Lectionary 32B

I preached this sermon in the Spanish service; the English translation is below.

Marcos 12:38-44

Oremos…Que las palabras de mi boca y la meditación de nuestro corazón sean gratas delante de ti, Señor, fortaleza nuestra y redentor nuestro. Amén.

“No tengas temor”. (1 Reyes 17:13)

Estas palabras se repiten a lo largo de las Escrituras. Las escuchamos por primera vez cuando el Señor le habla a Abram (Génesis 15:1) y son repetidas, una y otra vez, por Dios y los enviados de Dios. La última vez es cuando Juan de Patmos relata haberlas oído dichas por “uno como el Hijo del Hombre” en Apocalipsis. (Apocalipsis 1:17)

Y una y otra vez, son seguidas por la promesa de que Dios actuará, que el reino de Dios vendrá, que Dios no ha olvidado las promesas de Dios a su pueblo.

Hoy escuchamos al profeta Elías decir estas palabras.

Elías había estado viviendo de la comida que le traían los cuervos y del agua de un wadi, o arroyo, pero el agua se había secado. Una sequía hizo que el agua y la comida escasearan.

Pero Dios envía al profeta a una viuda en Sarepta, un pueblo fuera de Israel, prometiéndole que lo alimentará. Cuando Elías se encuentra con la mujer, ella le dice que ella y su hijo solo tienen un poco de harina y aceite, y se están preparando para comer lo que tienen y luego esperar a morir.

En el mundo antiguo, la gente creía que el rey podía controlar la lluvia, por lo que una sequía era una señal del fracaso del rey. El rey también era responsable del bienestar de las viudas y los huérfanos, por lo que cuando la viuda le dice a Elías que ella y su hijo se están muriendo de hambre, es otra señal del fracaso del rey.

Pero Elías sabe que su confianza no está en los líderes del mundo, sino en Dios, y Dios lo ha enviado a la viuda. Confía en la provisión de Dios para él. Su confianza surge de su obediencia a seguir la dirección de Dios. Su obediencia surge de su confianza en la fidelidad de Dios a lo largo de las generaciones hacia el pueblo de Dios. Surge de saber que pertenece a Dios.

Entonces le dice: “No tengas temor”.

Y la jarra de comida no se agota, ni falta el aceite , y la viuda, su hijo y Elías comen muchos días más.

En el evangelio nos encontramos con otra viuda. No está en casa, sino en público, donando al tesoro. El tesoro era un lugar en un patio fuera del templo donde la gente podía hacer ofrendas voluntarias para apoyar el templo, como el plato de ofrendas que tenemos sobre la mesa aquí.

Jesús está en los atrios del templo, enseñando a una gran multitud y observando a la gente depositar sus ofrendas en el tesoro.

Y mientras observa, advierte a su audiencia contra los líderes religiosos que son como actores que desempeñan un papel. Saben qué decir y cómo vestirse, pero sus palabras y acciones son vacías. Dan desde un lugar de comodidad y tranquilidad, sin sacrificar nada ni arriesgar nada.

Cuando Jesús ve a una viuda depositar dos pequeñas monedas de cobre, les dice a sus discípulos que “[ella] ha depositado más que todos [los demás]”.

Jesús dice que el regalo de la viuda era un regalo sacrificial, no, como los regalos que muchos de nosotros hacemos, dando de lo que sabemos que podemos prescindir, sino dando de lo que Dios nos ha dado primero, confiando en la providencia de Dios para ella.

Estos personajes no nos dan un modelo fácil de seguir.

Elías y las dos viudas confían en la providencia de Dios. Su confianza surge de su obediencia a seguir la dirección de Dios. Su obediencia surge de la confianza en la fidelidad de Dios a través de las generaciones hacia el pueblo de Dios. Proviene de saber que pertenecemos a Dios.

Por supuesto, el mundo moderno tiene un mensaje diferente. Nos dice que somos responsables de asegurar nuestro futuro a través de nuestros propios esfuerzos. Almacenar, ahorrar y protegernos de nuestros enemigos. Mirar hacia dentro y poner nuestra confianza en los líderes que vemos en la plaza pública. El mundo nos pide que le demos a los humanos autoridad sobre nuestras vidas y nos enseña a ver el mundo a través del lente de la escasez y el miedo.

Pero Dios nos enseña que en Cristo no recibimos “un espíritu de esclavitud para volver al temor, sino… un espíritu de adopción”. El Espíritu da testimonio de que somos hijos de Dios. (Romanos 8:15-16)

Somos a quienes Jesús se dirige cuando dice: “³² No tengan miedo, manada pequeña, porque a su Padre le ha placido darles el reino”.

La Palabra de Dios nos invita a tener una visión diferente del mundo, donde nos sometamos a Dios y veamos el mundo como Dios lo ve, a través del lente de la abundancia y la obediencia.

La escasez no es una realidad del Reino; es una construcción humana que Elías rechaza y que la viuda en el tesoro del templo niega. En cambio, Dios nos promete la plenitud de la vida (Juan 10:10). Sus historias nos recuerdan que el “poder vivificante de Dios puede transformar situaciones de derrota, desesperación y muerte”.ⁱ

“El Reino -o Reinado- de Dios es una realidad que está más allá de nuestra percepción…”ⁱⁱ Y en lugar de tratar de controlarlo, diseñarlo o dominarlo, Dios nos llama a caminar en sumisión, humildad y obediencia, mientras esperamos su realización, en el tiempo de Dios, no en el nuestro.

Oremos…

Dios bueno y misericordioso,

Te damos gracias por nuestro pan de cada día,

por lo que necesitamos para vivir en la plenitud de la vida.

Ayúdanos a rechazar las cosas que no dan vida,

las cosas que nos separan de ti.

Enséñanos a confiar en tu provisión y en la vida que nos das.

Que tu Espíritu Santo nos guíe a dar generosamente de todo lo que tenemos.

Envíanos a compartir tu amor con todas las personas que conozcamos.

Oramos en el nombre de Jesús.

Amén.

---

[i] Walter Brueggemann. Smith & Helwys Bible Commentary on First and Second Kings. 217.

[ii] Mike Breen. Covenant and Kingdom: The DNA of the Bible. 3DM. Kindle Edition.

 

Mark 12:38-44

Let us pray…

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

“Do not be afraid.”

These words are repeated throughout Scripture. We first hear them when the Lord speaks to Abram (Genesis 15:1) and they are repeated, again and again, by God and those sent by God. The last occurrence is when John of Patmos recounts hearing them spoken by “one like the Son of Man” in Revelation. (Revelation 1:17)

And time after time, they are followed by the promise that God will act, that God’s kingdom will come, that God has not forgotten God’s promises to God’s people.

Today we hear the prophet Elijah speak these words.

Elijah had been living on the food that ravens brought him and the water of a wadi, or stream, but the water had dried up. A drought made water and food scarce.

But God sends the prophet to a widow in Zarephath, a town outside Israel, promising that she will feed him. When Elijah meets the woman, she tells him that she and her son only have a little meal and oil, and they are preparing to eat what they have and then wait to die.

In the ancient world, people believed that the king could control the rain, so a drought was a sign of the king’s failure. The king also had responsibility for the welfare of widows and orphans, so when the widow tells Elijah that she and her son are starving, it is another sign of the king’s failure.

But Elijah knows that his trust is not in the leaders of the world, but in God, and God has sent him to the widow. He trusts in God’s provision for him. His trust comes out of his obedience to follow God’s direction. His obedience comes from his confidence in God’s faithfulness throughout generations to God’s people. It comes from knowing that he belongs to God.

So, he tells her, “Do not be afraid.”

And the jar of meal does not get emptied, and the oil does not fail, and the widow, her son and Elijah eat for many more days.

In the gospel we meet another widow. She isn’t at home, but in public, donating to the treasury. The treasury was a place in a courtyard outside the temple where people could make freewill offerings to support the temple, like the offering plate we have on the table here.

Jesus is in the temple courts, teaching a large crowd, and watching people put their offerings in the treasury.

And as he watches, he warns his audience against the religious leaders who are like performers playing a role. They know what to say and how to dress, but their words and actions are empty. They give from a place of comfort and ease, not sacrificing anything, or risking anything.

When Jesus sees a widow put in two small copper coins, he tells his disciples that “[she] has put in more than all those [others].”

Jesus says that because the widow’s gift was a sacrificial gift, not, as many of us do, giving from what we know we can spare, but giving from what God has first given us, trusting in God’s providence for her.

These characters don’t give us an easy model to follow.

Elijah and both widows trust in God’s providence. Their trust comes out of their obedience to follow God’s direction. Their obedience comes out of confidence in God’s faithfulness throughout generations to God’s people. It comes from knowing that we belong to God.

Of course, the modern world has a different message. It tells us that we are responsible for securing our future through our own efforts. Stockpile, save and protect ourselves against our enemies. Turn inward and put our trust in the leaders whom we see in the public square. The world asks us to give humans authority over our lives and teaches us to see the world through the lens of scarcity and fear.

But God teaches us that in Christ, we do not receive “a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but … a spirit of adoption.” The Spirit bears witness that we are children of God. (Romans 8:15-16)

We are the ones that Jesus addresses when he says, “³² ‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

The Word of God invites us to have a different vision of the world, where we submit to God and see the world as God sees it, through the lens of abundance and obedience.

Scarcity is not a Kingdom reality; it is human construction that Elijah rejects and that the widow at the temple treasury denies. Instead, God promises us the fullness of life (John 10:10). Their stories remind us that God’s “life-giving power can transform situations of defeat, despair, and death.”[i]

“The Kingdom - or Kingship - of God is a reality just beyond our perception….”[ii] And instead of trying to control it, engineer it or dominate it, God calls us to walk in submission, humility and obedience, while we wait for its realization, in God’s own timing, not our own.

Let us pray…

Good and Gracious God,

We give you thanks for our daily bread,

for what we need to live in the fullness of life.

Help us reject the things that are not life-giving,

the things that separate us from you.

Teach us to trust in Your provision and the life you give us.

May your Holy Spirit lead us to give generously of all we have.

Send us out to share Your love with everyone we meet.
We pray in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

---

[i] Walter Brueggemann. Smith & Helwys Bible Commentary on First and Second Kings. 217.

[ii] Mike Breen. Covenant and Kingdom: The DNA of the Bible. 3DM. Kindle Edition.

First Sunday in Lent

 Mark 1:9-15

For the preacher it’s always a challenge to preach a well-known text. Because as you are hearing the text, you think you already know the story. And in a year like this one when we heard this text just six weeks ago for the Baptism of our Lord, and we’ve already explored what it means to hear God’s voice speaking, the challenge only grows. So, what is God saying to us this time?

In baptism we see how we are loved by God and by God’s grace, we are set free to live as God’s children. But it isn’t always going to be comfortable.

Often in his ministry Jesus goes off to a deserted place, and we imagine a place of quiet solitude and peace, where he soaks in prayerful silence, seeking comfort and guidance.

What happens here in Mark, after his own baptism isn’t that.

Mark tells us that the Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness.(1:12) It could be translated as the Spirit threw Jesus or cast him out. The Spirit’s action wasn’t a gentle, quiet leading; it was forceful and unyielding.

As I read this text, I think we are meant to remember other times when God’s followers were in the wilderness. 

Hagar wandered in the wilderness with her son Ishmael. (Genesis 21:14) Joseph’s brothers threw him into a pit in the wilderness. (Genesis 37:22) Moses was with his flock in the wilderness when he encountered God in the blazing bush (Exodus 3:1-2) The Israelites were in the wilderness after Moses brought them out of Egypt. (Exodus 13:20; Numbers 32:13) And then they were in the wilderness again during the years of exile in Babylon. (Isaiah and Jeremiah)

Throughout the history of our ancestors in faith, “wilderness” has been synonymous with times of testing, training and preparation.

I don’t subscribe to the idea that “God doesn’t give us more than we can handle” but I do believe that God is with us in all that we face. God doesn’t make it easy, or comfortable, but helps us make our way through difficulties.

When Jesus goes into the wilderness, he is separated from everything and everyone he has known, except God. It had to be disruptive and disorienting.

Mark doesn’t give us any of the details about the temptations; we have to go to Luke and Matthew to get those. (Luke 4; Matthew 4) But writing about the temptations, German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “[All of the temptations] are one temptation – to separate Jesus from the Word of God.”[i]

What futility!

Jesus cannot be separated from God’s Word. As John’s prologue tells us:

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. (John 1:1-3)

So, of course, they fail. Neither the devil, nor the temptations, nor the wilderness and its wild beasts can defeat God.

In the wilderness, Jesus survived through obedience to God’s Word.  And, so do we.

In the wilderness, when life is disrupted and disorienting, and everything else is stripped away, we remember whose we are and live into our identity as God’s children.

In “Go to the Limits of your Longing” which reads as if God is speaking, the Austrian poet Rainer Marie Rilke [ry nr mr ee uh reel kuh] writes, “Don’t let yourself lose me.”[ii]

It would be easy in the wilderness to forget God’s way and look for the easy path, to look for a way out or a shortcut, well-worn by others. But, instead, we return again and again to God’s Word, which challenges and convicts.

Confronted by the Law found there, we must wrestle with our sin, our weakness and our failings. But thanks be to God, that’s not where the story ends. God never leaves us in despair. In God’s Word we experience the Good News of Jesus Christ. (Mark 1:1) and God’s love for us renews us and strengthens us for all that lies ahead. We face temptation and choose Christ anyway. We pray and we choose the way of forgiveness and mercy for ourselves and for others.

The late Catholic priest Edward Hays wrote prayers for pilgrimages and one of the wild places he wrote about is the human heart. Writing about God’s gift of pardon, he said,

I have searched for it in every pocket and hiding place;

I cannot find it, your gift of Self.

I know it is here, buried beneath my pain, somewhere in a back corner of my heart:

but for now it is lost.

 And then he continued,

Remind me ten times and more of all that you have forgiven me – without even waiting for my sorrow, the very instant that I slipped and sinned.

Remind me ten thousand times and more of your endless absolution, not even sorrow required on my part, so broad the bounty of your love.

Yes, I can—I will—forgive as you have forgiven me.[iii]

Hays reminds us that God accompanies us and reminds us of whose we are and what it looks like to embody God’s love. We come through the wilderness changed and transformed.

Oh, yes, I said it,

we come through changed.

How can we not?

When the Spirit drives us into the wilderness, it can’t be for nothing. As one preacher said, “If we wanted to go, the Spirit wouldn’t be needed!”[iv]

So, this Lent as we remember how the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness, I wonder where the Spirit is pushing us to go? As a congregation and individually, what are we resisting? And how will we respond?

Let us pray…[v]

Good and Gracious God,

Thank you for your Son’s obedience, even to the cross,

that we would know Your love for us all.

Help us cling to our baptisms,

where we are drowned and reborn by the water and fire of your Spirit.

Sustain us with Your Word and comfort us with Your presence.

Driven by your Spirit, make us unafraid of what lies ahead. Amen.

---

[i] Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Creation and Fall. 105.

[ii] https://onbeing.org/poetry/go-to-the-limits-of-your-longing

[iii] Edward Hays. “Psalm of Pardon”, Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim. Ave Maria Press. 2008. 227.

[iv] Delmer Chilton and John Fairless, Lectionary Lab Lent Workshop.

[v] Adapted from Stanley Hauerwas, Prayers Plainly Spoken (Wipf & Stock, 2003), p.21.

Easter Sunday

Matthew 28:1-10

When we witness the two women at the tomb in that early dawn, we can imagine their sorrow. They went to visit the tomb of their friend and teacher Jesus, the one they believed to be the Messiah. But for all appearances, Jesus had been crucified and buried and all logic and understanding said that was the end.

And then, Matthew tells us that suddenly the earth shook, and an angel appeared, and the women learned that Jesus lives.

Today we celebrate with those first witnesses to the Resurrection that Jesus is risen from the dead, that He has broken the tomb wide open and that He has come back to life and is with us. And then, like the two women named Mary and the other disciples who met Jesus in Galilee, we have to ask, how will we respond to the Risen Christ?

If we are like the disciples in Matthew’s gospel, we will respond with some mixture of fear, joy and obedience. It’s a good reminder that there is more than one way to respond faithfully to God.

Throughout Scripture we hear God and messengers from God tell us, “Fear not” and “Do not be afraid”. The messengers are fulfilling ancient prophecy, they are delivering good news of great joy, they are there to reassure the people of God’s comforting presence in the midst of uncertainty and confusion. Fear is a natural, human response to what we don’t know or understand.

I learned during my Spanish lesson this week that when we say we like something in English we only have one word for that, but in Spanish there are two different words that mean “to like.” If you want to say that you like tamales, you would say, “Me gustan tamales” but if you want to say that you like your pastors, you would say, “Me caen bien los pastors.”

In the same way, in English, when we say we fear something, we often mean we have a phobia or fear of something, like a fear of snakes or thunderstorms or the unknown. (φόβου Matt. 28:4 BGT) 

But we use the same word in English and in Greek when our fear is not a state of being filled with terror, as much as it is being filled with awe. The meaning changes but you have to understand the context to know that.

We hear this meaning of fear in Psalm 139 when the psalmist declares, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” And again in Martin Luther’s Small Catechism where he began each explanation of the commandments with the words, “We are to fear and love God…” Luther wasn’t trying to strike terror in our hearts, but he did want us to respond to the extraordinary love of God.

So, when the angel tells the women, “Do not be afraid” (v. 5), he is comforting them in their genuine fear of what they cannot understand: the earthquake, the angel’s appearance, Jesus’ absence from the tomb.

But when they leave the tomb with “fear and great joy” (v. 8),

their fear has been transformed and they are in awe of what God has done.

Lutheran pastor Mark Allan Powell writes that, “Joy transforms fear into worship.”[i]

Here, joy is more than fleeting happiness.

It is the joy that the prophet Nehemiah promises Israel saying, “The joy of the Lord will be your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10) and that the psalmists say is found in God’s presence (Psalm 16:11).

It is the joy that the magi experience in the presence of the infant Jesus at the Nativity. “Joy is a fruit of the [Holy] Spirit (Galatians 5:22) and a mark of those who love the Lord Jesus. (1 Peter 1:8).”[ii]

This joy is from God, and it is enduring. 

This Easter morning our response to the Risen Christ is joy-filled worship. We adorn the cross with butterflies to celebrate the promise of new life, of the transformative power of God. Our melodies ring throughout the church, and with shouts of Alleluia, we rejoice because Jesus is risen from the dead, He has broken the tomb wide open, and He has come back to life and is with us. After the foot washing and the last supper, the crucifixion and the despair of Holy Saturday, “Easter means that hope prevails over despair.”[iii]

And yet, while our joy endures, we cannot stand still. The two women named Mary obediently follow the commands they’re given first by the angel of the Lord and then by Jesus. As witnesses to the Resurrection and disciples of Jesus, we too are called not only to “come and see” but to “go and tell” what God has done.

Every day we are called to share God’s love in our words and our actions and certainly, our care for each other and for our neighbors is one way of telling what God has done.

But if you want to try something new, the Easter season is fifty days long so each day, you could write down one way you saw God in the world and then share what you have seen with a friend.

You could tell someone the story of how your faith was formed.

You could find out the story behind your favorite hymn and tell someone else what you learned.

You could – and I know what I’m asking –

but you could invite someone to come and worship here with you at Grace!

Church, Jesus is risen from the dead, He has broken the tomb wide open, and He has come back to life and is with us. God has done this because God’s love is for the whole world, so do not be afraid, come and see, and go and tell! 

Let us pray….[iv]

God of the empty tomb, Risen Lord,

On Easter Sunday you give us new life and

a renewed hunger for faith.

We know that Easter does not mean the work of seeking stops. Instead, you are now on the loose—out in the world, anywhere

and everywhere.

So our seeking only continues

as we look for your fingerprints all around us.

Give us clarity for the things we seek,

and the courage to continue the work with awe, joy and obedience. Amen.

---

[i] Mark Allan Powell. Loving Jesus, 121.

[ii] Powell, 119.

[iii] Desmond Tutu.

[iv] Adapted from prayers by The Rev. Sarah A. Speed, A Sanctified Art.

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Matthew 1:18-25

In this morning’s gospel, Matthew tells us the birth story of Jesus, but he doesn’t include the shepherds, the manger or even Bethlehem. In fact, we don’t get any of the familiar details that are in the Lukan narrative we’ll hear on Christmas Eve or we might remember from Christmas pageants and plays. Instead Matthew just gives us the barest of facts:

Some two thousand years ago, there was a girl engaged or contracted to be married to a man.

And then the man learned that the girl was pregnant — a revelation that could bring shame upon him and could even cost the girl her life.

And then an angel appears to the man and tells him, “Do not be afraid.”

And the man follows the Lord’s instructions; he marries the girl and when the child is born, the man names him Jesus.

There was a plan and then God broke in and everything changed.

But this in-breaking and changing didn’t happen without some chaos and upheaval first as Joseph wrestled with how he would respond, and as he listened for the Lord to speak and show him how to move forward.

Marrying her, Joseph saves Mary from disgrace, likely poverty and possible death, but Matthew doesn’t tell us

how Mary responded or what they weathered from the time they were married until Jesus was born.

Often our images of Mary and the baby Jesus show a serene and peaceful mother gazing at a quiet, content, cherubic infant, but this year on social media there’s been another image, one that shows Mary stretched out, sleeping, behind Joseph who holds the sleeping baby Jesus with arms flung up above his head. Perhaps this image better reflects the sleepless and exhausting reality of the early days of parenthood. It is a precious time, but it’s rarely peaceful and it’s often unpredictable.

And yet, while we cannot know what the Holy Family experienced, what we hear from Matthew is that God was there in the midst of their uncertainty and turmoil. There, God spoke the words, “Do not be afraid” and they listened. And the child was born and he was named Jesus and everything changed.

The gospel shows us that the people God uses here on earth are not perfect, even for something as important as bearing God’s Son into the world.

We don’t have to have everything together and our lives don’t have to always go according to our plans. Those aren’t pre-requisites for God to act or speak through us. In Joseph and Mary we see that God works through ordinary people, like you and me, who are living our everyday lives with our ups and downs and with our fears, questions and uncertainties.

I wonder though, when God breaks in, how do we respond?

Do we even recognize God is at work in those moments?

Joseph at least had a dream where the angel of the Lord appeared to him. Few of us today receive such visible and explicit signs of God’s presence and instruction.

Describing the hiddenness of God, Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann says God may be at work in us in ways we don’t even recognize.[i] He says, when it is positive we may call it a miracle, but we don’t often use that word when we see what is happening as negative.[ii] Imagine if Joseph had gone ahead with his plan and dismissed Mary quietly; Jesus would not have been in the line of David and his birth would not have fulfilled the prophecy from Isaiah that we hear in today’s text. Where would Jesus Emmanuel be found then?

As we wait with Joseph and Mary for the Messiah this Advent, may we be alert to the places where God is breaking into our lives, and instead of insisting on our original plan being the “right” one, may we listen and obey, and get out of the way so that God can act in miraculous ways for the sake of the world.

Amen.

[i] Walter Brueggemann. The Collected Sermons of Walter Brueggemann, Volume 1. 60.
[ii] Walter Brueggemann. “The Prophetic Imagination.” https://onbeing.org/programs/walter-brueggemann-the-prophetic-imagination-dec2018/, accessed 12/21/2019
 -Henri Nouwen

Fifth Sunday of Easter

John 13:31-35

Today’s gospel passage takes place before the crucifixion; in fact it is the same text we heard on Maundy Thursday when Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment.

Reading the text again, I noticed how Jesus calls his disciples, “Little children.” In our text a couple of weeks ago, after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples on the seashore and there he called them, “Children” too. Hearing him, I wondered why Jesus addresses them that way. His followers aren’t “children” by any traditional definition. They are fully grown adults with families and responsibilities, homes and jobs when they are called as his disciples. And yet, he calls them, “Children.”

Some people think it is diminutive, that Jesus calls them children because their faith is not yet “mature.” But isn’t our faith always forming and re-forming as we learn more about who God is and who we are as God’s children? Faith grows and expands as we experience God in our lives.

Besides, I don’t think the Jesus we meet in Scripture belittles or talks down to the people around him, even when they make mistakes and he corrects them.

Others suggest Jesus called the disciples “Children” to express his affection for them, the same way my granddaddy called me “Honeychild.”

For me, Jesus’ use of the word “children” brings to mind the time that Jesus told the disciples, “Let the little children come to me.”[i] At that time, the disciples had rebuked the crowds for bringing the children to Jesus but Jesus welcomed them saying the Kingdom of God belonged to them. Perhaps the disciples finally had understood his teaching and were following Jesus with childlike faith, open to what God was doing in their midst.

But, perhaps the simplest explanation is that Jesus calls the disciples “children” because Jesus is God and they are “God’s children.”

In baptism, we are named God’s own sons and daughters. We experience a “sweet swap” when we receive faith in Jesus Christ —we are made co-heirs to the Kingdom and we receive all that belongs to the Son of God, and Christ takes on all that is ours. With this address, Jesus reminding the disciples of their identity.

In Jesus’ words I also hear an echo of the prayer and instruction in Deuteronomy 6 that the Jewish disciples would have known; it says:

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.  5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.  6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.  7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. [ii]

From the time of our ancestors in faith to this present time, our identity as God’s children calls us to obedience to God’s Word and commandments.

When Jesus continues speaking to the disciples, he gives them the new commandment to love one another, just as they have been loved by God. [iii] And then he says, “By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

We don’t follow God’s commands to earn our salvation, and we aren’t obedient so that we can be better people. We can’t. We can only live as God’s children through the grace that God first gives us.  Jesus’ words remind us that our lives and actions bear witness to who Jesus is. When we speak with bitterness and anger and refuse forgiveness or reconciliation, we reflect a God of judgment and wrath. When we love one another, we reflect a God whose grace and love changes lives.

Peter was there in that room and heard Jesus speaking that night. And later after the resurrection and the ascension, when the disciples were traveling and witnessing to the Good News, Peter stayed at the house of Simon the Tanner, whose work would have made him unclean by ritual law. Peter ate at the same table as people who were outsiders and not Jewish. And the religious authorities called him on it. They questioned him, asking why he was disregarding the ritual laws and traditions of Judaism. And he recounted for them the vision he had seen where he had been told, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”[iv]

Peter made a lot of mistakes as a disciple, as we all do, but clearly Peter had learned what it meant to love one another. As he told the people questioning him:

 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?[v]

Like Peter, each of us has been raised with biases against others – whether it’s a person’s appearance, education level, accent or nationality, religion or sexual orientation. We have been taught that some people are “other” or “less than.” We have been taught that some people “belong” and others “don’t.” And we have been taught wrongly.

Believing we are all God’s children, we must love one another. God created each one of us precious in God’s sight and loves each one of us.

Loving one another we are called to live in ways that people can see how our lives are changed by God’s presence and activity. And, by this, everyone will know that we are following Jesus.

Let us pray…
Loving God,
We give you thanks for Your Son Jesus who teaches us to love each other as we are first loved by You.
Help us live as disciples, with confidence in our identity as Your children and with obedience to Your Word.
Send us out as witnesses to Your transforming grace and mercy.
We pray in the name of Jesus.
Amen.

[i] Mt. 19:14, Mk. 10:14, Lk. 18:16
[ii] Deuteronomy 6:4-7
[iii] John 13:34
[iv] Acts 11:9
[v] Acts 11:16-17