Fifth Sunday in Easter
May 5, 2010
A New Commandment
John 13:31-35
Love, Sex & Fire
Alleluia, Christ is Risen. He is Risen indeed, Alleluia!
One of the saddest things I see as a pastor is to see love misused and abused.
Sex is like Fire!
I hate it when I see article after article in the paper about how sexual love is abused by a priest or a minister or a pastor with either a child or another member of the congregation. Or when I read of celebrity after celebrity cheating on their spouse.
In confirmation class, we tell the kids that sex is like fire.
In the right places, within the right boundaries, in the right context…it is wonderful, thrilling, uplifting, binding. But in the wrong context it can be terribly destructive
A fire in my fireplace or in my barbecue grill…that is a wonderful thing. But fire in the middle of my living room…that is a nightmare and disaster.
The proper place for sex is in marriage. A permanent monogamous commitment to one person for the rest of your life.
And so, we tell the kids, if you are not married to that person, then there is a very simple rule of thumb: “Keep your pants on!”
Many people in the church and many national celebrities would be much, much, much better off if they had followed that simple rule of thumb. “Keep your pants on and zipped up.”
An Awesome, Yet Deadly Force
Back when the ELCA was engaged in its sexuality studies one person said something that made a lot of sense to me. That person said, “Sex is one of the most powerful forces in the universe.” And that explains a lot now does it? Why some people take such great risks and do such stupid things.
And then someone else said something else that made even more sense to me: “Sex is not the most powerful force in the universe. ‘Being right’ is. And if you doubt that for a moment, well, then just get married.”
Deadly: Our Need to Be Right
And isn’t that a penetrating thought? Even greater than our sex drive is our need to be right in any argument.
What is basic message in any argument? “What I did or what I think is right. And what you did or what you think is wrong.”
It is that simple isn’t it? People are out to “justify” their thoughts and actions. “Self-justification” we call it in the church.
But let me tell you. Nothing is more deadly to a relationship than “righteous indignation.”
And isn’t that a pretty heavy burden? To always have to justify yourself? And to always be right?
And do you ever really want to stand before God, the greatest judge of them all, and claim that your way is right and everyone else is wrong? How do you think that will play in God’s court of law? Maybe as well as Goldman Sachs before the senate right now.
Marriage is Like a Death & Resurrection
I once told a couple on their wedding day that a marriage is like a death and resurrection. Some things were going to have to die in their married life together, especially if they were going to love each other as Christ loved them:
Some of their own choices and preferences for one thing. Certain hopes and dreams and freedoms. Debating points die. Rights die. Pride dies. Fairness dies. Self-pity dies. The right to pout and whine. Valid, righteous indignation. It all dies.
And in its place something new rises and is born. A true loving relationship that holds tight together despite the turmoil and the storms. And that does not seek to justify itself but rather allows us to say, “Honey, am sorry. I was wrong. Can we make a new start and a new beginning?” And that we daily need to live in the love and grace that Jesus has given us. His love is what gives us life.
Marriage is Like a Death & Resurrection
Two years later the groom came into my office a broken and a desperate man. And he said to me, “I thought you were nuts when you said all that. I thought that in my marriage I could be my own person and do whatever pleases me. And now I’ve made a mess of things. I was so wrong. Can you help me put my marriage back together again?”
Well, Try Something New
Well, how about this, my friend. Get some professional counseling and try the cross. Try con¬fession and forgiveness. Love one another as Christ has loved you.
“I give you a new commandment,” Jesus said, “that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” In fact, he says, “I have loved you in order that you also may love one another.”
There is nothing new about the command to love. It has been around a long, long time ever since the days of Moses.
What is New is Jesus
What is “new” is Jesus.
What is “new” is his death and resurrection.
What is “new” is that we don’t ever need to justify ourselves in order to be right with God, because Jesus has already spoken God’s verdict on the cross: “Father, forgiven them.” To which, God said an Easter “Yes! Yes! Yes! Amen!”
What is “new” is that this is not an “old commandment” that judges you and accuses you if you don’t keep it. Rather it is a “new commandment” that enables you and empowers you to love as Christ loved you because it crucifies you with Christ himself.
Jesus does not just raise the bar and increase the standard, he alters the situation.
Jesus doesn’t just give us a model and a pattern. He gives us the power.
Jesus doesn’t just point us to a new direction and to a new and better GPS. But he also pours out the gas that propels us forward. Jesus hands over his Spirit.
With Easter Comes Pentecost & an Empowered People
With Easter comes a Pentecost. An empowered people. An empowered church.
The Holy Spirit is Christ’s own fire (the fire of his love) that ignites the flames of our own earthly loves that give witness to a loving Lord.
It is a love that is passed on even to one’s enemies and to the poorest of the poor. And certainly to the members of our own household and this community of faith.
Fire in the wrong place is a disaster and a nightmare. But in the right place it gives a fantastic witness to the world.
Sex is not the most powerful force in the universe. Nor is self-justification, for that matter. The love that Jesus has for us is.
For the greatest of these is love.
Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
© 2010 Pastor Paul Jaster