Weekly Lessons and Sermon
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be always
acceptable in your sight, oh Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen.
acceptable in your sight, oh Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen.
The 15th chapter of John’s gospel is filled with love.
And actually, what we heard today: Picks up exactly where we left off last week. Last week, We heard about the love that’s necessary for community: As Jesus described the vine and the branches: As the vine and the branches live together: Keeping each other alive. This week, we continue reading this profound and moving chapter of the Bible, Where the word “love” is repeated nine times in only eight verses. The word “love” is used in this chapter: Both as a noun and a verb. There’s no escaping love when you read chapter 15 of Johns Gospel. Love is a big deal. And when we look closely: We can see that this chapter also describes the essence of the human condition: The essence of love: In both its beauty and its heartbreak: As Jesus takes the big risk of love: Laying his heart bare and vulnerable to his friends: Telling them: “I have chosen you: You didn’t choose me: I have loved you.” Do you remember ever taking that risk? The risk of telling someone you love them? The risk of that vulnerability: That potential for pain after you say those words? Jesus takes this risk boldly: As he not only loves: but literally lays down his life. And the risk here, Is even bigger: Because Jesus makes it very clear that this relationship: This mutual love: is BIG business. Big commitment. It goes even beyond the general two-way relationship, Because the source of all this love is God the father. Jesus says, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.” Just like we heard last week, in the Epistle of 1 st John: We love: because God first loved us. LOVE: Is a big relationship: A relationship between us and those that we love: But whether we like it or not: it also includes God: Because it ultimately comes from God. And that’s not all: Jesus continues with the language we heard last week as he says: Abide in my love. Meaning: Stay in my love. Remain within it. Live in my love. The verb in Greek has the sense of continuing: Forever: Eternal. Not a short-lived experience. Not mere infatuation. But real, abiding love. Abide in my love: Live in my never ending love. This is a powerful state of being: And it doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s intimately related to our actions, our living, and our being: Which is why Jesus says: “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.” And here’s the rub. Without keeping God’s commandments, we can’t have love: and we can’t remain in this ever abiding, living, love. But It’s not about punishment: It’s not about eternal damnation. Yet it IS about the fact that we just CAN’T have love: without following God’s commandments: Because it’s only because of God’s way of being: Commanding us to SHARE in that way of being: that love even exists in the first place. Jesus exemplifies this relationship of love: Of following God’s commandments: Staying in constant connection with God through prayer and loving communion. All the way to the cross… So what’s the commandment that we must obey in order to abide in the love of Christ? Jesus directs us from himself, and through himself to love one another. All of the old ritual and sacrifices and strict law following are nothing. What matters is how we treat one another. We hear this same thing in 1 st John today: “By this we know that we love the children of God, When we love God and obey his commandments.” This love: This abiding: Is circular: Perpetuating: Continuing… Never ending. And keeping God’s commandments bears fruit. That we will have joy: The joy of knowing that we are loved by God. It’s A state of being: Of knowing that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God. But we really only have joy: If we love: Because Joy: without love is impossible. As impossible as life without love. As impossible as the branches without the vine. It just can’t happen. In keeping the commandment to love: The possibilities are endless. Jesus tells his disciples: “I have appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.” And a few years later: Paul will list the fruits of the spirit in his letter to the Galatians. The fruits: Of being one with Christ: Of abiding in Christ: Of keeping God’s commandments: The fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are ways of being: Ways of being that are not earned, Not taught: But springing from abiding in Christ’s love: Living in Christ. Being in Christ. And the BEST part: Is that these fruits: This abiding love, Are not just for Jesus’ friends. They’re for everyone. No one is left out in the Cold. Peter had this Epiphany, during a visit to the gentiles: As we heard today in Acts. After Peter preached a sermon on the meaning of the Good News, The Holy Spirit visited all who were present: Not just the Jews, But also the Gentiles. Nobody expected that. And Peter finally understood: That the love of Christ is for all. He said, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people?” For Jews in this time: This was wacky: How could you baptize someone who wasn’t a Jew: Someone who didn’t follow the law? But Peter knew. Knew suddenly: What Jesus really meant about the New Law: About the greatest commandment: About loving others: ALL others. Peter knew: That the all embracing love of Christ is really real: Calling him, in turn to embrace others: Even the gentiles. And we are called to do the same. To live in this cyclical cycle of Love: Which comes from God: And transforms us into lovers ourselves: Continually living, abiding, and bearing much fruit. Amen.
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I’ve been selfishly looking forward to this week for a long time.
Because today, we read some of my TOP favorite readings in the entire Bible. My ALL time favorites. I just can’t get enough of ALL of the Good stuff today. In the reading from Acts: We see the Ethiopian Eunuch: Who gets baptized: And longs for those living waters to rush over him. We see that God’s love has no boundaries: That the waters of baptism are offered to everyone: Even one who was considered the lowest of the low. In 1 st John: My favorite book of the Bible: We hear today: My absolute favorite verse: Which is: “We love, because he first loved us.” And then: my second favorite verse: “Love is from God: everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” Our ability to love: Is that divine part within us: God’s very self: Dwelling inside us: Giving us the capacity to do the same. In the Gospel of John: We hear Jesus’ famous words about the vine and the branches: Which is: My favorite “camp Gospel” When I was a church camp director: I would always read this lesson when we hiked up the mountain to pray and have communion together. We would look at the trees: With all of the branches: Each branch important, significant, beautiful, and alive. Each branch: a part of what makes the tree the tree. There’s SO much good stuff this week. Stuff about love. Stuff about community. Stuff about belonging. Stuff about knowing: Stuff about God knowing us: And us knowing God: Stuff about God loving us: And us loving God and each other. Yet all of this stuff: All of it: is deeply connected. Because without love: You can’t have community. Without community: You can’t have belonging. Without community: You can’t have baptism. Without love: You can’t know someone. You can’t care for someone. You can’t be a branch on the vine. Without love…. There would be nothing… We would be nothing… But really: Have you ever thought about that? About life without love? And ALL kinds of love: Without your children? Without your spouse? Without your parents? Without your friends? Even without your pets? (as we noted last week!) There’s a really wonderful song: That was on the top pop charts almost a decade ago. It’s Called: “Nothing without love.” And its lyrics speak of this deep, deep truth. Of the pain of love: Of the joy of love: Of the necessity of love: How love keeps us alive. The song is on the pop charts: But it’s actually a pretty Christian song: Which to me: Is yet more proof that God is indeed real: That such truth would be portrayed in popular music and media. That God can work: And be present both inside and outside the church: Just like the in the conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch. The song begins with these words: “I am nothing without love I'm but a ship stuck in the sand Some would say that I'm all alone But I am, I'm nothing without love” This song: Like our readings today, Points to the fact that: A life without love: Is no life at all. And Love is who God is. God is Love: And those who abide in love abide in God: And God abides in them. Abide: As in: Live within: Through God loving us: Through God BEING love: We become love: Not because we’re good at it: But because God Loves US. And only because of God’s love: Are WE able to love: And able to abide in God and each other: To live within each other. To live for each other: To be the branches on the vine. And that’s the other thing that I love about this Gospel reading: Jesus says: “I am the vine, you are the branches.” BranchES: It’s Plural. Not: I am the vine: you are the branch. The branches. If one branch is cut off: The vine is never again the same. And if there’s more than one branch: That means: That it’s not just about you. It’s about the health of the whole vine. It takes all of the branches: And it takes Love: as those on the vine Mutually abide in each other: Living within each other: Truly loving one another. And that’s not as sweet as it sounds. One of my all-time most stood by phrases is that: Love is the work of the relationship. Love IS work. It’s not easy. It’s messy, it’s dirty: Sometimes it hurts. The whole vine: All of the branches: Have to cooperate: In order to stay alive. But thank God: For teaching us how to love: For showing us what love is: For reminding us that love means caring for the whole vine: Not just for ourselves. Thank God: For showing us: For teaching us: For reminding us, as First John says: That “There is no fear in love: But perfect love casts out fear: For fear has to do with punishment.” Perfect love: In community: Casts out fear: Where there’s no fear of judgment. Because God’s love in Christ has replaced the fear of Judgement. And in that perfect love: Replacing fear, Replacing judgment: The vine and the branches remain alive. Notice: The image in this Gospel reading is not of some “thing” Some object: Like a statue, or a chair: But a LIVING thing: The vine and the branches. This is the truth of Easter: This is the truth of the whole Christian project: That we are Nothing without love. That Love overcomes death: Love overcomes the grave: Love is life. Life forever: In mutual abiding: Living within God’s love: As just one branch on the larger vine. Amen.
Today: is the fourth Sunday of Easter.
Meaning: It’s STILL Easter!! And the fourth Sunday of Easter is always Good Shepherd Sunday. This year, the images of sheep are everywhere: We hear two of the most familiar and cherished pieces of scripture: The 23 rd Psalm, which states “The Lord is my shepherd.” And the section from John’s gospel where Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.” Over the centuries: The image of Jesus as the good shepherd: And of his followers as sheep has been very appealing. The amount of stained glass, painting, music, and poetry that it has inspired is staggering. And the number of sermons, articles, hymns, retreats and meditations are also beyond measure. People cherish the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd: About as much as they cherish the 23 rd psalm. Yet in all the words read and heard on the subject of the Good Shepherd and his sheep: There’s one thing that no one talks about: And it has to do with one simple question: Why do shepherds have sheep in the first place? Shepherds keep sheep for pretty much the same reasons that ranchers keep cows. Being a shepherd and taking care of sheep: And being a sheep and having a shepherd are: Sooner or later: About some kind of profit. In terms of sheep and cattle, there’s stripping, selling, And sometimes killing and eating. There’s just no avoiding it. And this little reality never shows up in the adorable stained glass windows or greeting cards. One of the problems with the shepherd—sheep image, (besides the stripping, killing, selling, and eating part) Is that sheep have a reputation of being passive, stupid, unimaginative, and dull. And if we are the sheep of God’s pasture, Does that mean we are supposed to be like sheep? Cute, but lazy and dumb: Only able to let the shepherd take care of us, because there’s no way we could live on our own? Is the whole point of the story that we aren’t worth very much: Aren’t very capable? Definitely not. It’s actually the exact opposite. First of all: shepherds keep sheep because the sheep are useful, important, and necessary. Because if the sheep don’t produce, The shepherd is flat out of business. Which brings us back to the part about stripping, Killing, selling and eating. The sheep provide something to the shepherd. The sheep have something important to give. This is the part of the Good Shepherd business that is about us: It’s about our part of what’s going on with this familiar talk of green pastures and still waters: We have something to give. And not only that: But God expects things of us. And God also trusts us to carry it out. Jesus isn’t going to leave us to the wolves, or only keep the most useful sheep. Instead, God cares for us and has blessed us. Laid down his life for us: A freely given gift of love and continued care. However, there ARE expectations: We have to give back what we have. (It might not be wool, or meat, or horns.) But the point is that: The care that God offers us is intended to lead to something: Something real and substantial. We are to produce, To give back: from who we are: The beloved sheep of God’s flock. Of course, we don’t grow wool: That’s not in our nature. But it is in our nature to worship and to serve: To reach out and to share: To study and to pray: To increase in holiness, and to tell the truth: To seek justice. It’s in our nature to choose to grow: Even to the point of change, and transformation: And to do this in community: With the rest of the flock of sheep. At the same time: The image of being Christ’s sheep: Also means that each and every one of us has purpose, and value, and worth: That each is important. Each and every one CAN contribute, And is CALLED to contribute, In one way or another, to the mission of the church. You can’t be too young, Or too old, Too new, Or too sick, Too ordinary, Or too extraordinary, Too busy, Or too anything: To avoid the reality of belonging to God, and having something to give out of that belonging. We are needed. And without us: Without any single one of us: The mission and work of the Good shepherd and His Church are impoverished. As the sheep of God’s flock: We matter: And when you matter: It means you have something to give. So…. It also makes me think about my cats. Many of you saw this picture of my sweety boy Jem. Who wouldn’t let me write THIS VERY SERMON: Because he needed to be on my back. He needed some cuddles and care. And people had a lot of great comments on social media about Jem helping me with my sermon. That he might be whispering something to me, and that I should cuddle up and listen. And that’s true. I don’t mean to say that we are God’s “pets” That’s weird. But if you have a pet: You know what it’s like: You know what joy and comfort they bring. You know that they ACTUALLY matter in your household. (Even the ones that are super annoying… I have one cat that’s insanely annoying) But I still LOVE her. And she still has something to offer. Something beautiful, and unique, and comforting. But here’s the REAL truth. When my sweet, insane cat jumped on my back and needed my attention: I stopped writing this sermon, And I cuddled him: Giving him what he so desperately longed for: And that little goon can tell when I DESPERATELY need a cuddle, He offers MUCH to me. God does that for us. As the sheep of the good shepherd: God will drop everything for just one of us that is lost: For just ONE Of us who needs a cuddle. And God does that because WE MATTER. And we all have something to give. We’re not God’s Pets, But pets do give us a tiny glimpse into the shepherd and sheep image that can be helpful. We are valuable assets that matter: Having Much to offer: So much so that God will drop everything for just one of us. And the proof: Is that God Knows us: Jesus, the Good shepherd says, “I know my own, and my own know me.” He knows what we’re capable of: He knows our gifts, He knows our names: And through our service in the world: We will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen. Announcements:
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May 2024
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