one thing – the main course was now boneless chicken – “in honor of the groom,” and she sent invitations to homeless shelters and rescue missions all over town. And that night people who were used to something very different dined in style. Waiters in tuxedos served senior citizens propped up on crutches and aluminum walkers. And bag ladies, vagrants, and addicts took one night away from life on the streets to sip champagne, eat wedding cake, and dance to big-band tunes late into the night.
Among Jesus’ last words was the instruction to love one another… that’s how people will know that we are his disciples. But Peter’s dream cracks that commandment wide open. Because we are not just called to love our family and friends, but to love everyone. Before, law and custom kept a tight fence around what it meant to be a member of God’s elect. But Peter heard a new message, which he shared with the other Christian leaders of his day, and which comes directly to us. And when we are deciding who and how to love, let us remember God’s message to Peter and Peter’s message to the church… Who are we to declare that others are outside of God’s love when God claims them for himself?
This is a hard lesson to learn and incorporate into our daily lives. The call to love others will often take us down roads we did not expect or even want to go. You know how it is – we map out a particular future for ourselves and are mad, sad, frustrated, afraid, angry, or infinite combinations of these distressful feelings and more when it doesn’t turn out the way we expected. But when we remember the infinite and encompassing nature of God’s love for us, and we settle ourselves into that anchor point, the new future unfolds in ways we never imagined.
But knowing the other 3 verses makes the song a roadmap for living a full, loving Christian life… walking, working, and praising God together.
.png)
God’s dreams are so much
bigger than ours – and if we are all brave enough, together we will change the
world for everyone. Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment: love one
another…and if you do this, people will know that you belong to me.” And so, we
go on… wanting and needing to know and love the world as well as God knows and
loves us. Walking, working, praising - knowing, living, loving, that’s what it’s all about. Amen.
[i] Brian
Peterson, Preach This Week, “Commentary on Acts 11:1-18, May 19, 2019, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=4061
[ii] Chuck F
Queen, Pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church, posted on FB in Progressive
Methodists
[iii] Reverend
Sue, What God has made is clean, Companions on the Way, May 11, 2022, www.companionsontheway.com
[iv] Peter
Scholtes, We Are One in the Spirit, ©
1966, F.E.L. Publications, assigned to The Lorenz Corp., 1991
No comments:
Post a Comment