Did you ever notice that there are certain words we all agree to pronounce differently than the way they’re spelled? Languages change over time and word pronunciation is part of that change. Here are some examples of what I mean: Wednesday, catsup, colonel, yacht, quay, one, and bologna. If you were to pronounce these words the way they’re spelled, people would look at you and say, “Where are you from? Why are you saying it like that?” Something happens to these and other words when they leave the page.
What happens to the words of Jesus when they leave the page? What happens when they are lived out by the church and its people?Sometimes we enact them very close to how they’re written. Jesus said, “Let the children come to me.” We see that as a very important part of how we are the church. When those words leave the pages of gospels and are lived out by us we celebrate the presence of children, their baptisms, and our ministry to them and their parents.
Jesus said, “Pray in this way, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…” We take that very seriously and include this prayer every week in worship. We don’t trade this prayer for some other prayer—like the prayer of Jabez—and decide to start using it everyday. We continue to pray the Lord’s Prayer together. He said, “Eat this bread and drink this cup in remembrance of me.” The church has continued this holy meal. He said, “Tell the world about me.” We commit ourselves to that great commission as a local church and as part of our denomination. There are many other examples. To be sure, we are always called imitate Christ and follow his teachings. As a community of believers we are called to help each other in this. When the words of Jesus leave the pages of the gospels, they are lived out in us.
Now, other words of Jesus when they leave the pages of the gospels bear and are lived out in us bear little resemblance to what he said. Many difficult sayings of Jesus we struggle to enact. He said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” We are more likely to destroy our enemies with words or weapons. He said, “Take care, be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for your life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” When so much of our world lives in poverty and desperation, we have so much by comparison. He said, “Unless you take up your cross and follow me, you cannot be one of my disciples.” We want a convenient faith in which we can schedule the cross around all the other activities of life. He said, “When you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.” Too many people want a faith that is about them and God and ignores one’s neighbor.
The words from John 13 belong with this list second list. “Just as I have loved you,” Jesus told them, “you should love one another.” He calls this a new commandment. To be fair, the command to love is not new, it’s part of the Hebrew scripture. What’s new about it this time is that a new community is being formed around love. We are that community and our calling is to love each other after the example of Jesus himself.When these challenging words leave the page and are lived out by us, we struggle with the total commitment this kind of love requires. To love another as Jesus loves us is to love sacrificially, without partiality. It’s looking past another’s failures. It’s a non-fault-finding, non-scowling kind of love.
That is certainly a challenging command. We are better at loving some neighbors and ignoring others. We are better at loving the people in some church pews and not in others. We may do use the kind of violence that Sunnis use against Shias but we know sectarian division.To paraphrase the Apostle Paul, we are better at a love that isn’t so patient, and not in every case kind, a love that is sometimes envious and truth-be-told boastful and give-me-a-break arrogant and what’s-in-it-for-me rude. We might even prefer a love that does insist on its own way.
The point here is that perfect love doesn’t look so perfect when it’s lived out by imperfect, broken people. When the command to love another leaves page and is lived out by us, the result is often wide of the mark. So why try? Why should we make an effort to love others? Why not just admit that we’re not wired for this high calling anymore than thoroughbreds are wired to stand perfectly still.
Did you see in the news last week that Wally Schirra died? He was an American Hero, one of original test pilots turned Mercury astronauts. Along with others in that original group of seven he was also in the Gemini and Apollo programs. I read in the newspaper something he said later in life about being an astronaut. “I left Earth three times.” he said, “I found no place else to go.”
Why do I as an imperfect person still try to love others perfectly? I’ve found no place else to go. Isn’t that a recipe for failure? No, it’s a recipe for forgiveness and grace and second chances. And I’ve found no other place where these are lifted up and valued than in the Easter community. That doesn’t mean we don’t have rough patches every now and then, but in this place called the church, we are gathered around the resurrected Jesus whose triumphant love shows us the way to live. He shows us the kind of love that leads a person to lay down his own life for another. He shows us the kind of love that wants for another the same goodness and kindness that one seeks for oneself. “Live out this kind of love among yourselves,” he said, “by this the world will know that you are my disciples.”
The table is a sign of that love. We share a meal together. We are all invited in the same way. We all receive the same thing. We all encounter the real presence of Christ. We all need the nourishment of this meal. Sharing a meal together means fellowship. The value of fellowship is the awareness that we share a common journey of faith with others, and the one who leads the way is in our midst. It is good to remember the visible bonds of togetherness we share with each other as we travel in this most excellent way. May the words of Jesus we enact together look like what’s written on the page. And thanks be to God. Amen
