April 24, 2016, The fifth Sunday after Easter

We are always glad to be reminded of the call to love, and we may be a bit uneasy if we wonder how well we are fulfilling the great commandment. Another way to say this is that it is easy to talk about love, and it’s an entirely different thing to do it.

We are afraid. We are unsure. We get trapped in certain patterns and habits. We often don’t know what we’ve said or done and how it might offend or divide. In some ways, it is easier to define ourselves in opposition – “we are not that” or “we are not them.” The lines we draw to define ourselves often become barriers that keep the stranger at arms length.

Peter has his eyes opened. He discovers the wide arms of Gods embrace. Peter doesn’t even notice how narrow and particular he had imagined his faith. Peter only knew Jewish traditions. He assumed that what he knew was part of what it meant to be Christian. Peter has faith in Jesus and he unconsciously holds onto laws and diet and patterns he already knows. He needs to have his vision enlarged to see how God also calls the rest of the world to saving love.

There are two different visions. Peter has a corrective vision. Peter sees a sheet let down from heaven – three times. It is full of all sorts of animals. “Get up Peter. Kill and eat.” Three times Peter says, “No Lord, I have never eaten anything unclean.” (Doesn’t that sound like the Peter we know?) God answers, “What God has made clean you must not call profane.”

Just then, three men come from Cornelius. He has had a dream too. His is a brand new vision. God has told him to send for Peter, for he has a message that will save your whole household. Peter goes with them and takes some witnesses. Peter begins to preach the message of salvation through Jesus. Immediately, all the non-Jewish men start speaking in tounges just like the disciples at Pentecost. So Peter baptizes them.

When he defends himself at a council in Jerusalem, he says, “Who was I that I could hinder God?” They respond with surprise, “Than God has given even to the gentiles the repentance that leads to life.” Even in this early church there are assumptions. Even those who walked with Jesus are limited by their own narrow vision about how Gad will work and about what is possible.

This is a reminder that most of what limits us is us. God wants to love everyone and to have them return that love. God wants us to love the same way: generously, completely, without any barriers whatsoever.

The Good news of God’s love doesn’t need our protection. We don’t have to preserve or save the proper understanding of the true faith. We are called to merely share it and trust that God will do the rest. The way that this looks in practice is to trust the work of love.

When Jesus is with his disciples and after Judas has gone out to betray him – this is when Jesus declares, “Now the Son of Man is glorified.” I would think this is a low point. Instead, Jesus trusts that what God has started will move on to perfection. He also chooses this time to remind the disciples how important it is that they should love one another.

Maybe this is a reminder that they should love when they are in fear – that they should love when they are betrayed, and when they themselves betray. Maybe this is a reminder that love will save them from despair and from failure. Jesus is also showing them how he loves. Even when he is betrayed, even when he knows he will lose everything – he chooses to love. He offers love when we most need it, and in a way that most helps us.

This is true service. This is the way we are called to give of ourselves. This is not some sort of weird self-punishment or a way of bragging about how holy we are. God asks us to love the way Jesus loves. He loves us just the way we need him to love – and that how we should love.

We all know strident people who shame us that we are not treating the earth well. No one could keep up with their low-footprint vegan diets. No one could keep up with all the tasks and lifestyle choices. Who could afford it? Who has the time? Instead we are called to care for the earth. We will make better choices if we honor the world around us – but not by living in some sort of competition where we try to outdo others in their zeal.

Today we baptize Teagan. We commit to helping her grow in her faith. If we only see her as a nice addition to our community that makes us more attractive, or is we are kind to her only because she is a cute baby – we will not fulfill the law of love. Instead, if we care for her, if we listen to her even when she grows older and asks awkward questions – or even if she tries our strange fashion accessories – if we love her with her best interest in mind – then we will have loved her as Jesus asks.

It is hard to hear, but we know that this is not about us. What we are about is God’s love. All God’s people are welcome here – not because it will help us, but because God has plans for them, and we’re invited to help them along.