SCRIPTURE: Acts 16:16-34 & John 17:20-26
WHEN OUR SOCIETY WAS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WWJD FAD I ALWAYS FOUND MYSELF RATHER IRRITATED AT THE IMPLICATIONS OF THAT ACRONYM.
IN CASE YOU DON’T REMEMBER, WWJD STANDS FOR WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?
AND I JUST GET SO IRRITATED AT THE IDEA THAT ANY ONE KNOWS FOR SURE WHAT JESUS WOULD DO. I, FOR ONE, AM QUITE SURE THAT I DON’T KNOW WHAT JESUS WOULD DO, BUT I’M ACTUALLY PRETTY SURE IT WOULD BE SHOCKINGLY WONDERFUL!
BUT YOU KNOW, AS I PONDERED TODAY’S GOSPEL LESSON I BEGAN TO THINK ABOUT WWJD BECAUSE THIS IS ONE SCRIPTURAL REFERENCE THAT TELLS US EXACTLY WHAT JESUS DID DO, ALONG WITH GIVING US A VERY CREDIBLE GLIMPSE AT WHAT JESUS MIGHT DO!
THE 17TH CHAPTER OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN IS A PRAYER. IT IS JESUS PRAYING TO GOD AS HE READIES HIS DISCIPLES AND HIMSELF FOR THE JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM. PREVIOUS TO CHAPTER 17 JESUS HAS BEEN GIVING THE DISCIPLES LAST MINUTE INSTRUCTIONS, SO TO SPEAK. JUST AS A PARENT WOULD TELL A 16 YEAR OLD TO TURN THE OVEN OFF AFTER DINNER AND MAKE SURE THE FRONT DOOR IS LOCKED BEFORE GOING TO BED, JESUS TOLD THE DISCIPLES MANY THINGS THAT WERE MEANT TO HELP SHAPE THEIR MINISTRY AFTER HE IS NO LONGER WITH THEM. BUT IN CHAPTER 17 JESUS IS NO LONGER TALKING TO THE DISCIPLES. JESUS IS TALKING TO GOD. AND THE DISCIPLES—RIGHT ALONG WITH YOU AND ME—ARE LISTENING IN ON THIS INTIMATE CONVERSATION.
NOW THE GOSPEL OF JOHN IS WRITTEN IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT ALMOST SOUNDS LIKE A FOREIGN LANGUAGE, EVEN AFTER IT IS TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL GREEK AND ARAMAIC. READING JOHN, EVEN IN ENGLISH, MAKES ME KIND OF DIZZY! AS YOU, FATHER, ARE IN ME AND I AM IN YOU, MAY THEY ALSO BE IN US.” (VS 21) IT SOUNDS LIKE A PSYCHOLOGIST’S WORST NIGHTMARE OF FAMILIAL ENMESHMENT. WE CAN’T TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JESUS AND GOD AND THE COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS.
BUT WHERE THAT LACK OF BOUNDARIES WOULD BE DISASTER IN ANY HUMAN FAMILY, HERE IT IS NOTHING LESS THAN THE VERY BEST PART OF THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST!
JESUS’ PRAYER TO GOD IS ALL ABOUT THE COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS BEING INFUSED WITH THE LOVE OF GOD SO DEEPLY THAT GOD’S LOVE IS KNOWN BY WATCHING THEM…ACTUALLY, BY WATCHING US! WE ARE THE CONTEMPORARY COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS, AND THIS INTIMATE AND INCREDIBLY GENEROUS PRAYER IS WHAT JESUS TRULY WOULD DO.
HE PRAYS FOR US. AND THE PRAYER HE PRAYS IS SUCH THAT WE WILL LEARN TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER AND THE WORLD BY WATCHING THE LOVE THE SON HAS FOR THE FATHER AND THE FATHER HAS FOR THE SON. THE WORLD IS MEANT TO SEE THE LOVE OF GOD THROUGH US—BY WHAT THEY SEE IN US.
THE WORLD IS MEANT TO KNOW THE LOVE OF GOD BY KNOWING US. I THINK IT WAS THE ANCIENT HISTORIAN FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS WHO FIRST SAID, “SEE THOSE CHRISTIANS, HOW THEY LOVE ONE ANOTHER.” HE RECEIVED THE TANGIBLE MESSAGE JESUS WAS PRAYING FOR. HE COULD SEE THE LOVE OF GOD IN THE COMMUNITY – IN THE FIRST CENTURY ANYWAY!
MOST OF YOU KNOW THAT BEN KINGSLEY STARRED AS THE MAIN CHARACTER IN THE MOTION PICTURE GANDHI. HE SPENT MONTHS PREPARING FOR THE ROLE, VISITING THE VARIOUS INDIAN LOCALES GANDHI HAD FREQUENTED.
HE EVEN LEARNED TO SPIN COTTON THREAD ON A WOODEN WHEEL WHILE HOLDING CONVERSATIONS AS GANDHI DID. THE PHYSICAL RESEMBLANCE BETWEEN GANDHI AND KINGSLEY WAS ALMOST STARTLING. AFTER FILMING A SCENE IN A VILLAGE SOUTH OF DELHI, KINGSLEY STEPPED OUT OF A CAR, AND AN ELDERLY PEASANT KNELT TO TOUCH HIS FEET. EMBARRASSED, KINGSLEY EXPLAINED THAT HE WAS MERELY AN ACTOR PLAYING GANDHI.
“WE KNOW,” REPLIED THE VILLAGER, “BUT THROUGH YOU HE WILL SURELY LIVE AGAIN.”
HAVING SEEN THE MOVIE GANDHI SEVERAL TIMES I HAVE TO SAY THAT GANDHI WAS TRULY “LIVED AGAIN” THROUGH BEN KINGSLEY. THERE IS A TRANSCENDENT POWER ABOUT THAT MOVIE. IS THERE A TRANSCENDENT POWER ABOUT THE WAY WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST – THE COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS IN TODAY’S WORLD? IF THE WORLD IS TO KNOW THE LOVE OF GOD THROUGH US, THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST, WHAT, THEN, DOES THE WORLD KNOW?
IT SEEMS TO ME THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS A BIT MORE COMPLICATED THAN ONE WOULD THINK. YOU SEE, THERE IS THE BIG PICTURE THAT THE WHOLE WORLD SEES ABOUT THE COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS, AND THEN, AGAIN, THERE IS THE INDIVIDUAL SNAPSHOT.
I’M AFRAID THE BIG PICTURE IS WHAT THE WORLD SEES THROUGH THE LENS OF THE MEDIA WHEN THEY REPORT ABOUT THE INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH.
CASE IN POINT IS AN ARTICLE ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES YESTERDAY ABOUT HOW THE PRIVATELY FUNDED INSTITUTE ON RELIGION AND DEMOCRACY IS SEEKING TO CONTROL THE THEOLOGY OF MAINLINE PROTESTANT CHURCHES. WHEN THE WORLD LOOKS AT US FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE I DARE SAY THEY SEE DIVISION AND CONFLICT, A LOT OF MEANINGLESS RITUAL, A RATHER LARGE POWER BASE FROM WHICH TO MAKE A STATEMENT OR POSSIBLY EMPOWER A SOME KIND OF ACTION.
BUT IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THE LENS OF THE MEDIA TENDS TO DISTORT THE PICTURE TO THE POINT THAT THE LOVE THAT WAS GIVEN TO THE SON BY THE FATHER CANNOT BE RECOGNIZED. THE SMALL INDIVIDUAL PICTURES OF THE DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES OF BELIEVERS ARE A FAR MORE ACCURATE DEPICTION OF WHAT JESUS WAS PRAYING TO GOD FOR. THE BEST NEWS ABOUT THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST IS RARELY REPORTED ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE NEWSPAPER OR ON THE SIX O’CLOCK NEWS. THE TRUE COMMUNITY FOR WHOM JESUS PRAYS IS GATHERED TOGETHER HERE, THIS MORNING, SEEKING TO PLACE GOD’S BLESSING UPON ANOTHER CHILD OF GOD – AMANDA KATE.
WE ALL KNOW THAT THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM IS NOT JUST ANOTHER MEANINGLESS RITUAL – ALTHOUGH SOME IN THE WORLD MIGHT SEE IT THAT WAY. THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM IS THE ULTIMATE EXPRESSION OF GOD’S LOVE. IT IS ABOUT ADOPTION. IN BAPTISM WE ARE ADOPTED INTO GOD’S GRACIOUS LOVE.
AND WHAT BETTER WAY FOR THE WORLD TO KNOW THE LOVE OF GOD THAN BY EXPERIENCING AN “OUTWARD SIGN OF AN INWARD GRACE,” WHICH IS HOW MARTIN LUTHER DEFINED THE SACRAMENTS SO MANY YEARS AGO?
THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM IS ALSO ABOUT INCLUSION. WHEN WE BAPTIZE A PERSON WE GATHER HER INTO THE CIRCLE OF CHRIST. AMANDA IS NOT BAPTIZED A PRESBYTERIAN TODAY; SHE IS BAPTIZED A CHRISTIAN – A LOVED CHILD OF GOD. AND WE KNOW GOD LOVES HER BECAUSE OF THE LOVE THAT IS REALITY THROUGH GOD AND JESUS AND US. YOU SEE, AMANDA’S BAPTISM IS RECOGNIZED THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY, NO MATTER WHAT DENOMINATION. AMANDA WILL NEVER NEED TO BE BAPTIZED AGAIN. SHE IS ONE WITH US AND WE ARE ALL ONE TOGETHER. BECAUSE, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, BAPTISM IS ALSO ABOUT UNITY.
EVEN THOUGH SOME WOULD CHOOSE TO ARGUE ABOUT THE RULES AND REGULATIONS OF BAPTISM, THE GREAT MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS COME TOGETHER AROUND THIS RITUAL. OUR LOVE IS AS SIMPLE AS THIS.
JESUS WAS BAPTIZED BY JOHN IN THE JORDAN RIVER AND SO WE BECOME A PART OF HIM WHEN WE ARE BAPTIZED IN HIS NAME. AND THERE WE GO AGAIN WITH THE DIVINE ENMESHMENT THAT MAKES US ONE WITH PURE LOVE – ONE WITH GOD.
NOW IT IS MY OPINION THAT LOVE IS AN OVERUSED WORD IN TODAY’S SOCIETY. WE USE THE WORD “LOVE” SO MUCH THAT WE TEND TO LOSE TRACK OF THE INTENSITY OF ITS MEANING. WE ALSO TEND TO FORGET THE POWER OF ITS INTENTION.
THIS WEEK I RECEIVED A WONDERFUL EMAIL LISTING CHILDREN’S THOUGHTS ON LOVE. SOME OF THE THOUGHTS WERE CUTE AND FUNNY, BUT SOME WERE INCREDIBLY INSIGHTFUL AND THEY REMINDED ME OF THE ORIGINAL INTENT OF THIS GOD-GIVEN WORD. LET ME SHARE SOME OF THEM WITH YOU…
CHRIS IS SEVEN YEARS OLD AND SHE SAYS, “LOVE IS WHEN MOMMY SEES DADDY SMELLY AND SWEATY AND STILL SAYS HE IS HANDSOMER THAN ROBERT REDFORD.”
SEVEN YEAR OLD DANNY SAYS, “LOVE IS WHEN MY MOMMY MAKES COFFEE FOR MY DADDY AND SHE TAKES A SIP BEFORE GIVING IT TO HIM, TO MAKE SURE THE TASTE IS OK.”
BUT NIKKA, WHO IS SIX YEARS OLD SAYS, “IF YOU WANT TO LEARN TO LOVE BETTER, YOU SHOULD START WITH A FRIEND WHO YOU HATE.”
AND SEVEN YEAR OLD BOBBY SAYS, “LOVE IS WHAT’S IN THE ROOM WITH YOU AT CHRISTMAS IF YOU STOP OPENING PRESENTS AND LISTEN.”
BUT I THINK THE BEST OF ALL IS FROM FOUR YEAR OLD BILLY WHO SAYS, “WHEN SOMEONE LOVES YOU, THE WAY THEY SAY YOUR NAME IS DIFFERENT. YOU KNOW THAT YOUR NAME IS SAFE IN THEIR MOUTH.”
WHEN SOMEONE’S NAME IS SAFE IN OUR MOUTH, THIS IS WHEN THE WORLD SEES THE LOVE OF GOD THROUGH US. THIS KIND OF ACTION DOESN’T MAKE THE FRONT PAGE OF THE NEWS, BUT IT DOES HAPPEN ALL THE TIME.
WHAT THE WORLD KNOWS ABOUT THE LOVE OF GOD THROUGH US HAPPENS IN THE LITTLE THINGS – THE THINGS THAT GO UNANNOUNCED AND UNNOTICED ON A DAILY BASIS.
THE LOVE OF GOD IS KNOWN THROUGH US WHEN WE TAKE FRUIT TO THE BREAKFAST PROGRAM IN SPRING VALLEY VERY MONDAY MORNING.
THE LOVE OF GOD IS KNOWN THROUGH US EVERY TIME WE STOP OURSELVES FROM SAYING SOMETHING CRUEL OR THOUGHTLESS ABOUT ANOTHER PERSON. THE LOVE OF GOD IS KNOWN THROUGH US EVERY TIME WE SIT WITH ANOTHER AND SPEAK THE TRUTH IN LOVE. THE LOVE OF GOD IS KNOWN THROUGH US EVERY TIME WE PICK UP A PIECE OF GARBAGE BESIDE THE ROAD RATHER THAN LEAVING IT THERE TO SPOIL THE ECOLOGY.
THE LOVE OF GOD IS KNOWN THROUGH US EVERY TIME WE QUELL OUR ANGER AT THAT CRAZY DRIVER WHO HONKED HIS HORN AND SHOOK HIS FIST AS A COMMENTARY ABOUT MY DRIVING. THE LOVE OF GOD IS KNOWN THROUGH US EVERY TIME WE GATHER TOGETHER IN THE NAME OF CHRIST AND STUMBLE CLOSER TO A TRULY OPEN AND LOVING RELATIONSHIP WITH ANOTHER HUMAN BEING. IT’S NOT THE BIG, SPLASHY, PERFECT THINGS WE DO THAT SHOW THE LOVE OF GOD, IT’S THE QUIET UNPRETENTIOUS MOMENTS WHEN WE ARE SO EMPTY OF OURSELVES THAT WE CAN BE FULL OF CHRIST. THESE ARE THE TIMES WHEN THE REST OF THE WORLD SEES THE LOVE OF GOD THROUGH US. AND MY FRIENDS, THIS IS THE COMMUNITY FOR WHOM JESUS PRAYS.
ALLELUIA! AMEN!
Posted by sachauncey at May 23, 2004 02:19 AM