Pentecost

This is the sermon manuscript from the sermon preached day of Pentecost.  The supporting scripture text is Acts 2:1-21(43-47).

So we have arrived at Pentecost, the day that has become known as the birthday of the church.  Today is a joyous occasion.  We break out the red dressings for the sanctuary.  We celebrate with gusto the workings of the church and the moving of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  We celebrate with a great deal of joy on Pentecost.  A joy that I don’t think was present in that room with the apostles on that Pentecost day we hear about in Acts.  I don’t think they were having a birthday party.         

After they watched Jesus ascend into heaven, after they had replaced Judas with Matthias, the apostles were all gathered together in one place.  I am sure that they were struggling with fear and doubt because they had no idea where to go next.  Jesus was gone.  The promised spirit had not come.  They were still under threat of persecution from both Rome and the leaders of the Jewish leaders.  At that moment there were more questions than answers.

And then it happened.  A violent wind came from heaven and filled the room where the apostles are gathered.  Tongues of fire appeared among them, resting on each of them, and everyone began to speak.  Filled with the Holy Spirit, the apostles began to speak in every language under the sun; or at least every language spoken by those who had come to Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost.  Parthians, Medes, Cappadocians, Egyptians, and a whole host of others from all over the Mediterranean hear about God’s deeds of power in their own language.  All were amazed and perplexed.  Some make snide comments about drinking too much wine.  Peter preached.   People repented and were baptized.  Three thousand people joined the movement that day. 

It’s a wild and thrilling tale to be sure.  We hear it every year.  We talk about the rushing of the spirit and tongues of fire.  But what exactly is Pentecost?  I don’t think it is a birthday, but part of something much bigger.  Something found deeper in the heart of God.  So what is Pentecost?  We use it as a label for this day in the church year, but what does it mean?  For starters is means “fifty” in Greek.  We are fifty days from Easter.  Fifty days after the resurrection.  Fifty days after the Jewish festival of Passover. 

That’s where Pentecost has its roots, as a Jewish festival.  Seven weeks after the Passover the Jews would gather for the “Festival of Weeks.”  It was a festival of thanksgiving, originally a harvest festival to give thanks for the crops brought in from the fields.  If you look in Leviticus chapter 23 you will find a list of the sacrifices to be brought to the priest.  Bread offerings made with a measure of the best grain.  Year old goats and lambs without blemish to be given to the Lord.  The day shall be one of rest from work, a statute to be honored forever in all the settlements.  And then God calls the people to move from thanksgiving to justice. 

“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God (Lev. 23:22).”  There at the edges of the field God was giving life.  God was reminding the people that they too had once been the poor and the stranger and had survived off of the gifts of someone else’s land.  God tells them to leave some grain on the stalks and some grapes on the vine for the poor and for the stranger who wandered at the edges of community.  In their abundance, the people of God are to remember that they have the means to help those in need.  That’s the heart of Pentecost. 

And so on that Pentecost day in Acts there was that little band of apostles who had more questions than answers.  There were Jews from all over the Mediterranean gathered to celebrate the Festival of Weeks.  And there in the midst of question and strangers gathered from the edges, the Spirit of God moves. 

And yes there was a wind from heaven.  Yes there were tongues of fire.  Yes those first apostles, the country folk from Galilee, spoke as though they had Ph. D’s in languages they had never heard.  The powerful deeds of God were told in every language that could be heard and three thousand people joined the movement.  But that’s not the end of the story.  That’s not all there is to Pentecost.  Let’s look at how this second chapter of Acts ends. 

“Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.”

You see, when we stop reading the story before it is finished we are left only with the wonder of wind and fire and languages.  It’s a thrilling tale, but it’s not the whole story.  After the wind from heaven and the tongues of fire, the good news of Jesus Christ settled on those who heard the word.  The Holy Spirit moved through the community, filling folks with the love of God.  God’s love overflowed in their lives until they were full and could do nothing but help to fill up others in their midst.  They took up the call to share their blessings with others.  The old call from God was renewed.  The edges of the field were once again left for those who were poor and a stranger.  The spirit of God moved through those gathered on that Pentecost day and confirmed what God has been doing all along, giving life to those in need.  In their abundance, the people of God are to remember that they have the means to help those in need.  That’s the heart of Pentecost. 

Today we gather with three young men as we celebrate confirmation.  Today we affirm their faith and recognize how far they have come along the way.  We reach back to the waters of Baptism and the promise of God.  We remember what God has already done for them and for us through Jesus Christ.  Today we affirm our faith in the risen Christ and look to where he is calling us to follow in the world.  Today we remember that the Holy Spirit is still at work in our lives. 

Just this week a group of us took a tour of the Pace School for girls, just a stone’s throw from this building.  We learned about the amazing ministry being done for girls who have been cast to edges of the school system.  We got to see how resources are being pooled together and used to give life back to not only the girls who had lost their way, but also to their families.  Perhaps for the first time, families are learning how to celebrate with one another over the little victories of learning how to read and succeed in school.  We, who are witnesses to Jesus Christ in our world, have the opportunity to participate in this life giving ministry.  When we remember to leave the edges of our fields to those who are in need, when we remember to share what we have with those in need, we participate in what God has been doing all along.

On this day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit is on the move in our midst.  Moving and shaking and confirming and affirming and calling and disrupting and inviting.  Igniting our hearts and our lives.  That’s the heart of Pentecost.  Happy Pentecost to you, people of God.  

“Family or fools”

This is the sermon manuscript from the sermon preached on 12/13 May 2012.  The accompanying scripture lessons are John 15:9-17 and Acts 10:44-48.

As the high school National Youth Gathering approaches, I have been doing a great deal of research in preparing for Bible studies that will get us ready to go to New Orleans.  During this research I have came across a video put together by the planners of the gathering that shows a history of how the ELCA youth gathering has become what it is today.  In August of 1961, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, the American Lutheran Church held a youth gathering in Miami.  One of the guest speakers was Martin Luther King Jr.  In his speech to the youth King is quoted as saying, “The world in which we live is a neighborhood, and now we face the moral responsibility of making this world a brotherhood (family).  We must all learn to live together as brothers (and sisters), or we will all perish together as fools.”  “We must learn to live together, or we will perish as fools.”

With those words ringing in my mind I am reminded of what is found at the heart of being family, love.  Our story from John today is all about love.  We are once again at the table with Jesus as he shares his last supper with the disciples.  He knows that he is hours away from his cross and so he shares his final testimony with his disciples, he gives them words that will carry them through the days ahead.  As we have talked about before, the message of Jesus here in his waning hours is all about love.  “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you,” he tells his disciples.  For Jesus, his life and ministry has been all about revealing God’s love for the world, a love that will be poured out on the cross for all people.

In the midst of all this talk of love it would be easy to look over a very short statement from Jesus.  “You did not choose me but I chose you,” he tells the disciples.  I chose you.  Here at the very end of his earthly ministry comes a powerful reminder that it was indeed Jesus who chose the disciples and called them into a relationship.  Nothing about who they were had stopped Jesus from making the call back on the fishing docks of Galilee.  Nothing that they have done over the last three years had caused Jesus to cast them away and seek new disciples.  Even when they may have wanted to walk away, Jesus was there because he chose them.  Jesus is not one to walk away.  “I chose you,” Jesus told the disciples.  “I chose you,” Jesus tells us today. 

It’s a remarkable statement from Jesus.  It is a statement loaded with blessing.  It is a statement that reminds us of the depths of God’s love for us.  We receive love that we do not have to create, earn, or go searching for because it is a love that is present in Jesus Christ.  It is a love poured out on the cross.  A love found in the word of peace on the first Easter.  A love present in the waters of baptism.  A love that promises that we are a people chosen by God.    

It’s also a word that is very clear about who does the choosing.  Notice what Jesus says; “You did not choose me but I chose you.”  Jesus is the one who does the choosing.  We are not the ones who get to say who is chosen by God.  That choice belongs to God and God alone.  We are not called to choose “who is in and who is out.”  Over the centuries, this has been one of the greatest struggles for the followers of Jesus.     

A few years after Jesus had assented, the wheels were about to fall off the bus and the whole Christian movement was about to come crashing to an end.  The early church was struggling.  Not only was it being persecuted by Rome, the followers of Jesus were fighting amongst themselves as they tried to carry the good news of Jesus Christ out into the world.

It seems that Jesus had been gone no longer than two minutes before the arguing began.  Who is in and who is out?  That was the question.  Since Jesus was a Jew, did that mean that everyone had to become a Jew?  Did adult male converts have to be circumcised?  Does the community have to adopt Jewish dietary laws?  “What are we going to do with the Gentiles!,” was the cry of the Jewish church folk.  The divide between the Jews and the Gentiles was becoming an iron curtain.  As Peter and the early church leaders made their way out from Jerusalem into the rest of the Mediterranean world, the question of “who was in and who was out” haunted their every footstep. 

            And so it was at a town hall meeting in Caesarea that this issue of being inclusive came to a head.  Peter had been invited to preach by a man named Cornelius, a Roman centurion and a gentile to boot, an outsider by Jewish standards.  Peter, who struggled with the idea that God could be present in the Gentiles, had recently had a vision from God in which he was told “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”  Three times Peter has this vision, and in the midst of being greatly puzzled by it, Cornelius’s men come calling.  Peter, driven by the Spirit, welcomes them with open arms and the next day they make their way to Caesarea.     

            Upon arriving in Caesarea, Peter meets Cornelius and the old boundaries are clear, Jews do not meet with Gentiles.  But Peter is reminded of his vision and asks why he has been invited.  Cornelius tells Peter about his vision, about how his prayers had been heard by God.  Cornelius has been waiting to hear what God has to say so he invites Peter to preach. 

And while Peter is preaching to a mixed crowd of circumcised Jews and the Gentile family and close friends of Cornelius, something curious happens.  The Holy Spirit falls upon “all who heard the word.”  Not just the circumcised believers who were present.  Not just Peter who was preaching.  The Holy Spirit falls upon “all who heard the word.”  The author tells us that the circumcised believers who had come with Peter “were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.”  Those of the Jewish contingent were astounded that the Holy Spirit could be present outside of their understanding of who could be part of the church.  In that moment God was moving and shaking and turning the world upside down.  God was pushing the boundaries and welcoming those considered outsiders into the love of Jesus.  God was reminding those gathered that it was not their choice to decide who would receive the Holy Spirit and God’s love.  As Jesus said; “You did not choose me but I chose you.” 

In every generation the church of Jesus Christ is faced with the challenge of continuing to extend the boundaries of community to those who have long been considered outsiders.  And so it is for us today.  Through John’s story of Jesus we are reminded that we too are a chosen people of God.  And as a chosen people of God we are invited to image a world in which God’s love is overflowing in all people.  We are called to be open to encountering the risen Christ in whoever we meet.  Just image what the world would be like if we assumed that the spirit was present in everyone, if we looked at the people we meet as our brothers and sisters in the family of God. 

As a chosen people, loved by God, we are invited to participate in the movement of the Holy Spirit in our own time and place.  We have the opportunity to see the Spirit moving beyond the status quo and boldly invite and welcome all the children of God as family.

Dr. King spoke boldly to those high school youth in 1961 about re-imagining their world as a family united in the love of Jesus Christ.  He was one of a multitude of witnesses to the life changing love of God who welcomes all peoples to the table of love and justice.  In our time and place we have the opportunity to join the ranks of those who continue to say yes to the movement of the Holy Spirit and the love of Jesus Christ.  Through Jesus, we can continue to turn this world into a family where all are welcome.  A family where all have a place at the table.       

I just want to be a sheep

This is the sermon manuscript for the sermon preached on 28/29 April, the fourth Sunday after Easter.  The Gospel text is John 10:11-18. 

I come from a long line of farmers.  Back in the 1840s my forefathers from Germany crossed the Atlantic to find a new start in Texas.  Since 1875 my family has been farming a piece of land just outside of Winedale, Texas.  This farm literally gave me life.  When I was a kid I helped to tend its gardens, I was raised on fruits from its bountiful harvest.  Fresh tomatoes like you wouldn’t believe!  I am a son of farmers.  As I continue to learn and grow in my faith, as I continue to encounter the risen Christ, my identity as a son of farmers will not change.  I will always be a son of farmers. 

I firmly believe that it is important to know where you have come from, to know your history.  These things help to form an identity.  They provide a foundation and a set of lenses for looking at and encountering the world.  Remember how that old saying goes, “if you know where you have come from, there are no limitations to where you can go.”  Knowing who we are helps to pave the way into the future.

Today we know exactly who Jesus is; he comes right out and says it, no need to beat around the bush.  “I am the good shepherd,” Jesus says.  He stands in front of a gathered crowd after a brief conflict with a group of Pharisees.  Jesus has just given sight to a man born blind, an event that has caused quite a ruckus in the little town.  The Pharisees have given the man and his family a rather hard time in their quest to find out about Jesus.  Even in the face of a life-giving, healing event and the clear witness and confession of the now open eyed believer, the Pharisees just don’t get it; just who is this Jesus? 

“I am the good shepherd,” Jesus says.  Now this is one of his many “I am” statements in John’s Gospel; “I am the bread of life,” “I am the light of the world,” “I am the good shepherd,” and so on.  It is in John’s Gospel that we get the clearest picture of Jesus’ self understanding.  And amidst the many metaphors that Jesus uses to describe himself, bread, light, resurrection, truth, one clear theme emerges; Jesus gives life.  He states this very clearly right before our Gospel story today, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly,” Jesus says in verse 10.  “I came that they may have life...”  Jesus comes to bring us abundant life.  And he grounds this idea of abundant life in image of a shepherd.  

Now shepherds are those who look after the sheep, they make sure there is water and food and shelter, they protect the sheep from danger.  But I think Jesus is talking about more than just the basics.  Jesus’ idea of giving life as the good shepherd goes way beyond providing food and water and shelter; Jesus gives us new life.  “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep,” Jesus tells the crowd.  The good shepherd doesn’t just meet the needs of the sheep; he goes beyond the call of duty to meet the greatest need of all, life.  When push comes to shove, the good shepherd will go all the way to the end and embrace death on behalf of the sheep.  The hired hand will run away he says, but the good shepherd will lay down his life. 

In this moment Jesus alludes to cross where he will indeed lay down his life for all people.  Jesus knows that he has comes from God and that his life leads to the cross.  That’s what we celebrate at Easter, that’s what we are still celebrating today.  Jesus as the good shepherd goes way beyond meeting our basic needs.  Jesus lays down his life for us, so that we may have new life.  Resurrected life.  Abundant life.

And so even in the midst of this great speech, Jesus points back to us.  Jesus is always working on our behalf.  Jesus is the good shepherd because he has a flock to look after.  He did not say that he came to give himself life.  No, he came so that all may have abundant life.  He does not lay down his life for himself; he lays down his like for his sheep.  Jesus’ identity is intimately connected to us.  And it’s from Jesus’ identity as a life giving, good shepherd, that we learn a great deal about ourselves.  While there is no specific call from Jesus in our Gospel story today, John is weaving cleverly into the narrative something very clear about our identity as followers of Jesus.  We are his sheep.

 Dear friends, we are part of the flock of Jesus Christ.  Our identity as the sheep of Jesus Christ can be traced to our baptism.  In baptism we are claimed by God in the name of Jesus.  He is our source of life.  When we gather at the font in our baptism, we are brought to new life and called the children of God.  Our identity in this world is forever changed.  The old bonds of sin and death are washed away.  In waters of baptism God tells us that we are enough.  In the promise of baptism God tells us that we are loved.  We are set free from all that would hold us back from following Jesus.

Because that’s what sheep do, they follow.  If the sheep knew the way they would not need a shepherd, but this is clearly not the case.  We would not be able to manage on our own; the witness of scripture is enough to tell us that when we try to make it on our own we end up getting hurt and bruised.  But God is always there, calling us back into relationship, finding new ways to love us and bring us back into the fold.  In Jesus, the good shepherd, we have a promise that we will never be on the journey alone.  Jesus will always be there to lead.  Jesus says very clearly that there is one Shepherd and one flock.  He is the shepherd.  We are the sheep.  We are called and set free to be the sheep of Jesus.  To follow where he goes and participate in his life giving love.       

Dear friends, today we are reminded of where we have come from; we are reminded of our identity.  We are the sheep of Jesus Christ, baptized into his fold forever.  There is nothing in this world that can separate us from the love of Jesus.  We will always be his sheep.  And since we know where we have come from, there is no limit on where we can go.  The path before us may be unclear, but we know that the good shepherd will always be there to guide us.

And so here on the fourth Sunday of Easter, the question for us becomes, how will we continue to be the flock of Jesus?  As the part of the witness of Jesus Christ here in Bradenton, Florida, how will we continue to shows Jesus’ life giving love to others?

 This week I spent some time looking over materials for vacation Bible school.  This community has a rich history of VBS.  In a few weeks we will once again open our doors to the community as we hold our annual vacation Bible school.  In those five days we will have the chance to shows Gods love to kids and parents alike.  Perhaps VBS is a place where you can participate in showing God’s love.  And it is one of many opportunities that we have to be a witness of Jesus’ love; to follow Jesus as one of his flock.  Every day we have the chance to follow.  Because Jesus will always be our shepherd.  And we will forever be his sheep.         

“We are witnesses”

This is the manuscript for the sermon preached on 21/22 April 2012, the third Sunday of Easter.  The Gospel test is Luke 24: 36b-48.

“They were startled and terrified, and they thought that they were seeing a ghost.”  These are the words Luke uses to describe the reaction of the disciples to seeing the risen Jesus standing in their midst.  Fear and wonder grips them, they are not sure what to think in that moment.  But let’s give them a bit of a break.  After all, it had been a long day.   

The tomb had only been open for a few hours.  It was only earlier that same morning that the women had returned from the tomb with astonishing news that the tomb was empty, Jesus had been raised.  Peter was so intrigued that he ran all the way from the house to see for himself.  He got to the tomb, saw the linen grave cloths, and walked back amazed.

            A little later that afternoon two more disciples, Cleopas and another, were on their way to the village of Emmaus when they were met by a stranger.  It’s not until dinner that evening and the breaking of the bread that their eyes are opened and they recognize Jesus.  Luke tells us that in that same hour they ran all the way back to Jerusalem and share their story with the disciples. 

            And amidst the flutter of excitement and storytelling of that first Easter who should show up, but Jesus.  He speaks a greeting of “Peace be with you” and the familiar scene of Jesus showing the disciples his hands and his feet begins to play out.  Jesus assures those gathered that he is not a ghost, he shows them his hands and his feet, he invites them to touch and see, he asks for a piece of fish and eats in their presence.  But there is still doubt and disbelief. 

In the soft light of that early morning there had been doubt at the tomb.  The disciples on their way to Emmaus did not recognize Jesus in their midst.  And the disciples in that upper room were still unsure of what they were seeing.  Luke tells us that in their joy they were disbelieving, that they were still wondering what had taken place.

            Because even though Jesus shows the disciples his hands and his feet, even though he invites them to touch and see, even though he eats in their midst, the question of resurrection still looms in the shadows of the story.  Even though Jesus speaks and invites and eats, the disciples who were there to listen and respond and watch still had their doubts.  Those who were there on that first Easter still looked at the risen Jesus with wonder and fear.

            Was this the same Jesus who had called them as disciples?  Was this the same Jesus who told all of those parables?  Was this the same Jesus that fed five thousand people with a few loaves and fish?  Jesus had told them over and over that he would suffer and die and on the third day rise again, but could these things have actually taken place?  In life, Peter had confessed Jesus to be the Messiah, the Anointed one.  The disciples grew up with stories of the Messiah.  The whole of Israel had waited for generations for the Messiah to come.  Could Jesus really be the one?  Could Jesus really be the Messiah?

            I am sure that their fear and wonder was wrapped up in questions like these.  They had watched Jesus die on Friday.  They had seen his body placed in the tomb.  Even though Jesus said he would rise on the third day, the cold facts of life had taught the disciples that death was final.  Death only leaves a body and tears of mourning.  And yet there was Jesus, standing in their midst.        

            And Jesus, seeing their doubt, knowing that they were struggling to put together what was right in front of them, turns to something that they all knew to help them to understand.  Jesus turns to the scriptures.  Jesus turns to the stories they had grown up with; the stories that were etched in their bones.  And beginning with Moses and the Law, the prophets and the psalms, Jesus reminds his disciples that everything that had been written about him must be fulfilled.   Jesus opens their minds to understand the scriptures.

            Even in the midst of their fear and doubt, Jesus does not turn away.  He looks on with love and gives the disciples the tools to connect the dots.  He points them to a story they all knew.  Connects his ministry to what God had been doing all along.  It is in the story of scripture that Jesus grounds his resurrection.  He points back to the Law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms and reminds his disciples that the story of scripture had always been moving toward him.  Jesus has come to fulfill what was spoken by the prophets.  Jesus was and is and always will be the Messiah that God sent into our world so that all people would have life.  The meaning of the resurrection lies in the story of what God has been doing all along; moving people from death to life, providing people with the opportunity for a relationship that gives new life, not one that takes life away.  In the story of scripture the disciples have the good news of how God has always been and always will be deeply love with the world, so that even death is no match for that love.  It is this story that Jesus helps the disciples to understand.  He opens their minds to understand the scriptures. 

            But this story cannot stay in that room.  Even amidst the fear and doubt there is a call from Jesus.  “You are witnesses to these things,” he tells the disciples.  The word needs to get out.  The preaching of repentance and forgiveness in Jesus’ name must begin, and not only in Jerusalem, but it must be taken to all nations.  And from that room the word spread.  Even in their fear and doubt they carried the good news from that room on the first Easter.  From Jerusalem to Galilee.  From the disciples to the early church.  From Paul to Corinth and Galatia and Rome.  From generation to generation.  Father to son.  Mother to daughter.  From grandparents to parents to you and me.

              And so here on the third Sunday of Easter, and perhaps even in our fear and doubt, Jesus points us back to the scriptures.  Remember the story he says.  It’s my story, Jesus says, the story of new life to the whole world.  You are witnesses to these things.  Each week we gather around the scriptures.  We hear the Gospel.  We are engaged with proclamation.  Perhaps you join in a Bible study.  Perhaps you talk about this story around the dinner table.  We are reminded of the story that God has been writing since the beginning of time.  The story about the depth of God’s love for the world.  A story that is centered in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  And we too are invited to share this story.  Remember, we too are witnesses.  With our words and deeds, with our hands and feet, we are witnesses to the good news of Jesus Christ.  From Trinity Lutheran to 26^th street.  From 59^th to Manatee.  From Sarasota to Tampa.  We are witnesses of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.  The one who was raised on that first Easter.  The one who is risen in our midst today and tomorrow.  Dear friends, we are witnesses.      

             

“This love can change our world.”

This is the manuscript from the sermon preached on Maundy Thursday.  The Gospel text is John 13:1-17, 31b-35.

Jesus saw the writing on the wall.  He knew where the events of the evening were going to lead.  John has made this very clear for us.  In a few hours, Judas will walk into the darkness of the garden with a detachment of soldiers and betray Jesus into the hands of the jealous religious leaders.  In the dark hours of the night Jesus will stand trial before the whole council and in the early morning he will be taken to Pilate.  His cross was only heartbeats away.  But he still had time for one final meal with his disciples.  Jesus still had a few things to say.

            So after Judas walks out the door on his way to betray Jesus and perhaps after the plates are cleared away, Jesus stands up before his disciples and says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”   

Now for three years Jesus had been teaching and healing, rewriting the book on how we are to live.  Jesus had talked about the depth of God’s love for the world and how we can respond to that love.  Jesus had been showing his followers what it looks like to live as a child of God.  And now he is about to leave them.  Jesus knows that he is not long for the world.  The glory of God is about to be reveled through the cross.  So here in the waning hours of his life he sums his whole ministry in two short sentences.  He leaves his disciples with new commandment to follow; “love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

            Here John uses one of his favorite words for love, agape; “to take a high level of interest in the well-being of another.”  Three times in two sentences John uses this word.  Remember this word does not describe an emotion, something that we feel.  This Greek word describes a way of interacting with those we encounter in the world.  If I were to give you a picture of the human body and ask you to draw where the agape lives in each of us, it would not be in the heart, but in the hands and feet and mind.  Agape lives in the decisions that we make and the way in which we carry out those decisions.  How do we engage the people we pass on a daily basis?  How do we use what we have been blessed with to serve those around us?  These are the questions of agape.  This word agape is not found in Hallmark cards, it is found in the way we live our lives.   

            And for Jesus, agape is found on the cross.  Jesus speaks these words of agape just hours before their true meaning would be revealed to the world.  The cross is where God takes a high level of interest in the well being of the whole world.  The whole world; everyone, to include you and me.  Just hours before he is to die Jesus tells the disciples, who will end up deserting him before the evening is over, that he has taken a high level of interest in their well being.  They won’t understand this until after his resurrection, but Jesus wants to make it very clear that regardless of how the events of the evening would play out, he loves his disciples.  His love for them knows no bounds.  His love for us knows no bounds.  Through the cross Jesus demonstrated his high level of interest in our lives and became a blessing to the whole world. 

            But we are not called to just admire the depth of his love.  That’s not what tonight is about at all.  Listen again to what Jesus tells his disciples; “I give you a new commandment, that you love another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”  Just as I have loved you, just as I have taken a high level of interest in your lives, you should also do the same.  But that word “should” is not really what Jesus is saying.  We translate the sentence as an imperative command, something we have to do or should do.  But you and I know it’s not that simple; you cannot force someone to love.  You cannot force someone to follow.  What Jesus is actually saying here is, “I have loved you, so that you might love one another.”  “I have loved you so that you can love one another.”  Jesus is providing us with an opportunity to respond to the love that he has shown us.  “I love you, so you have to love others” is not a relationship and it is certainly not grace.  The love of Jesus is a free gift to the whole world, a gift of new life poured out on the cross.  Jesus is inviting us into a relationship based on that love.  

              I was talking with one of my friends from seminary here recently about how internship is going for her.  She tells me that her internship site is in a diverse community and throughout the year she has been working with her congregation in the area of immigration.  She’s hosted Bible studies and talked with people about what it means to be welcoming, what it means to show hospitality to immigrants and strangers in our midst, a call that is grounded in what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. 

She told me about the project that she is going to start after Easter.  She is going to invite a bunch of women from different cultural backgrounds into a kitchen where they will share with one another their culture’s recipe for bread.  The women from Latin America and Mexico are going to teach about “tortillas.”  The white women of Swedish and Norwegian descent are going to teach about “lefsa.”  The women from Somalia are going to teach about “injera.”  Instead of asking the question “why can’t they be like us?” these women are going to have the opportunity to learn about one another.  Through the baking of bread they will have the chance to learn why that particular kind of bread is important to the women who bake it and why it is important for their culture.  Instead of remaining separate, they are going to take a high level of interest in one another and hopefully learn what it means to live in community with one another.  This is a living, breathing agape of God opportunity.  It’s taking a chance and opening yourself up to the life of another.  It’s taking a high level of interest in the well being of another so that the boundaries of community are extended and not closed off.      

            That’s what we have come together to remember this evening.  On the night in which he was betrayed Jesus took a loaf of bread and broke it for the world to be fed.  Tonight all over the world, faith communities will gather around tortillas and lefsa and injera and unleavened bread in remembrance of the new life we have in Jesus Christ.  This bread fills us up and reminds us that we have been set free to love.  That’s what we have come together to remember this evening.  As we gather around the table of Jesus, we are reminded of God’s endless love for us and we are empowered to share that love with the world.  Through the love of Jesus Christ we have the opportunity to take a high level of interest in those we encounter as we walk through this world.  As we gather around the table this evening I invite you to listen to the words of Jesus.  “I love you,” he says, “so that you can go out and love others.”