Fifth Sunday of Easter
9 May 2004 + 10:30 AM
"Love on the Move"
sermon by Pastor Barbara Kenley
Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, 3 saying, "Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?" 4 Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, 5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. 6 As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7 I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat.' 8 But I replied, 'By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' 9 But a second time the voice answered from heaven, 'What God has made clean, you must not call profane.' 10 This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. 11 At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. 12 The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house. 13 He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, 'Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; 14 he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.' 15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' 17 If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?" 18 When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, "Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life."
When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
The month of May begins the season of moving in America. Drive past any college campus, and amidst the caps and gowns, and proud moms and dads posing for pictures, you'll see little U-Haul trucks, and minivans with the seats put down, being loaded with everything the parents thought they'd emptied out of their basements just last fall!
Look around Richmond and you'll notice "For Sale" signs have sprung up on lawns like dandelions and our local Mongers Moving and Transport is bracing for its busy season.
Two thousand years ago back in Jerusalem, the "season of moving" caught the new Christian church by surprise. Jesus had been crucified, had risen, and reappeared to over 500 people. After his ascension, the promised Holy Spirit had fallen upon the disciples like tongues of flame, and continued spreading through them to 3000 other people in one day. The inexperience of the messengers didn't seem to matter: God's message of salvation through Jesus Christ was on the move.
This is the fifth Sunday in the Easter season, the time of year the people of God celebrate the resurrection and look at the effect it had on the formation of the early church, as well as look at how that unique power effects our own lives today.
When we look at the entirety of the Bible, we see - from end to end - God has been on the move, but that moving has been entirely motivated by God's great love. In Genesis, we see the great love between the members of the Trinity - the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - overflow into a supreme act of creation. Their love was so great and so perfect, the only thing that could be better for the Trinity would be to have more to love. And so our vast and varied universe was created. And we human beings got to live in it! Why? Because God was taking the giant risk of loving something that might not love him back. We were given a world with every sign in it to point to a loving God. We could accept that love, or we could reject it. And God looked upon all his new creation and said, "It is very good."
And then the moving season started! Every time God's people needed to move, he sent them great leaders like Moses and Joshua, Deborah and David. And every time God's people pulled away from him out of sin or forgetfulness, he would call them back through the voices of prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Amos. Until finally, when the time was right, God sent his own Eternal Son -- Jesus Christ - with the message of how great God's love for us is.
Jesus not only brought the message, but he embodied it. He lived it by moving from his home in heaven and moving into our neighborhood, living as one of us, even dying like one of us, but rising again to new life, for even death could not capture such great love.
Our Jesus gave his disciples instructions before he left their sight, in John 13, verses 34 and 35: "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
Jesus said, "It's still moving season. And this is how the message of my love for you is going to move out to everyone else: you're going to love others just like I loved you."
Do you ever find that hard to do? Have you ever encountered someone who was hard to love? The famous 19th-century evangelist Dwight L. Moody often told the story of trying to join a very prestigious church in Boston. Because Moody often had brought "street people" into their worship services, the elders of the church tried to postpone his membership as long as possible. Finally, they told him he should pray about it for a month and then reapply for membership. After the month, Jesus told Moody not to be upset - He'd been trying to get into that church for years!
The elders in the first church in Jerusalem thought their church program was going just fine, until Peter showed up after some time out of town, saying the message of salvation had crossed a self-imposed boundary, from Jews to Gentiles. When Peter explained it to them, they realized God's love was still on the move. Verse 18 says, "And they praised God, saying, 'Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.'"
We know someone's moving when we see an orange U-Haul coming down our street, or that blue-and-white Atlas Van Lines truck. Peter and the other apostles back in Jerusalem saw the Spirit at work among the Gentiles and knew that God's love was moving out beyond their own imaginations. It was up to them to follow it, and do it with the same kind of love that Jesus had given them.
Mothers seem to be very good at this kind of love. If we know anything about love, it's often that we first encountered it through our mothers. They love us even before they lay eyes on us. They love us through sore throats and skinned knees and awkward stages that seem to last for years. They love us through great accomplishments or great rebellion. They love us when we live under their roof or when we live on the other side of the world. Each of us knows in our heart of hearts our mothers have a love for us that they don't have for anyone else in the world. It's a love that would suffer so we don't have to, a love that would die for us so we could live. It's no wonder that faith in Jesus comes to people most often through their mothers, for theirs is a love that will move with us wherever we go in life.
The moving season that began in the Book of Genesis doesn't end until the last book of the Bible: Revelation. Which means you and I are still in that season. It's our job to do as Jesus commanded and love others as he has loved us. When we do that, salvation will go from "Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, to the ends of the earth." Or, in our case, from Richmond, to Connersville and Cambridge City, to Puerto Morelos and the Phillipines, to Chang Mai, Thailand and Croatia, and to places we haven't even thought about yet.
And what does it say in Revelation will happen when God's love has been on the move? Chapter 21 verse 3 and 4 say, "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
'See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them as their God;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.'
And the one who was seated on the throne said, 'See, I am making all things new.'"
God's redemptive love will have permeated every aspect of our beautiful but broken creation - including us! -- and restored it to its original beauty and purity. Just as he moved the message out from Jews to Gentiles, so he can move that message throughout all creation. The wonder is - he's using us to do it. He's trusting us to carry that all-important life-changing message. The original disciples are long gone. Only our generation can reach our generation.
And the voice from the throne in heaven said, "'Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.' Then he said to me, 'It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.'"
The good news is, Jesus won't fail. Just as the work of love had a start date, it will have an end. That water of life is for everyone, and it's up to us to share it while we're here. When we love, we will be telling others, "I belong to Jesus, and his love is still on the move." Let us pray…
Loving God, thank you for the privilege of loving in your name. Like threads in a tapestry, weave us into your Great Story. Reveal to us now acts of love and compassion we might do this week, to help your message reach beyond today's boundaries. Help us to love until that great day, when we see our Savior face to face. Amen.
Song of Response #376 (Blue) Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Benediction
God forth from this place, lost in wonder, love, and praise of the God whose face shines upon you, who is gracious unto you, who moves with you wherever you go. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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