May 2, 2010 - Easter 5, Year C (RCL)
It’s the night before Jesus died,
and he gathers with his closest friends
for a final meal.
None of them knows for sure
what is to come,
none except Jesus, and Judas.
Jesus seems to know
that his time with them
was short.
And Judas?
Judas has already made his arrangements with the chief priests,
and just needs to be sure of what Jesus has planned for the rest of the evening
so that the location of the kiss of betrayal
is certain.
And Jesus tells him: “I’ll see you later, in the garden. Now go do what you have to.”
And Judas leaves, and the disciples continue with their meal,
listening to their Lord and friend
talk.
Though you have to wonder
if they think it’s strange that Judas is missing out
on what seems like a major lecture
from Jesus.
But if they do,
they keep quiet,
and Jesus begins
his final teaching session.
"Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' 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."
If you’re like me
you get stuck on the first words,
all that language
about glorifying.
It hardly seems to fit.
It’s kind of like code,
one that can only be broken
after Jesus’ death.
And of course, it is in Jesus’ death, and in his subsequent resurrection,
that God is glorified,
glorified
in Christ himself.
But it’s interesting
that it’s not there
that the disciples get stuck. It’s the next part.
“Where I’m going
you can’t come.”
Just after the part we read today, Peter - of course it’s Peter, he’s always the one questioning, always the one who doesn’t
quite get it - Peter asks, “Where are you going? Why can’t we come?”
Of course, we have the advantage of hindsight;
we know
where Jesus is going.
He’s going to the cross.
And of course, they can’t come.
Because if they die
alongside him,
then all the work he’s done with them
has been wasted.
There would be no apostles,
no witnesses to the resurrection,
no leaders for
the new-born
church.
No, they can’t go
with Jesus.
But it’s the next words
that ring most strongly for us,
the words
that most of us know
by heart.
And it’s these words
that have become programmatic
for the church
ever since.
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.”
Now if I’d been there, that’s the point when I would have stopped Jesus. “Hang on. That’s not new. You told us so yourself
just a few months ago. When the lawyer asked you
what the greatest commandment was, you said, ‘First, love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. And second, love your neighbor as yourself.’ So what’s new about this commandment?”
And it’s as if Jesus heard my question.
“Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”
You see, it’s not just loving one another. It’s not just being nice, being kind,
it’s loving one another
as Christ
has loved us.
And what does that look like?
We’ll just a few minutes before he said this,
Jesus had washed
the disciples’
feet.
Dirty, dusty, smelly feet,
feet that were calloused and hardened from wearing sandals,
feet that were blistered and cracked from walking.
Jesus got up in the middle of the meal,
stripped down to his undershirt,
tied a towel around his waist,
got a bowl of water,
and knelt down
and washed the disciples’ feet.
It was the job of a servant, or even better,
a slave.
And that’s what Jesus’ love for the disciples looked like.
“Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”
Basic, lowly, menial
service.
Of course, that wasn’t all there was
to Jesus’ love for his disciples.
Most of it was everyday stuff. Leading them,
finding shelter for the night
and food for the day,
teaching them, so they would know God
and know how to live,
and then, in the end,
dying for them.
Love one another.
Two weeks ago,
the vestry went on retreat.
As you all know,
over the last few years,
we’ve come up with all kinds of goals and missions for our parish.
We had the mission statement,
and the parish profile.
We had the visioning process,
as we read “Christianity for the rest of us.”
And underneath it all,
we have the baptismal covenant.
But it seems like each time
we’d get to the point of identifying priorities and goals,
we’d get stuck.
We’d have these great statements,
but we would keep on with business as usual.
they’d never make it
off the page.
So two weeks ago,
the vestry took time
to think, to pray, and to ask God
where our parish is called to be heading.
It was hard work,
but profound work.
There was silence
and there was talking.
There was no voting, no arguing.
And as we moved through the process,
we came to a consensus. And three priorities emerged.
Growing in faith with scripture and prayer.
Building relationships in Christ.
Serving one another and the world.
We didn’t read today’s gospel before we began.
But as I began to prepare to preach today,
I realized
that the three goals
could have come straight from here.
Here in scripture
we find the very core
of our life as Christians:
loving one another as Christ loved us.
Scripture guides us
as we grow in faith.
And Christ is at the center of all our relationships. We love one another, as Christ loved us.
And Christ calls us to serve.
Today’s gospel
confirms
what the vestry discerned.
And so now I’m going to hand over to Pat and Chris
to talk a little more about where God is calling us...
(for more details, see this month's newsletter)
© Raewynne J. Whiteley 2010