Scripture texts: Acts 10:44-48, 1 John 5:1-6, John 15:9-17
Throughout this Easter season, we’ve seen the Scripture texts building upon each other. That shouldn’t be much of a surprise from anyone, since we are steeped deeply in these weeks in the ancient Johannine tradition of Christianity (that is to say, the material in the Scriptures written by John and his disciples). So there should be a certain consistency across our lessons. And, since I imagine most of you have been paying attention, the main point of that consistency is love, specifically agape love, selfless love, the love of God and Christ for us and that same love that we are to share with others.
As I’ve said, this is core fundamental foundational Christianity. This is the stuff we’ve been taught since day one in the Church. Our first Sunday School lessons were about this. Our first baptismal instructions were about this. And, the problem is (partly, I believe, because this is so “basic”) it’s also the stuff we are often most quick to forget as we advance in life.
Evidence of that forgetting is all around us. Like most institutions, the Church, both as individual congregations and as large world spanning denominations, has spent extraordinary amounts of time, energy, and resources for no other reason than to perpetuate itself. To keep the machine going. To keep running. But to what end? Is it truly so that, as our Scriptures suggest, love may conquer the world? Probably not.
No, all too often that machine runs so that we who are a part of it may feel comfortable in life. And in that effort, it caters to our sense of nostalgia, our privileges as white middle-class Americans. It does little to challenge us. It does next to nothing to force us out of our comfort zones, our preconceptions, and our prejudices. We are often not here to grow; we are often here to pat ourselves on the back, nestle in the comfort of routine religion, and look down our noses upon those poor saps who in some way don’t measure up to our standards of greatness.
This is nothing new. This is the story of the Church from almost the very beginning, certainly from the time in which it became “mainstream” in the Roman Empire and beyond. We have launched crusades, burned witches, slaughtered unbelievers by the thousands (if not millions), enslaved those who were different, and turned a blind eye to corruption in our midst, all so the church membership could be comfortable.
Doesn’t sound like selfless agape love to me.
Some historians have argued that the worst thing to happen to the Church was the moment in ancient Rome when it became the state religion. They say everything went downhill from there and that was when the Church truly lost its way. We replaced conquest by love and mercy with conquest by the sword and never looked back. It’s hard to argue that such historians don’t have a point.
But, Pastor, we don’t do those things anymore. We’ve grown beyond all that horrible stuff. We’ve freed the slaves. We’ve supported civil rights. We’ve stopped genocides of people who are different. To which I say, Have we truly?
Slavery? What does the church say about the fact that the United States incarcerates more people per capita than any other nation on Earth? Yes, the 13th Amendment freed the slaves after the Civil War EXCEPT for one caveat. Those imprisoned for crimes can still be enslaved. Oh, and those who are imprisoned are largely A) people of color and B) held for crimes that are often laughably minor. What does the church say about that? How do we show agape love to ones such as these?
Well worth the watch if you want to know about modern slavery in America. The whole documentary is on Netflix and YouTube.
Civil rights? What does the church say about the fact that people of color are still statistically poorer and still have fewer opportunities than whites? What does it say about women who make less on average than men? And girls who are often actively discouraged from seeing higher paying careers? What does it say about the LGBT community? What does the church say about how unequal our society truly is? How do we show agape love to ones such as these?
Genocide? What does the church say about the fact that this country was closed to the Jews who tried to flee Hitler? What does it say about those Syrians and Iraqis who right now are trying to flee Assad and ISIS? Or to the Mexicans and Central Americans who are fleeing the brutality of the drug cartels? What does the church say about such things? How do we show agape love to ones such as these?
What are we doing about those things? Are we doing anything? Or once again, are we turning a blind eye to the evils of our world and of our own so that we may be comfortable?
“Love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus commands. “Everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God.” John writes. And who are the children of God? Those he’s created. Those that he loves. Those like the household of the Roman centurion Cornelius, who wasn’t Christian at first, but came to know God’s love thanks to Peter. That’s our Acts text today. He conquered with love. Be like Peter.
I said last week that there are thousands upon thousands of people out there who are hungering for love. This world in which we live is brutal. We know that. We’ve experienced that. That’s why the temptation to find comfort is so strong within these walls. But the love we are called to share is a selfless love. It is one that is meant to go beyond ourselves and out into that brutal world; out to all those who are not comfortable. To all those who are frightened by the forces of society that are arrayed against them. To all those beaten down by the unfairness of life. To all those less fortunate than ourselves. We cannot forget them in our quest for comfort and escape from our own fears. That’s is not what we are called to do as Christians.
No, this is our model. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. That was what Jesus did for you and for me and for everyone. He was worried about being comfortable. He was worried about creating a new world, a kingdom of God, where all people can be loved and taken care of. A kingdom of love and compassion. A kingdom created by love for love for all. That is what we are about. Jesus conquered with love. Be like Jesus. Amen.
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