"Love," what does it look like? John 13: 31-3

Grace, mercy, and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ: Amen!

            Throughout this week, I have been thinking about the word “love.” I could have started the sermon off with the famous words from the Beatles, “All you need is love…” I could pull out all kinds of song lyrics about love and that could be fun. We could spend the entire service singing about love and most times we do. We sing about God’s love for us and all the things that God has done for us. And that is a good thing and I think we need to remind ourselves of God’s love for us.

            The more I thought about “love,” the more I was drawn to one statement by Jesus. It is the statement “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. How is this a new commandment? We know Jesus to be the Son of God, Amen? We know that it is God so loved the world that he sent his only Son, Jesus, into the world, “not to condemn the world but so that the world might be saved,” Amen? Right out of John 3:16. So this love doesn’t seem new.

We know love from the 10 Commandments. We know this idea of “love” throughout scripture. In Deuteronomy (5:10). “god is a jealous God and showing God “steadfast love” will be shown to the 10,000^th generation who love God and keep God’s commandments. In Leviticus 19:18, God commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves. So this concept, this command to love is not a new idea or concept!

But there is something new in Jesus’ commandment. This “new commandment” Jesus gives is different than before. It is different in the sense of who Jesus is. In our Gospel of John, we know that Jesus is the Son of God. The Gospel begins with “in the beginning was the Word…” and the Word became flesh, That’s Jesus, God in the flesh! The new thing is that God is in the world through Jesus Christ. Jesus is in the world and revealing who God is in the world; that God is caring, forgiving, and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love…there is that word again!

To put it another way, Jesus goes through the world and does many things. By the Son of God being in the world, the people of Jesus’ time learn what it means to love God. Jesus does some amazing things throughout his ministry. He calls disciples to follow and they do. His journey in the world takes him to places where he will heal. He meets people that are, to put it plainly, outcasts in society. He spends time telling them how God cares for them; and shows them by healing and sharing meals. He shows the disciples and others through his, Jesus’, words and actions that God is patient. He spends a lot of time trying to teach the disciples and others that God wants people to be fed, literally and spiritually (more than 5,000). And, he teaches and shows the disciples and others…and us that God is merciful; by showing us all that God’s Son is going to go to the cross for us.

What is “new” about this commandment is that Jesus is telling and showing us that love is not just words. He is teaching and showing us all what loving one another looks like. He is saying that if we believe that Jesus is the Son of God and we want to follow Jesus and love God, then “loving” calls us into words and action. Jesus is our example of what it means to love God. Loving means that if there is someone who needs prayer, then we make ourselves available to pray with and for that person(s). Loving means that when one of our brothers and sisters in Christ is struggling we try to help as best as we can.

It also means that we get into the trenches and get ourselves a little dirty. Loving means that we feed, literally and spiritually, whenever we can; much like we do in Victor’s Vittles. We don’t keep the Word of God for ourselves. We share it with others to let all God’s children know that we and they are cared for. Loving means that when we see our youngest of God’s creation struggling…when there is NO SENSE of hope, we bring God’s Good News of Hope into their lives because it will and does affect us all.

Love means that we show and share God’s mercy with one another. When others make mistakes, we share God’s forgiveness that we would expect for us, and forgive. Today we have a baptism. Brad and Ashley are bringing Emmet to be washed in the waters of Baptism. As they share their love for Emmet, we are witnesses and reminded of how we all have been washed and made clean and loved by the God who will never let go of Emmet or us. Love means that we promise to support this family through good times and times of struggle. We lift each other up and live out this new commandment that Jesus gives; to love one another.

Today Jesus calls us to show our love, from here on out in word and action, with family and with strangers. Jesus doesn’t promise that it is easy; Jesus does promise that it is NOT impossible and in those times when we have to get our hands dirty in loving one another, Jesus promises that we are not alone: AMEN!

           

           

John 20: 19-31 "Peace be With You." Profound Words needed for our time.

            This Gospel reading is filled with great sermons that can go in so many different directions. We have the section where Thomas won’t believe unless he “places his hands in the wounds,” Jesus saying “blessed are those who believe but have not seen.” Today is one of those days where we focus on something else. Something that might seem so small that it could escape our observations.

            The part of the story that I am focusing on this morning is “the door.” Look at your bulletins. In the background is the door. Why is it so important? Because it is locked…from the inside! No one can get in because that door is shut and locked. It doesn’t seem like a sturdy lock but it was the lock at the time. When I read this story I think of them coming into the door, putting the bar across it and then hoisting furniture in front of the door, maybe a chest of drawers, or whatever is heavy enough that no one will be able to get through that door no matter how hard they try.

            It would make sense. Scripture tells us that these disciples feared the Jews. Remember in our Passion Story that Peter is accused of being with that…that…Jesus! Once that accusation is made, who knows what would have happened if Peter said, “Yeah, that is who I was with, great guy, good teacher, and my best friend.” I am not thinking it would have ended well. So, they are afraid and that makes a lot of sense.

            Despite this locked door that is locked from the inside, “Jesus came and stood among them.” The mind can wonder as to how he came and stood among them, but there is Jesus! His first word to them was “Peace.” That is an interesting word as the first word to be spoken out of Jesus’ mouth right after rising. Peace, he says. What do we know about this word, peace? I actually looked it up and I found these definitions:

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1. 1 :  a state of tranquillity or quiet: asa :  freedom from civil disturbanceb :  a state of security or order within a community provided for by law or custom <a breach of the peace>
2. 2 :  freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions
3. 3 :  harmony in personal relations

This 3^rd definition really got me thinking about this word “peace.” Harmony in personal relations. What was so “out of harmony” about this relationship with Jesus and his disciples? Was it the fact that they scattered, most of them did when he was arrested? Was it that Peter denied him three times, as Jesus said he would? Was there guilt…not just fear of the Jews…that caused them to be locked in this room? Was it the guilt of leaving this one that they loved so much, who spent so much time with them, and taught them. Was it guilt over fleeing from the person that showed them and the crowds how God provides food for thousands or how this Son of God healed, made clean, and raised from the dead?

            The answer could be “yes.” Maybe there was some guilt on their part. Maybe that door was closed because of the fear of being next AND knowing that, in some ways, they fled. I cannot guarantee that is how they felt, but I know there are times when we have felt like that. After all, we are all human and I am sure that at some point in our lives we have felt some form of guilt for something done or…as our confession says, “something left undone.”

            So Jesus comes in and stands among them. It doesn’t matter how he gets in. The important part is that Jesus goes into that room where the others are and says, “peace.” Jesus brings harmony back into the relationship with his disciples, with the people who have been with Jesus and, to be honest, with whom Jesus has invested so much time in. He brings those words of “Peace be with you.” Now, Jesus is getting specific. He is telling the disciples individually the relationship is back in harmony with each and every one of them. Jesus’ words are important because he says the exact same thing when Thomas finally shows up. He is making sure that they all know that the relationship is restored; that there is once again harmony.

            There is a reason why that is so important to us on this first Sunday after Easter. I believe it is because Jesus is showing us what divine healing really looks like. Jesus is the first person to show the disciples what healing looks like. Through his message of “peace” he says that their relationship with God is good again! He shows that he still has the marks of the pains that he felt. Jesus is not saying that those wounds are no longer there. They are there and still visible AND REAL! What Jesus is telling the disciples is that they are forgiven.

            I believe that because Jesus could have appeared to anyone he or God chose. Jesus appeared to those who fled. He appeared to the one who denied him three times. He came, again, to the one who doubted the resurrection story. Jesus wanted to show them that the resurrection was real AND that they were still loved by God…loved by Jesus. So much so, that Jesus made sure to bring peace…a harmonious relationship back to the disciples.

            If you haven’t been able to tell, yet, this service is all about healing. It is the day when Jesus brought peace AND healing to those who were locked in the room; where the door was shut so no one could get in. Through Jesus’ presence and peace Jesus restored the relationship with his disciples so that they could go on to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ…that Jesus has risen and that God’s love lives on through Jesus and ourselves spreading the Good News, as well.

            So what does that have to do with us. As I said earlier, I am sure we have all done things that may have strained relationships with family and/or friends. I am confident that at one time or another we have caused or been part of a relationship that became dis-harmonious; it may have gotten to the point where the relationship ended or became strained. It might be in our everyday lives or it might have been here in the church. We are not immune simply because we attend worship. It happens to all of us.

            But today and this Gospel reading is more important now, I believe, than any other Gospel reading. It is so important because Jesus shows us what is more important. It is the healing of our relationships together as the body of Christ. The important thing to hear this morning is Jesus’ words “Peace be with each and every one of you…and me.” Jesus is speaking to us to bring relationships with God and one another back into harmony!

            I have got some bad news for us all. We are human and we make mistakes! We will disappoint one another at some point in our lives, we might not be able to keep a promise, say something we shouldn’t, do something that affects others, or sometimes just be careless and not think about what we have said or done. It happens to us all! Through Jesus words of “Peace be with you.” Jesus shows us that healing is possible…may not be easy…but it is possible!

            What does it mean for us? It means Jesus calls us this day to witness healing from the Son of God; to see the risen Christ appearing to the disciples as a sign of God’s continued love in desiring a relationship with us and with one another as the body of Christ. God calls us to the opportunity to restore relationships whenever and wherever possible. It can take many different forms and it can begin with Jesus’ words, “Peace be with you.”

AMEN!