May 2, 2010

Before the deacon or the priest reads the third passage of scripture in a Sunday service, a proclamation is always made: “The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The word gospel is a calque, a word by word translation of the Greek euangelion.  Eu meaning “good” and anglion meaning “message.”  “Good message”, later became interpreted in Old English as “glad” or “good tidings.”  Glad tidings then morphed into “good news.” 

Sunday by Sunday we listen for the “good news” of our Lord, our Savior, the one we put our trust into.  We wait for the positive, uplifting message to be proclaimed and then interpreted.  This morning, from John’s “glad tidings” account, we hear clear news, direct news, concise news.  But, is it truly good news for Christ’s followers?  Is there comfort or conviction in his words?  At the last supper, Jesus gives his faithful followers his last instructions.  After a good day, a triumphant day, a day punctuated by cheers and crowds, Jesus rests and dines with his disciples.  Reclining on cushions, they eat dates, share bread and drink wine.  They congratulate one another on good teaching and the growing word of mouth campaign and then Jesus becomes reflective.  The festivities become subdued.  

Jesus hushes the convivial talk when he pares down his clothes and begins washing the feet of his disciples.  He explains his surprising behavior in this way – I am not a lord, a king, a leader of the old order.  I do not fit the pattern the world has come to expect.  I am something new, unique and singular.  Everything I say, everything I do, everything I pass on to you is new and revolutionary.  My ways are contrary to the norms and structures of this world.  I am not a good citizen of this realm.  I won’t get gold stars here.  Understand, Jewish law, Roman rule, traditional values don’t interest me.  What seems logical and prudent, sane and expedient is meaningless to me.  Family values, saving bonds, school vouchers are not my concern.  I am about a new order, a new way of living.  See, I don’t care about rank and honor, security and future assets.  I care about you and your whole well-being.  I care about the state of your mind, body and soul.  I move from my place at head of this feast and I wash your tired, dirty feet.  I care about your comfort over and beyond my own. 

After this very clear demonstration of service and intimate connection to all the guests at the gathering, Jesus tells the party: “I am with you only a little longer.”  In the time we have left together, I give one final instruction.  I give you the summation of my teaching.  I give you the crux and core of my ethos and essence.  If you want a reality reflective of God’s great plan, if you want heaven on earth and the promise of eternity in paradise, here is the key. I give you a new commandment. 

Shhhh!  Listen.  Lean in.  Not a sound.  Not a word.  There it is.  Never before have you heard this directive.  From the heart of God Almighty, through the heart of his Son sent to earth, straight into the heart of all who would call themselves faithful, here is the rule.  Love one another.  As I have loved you, just as, exactly as I have loved you, so you must now and forever love one another.  By the way, and in the manner that you love one another, the world will understand my message.  By the way, and in the manner that you love one another, people across the globe now and in ages to come will recognize my father’s plan, my reason for coming and the wonderful promise this way of living and believing holds for all creation. 

“Love one another just as, exactly as I have loved you.”  Did the men and women lounging on pillows, biting figs in the upper room that night understand the significance and the burden of Jesus’ farewell words?  Did they take in the full measure of the new commandment?  Did they understand its radical, upending, topsy turvy repercussions?  Did they get the trouble, the internal stress this new instruction creates?  Do we?

“Love one another, just as, exactly as I have loved you.”  Dear ones, this is very scary, challenging stuff.  This directive goes way, way beyond the golden rule.  This calls us to higher, higher level thinking.  This calls us to sacrifice.  Love one another as I have loved you has implications easily, comfortably missed.  The “you” Jesus refers to is not just the 12 plus in the room.  The “you” he means is all the people he touched along the way in their time together.  The “you” includes the woman at the wall, guilty of adultery, the woman at the well, guilty of promiscuity, the rich, young man unable to shake the grasp of his possessions, the nine lepers cured who forgot to give thanks, the tax collectors who steal excess fees from their neighbors, the older brother who can’t rejoice in his father’s happiness and his brother’s return.  The “you” Jesus loved includes mean, selfish, unworthy people.  The “you” Jesus loved includes people he didn’t know at all, strangers who appeared from unsafe neighborhoods he never visited.  The “you” Jesus loved includes foreigners and immigrants, undocumented people who touched his clothes as he passed by, hoping to be healed and welcomed and made whole. 

The new commandment is not about treating friends and neighbors and family members well and with respect.  The new commandment is about being purposeful and driven to make caring, compassionate connections to all God’s children.  The new commandment calls us to love as Jesus loved, and look how he loved – he loved all the way to the cross.  The new commandment is scary, challenging stuff.  It calls us to look beyond our biological and social connections to our spiritual connections.  “Love as I have loved” calls us to see every human child and adult as our brother, our sister in the family of God.  “Love as I have loved so that the world will know me and that you are one of mine” means we reorder our loyalties and our priorities.  This is hard, scary work. It is hard to think of our commitments of time and energy and money expanding.  It’s hard to realign our values.  What might loving as Jesus loved look like?  What does he truly expect?  Well, here are some possibilities to consider:

Bradley Middle School five miles up the road has 200 volunteers to run their book fair.  Ranson seven miles down the road has 5.  Maybe we say no to running the book fair at the school our children attend and instead volunteer at Ranson so those precious children of God also get access to helpful learning.

Bradley has 500+ parents overseeing homework.  Ranson has maybe a tenth of that number.  Perhaps we say, I will navigate the morass of details and go on Tuesday afternoons and help tutor those children whose parents don’t know how to or have time to equip their children.

Maybe we decide instead of sending my teen to another Episcopal conference or another  soccer tournament, I send that money to the Y so a child in the housing projects can go to camp one week or part of a week and have a summer experience, off the streets. Perhaps I choose, instead of bridge this month, I’ll serve dinner at the shelter or go to the training at the battered women’s shelter.

Dear ones, a good parent doesn’t fall into deep, peaceful sleep until their son/daughter is home and tucked in.  A Christian parent, any follower of the Risen Lord, doesn’t fall into deep, peaceful sleep until every child is home, safe, loved and tucked in.  This is the meaning of the new commandment.  It is a call to a new world order, a reality where we are not content until everyone is content.  We are not fed, spiritually fed and full until everyone is physically fed and full. 

Christians, right there in black and white for us to read, right there proclaimed for us to hear, we are commanded to become agents of God, agents of Good, agents bringing in a world where every one of God’s children is loved and secure. 

You and I cannot do everything to bring in this order.  But you and I can do something. Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment that you love one another as I, just as, exactly as I loved you.  By this love, everyone, the world will know you are my followers.”  By this love, the realm God envisions comes closer.

The new commandment to love as Christ loved is serious and demanding.  The new commandment is also doable.  The Gospel of Jesus, the Good News Jesus brings is that God will help.  God is with us in its keeping. 

Amen.