2025 05 18 Easter 5 C
Acts
11:1-18 Psalm 148 Revelation 21:1-6 John 13:31-35
Scandalous news had hit the Jerusalem
times…. Peter ate with Gentiles! Even
back then the grapevine could give you the facts, yet still lead you to the
wrong conclusion. Before the election, I was longing for it to be over. One political party slinging dirt at
another. Media making comments with bias
one way or another. There was very
little being said that seemed like words of life. And we are called to something better...
Have you ever experienced listening
to a conversation and felt as though something deep in your spirit felt a sense
of joy and hope and deep peace? When I
was 17, I went to a church young adult group, expecting it to be much the same
as many others I’d been to before, but this was very different. I was absolutely amazed at a sense of their
wisdom. I kept thinking, “The leaders of
our country need to hear these people, they make more sense than anything I’d
ever heard in my life.” Interestingly,
the phrase, “they’ll know we are Christians by our love”, also kept going
through my head.
Jesus’ way of love heralds a new kind
of kingdom, and today’s readings tell us that there will one day be a New
Heaven and a New Earth. The book of
Revelation reveals things as they are from God’s view, and things as they will
be. The world as it is today, is in a
fair bit of chaos. Where there isn’t
war, there certainly is division.
As followers of Christ, we long to
see the reign of Christ, where everything on Earth is in order, according to
His ways. This is where we are different from those who
don’t follow Christ. Most importantly
this different way is not a prescribed difference according to me, or you or
any other charismatic leader who may come to power, but different according to God’s
ways.
The book of Revelation talks about
times to come, but it also talks about some things as they are, revealing God’s
perspective. In that book there are
letters to some churches and all but one of them are told they need to make
some corrections. Those messages were pertinent to the churches at the time
that they were written, but the errors of those churches are common throughout
history and will be into the future, therefore, they are something we need to
be checking for.
We are reminded today, that God cares
for us. He will dwell with us, and in
this vision, there is no crying or death or mourning. Also, there is no sea. There are a few different views about this
and why there is no sea, but I tend to feel it implies that there are no
divisions.
Why do we have divisions? The Gospel Coalition lists 4 https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/reasons-division-church/ but I suspect there are many.
If we get down to a personal level,
it can be due to simple misunderstandings and different personality types, or a
sense of ownership and control or a power play.
We are all human and suspectable so we all need to check ourselves
often, and often times… ego really is a dirty word! The antidote is love. Jesus gave us a new commandment, that we love
one another…. And do you see how this is echoed in my encounter with the young
adult group when I was 17. There was both
a sense of incredible wisdom and a sense of love. I don’t think it is any coincidence that the
two went together.
Jesus said; “I give you a new
commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also
should love one another.”
Loving others was always part of
God’s message. The Israelites were to
show hospitality and care for the vulnerable, which is practical acts of
love. So, when Jesus says that he has a
new commandment, we need to ask what about this commandment is new. The new part is to love as Jesus has loved
us.
Before I continue, I want to make it
clear that there were times when Jesus withdrew. There were many times when Jesus stood his
ground and there were many times when Jesus didn’t do what people wanted him to
do. But his motive was always love, and
he loved in a way that was wise. We
might say, with proper boundaries.
Recently I’ve been listening to focus
on the family podcasts as I am in the car.
An American Christian senator was interviewed. He explained that he read some of the Psalms
each morning because he knew that he would be dealing with many things through
the day that were not of God. He had to
keep that balance of putting the good stuff in, otherwise it would be like
having a diet of only junk food and we’d get sick.
He also said that the divisions we
see in government are a reflection of the society which is also divided and
that if we want to change this division, it starts way back with us as
individuals. He spoke about not having
enemies, only friends and future friends.
He explained that if there were people who vehemently disagreed with
him, he would stop talking about those things and find something that they did
agree on. In this way they could find a
way to work forward.
This is how we show practical
love. He didn’t compromise on the values
of Jesus, but he showed that he was genuinely interested and concerned for the
cares of the other person. The show was
actually called “dialling down the anger”, and he suggested that when we feel
angry, instead of sending a derogatory email, or just stewing over things, we
should find a way to serve. This is loving how Jesus loved.
In our first reading there was a
division between the Jewish Christians and the Gentiles. The Jewish Christians were Jews, and forever,
there had been cultural divisions. When
they heard that Peter had gone and eaten with Gentiles, they were horrified.
Peter had experienced denying
Jesus. In this way, Peter had cut
himself off from Jesus. We often miss
the grave significance of what it meant that Peter denied Jesus three
times. It means he had absolutely cut
himself off, turned his back… it was every bit as serious as the sin of Judas
who betrayed Jesus. The difference being
that Peter repents. Meaning that he
agreed with God about his fallibility, vulnerability and he was humbled. Jesus had reinstated Peter by asking him if
he loved him and telling him three times to feed His sheep. Hopefully, you have picked up that there is
something significant about the number “three”.
Three signifies going forward,
lifting up and spiritual authority. If
we look at the story of Peter with the vision that happened three times, we can
see that God is impressing that this vision carries his authority. It also involves the way forward and
involves elevating the position of the Gentiles.
In the story that Peter tells he ends
with this one statement that silences the matter; “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?"
God gave the Gentiles the repentance
that leads to life. Repentance is to
agree with God. To agree that we need
the sacrifice of Jesus. To agree that
only God can save us.
In all our divisions and the chaos of
life, this is what is of fundamental importance. To agree with God. We need him. Even in the command of Jesus to love one
another as he has loved us, we very obviously can’t do it. But what we can do, is agree with God,
that His way is the way of life and we are thirsty for that living
water. We agree with God that we are
fallible, and we need the sacrifice of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins,
and we need His gift of the Holy Spirit to enable us to love, we can not do it
without him.
So let’s pray; Lord God, our father
in heaven, we turn to you. We admit our
weakness, but Lord we submit our broken hearts to you. We ask that you send us your Holy Spirit so
that we can love with a supernatural love and walk in the ways of life and
goodness that you call us to. In Jesus
name we pray. Amen.
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