THE FIFTH SUNDAY
OF EASTER
May 6, 2012
(Year B)
The Very
Reverend Donald W. Krickbaum
ACTS 8:26-40 — 1
JOHN 4:7-21 — JOHN 15:1-8
There is a well-known song which is
used often in the renewal circles of the church, which says, “They will know we
are Christians by our love.” There is
such great truth to that simple song. It
is the essence of Christian life – it is the essence of all godly life. Every major religion declares that love is
the foundation on which all people are called to build a life with God and with
each other. In Judaism, Christianity,
Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, among the classic religions, as well as, among numerous Native American
and other ethnic and cultural belief systems, all declare love to be at the
very nature of their faith – love of God, love of other people, love for the
creation and all creatures. We are
talking here of the universal, across the board, most basic drive and instinct
of human nature, however tainted and corrupted it may be by what we call
original sin. Love is the essence of
life and without it being clearly the priority of all living our existence will
be marred by war, greed, hatred, resentments, prejudices, anger, hurt and
unhappiness.
Christianity declares that love is
the basic Christian ethic by which all moral decision making should be made –
“what is the most loving thing to do in this situation . . .” The Shema is the most essential
commandment of the Judeo-Christian community, “Hear, O Israel, you shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all
your mind. And you shall love your
neighbor as yourself.” The Second
Reading today from 1 John is the classic essay on “love” in the New Testament (This
is a passage which we should read at least once a week, along with 1
Corinthians 13). If we were able to
live out that command to love one another, because love is from God,” we would
be well on our way to respond God’s greatest desire for us. Not only is this the foundation on which we
build our individual lives, we are also building a community – the community of
the church – whose corner stone is that “God so loved the world that he sent
his only Son. . .” To make it even more
urgent and relevant – this is the purpose and meaning of the life and work of
the Church. It is really that simple –
as I have probably said too often – it is very simple, not always very easy,
but very simple. To this end, as far as
I am concerned, the building of a community of love is the mission of this
congregation and the entire church. To
proclaim the good news of God in Christ, to live in fellowship with one
another, praying together, discovering Christ in the breaking of the bread,
serving Christ in all persons, loving God and your neighbor as yourself, and
respecting the dignity of all persons is the purpose of our existence. Anything, anything at all, that distracts us
or deflects this intent is a deterrent to the mission of this community.
But, oh my, how the world and our
society misuse and corrupt the use of the word “love.” It is extremely frustrating to live in a
culture in which words that possess such deep and essential qualities for our
life when used rightly are being bandied about daily on the lowest possible
level. Are you as appalled as I with
this latest genre of TV “reality” shows?
There are those geared to see how completely they can gross you out and
show you how can you humiliate your neighbor.
There were those shows in which the bachelor was trying to determine
which girl is the “hottest” prospect for a relationship or the girls who were
vying for the presumed wealth of some hunk who in reality doesn’t have money,
brains, or much of anything else to offer.
Then, there are ongoing daily fare of “soaps” with their sordid affairs
and vindictive actions designed to really destroy their supposed enemies and
cheapen any and all personal relationships.
Fairy tale weddings, romantic novels, and a long history of escapist
fantasies bombard us regularly. Even
those classic children’s stories like the Mother Goose Tales feature
fluffy love along with cruelty, deceit, greed, murder and evil step-mothers. All of which make for spicy drama, but what
of love?
We then arrive in church on a Sunday
morning to hear a preacher talk about “love” and our minds zoom off to the
fantasy land of pop culture or we just “zone out” and “glaze over” as the
sermon goes on with the expected and predictable pleas for a better
understanding of this most basic of all divine directives, “Beloved, let us
love one another. . . .”
While this is the basic building
block of our relationship with God and one another and lies at the heart of the
human community, it is really not all that easy. In fact, this business of love is quite
confusing and difficult for us to even begin getting it right. The Greek philosophers even had different
words for different aspects of love: for friendship, for affection like that of
a parent for a child, for erotic or sexual love which is a basic and vital part
of human nature, and, of course, divine love – agape. And I am reluctant, even if I could, to try
to draw a line between where one ends and the other begins. In fact, it is God’s love which is the common
thread which runs through the entire tapestry of life and which holds it all
together.
“In
every moment of genuine love, we are dwelling in God and God in us.”
(Tillich) That is the point which I
believe God wants us to hear. This is
the point I want to make and I think this is the point God would have us hear
this morning – “In every moment of genuine love, we are acknowledging that
we are dwelling in God and God in us.”
In every moment of genuine love, we
are living in God and God in us. Stop
for a moment, pause, and ask, “Have I never felt the strength of God welling up
in me, giving me a new insight, a surge of energy, or a flash grace for the
moment at hand, grace that can only come from a power beyond my mortal wisdom or
ability?” Think of those times in your
life as you turned inward and you know that you have found deep within your
soul that gift of God – undeserved and unearned, more than likely, but there it
is – the presence of the Holy Spirit, the power of God. That is the gift of love God shares in each
of us. That is true prayer – a profound communication – a deep connection with
the Holy.
Now, what does this imply for us as
we go about living today? From that holy
power comes the force in our lives that enables and ignites real friendship
for another and the willingness to accept friendship offered to you. It is the care for the well-being of others,
unqualified respect for the people around us, the ability to give to those in
need, a readiness to accept the care and concern of others, and the desire to
live in a community of faith and mutual fellowship.
The love of God, in which we live,
is, also, the source of the affection that we have for our families, our
parents, and our children. This is the
gentle love and warmth that St. Paul said was patient and kind, not envious or
arrogant or rude and a love which bears all things, hopes all things, endures
all things. It is that love the parent
has for his/her child that remains no matter what they may do. (This may be the closest approximation we
make to God’s love for us.).
There is physical love, the driving
force of our own sexuality and, with it, the respect and care of that
force in the lives of others. This love
is the one that can most easily be cheapened and most often abused, but it
cannot and dare not be denied. It is a
love which is very sacramental as we commonly define sacrament – that outward
and visible sign (physical) of an inward and spiritual grace. Physical love is a grace that expresses
itself in a deep and faithful relationship with another which is intensely
personal, precious, and reflective of a love which would not be fully expressed
without it.
Lastly, but most importantly,
soaring far above all forms of human love, there is God’s love – the unmerited, unlimited, unqualified love
God has for us. All love has its origins
in God and we do not live outside of his love.
As John said, “God first loves us.”
As promised, you have heard nothing
new here this morning. This is the old,
old story. It is in the energy and power
of God’s absolute and perfect love for us that we live. And that is why we gather here this morning
and every time we gather as a worshiping community – to sing God’s praises, to
be filled by his Holy Spirit, and to joyfully celebrate with one another that
we are living in God and God in us. We
are celebrating all about who God is – LOVE -- and who we are – LOVE.
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