Reverend Ref +

SERMON
EASTER 5B

You couldn't ask for a better set of readings than we have today. If you have a hard time following John sometimes -- I am in the Father and you in me and I in you and I abide in you and you abide in the Father and -- or for those of you who hear this and immediately think of "I am the Walrus," or maybe even the Barney song, you might be wondering what I am getting at. But hang with me and let's see if I can help make sense of why these are good readings for today.

They're perfect because they talk about love; and as I look around the world, there's precious little love out there. John says that all who hate brother or sister are murderers. Looking around the Anglican Communion, there are a lot of people, on both sides, who are exhibiting a less-than-loving attitude. We are killing each other in the name of Jesus.

And John asks, "How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and . . . yet refuses to help?" Our country is the richest in the world, we definitely have the world's goods; yet there are many instances where we refuse to help. Katrina, national poverty, Darfur, immigrants, malnutrition, where is the love there?

But there is some good news. The people of our two parishes run the gamut of the whole political spectrum. We obviously don't agree on everything, but we are able to put our differences aside and share in common prayer and a common meal.

That meal is the most basic of Jesus' commandments: do this in remembrance of me. It's a meal based on love; and in that meal, the bread and wine are infused with the presence of Christ. We, in turn, take that bread and wine, the body and blood, into ourselves, and that is a physical manifestation of Christ abiding in us. If we ever wonder about where Christ is in our lives, we can start with Holy Communion.

Love, in its most basic and purest form, is a giving of yourself. In a marriage, the husband and wife give themselves to each other. Later on in John, Jesus says, "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." Eucharistic Prayer A, among other places, says that Jesus offered himself on the cross as a sacrifice for the whole world.

True love is unconditional. I don't love somebody based on what they can do for me. I don't say, "If you really loved me, you'd do . . . whatever." When I love, I do things because I want to. When I love, I freely give of myself.

Have you noticed that when you truly love someone, some things don't seem to be a chore?

A wonderful example of this comes from a woman I know. She had major surgery and was unable to do certain things for herself; particularly anything that required bending. One day, as she was getting out of the shower, she looked down at her husband who was drying her feet.

"I'll bet you'll be glad when I can do this for myself again."

He responded, "I don't mind."

That's love.

Remember over in Matthew when Jesus said, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light?" This is what he was talking about. His commandments are the burden, and we are yoked to him in love. We keep those commandments not because we have to, but because we want to, out of love; and they are light.

Think about your children; or, if you don't have children, what it might be like. We will often go out of our way to help them; not because we have to, but because we love them. Or we will make sacrifices in our own lives for the betterment of our kids. Maybe it's taking an extra job to help pay for college. Maybe it's taking a day or two off from work when we don't have any sick time. Maybe it's making sure they have enough to eat, so we short ourselves when we are struggling to put food on the table. Or maybe it's allowing them to have the last scoop of ice cream.

We do these things because we love them. But that doesn't mean that they, or we, have free reign to do anything we want. There are responsibilities attached to this. Around home we all have certain things we need to do to keep the house running smoothly. We have curfews so we know they aren't out getting into trouble. We make them call in so we know where they are. And there are punishments if rules are broken. But that doesn't mean we love them any less.

It's a lot like our relaionship with Jesus. He loves us unconditionally, but we are expected to keep his commandments. Love God, love your neighbor, love your enemy, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and reach out to the lost. You know the list.

The love Jesus has for us is like the love a parent has for a child. So on a day when we honor one parent, when we say thanks for being there, thanks for supporting me, thanks for helping me, thanks for letting me have the last scoop of ice cream, it's appropriate that our lessons revolve around unconditional love.

Yes, these lessons about love are perfect for today. I live because Jesus lives. Jesus is in me and I am in Jesus. I live because my mother lives. My mother is in me and I am in my mother.

Happy Mother's Day.