The Transforming Power of Love

 

This has been a particularly rough patch for me personally. I have lost two friends, one a year older...the other a year younger than me... this past month to cancer.  In between mourning and funerals was the latest Mickee Faust cabaret, a celebration of new ministry in Valdosta at Christ Church, and my spring clergy conference on the Georgia coast. Following that, I traveled to last week to Fayetteville to participate in the funeral of my younger friend, the Rev. Leslie Roraback. And after our service at St. Barnabas this past Sunday, I drove through a massive traffic headache on I-75 to get to back home to Tallahassee to attend the memorial service St. John's held in honor of Leslie who had been their associate rector.

I didn't know if I would have the ability to write a sermon through exhaustion and tears. But I did. And I have a feeling that I had a couple of angels who were hovering over my shoulders to help me get it done in fits and starts. See what you think.

Texts: Acts 7: 54-60, John 14:1-14

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Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart.

To actually walk the walk…and talk the talk…of the one who keeps pointing the way to Love takes practice…patience…and an ability to handle the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and the sea of troubles that will come.

Now I want to be clear: to follow Jesus and to live out our Christian faith in this world does not necessarily put us in mortal danger.

Despite what some might want to say and trumpet on any number of social media platforms…we Christians of the United States are not a persecuted minority.

This is not Somalia or North Korea.

Even with the declining number of people attending churches in this country…. Christians still have an out-sized statistical advantage over other religious groups.

And we are still ahead of that growing number of people who say they don’t have any religious affiliation at all.

Of course…that could change…in part because of the way those who claim to be Christian are behaving…making gods of out of other “things”…and not following Jesus.

But if we can take anything away from the stoning death of Stephen…the first deacon and martyr of the church… it’s that when we have the courage to speak from a place of faith in Jesus…not everyone is going to receive it…and we may find ourselves facing hostility because of it.

Because the way…the truth…and the life that Jesus calls us to is one that doesn’t fit with what the culture counts as strength.

Jesus was about teaching us to keep looking beyond labels…and recognize the divine spark that lives in all creation…both humans and animals and even in the plant life around us.

The more we seek connection to one another…the closer we are getting to that vision…that dream of God…where we might stop falling into the trap of wanting to dominate others in order to feel as though we have some self-worth.

Now the interesting thing about Stephen is that he apparently was very good at living into his faith…and doing the task that he was given to do: to love and care for the Hellenistic widows of Jerusalem…helping to feed them as well as the other widows in the city.

The whole reason the apostles made Stephen and a few others into deacons was because the needs of both native Jews to Jerusalem and the Greek-speaking population were so great they needed some extra help.

But by Stephen doing these acts of charity…and being faithful… he aroused the jealousy of some.

And…just like with Jesus… Stephen’s detractors trumped up charges against him…and got some people to lie about him to the council.

But unlike Jesus…this man…described as having the face of an angel…decided to launch into a lengthy…detailed lecture…tracing the history of Israel…and the way that the people turned on Moses and the prophets.

And then he capped it off with accusing the council members of being stiff-necked and killing Jesus.

While his speech was passionate…it wasn’t the best way to win friends and influence people.

Just in the same way…screaming Bible verses into a bullhorn and condemning people to hell if they don’t profess a belief in Jesus is not the best kind of evangelism.

In fact…it’s pretty repulsive to most people.

There’s a reason so many have turned away from the church since the days of the Baby Boomers.

So this diatribe of Stephen’s wasn’t his best moment…and still…it ended up serving a greater purpose.

His killing was an awful and extreme act of retribution.

And…just as it did at the crucifixion…the attack on Stephen sent the disciples scattering.

And out of those ashes came new growth.

The disciples…coming in contact with others outside of Jerusalem…began to quietly and carefully…share the story of Jesus.

Philip would encounter the Ethiopian eunuch who…upon seeing a pool of water…asked “What is to stop me from being baptized?”

The same happens with Peter who finds the Roman centurion Cornelius and his family in Caeserea.

And as we heard this morning…standing in the crowd that was attacking Stephen was Saul…who would undergo his own massive conversion on the road to Damascus…and would become the prolific New Testament writer Paul.

What others did as an act of evil…God salvages and Love transforms it for good.

I think about these moments such as this one with Stephen…and the crucifixion of Jesus.

I note that in both cases…they didn’t give in to bitterness.

Even as others are attacking them and killing them…they still kept their eyes fixed on Love.

For Jesus…he prayed Psalm 22... a psalm of lament that ultimately keeps the heart fixed on God who is merciful.

For Stephen… he had that vision of Jesus at the right hand of God… and his faith and trust in Jesus’s ways led him to pray for forgiveness for those persecuting him.

I think about how anchoring ourselves in our faith…tapping into that lifeblood of Love that is around us…is our true superpower in times of trouble and turmoil.

It has helped me and so many others when things in the world seem so bleak…or unjust and out of whack with that vision that God has of us living in harmony with each other and the rest of creation.

I’m wondering who else might have had that experience?

Have any of you experienced something that felt like a set back of some kind…and through some form of prayer or even pleading to God… that you found your way through that time of trouble?

(Leave a moment for this. If nothing comes…move on.)

The thing is that we are always going to face challenges and difficulties. And Jesus knew that would happen big time for the disciples.

That’s why John records his extended goodbye speech to them…starting with this famous portion with “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

Those who have learned from Jesus…and listened to Jesus…and absorbed all that…have all that they need to survive life’s tempests as they come.

When we partake of the bread and the wine at this table…we’re not only receiving into our bodies the elements that bring us solace….but this meal is about giving us the strength and renewal to face the challenges put in our path.

Love is the feast served at this table.

Keep that in mind this morning as you receive the bread and the wine…and may it feed us so we are ready to feed the world.

In the name of our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.

 

Whose Voice is Calling?

 

I have a travel mug I carry with me every Sunday that says, "Be careful or you'll end up in my sermon." I showed that to our cat when he was being a pest. And it has now come to pass that he was the kicking off point for my sermon about listening for that voice that calls us into service, into action, and into love. 

At a time of war, we need more of that. See what you think.

Text: Psalm 23; John 10:1-10

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Anyone who has ever owned a cat knows that cats are cute…furry…and loving creatures

They’re also the most willful critters known to humankind.

Our current cat…Romeo…is no exception.

Just as it’s been with our prior cats…Romeo has a cat door and he can go in and out as he pleases.

But at nightfall…we want him inside. Even though we live in a downtown neighborhood…there is still wildlife that comes out at night…foxes and other potential predators.

We lost one feline friend to some unknown animal attacker…so we’ve been cautious ever since.

As the days grow longer and warmer…Romeo is happier spending more hours outside.

He enjoys going into the area behind our house to hunt for geckos in the many oak and magnolia leaves…and then falling asleep under a bush or the porch of the abandoned house behind ours.

Quite often…when I am coming home late at night…I’ll find that he hasn’t come home yet.

Isabelle will tell me that she tried to call for him…but…well…cats are willful.

It happened again this past week…when I got home at almost nine o’clock.

Romeo still hadn’t come home.

Isabelle and I were talking about his bad boy behavior…and how cute and annoying he can be about not coming back at night.

I was still unloading things from the car…and carrying on this conversation about Romeo outside when I heard the tell-tale sounds of something leaping over dead branches and onto the leaves in the backyard.

In trots Romeo…coming over to me to rub his white and black furry body against my shins.

He had heard my voice.

And now that both parents were home…he was ready for his dinner and the chance to curl up on chair in the office.

It’s funny how pets respond to the voices of their owners.

Because of the bonds we form with them…and the relationship and trust that we build with them…they come to know…and love us.

Shepherds build that sort of relationship with their sheep…which is the reason why we see so many references in the Scriptures to “Shepherds” and “Sheep.”

One of the most well-known of those is in psalm 23…”The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters.”

We get that sense of the Shepherd who cares for the sheep so completely.

We, as those sheep, feel that love when we lay our trust on God.

Interestingly…one of the commentators I was reading suggested that we should have read a different psalm for today: Psalm 118, which figures prominently in Palm Sunday and Holy Week.

“Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter them; I will offer thanks to the Lord.”

It is a bit odd that on this Fourth Sunday of Easter…the Gospel passage we heard from John is not the part where Jesus refers to “I am the good shepherd,” but rather “I am the gate” of this enclosure where the sheep are kept safe.

And it’s also important to know where our Gospel lesson falls within the broader context of John’s Gospel.

If we think back many weeks ago during Lent…when Deacon Karyl would present to you some very lengthy passages of John’s writings…one of them was the healing of the blind man.

We might recall that Jesus and the disciples came across this man on their journey…and the disciples were like, “Who sinned to cause this man to be blind?” and Jesus said, “Nobody sinned, now watch this.”

He put mud on the man’s eyes and told him to wash it off in Siloam and—voila—he was no longer blind.

That started a whole controversy…the formerly blind man keeps getting interrogated…and when he made a confession that Jesus clearly was not some demonic force but rather a healer…this man got kicked out of the synagogue.

Jesus and this man were then reunited…and the man says he believes and worships Jesus.

Standing by and witnessing all of this is a group of Pharisees who hear Jesus declare that he “has come for judgment so that those who do not see may see and those who do see may become blind.”

The Pharisees take offense at this…and Jesus basically says to them…these representatives of the establishment religion… you’ve become blind. You’ve allowed too many “things” to become paramount to the one thing that matters: God is Love.

Not rules.

Not power and prestige.

God is Love.

God is the gatekeeper…and I am showing the people the gate.

If you follow my voice…if you take in the lessons I am teaching you… and put these into practice… this gate will swing open to you.

And once you move through this gate…you will find that green pasture…that abundant life with the love and care of Psalm 23.

That’s what happened with that blind man in the chapter before in John’s Gospel.

Not only did he come to see…but as all those other voices kept pestering him and badgering him about his miraculous healing…the voice he ultimately listened to and believed was Jesus.

Because the voice of Jesus spoke in a tone that conveyed mercy…compassion…and love.

Or…to put it another way… it was words of the unconditional love that provides health…healing… and hope.

This has been one of the greatest offerings that I’ve seen here at St. Barnabas as well as our wider Episcopal Church.

Now…I grew up as an Episcopalian…so this is the one Christian tradition I’ve known my whole life.

I have seen it’s good… it’s not so good…and I have experienced the wounds of when it has been downright bad and ugly.

But I have also seen and known our denomination to be that one place…that flickering light of Christ… for those seeking a relationship with God that is loving and not rule-bound or—worse—some terrifying abusive Father.

I have heard the stories of so many people who kept searching for a place where they felt safe and could start to relate to God through Jesus…the Jesus who was that shepherd of the Middle Eastern tradition…leading people out of their despair and into a journey with Love.

A true and lasting Love that keeps saying, “You matter.”

This is the message we are to share with all the various people we encounter in our lives.

There is a God who loves each one of us deeply and wants us to extend that love to others.

There is a place where you can be loved and accepted as the beloved child that you are.

There is health…healing…and hope with unconditional love and it begins with each of us who will listen for it…and hear it calling our names.

Come and see.

Take and share.

In the name of Our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.