Sermon for Sunday, April 24, 2016

Bishop Elaine Sauer

Texts:              Acts 11: 1-18; Revelation 21:1-6; Psalm 148; John 13: 31-35

Prayer:                        Almighty God, we thank you for coming down into our world, to be the

                        home of humanity. Bring to us a new understanding of what it means to be your                            people in our world today, loving all others as you have loved us. Be in our                                     thoughts and meditations today as we gather in worship, praising only you.

                        through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Each of the synod convention delegates will be bringing home a copy of a Disciples Prayer Book”,  a pastoral adaptation of the Book of Common Prayer. Within this little resource is a process that engages people in the biblical text in new ways. It invites them to pray, read and tell the story through their own story. Each participant is invited to be drawn to the text by reflecting and responding to these questions:

          What words, ideas, or sentence stand out for you in the biblical text?

          What is Jesus saying to you?

          What is Jesus calling you to do?

It is amazing what comes of this reflective time within community when it is drawn into the biblical text, where only a word or phrase or an idea could change how we view God and how God in Jesus Christ is working through us.

In a commentary on the text from Revelation 21, Israel Kamudzandu, scholar and theologian, draws the reader to one particular phrase in verse 3- “See, the home of God is among mortals”. He says people’s expectations about the message of the book of Revelation is going to be turned upside down when they realize just what this one verse means, and in particular in the context of the whole chapter. He says “people don’t go to heaven as most people have been taught but rather God comes down to earth to dwell with mortals”.His commentary goes deeper into this interpretation of the text and one finds that in fact God’s place IS to be the home of humanity.

One phrase and new meaning is given life within the lives of Jesus’ disciples. One phrase and one understands more about God and how God works in people’s lives. One new understanding and our world is turned upside down. In this text, in this phrase, God disrupts and interrupts the boundaries humans construct and shows us a new way to live and its going to be a new creation, a home within humanity.

Everyday, God, through the Holy Spirit teaches us something new about our complex world.

That God is making something new and God will reside in that new world, which is right where humanity is dwelling. Not up somewhere else, but down among us. And this truly different world view is going to take some getting used to because we had possibly all thought we could escape this old, tired, painful, evil world.

The Revelation text then challenges us not to settle into this world as it is but what it will become, something beyond our own imagination.

The gospel writer invites us into this new reality, where Jesus has prepared us for what is to come. That we will be called upon to see others as God does, fully human; that walls of discrimination and differences and diversity are not going to divide us, and we will be called  to love all people as God through Jesus has loved us.

Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, even the one who would betray him, even the one who disappointed him. Even when he was realizing the most awful consequences of Judas’ actions, Jesus responds with love and compassion and a self giving act of love for Judas. When his disciples had fallen short, he demonstrated that this new creation would be all about a new order, an order of forgiveness, of hope and of peace.

This new creation, with God down here with us, is going to be hard work. Its not just about what God does. We are expected to partner with God in ways that will test our own worldview and call us to be involved in making God’s dream for this world to be a place of love, peace, hope and inclusivity, that all are welcome.

Together as an MNO Synod, as a body of congregations, daily we are asked to participate in God’s mission in our neighbourhood. Some of us do that by working at Luther Village, our outdoor bible camp, bringing sanctuary and God’s Word to busy lives in need of slowing down in the summer. Others serve at Lutheran Urban Ministry in Winnipeg and Lutheran Community Care Centre in Thunder Bay, two agencies and ministries that serve inner city ministry and the needs of the poor and disenfranchised. Still others nurture and support and help form young people into faithful witnesses through youth group activities and leadership opportunities. Others create learning environments through teaching adults and candidates for ministry at our seminary and schools and formation classes in congregations.

As we gather in our faith communities we are asked to imagine what that might look like in our area of God’s world. What does it mean for our partnerships with local governments, agencies, community gathering places who serve those in need, who provide safe places, who bring security and food to the homeless? What does it look like to bring peace to a hurting place? What does it look like to bring hope to someone who feels acute loss and grief? What does it look like to use our resources of time, finances and energy for others?

How will others know we are Christians? When we are deeply rooted in God’s Word, when we open ourselves to asking the questions of the text, finding reflection through the Word, and asking what Jesus is calling us to do then we will find ways to show others we are Christians. 

One of the things the Missional Network invites congregations and leaders to do is to experiment and take risks in learning how God is working in our world, down here with us, and calling us to partner with God in this work on earth. Imagination and creativity are at the centre of this hope filled way to live in this new creation because we don’t know what God’s dream for our world is but by participating in this calling, we will find opportunities to grow in our discipleship and in our service to others and begin to see God’s work and dream as a new creation, a place where we move from the mundane to the sublime and are inspired to show the world we are indeed Christ’s own.

Today, as you sit in worship together, or over a cup of coffee later, engage one another in conversation about the text. What is one word or phrase in our lessons today that stands out for you today? What is Jesus saying to you about loving your neighbour? What is Jesus calling you to do? Hear the words and reflections from others. May they inspire you to think more deeply about how God is calling you into a loving relationship with others and creation/

Our capacity to love will only be limited by our own imagination. God already knows and gives us that capacity to love and we are invited to live it out.

They will know we are Christians by our love; love lived out and shaped by God’s presence in and among us, the new Jerusalem descended from heaven.

Amen