Loving God, you reveal your light and life and peace through your Son, Jesus, and call us to come to you and to love.  Empower us and teach us through your Holy Spirit, helping us to centre our lives in you; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

    Many years ago, a guy named Copernicus proposed that the Earth actually orbits around the Sun, and not the other way around.  People were horrified!  It seemed inconceivable that we here on planet Earth were not at the centre of the universe.  After all, everything revolves around us, right?  However, strangely enough, Copernicus was right.  The Earth does orbit around the Sun.

    Of course, in John’s vision in Revelation, there is a new heaven and a new earth, and a different kind of Son is now at the centre.  No sun or moon are needed any more, for the light comes from God and from the Lamb (Rev. 21:23).  And for those who might be wondering what this Lamb is all about, the Lamb refers to Jesus, the Son of God.  In Revelation, the Son is at the centre, and that Son is Jesus.  In the new Jerusalem, everything revolves around Jesus.  Perhaps this gives us the opportunity to ask what it is that our lives revolve around.

    Being Mother’s Day, of course, many people are thinking about family things today.  And so, how many mothers do you know where their whole lives revolve around their children and grandchildren?  How many families are there where everything revolves around Mother?  And how many families are there where everything revolves around some other family member?

    At the same time, what other things do people put at the centre of their universe?  For some, it is soccer or hockey.  For some, everything revolves around their health – eating right, exercising, and all those good things.  For some (especially teenagers), everything revolves around their friends.  Others have me, myself and I at the centre of their universe.  What is it that your life revolves around?

    Depending upon your answer, you may wake up one day to discover that your life has been set adrift.  For example, if your life revolves around a certain family member and then one day that person isn’t there anymore, you’ll feel as if your anchor is gone.  Or, if your life revolves around playing a certain sport and then one day you can’t play any more, you’ll feel like you’re missing your anchor, too.

    The thing is that every possibility that I mentioned for the centre of our personal universes can come to an end – and even if they don’t come to an end, they can certainly cause problems!  Me, myself and I might be the centre of my universe, but how betrayed I will feel when I discover that other people don’t share my estimate of my own importance!  Even mothers who invest all of their time and energy in their children -- which of course seems like a worthwhile pursuit! – can end up feeling totally empty when one day their children just don’t need them as much.

    When our life revolves around a certain thing, and then one day it is gone, we will indeed feel like we have been set adrift.  Doesn’t it make more sense for us to have somebody who will never leave us or forsake us at the centre of our universe?  Doesn’t it make more sense for our lives to revolve around Jesus, who keeps us grounded and centred no matter what is happening in our lives at the time?  So many things in this world are temporary and disappointing and unreliable and simply unworthy of being the centre of our lives.  Jesus, on the other hand, is life-giving and holy and loving and eternal.  He will never leave us, but we are entirely free to leave him.

    In the readings that we heard today, Lydia gives us one example of what happens when Jesus becomes the centre of our universe.  In Lydia’s case, she was in a rare position in the Roman Empire.  She was a business woman and the head of her household.  Many assume that she was probably a widow.  What we do know is that she opened her heart to Jesus and that her whole household was baptized with her.  Then, having put her faith in Jesus, she immediately begins a ministry of hospitality and service, insisting that Paul and his companions come and stay at her home.  Lydia’s house becomes a gathering place for many of the first Christians at Philippi, as Lydia uses her gifts in order to support those who are now brothers and sisters in Christ.

    And so, what happens to us when our lives revolve around Jesus?  Many seem to assume that this means becoming a preacher or an evangelist, or standing on street corners asking people if they’ve been saved.  While this might be true for some people, not everybody has the same calling.  Some are called to be mothers and fathers, for example, and when their lives revolve around Jesus, every decision and every interaction with their children reflects both the love and the wisdom of Christ.

    Some are called to be teachers or health care workers or engineers or builders or librarians or business people.  No matter what your line of work is, when Jesus is at your centre, you do everything for the glory of God and in the service of others.  Jesus determines your values and your behaviour and your focus.

    At the same time, when Jesus is at our centre we have an anchor that will hold through whatever sorrows and disappointments and difficulties life might throw at us.  That peace that Jesus talks about in today’s gospel – the peace that will not allow our hearts to remain troubled or afraid – that peace comes when Jesus is at the centre of all that we do.

    It’s actually quite an amazing passage, today’s gospel, with Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit all coming to make their home with us.  It’s almost like having a few people to talk things over with before we undertake anything (but a few people, of course, who are always in perfect agreement, for God is not divided)!  And all of this goes together with loving Jesus and keeping his word (Jn. 14:23).

    As you might recall, we started out today with Copernicus and the grand discovery that the Earth revolves around the Sun and not the other way around.  In the same way, we are invited to make Jesus the centre of our universe.  After all, do we really believe that God’s will and activity should revolve around us and not the other way around?  We are invited today to make sure that whatever is at the centre of our universe belongs there and is able to give us life.

    Imagine, in the centre of your life, light and peace and healing and life and love.  Imagine, in the centre of your life, Jesus, who embodies all of these things.  Imagine, in the centre of your life, the source of all life and salvation.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid (Jn. 14:27).        – Jesus

Amen.

Easter 6(C)                            John 14:23-29
May 9, 2010                            Revelation 21:10, 22 - 22:5
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church                Acts 16:9-15
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2010 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved