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.
