Connected To Christ

Easter 5b, May 6, 2012 (John 15:1-8 with Acts 8:26-40 in the b.g)

 

Do you ever wonder? Sometimes I wonder like when I am in a restaurant and I am watching a younger couple. They sit down. For a brief moment they look at each other and the menu. But then he (and often it's he) takes out some kind of electronic device. He then begins talking, texting or scrolling. This often continues throughout the "meal". After awhile it's as if neither of them are actually present. They are physically there in the same booth but they are not actually there emotionally for or with each other.

 

But I don't only wonder about others. Sometimes I wonder about myself. When I am away from the office for a few days, I come in and check messages both on the phone and on my computer. There are usually a few phone messages. But there are often 50 or a 100 email messages. Some are very important speaking of relationships I need to tend to. But many are simply fluff that float around, and may or may not ever land on earth and take root.

 

I wonder about myself and my capacity to be in relationship with people even as I receive requests to be a "friend" to many on Face Book,  or as I receive requests to be linked in on the internet, sometimes to people I hardly know. I wonder about myself when sometimes I just zone out in front of the TV, ignoring for long periods of time those I love: my wife, my parents, even my dog. . . Attempting to evaluate all this, I also wonder- what does this mean? That's a good question for Lutheran Christians.

 

Let me ask it a different way: who am I, who are you, who are we connected with? I mean - really connected, individually and communally in ways that impact our lives? And who do we really want, do we need to be connected with?

 

I am not convinced that having 20 or 50 or more friends on Face Book is really being a friend. I am not convinced that being Linked in with another professional with whom I may actually consult professionally means that we are actually in a meaningful relationship. I am not convinced that watching 3 or more hours of TV a day is actually relaxing. These things are in and of themselves are not bad. They may be quite helpful. BUT – and this is a huge qualifier – they cannot and must not substitute for genuine relationship.

 

If we are followers of Jesus, in John's words, "disciples of Jesus" then it is absolutely essential, mandatory, critical and life giving to be IN RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, WITH JESUS and then WITH OTHERS. This is true for us as individuals and for us as a congregation and as Church.

 

This is what I think Jesus is speaking about in John 15. Jesus is saying goodbye to his disciples, those who are closest to him. He is soon going to die. If you have ever actually been with someone who knows that they are soon going to die and who still has their faculties, they often call those whom they love the most to be with them. At that time of their life they do not play around. They speak truth with urgency." Take care of your mother. Work out that problem with your brother, your son or you daughter. Don't forget God." I have been privy to these conversations on a number of occasions. At such times pretense is done away with.  We are together. We are who we are. Truth with love is spoken. That's what Jesus is doing in John 15. Do we hear him?

 

Jesus employs the metaphor of a vine and branches. He says, "I am the vine. You are the branches. Abide (other translations are dwell, live in) me even as I abide in you." Here he is not issuing a wish. It's more. Here his words are a command. He actually loves His disciples. He actually loves us. He knows that when it comes to the things that really matter, to loving and forgiving, to having our lives reflect the very love of God – it's anything but easy. In fact  apart from, disconnected, not living in a daily relationship with him, we CAN'T DO IT, WE WON'T BE ABLE TO! Jesus' exact words are, "Apart from me you can do nothing".

 

HE IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. If we neglect him, if we refuse to be surrounded and immersed in His Word and Sacrament, to be part of  community that He births, as imperfect as they and we are, we will be unable to love as He loves, to forgive as He forgives, to embody and flesh out the good news of His suffering, death and resurrection. AND that inability will be and whenever it occurs is tragic.

 

For Jesus calls us not just to be around others, not just to be in this world. Rather Jesus calls us to love others, to care for this world, even as God does. Such loving, such caring is literally impossible on our own. To love those who say nasty things about us, who deceive us or lie about us, individually or together, is absolutely contrary to our natural human inclination. History paints again and again the human tendency to violence, to vengeance, to "getting even". Nor has the Church, nor we as individuals been exempt in this respect. But in so acting with hatred and contempt in our hearts and minds we have not been abiding in Christ.

 

I am not saying that there aren't times when as a Church or as individuals don't need to be disciplined. Jesus uses the imagery of pruning in John's 15^th chapter to speak about this. But it is God who does the "pruning"  of such realities as our hatred, our selfishness, our arrogance, our conviction that we are completely right and others are absolutely wrong, our refusal to reach out to others whom we may see as different than ourselves. But there is a reason for God's pruning. God loves us. God wants us to grow in faith, hope and love.

 

So, this community called Church, what Paul refers to as the body of Christ  is not to be primarily about us. Rather we as Church are to be about living out the love of Christ. To do this we are to abide/live in him and in His words. In so living God brings about even through us the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, humility. Of course it is not always that way with us, because unfortunately we, you and me, we together, do not always abide in Christ.  

           

In Christ, we are called to be more than just linked in, Face Book friends, zoned into our televisions or even coffee companions. We are called to live as shoots of the vine who is Christ – individually unique but always joined together in Him. As such we at times will bear one another's burdens, share each other's joys and care deeply about the world, being vulnerable and wounded. Our call is to actually live – not for ourselves but from Jesus with hearts and minds that are continually being made new through whatever comes. This involves new life, love and forgiveness, each day.

 

Although we may often be wounded, by God's grace grafted and abiding in Christ we will bear good fruit together. The almighty and merciful God will be well pleased as we journey together seeking to do, imperfect and sinful as we are, God's good and gracious will.

 

Who knows, someone whom we may least expect, may invite us into their lives and ask us to help them wonder, to understand the goings on of God in their life. With Philip and the eunuch we may together discover that with all that God grants us here, nothing shall prevent us from being joined to each other in Christ. Amen.   

Being Known By The Love of Christ

Easter 4b, April 29, 2012 (I John 3:16-24 with John 10:11-18)

 

The woman is now 87 years old. Her hair is a glistening white. Her face is wrinkled, like creases on a map that has been folded many times by a wee child. Her entire body shows the weathering of time. Much of this woman's life has been invested in living out love.

 

For many years she awakened in the wee hours, when either her spouse or child was ill. She rose without being asked, to get whatever they needed. Their needs may have been medication, or to be held in her arms, or to have aching backs or legs rubbed. Always, as she ministered to their needs, she would give them an encouraging word. Then, after a long night, if her loved ones were well enough, she would rise to go to her day job. If not, she would phone in and stay home to care some more.

 

At times this woman's love seemed boundless. Cooking, mending, occasioning defending, often explaining her family's actions – at other times chastising them with a look, frequently encouraging them, were all part of her repertoire. She always carried her family with her in heart and mind. She prayed for them daily. Her prayers usually began with thanksgiving for their lives. Then she would ask God for help to love them as God loved them.

 

Not that this woman was without fault. When she made mistakes of judgment, she would admit them, and apologize even to a wee boy, a teenager or a proud spouse. As time passed, as her family grew in years, her lived out love spread, helping those in that home to grow in self esteem, to mature in self-giving love themselves.

 

As I say all this, I wonder, "How do we KNOW LOVE?"

 

There are many in our culture who proclaim and believe that love is an emotion, or merely a feeling. Such a belief results in sayings like, "I'm falling in love", or, "I just don't love her/him anymore". If love is only and emotion, like any emotion it can come suddenly, even powerfully and then disappear, just as suddenly like mist rising off the hot pavement after a rain shower on a hot, humid summer's day.

 

Now don't get me wrong. Love often/usually involves emotion. However love, that which gives itself voluntarily, willingly in ongoing steadfast ways to and for others is not primarily emotion.

 

Nor is such love something to be fully understood, analyzed or even described. Love then, is not some general human possibility, which if people just read more, or reflect more will naturally occur. If love were something like that, would we have wars and hatred that continue to plague all of humanity? Rather, love is a gift that is received! And then such love may be lived out in our very lives, shared in action – or I have to question whether it is finally love.

 

The writer of I John makes this point. Love is received. But whom are we to receive this love from? Not everyone (unfortunately) is blessed with a loving mother or father, or even caring or giving friends. Even if we are so blessed, where have these people received such love? I John points to the origin of such love: "We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us..." The "he" is Jesus. Christ's love for you, for me, for all humanity and all creation isn't some kind of dizzying emotion that comes and goes. No! Christ's love for us moves him to give his all for us. There are, there always have been competing forces vying to influence, even to control our lives. In the midst of all the struggles on earth, Jesus remains openly vulnerable as he obeys his Father. People are allowed to "catch" Jesus with their hatred, their anger, their strong will to control and limit. Caught up by such forces, Jesus is killed by people. He lays down his life as he is thrust upon  cross for us – for all humanity, all creation.

 

Yet, in this Jesus we not only get to see or to watch the love of God in action. More than that, in Jesus the Christ we are actually encountered by and embraced with the very love of God.

 

Some might say that there is absolutely nothing or no one worth dying for. However, the life and death of Jesus refutes all such thinking. The life and death of Jesus communicate to us that you and I, that all people are worth living and dying for. Jesus has actually done just that. Indeed as Christ suffers, dies and is raised, we are witnesses to this incredible reality. God's love in Christ allows all the other forces in our lives to do their worst to him. They kill him. But in His willing dying He overcomes them. The forces of evil and death are still vying for us. But God in Christ has defeated them and continues to work against them.

 

Christ has died so that we may know and experience the powerful love of God – so that we may know that God does not abandon us. Christ has died and been raised so that we may trust God in Christ. After all, if we will not trust someone who loves us so much that they have given their own life for us whom will we trust?   And, if we will not trust anyone-can there be any meaningful relationships in our lives, any purpose?

 

By the Holy Spirit we are enabled to trust Christ. In this "dance of trust" we are moved beyond ourselves. We can begin to actually see others. We may actually begin to hear others. Like the 87 year old mother we will certainly see and her those in close proximity to us. In fact, those in "close proximity" will increase in numbers, maybe even exponentially, as our awareness of God's love, God's active concern for the world increases. We can become acutely aware of other's needs: physically, emotionally and spiritually. We will be moved by the power of Christ's death and resurrection to actually love those people in word and deed – sometimes even sacrificially.

 

We may still feel like not getting up in the middle of the night. We may not feel that our words or encouragement make any difference for others. We may even be fooled into thinking that our gifts may not make any difference in the bigger picture. Or, we may be frightened about what words of truth may mean in our relationship with other. They may cost us dearly. But sometimes we will speak such words out of love for them and for others.

 

We may even begin to see truth in different ways: "our" time, "our" talents, "our" possessions are no longer, nor have they ever been, exclusively "ours". Time, talents and possessions have been entrusted to us by God, who in Christ shows us how to employ these gifts for others in need. If we refuse, are we not shutting ourselves off from the love of God? Then, is God's love dwelling within us?

 

All who are blessed to love others, have hopes and dreams for these loved ones. God as the Creator, who in suffering love becomes human, suffers, dies and is raised for us, has hopes and dreams for all humanity. First of all, God dreams that we and all people might know and experience God's love fleshed out in Jesus the Christ. Then, in experiencing the suffering and dying love of God in Jesus Christ, God also wills that we be moved to grow into living that love ourselves, so that others will know God's love even in us. This is costly! Forgiveness means that we are vulnerable – open to being hurt.

 

You see following Jesus doesn't primarily mean saying some words or being able to defend some kind of "religious" position or even paying some "dues". Rather, following Jesus involves gladly investing, spending our whole lives in trusting Him, in receiving and giving love with everything we "have" to and for others. Such living involves daily radical change as we are enabled to see others t least a bit as Chris does – children of God who are deeply loved. How then can we help but respond with the gifts we are given?

 

Such following of Christ is like yeast working in bread, like light shining and dispelling the darkness, like salt spread on food and adding new zest. Of course, Jesus has already said this.

 

It is important to remember. It is important to know. Christ loves us! By God's grace may we be open to His words, His actions showing us both ourselves, others and Himself. May we, who graciously receive the gifts of Jesus' love have minds and hearts, hands and feet that are regularly moved to sharing these gifts with whomever we meet.

 

In all of that we and others begin to see who we are and who they are – children of God, embraced by the love of Jesus, who lays down his life for all. Amen.