For Sunday, May
15, 2022, Readings: Acts
11:1-18, Psalm 148, Revelation 21:1-6, John 13:31-35
The
Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and
us...And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, 'John baptized with
water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit; If then God gave them the
same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I
that could hinder God?
[Acts 11:12,16-17]
Kings of the earth and all peoples; princes and all rulers of the world…Let them praise the Name of the Lord, for his Name only is exalted. [Psalm 148: 11, 13]
I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more...the home of God is among mortals...Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more. [Revelation 21:1-2, 3b, 4b]
Jesus said..."I give
you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you
also should love one another, By this everyone will know that you are my
disciples, if you have love for one another." [John
13:34-35]
A new Commandment from
Jesus: love one another as I have loved you. Sure, sure, we’ve
heard it all before, many times. Peter had to explain himself to the uncircumcised
believers who criticized him for going to Gentiles and eating with
them. He told them straight out that the Spirit directed him not to
make a distinction between them and us. Yet don’t we in our own time
and place make distinctions about who is worthy of our time and attention, let
alone love? But Jesus tells us clearly that we are to love everyone,
not just those we already love. He also doesn’t say only love the ones who will
love you in return.
Peter astonished his
listeners with the words of Jesus and his own realization that he
himself received the gift of the Holy Spirit when he believed, as will
everyone. The writer of Revelation sees a new heaven and a new earth and
tells us that God's home is among us mortals.
But this mortal home is
seething with rage, disparity, tragedy, poverty, disease, fear, war, and so
much more. It is pandemic: manipulated, exploited, used for political
expedience, and profiteering. It writhes with increasing numbers of natural
disasters and human-made horrors displacing and killing so many of our
earth-bound neighbors. And still we are called to love one another as we are
loved by Christ. In the face of so much it seems like so little yet if we give
ourselves to it much more will come of it. But we have to hear the words,
inwardly digest, trust them, and have faith that God will indeed wipe every
tear and death will be no more. It is very hard and not often immediately
rewarding work even on a good day.
How, then, can we hear
these words differently? What can arouse us from our distractions, our
inattentiveness, our numbness, and call us to action?
Our Creator continues to create but
do we see? By actively loving others, especially the unlovable, through our
words and actions, we are co-creating with God to bring the new earth into our
present existence, now. There is joy and goodness to be experienced, divisions
among people to be repaired, brokenness healed. Will every moment be as running
through fields of roses and daisies? Not even close. But by shaking ourselves
out of complacency, by dusting off our faith, and becoming a partner with God,
the Church, and each other, we can change the tiny parcel of this mortal home
we inhabit. Anguish and anger within us could be no more or at the
very least, we can learn to let it go. We can create
love that heals or at least patches things up, love that warms an angry heart,
love that soothes the cries of grief, love that finds help, food, shelter, or
just a hand to hold. Even when rejected, as we will be, there will be
another to love and someone to love us. Who am I to hinder God working in me?
C.S. Lewis puts things more bluntly: There have been some who were so
occupied in spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ…It
is the subtlest of all snares. To truly follow Jesus, to be known as a
sincere disciple, all we truly need is to know the love of Christ within us and
share it. Discipleship 101: love one another as I have loved you.
Response: We begin and end in You
We begin and end in You
We begin and end in You
We begin and end in You
We begin and end in You
~ Forever and Almighty Lord, grant additional grace to all You have chosen to bring us Your Word and Sacraments, that together we may receive our Salvation through Christ. We pray especially for: add your own petitions
We begin and end in You
The Celebrant adds: Glorified Christ, Son of God and Man, embolden us to be purposeful instruments of the continuous flow of Your limitless love. Guide our hearts to joyfully participate in the perpetual renewal of Your Creation, through our own repentance and love, that will lead us to unending life in You. Amen.
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