Preached at Grace and Canadochly on May 13, 2018
Preaching texts: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26, 1 John 5:9-13, John 17:6-19
I was struggling with this sermon this week. After following this thread in the Johannine texts about love throughout this Easter season, I felt I should wrap up the whole theme this week, but today’s texts just let me down on that part. Not much here about agape love. We get instead the selection of Matthias as the 13th Disciple, a portion of 1 John which talks about truth and testimony more than love, and Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer, which is (no offense intended) a bit of a word salad that is often hard to decipher.
Part of my struggle with these texts is more personal. I was simply swamped this week with the various comings and goings of the rest of my life. Dealing with family stuff (some good, some bad), preparing for a friend’s visit in a month or so, and putting together a couple of sessions of the various tabletop games I play with my friends had my brain spinning. So it was hard to focus on what God wanted me to preach this week.
Ironically, the answer to my dilemma was right in front of me.
One of the family issues I was dealing with was trying to get everybody to everything they needed to do. All while Sarah’s car was in the shop for part of the week and my in-laws car was in the shop for part of the week. So we had to plan and strategize and figure out how we were going to do all this.
One of the games I was prepping was a Star Trek game where the goal was to get these warring factions on this one alien planet to make peace with one another. That was the puzzle the players of the game were going to have to solve and how were they going to do that. They had to plan and strategize and figure out how they were going to do it.
And my friend Greg’s visit at the end of June. He passing through on his way to meet up with his wife who’ll be doing business in Upstate NY during those weeks. And he’s doing this long road trip thing, making his way up from NC to NY while passing through these parts for a few days. What are we going to do while he’s here? What fun stuff are we going to get into. We have to plan and strategize and figure out how we are going to squeeze it al in.
Well, that is precisely what is also happening in our Scripture texts today.
As we’ve seen over the past several weeks, we have received this calling from Christ to love one another as he has loved us. A selfless serving sacrificial love, a love that transforms lives and transforms the world in which we live. We are called to spread this love, to live this love, to make the world a better place for all sorts of people because of this love. And we have to plan and strategize and figure out how we are going to do it. And that’s precisely what’s happening in these scripture stories.
You see, this is the Sunday after the Ascension. Jesus has risen from the dead and he has over these past weeks given his disciples their marching orders; their mission. And now he’s gone back up into heaven. This is the moment when the rubber hits the road for the disciples. Jesus just gave us a job to do. How are we going to do it?
Oh, we need more leadership. Let us choose another to take Judas’ place. Oh, Jesus called us into the world in his prayer. Let us go out into that world. And let us do that fearlessly, because not only did Jesus pray for our protection, but John has reminded us in his letter that we bear true testimony and have eternal life. What can stop us?
This is yet another piece of the puzzle that the modern institutional church has so often missed. Our work as Christians is not within these walls. We’re to be out there in the world. Down in the muck and mire of life. And we can do that boldly, because we know God and his blessing are with us. But we cannot do it without a strategy or a plan.
And this is usually where I (and other pastors) get ourselves in trouble. Part of our calling as your leaders is to suggest such plans, to give direction and focus. But all too often calling people to live out their duties as Christians means we run smack dab into a whole host of sacred cows that people do not want touched. We’re being too radical. We’re being too political. We’re rocking the boat too much. Yeah, that’s our job.
If I call out racism or sexism, if I suggest changes to our society that benefit the less fortunate or the outcast, if I say things like “it’s not about our comfort, but it’s about saving the world,” I run the risk of angering people. I get that. But we do live in a system that is built upon hurting and rejecting others and many of us are very comfortable in that system. Changes would make us less so and we know it, so we are often reluctant to make those changes.
But we are Christian and we have been called to love, called to spread love, called to love people different than ourselves, people on the other side of the divide of race, class, gender, orientation, politics, economics, you name it. And Jesus isn’t here physically to do those tasks for you. Nor is it my job as your pastor to live out your calling as a disciple of Jesus in your stead. But it is my job to call you to a reckoning between long held beliefs and prejudices and who Jesus calls you to be. A reckoning that I too face nearly every day of my life.
We know who Jesus wants us to be. And we know what Jesus wants us to do. And it scares the hell out of all of us. That’s why he prays what he does in the High Priestly Prayer. Protect them. They’re going to be out there in that ugly world and they’re going to be doing things that are going to unsettle and upset people. But we’re not called to run away from that. We’re called to face it head on.
Every day, we wake up with a choice. How are we going to live out our calling? Do we embrace the way of Christ or give in to the world’s comforts and temptations? To we embrace the status quo or challenge it? We are called to conquer the world with love and no war, no battle, was ever won without planning and a lot of courage. What will you do? Amen.
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