Acts 11:1-18,Psalm 148, Revelation 21:1-6, John 13:31-35
What is our identity as Christians, what is New Salem’s identity. In our mission statement it starts out “New Salem is a community of Christians”.What makes us a community of Christians, what gives us claim to this?Our Lutheran identity is in baptism and our weekly gathering around Word and Sacrament, studying the Bible together and eating the holy meal; these make us distinctly Lutheran; knowing we are both saint and sinner, knowing we are called to repentance of our error in our ways and we are forgiven.This is most certainly true!Yet, what is our identity as a Community of Christians?
What gives us our identity is knowing that we are loved by God who brought Jesus to live amongst us.Jesus tells us that we are to love one another.“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
This is how people know we are Christians, through our love for one another.Yesterday we displayed valiantly that we are a Community of Christians serving one another through hospitality and caregiving.Those who were here witnessed the working together of many of our members.A community of Christians?Yes!The service - the willingness to come together for the purpose of raising money for Lutheran Disaster Relief.
This was hard work, but also a lot of fun - New Salem – we, a community of Christians serving others through hospitality and caregiving were on display.But loving one another - well, Jesus asks even more than the service we were giving yesterday. Loving one another is a tall order.
This is a tall order, one that even the disciples in the book of Acts struggle with in today’s reading.Peter comes back from traveling in Caesarea with the news that he has been baptizing Gentiles.This had not been done before.I appreciate the statement given by Peter to the disciples who seemed confused and even angry with Peter because of the religious boundaries he had broken.The messiah was to come to Israel, Peter had just baptized outsiders!This is what Peter said “If 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?”And the disciples responded “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”
We learn in the Book of Acts from Peter’s experience that the love we are to share is unconditional and for everyone, everyone.We learn from Jesus in John 13 what real love is.Jesus tells the disciples and us that we are to love as he has loved.He had just finished washing the disciples’ feet.This is Jesus’ example of what love is, serving one another.
Jesus is serving the disciples by washing the dirt off their feet that they accumulated from walking in the streets, the dust they had picked up along the way.Yes, we are to love those among us by serving those that we may even find unpleasant, those with dirty feet.
I wonder. How do we hinder God from working in other people’s lives?Loving is often a very difficult task.If loving was only the wonderful romantic love, or as easy as the physically hard working service we witnessed yesterday, then loving one another would not be that difficult a task.
Let’s be honest with one another.We all have moments, seasons, sometimes relationships or relatives that we know that God would have us bear, but we don’t have what it takes to do so.
Have you ever had those situations that take you down to your knees, sometimes in tears, sometimes in anger, sometimes at your wits end because you know you are out of control?
If we are honest - yes we have those times; I have those times.We’ve said it here, we’ve talked about it.God doesn’t give you anything you can’t handle?Well to be honest, I don’t believe this is true.There is a lot in life that one can’t handle.It is only through the love of God reaching into our lives that we can handle the most difficult of situations.
We have a God who comes down.God came down to Moses in the burning bush. God came down in Jesus’ birth and in Jesus resurrection.God came down in the book of Acts in the promised Holy Spirit and God comes down even now in our lives and God will come down until the end of time.
Today’s reading in Revelation 21 states that
“See, the home of God is among mortals.
God will dwell with them as their God;
they will be his peoples,
and God will be with them;
4 God 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.”
At the end times, it is not us who will be taken up into heaven, but God who comes down to dwell among us not to destroy the earth but to make all things new.
God continues to come down. As I shared with the children, I learned early in life that we need to give people and situations to Jesus.
Anyone who is close to me knows that I obsess over what I don’t have control over.I am very good at immediately solving the problem when I don’t even know for sure if there is one.My mind is totally occupied with emotions over my lack of control and need to find answers. . . Until, until I stop, sit down in quiet, take a few deep breaths; and give it to Jesus.“Jesus, this situation is not mine. You love this person more than I do.I give this person to you.”When I do that I feel an outgoing from my heart. I believe God comes and take the worry from me. Sometimes this involved tears, most often not - but then I am done obsessing.
God dwells amongst us.We are assured this over and over again.Jesus TOLD US he would send us a comforter, the Holy Spirit.
Our identity is not in being worry free, but in being free enough to serve one another in love.Love does not come easily when we are angry with someone or someone is working really hard at being unloveable.Our identity is in knowing a God who loves us enough to work with us to help us love and serve others.
