5th SUnday of Easter

Sunday, May 2, 2010
Fifth Sunday of Easter

Midweek Musings

Reflection by Pastor Macholz

INTRODUCTION
Easter initiates a new day. It anticipates a new heaven and a new earth. The risen Lord is making all things new. In the mystery of holy baptism God has made new people of us. Today the Lord Jesus invites us to see everyone in a new light—through the lens of love.

Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, died 373
Best remembered for defending the teaching that Christ was fully God against those who taught otherwise, Athanasius was an influential church leader around the time of the Council of Nicea. He was banished from Alexandria five times for his forthright views.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

O Lord God, you teach us that without love, our actions gain nothing. Pour into our hearts your most excellent gift of love, that, made alive by your Spirit, we may know goodness and peace,
through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

FIRST LESSON Acts 11:1–18

In defense of his earlier baptism of pagan believers, Peter demonstrates to the members of the Jerusalem church that God's intention to save Gentiles as well as Jews is revealed in Jesus' own testimony. In this way the mission to the Gentiles was officially authorized.
Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. ²So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, ³saying, "Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?" ⁴Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, ⁵I 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. ⁶As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. ⁷I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat.' ⁸But I replied, 'By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' ⁹But a second time the voice answered from heaven, 'What God has made clean, you must not call profane.' ¹⁰This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. ¹¹At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. ¹²The 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. ¹³He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, 'Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; ¹⁴he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.' ¹⁵And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' ¹⁷If 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?" ¹⁸When 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."

PSALM 148

Hallelujah! Praise the LORD ^| from the heavens;

praise God ^| in the heights.

²Praise the LORD, ^| all you angels;

sing praise, all you ^| hosts of heaven.

³Praise the LORD, ^| sun and moon;

sing praise, all you ^| shining stars.

⁴Praise the LORD, heav- ^| en of heavens,

and you waters a- ^| bove the heavens.

⁵Let them praise the name ^| of the LORD,

who commanded, and they ^| were created,

⁶who made them stand fast forev- ^| er and ever,

giving them a law which shall not ^| pass away. R

⁷Praise the LORD ^| from the earth,

you sea monsters ^| and all deeps;

⁸fire and hail, ^| snow and fog,

tempestuous wind, do- ^| ing God's will;

⁹mountains ^| and all hills,

fruit trees ^| and all cedars;

¹⁰wild beasts ^| and all cattle,

creeping things and ^| flying birds;

¹¹sovereigns of the earth ^| and all peoples,

princes and all rulers ^| of the world;

¹²young ^| men and maidens,

old and ^| young together. R

¹³Let them praise the name ^| of the LORD,

whose name only is exalted, whose splendor is over ^| earth and heaven.

¹⁴The LORD has raised up strength for the people and praise for all ^| faithful servants,

the children of Israel, a people who are near the LORD. ^| Hallelujah! R

SECOND LESSON Revelation 21:1–6

John's vision shows us that in the resurrection the new age has dawned; God dwells with us already. Yet we wait for the time when the tears that cloud our vision will be wiped away. Then we will see the new heaven, new earth, and new Jerusalem.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ²And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
⁴he 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."
⁵And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." ⁶Then 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.

GOSPEL John 13:31–35

Jesus speaks of his glorification on the cross. As Jesus loves, even to death on the cross, so ought his disciples love one another. Indeed, love shall be the distinctive mark of Jesus' community.
³¹When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³²If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³Little 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.' ³⁴I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

REFLECTION

In recent years the nomenclature of the church has changed a bit. In days of old we often measured success by the number of ‘members’ that belonged to the church that were confirmed, communing and contributing. It was an easy mark. Nowadays we have shifted to the word ‘discipleship’ only the understanding of success in that realm is a bit fuzzier. How do we note that and measure it?

Members tends to be a exclusive word, disciples a bit more inclusive. The use of the word Members tends to qualify, disciples tends to quantify. A couple of years ago I began to use the phrase the ‘community of God’s people gathered’ to describe Atonement because at any given time those who are present are not always members and membership tends to fluctuate at any given moment.

Back to disciples and discipleship. It makes more sense to me especially in light of our New Testament understandings. Disciples were those who followed Jesus and grew along the way. You and I are followers of Jesus and hopefully we are growing along the way yet how do we measure success?

John’s Gospel gives us a clue that is pretty specific: ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." If you have love for one another... The love that Jesus talks about is a love that is freely given. It is love that is exhibited in the midst of anger and sometimes hatred. It goes the extra mile, shares the last bit of energy and gives until there’s nothing left to offer. It is, finally, life-giving.

I know that if I hold myself up to that model I have a long way to go to meet the expectation yet I also know that when I fail Jesus stands ready to forgive and start anew with me. That’s what his love is all about, exhibited on the cross for the entire world to see.

Love one another. There’s the bar that’s been set. And know that when you fail to reach the bar, should that happen, you are forgiven and given a chance to start again.

LET US PRAY

That we might love one another as Christ has loved us

For hearts open to newness

That we might forgive as we have been forgiven

For our enemies and those who hate us

To be open to the power of the Spirit

QUOTE

Let this be thy whole endeavor, this thy prayer, this thy desire,--that thou mayest be stripped of all selfishness, and with entire simplicity follow Jesus only. --Thomas à Kempis