God’s
grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon is entitled Moving Daze. My text
is all three Sunday readings.[1] … Let us pray. Heavenly
Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the
house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet
are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your
Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved.
This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
Cindy
and I have sold and bought several houses over the past ten years. Our next
step is to sell our Illinois house and build a new home in Pennsylvania. When
we sat down to close on a house in Oklahoma, we moved from a tract house to a custom-built
ranch on a wooded one and one-half acre lot. Now, anyone who’s purchased a
house knows you have 60 days from the time you close until you move. But in the
60 days after we moved into our Oklahoma house, we unpacked and gave away
boxes, bought and moved furniture, washed windows and burned brush. In addition
to moving, we started working for new employers. I went from an international
nonprofit to a large Lutheran congregation. Cindy started working for the
Oklahoma Department of Human Services. In those first 60 days, we even found
time to host a wedding and a houseful of visitors. And even though I started
working as a pastor for a new congregation, I found myself filling the pulpit
in a church about 45 minutes east of us for 25 worshippers. So, sometimes when you
think you are about ready to settle down, God has others plans for you. Hence,
the title of today’s sermon – moving daze. That’s daze with a z.
Moving
is an appropriate title for my sermon as we will move from one reading to the
next - first, to see how Jesus moved his disciples’ hearts; second, how three
men are moved and dazed by heavenly visions; and lastly, to ask ourselves if we
are moved and dazed by God’s love, and if we have moved or dazed others.
First,
Jesus moved his disciples’ hearts. Throughout his life Jesus moved people’s
hearts through his deeds and words. In today’s gospel the Lord speaks after he
washed his disciples’ feet.
Think
how those 12 men must have felt seeing their Lord and master assume the role of
servant. Who of us would not react like Peter and protest? Imagine someone you
love and admire washing your feet, and yet Jesus does this.
When
finished, he stated, “Now is the Son of Man glorified.”
Jesus … glorified … after completing an act of humility. When I think of glory,
I think of Cooperstown and Canton, Lombardi Trophies and Stanley Cups, Oscars,
Emmys and Grammys, paparazzi and presidents. I don’t think of 13 men in a room
and one of them washing the feet of the other 12. But the term “glory” means
weighty or important. In other words, love is a serious matter.
He then
instructed his disciples to “love one another.” Jesus didn’t
plea for them to get along, but instructed them to love one another, meaning
“do what I do.” Well, they hadn’t yet witnessed his crucifixion, but they had
experienced his humble act of footwashing. … “As I have loved you, so you must
love one another.”
What
followed next was Jesus’ farewell monologue interspersed by some unconventional
responses. Here is what the dazed disciples said.
When
Jesus told them that he was going to prepare a place for them, Thomas said, “Lord,
we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Following his explanation, Philip demonstrated dullness by saying, “Lord,
show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Finally, after
telling the boys that He will show Himself to those who love Him, Judas asked, “Why
show yourself to us and not the whole world?” The entire episode of
washing their feet, instructing them to love one another and bidding adieu left
the disciples moved and dazed.
From
John to Acts and Revelation where three others are moved and dazed by heavenly
visions. … Paul Harvey was famous for a series entitled The Rest of the Story which consisted of stories presented as
little-known or forgotten facts on a variety of subjects with some key element
of the story (usually the name of some well-known person) held back until the
end. The broadcasts always concluded with a variation on the tag line "And now you know the rest of the
story."
If we
confine ourselves to 18 verses of Acts 11, we don’t know the rest of the story.
So, let’s start with an introduction. In chapter 10, we are introduced to
Cornelius. Cornelius was a Roman centurion who had a vision. In spite of how we
imagine Russell Crowe in Gladiator,
this professional soldier was a devout and God-fearing family man who prayed
daily. One day while praying, an angel appeared to him and instructed him to
seek out Peter. So, he sent a detail down the coast to Joppa with instructions
to bring Peter back to Caesarea. … Imagine telling a group of soldiers that you
just got a message from an angel. …
The
next day, Peter went up on his roof to pray. He too had a vision. His vision
occurred three times. In it, God told him to kill and eat the animals in his
vision. Objecting that he would never eat anything impure, God reminded him
that He has not made anything impure. And while praying about this vision the
Spirit instructed him to go with the men who sought him … By the way, they’re
waiting for you downstairs.
The
story unfolds at Cornelius’ house. … Until that time, the only people believing
in Jesus as the Christ were Jews. A gentile wants to join them, and for Peter
to enter the house of a gentile meant that he rendered himself religiously
unclean.
As
Cornelius explained his vision and how he was moved by God to send for Peter,
and as Peter explained his and how he was moved by God to take the Gospel to
all people, the Holy Spirit came down upon them and they began to speak in
tongues and praise God. They were so moved and dazed by this experience that
Peter baptized Cornelius’ entire household.
Later,
Peter explained his actions to the apostles, and once they realized that God
granted the gift of faith and repentance to gentiles, they praised God, and
then sent Barnabas to look for Paul who began witnessing before gentiles in
Antioch, which is where the word Christian is first used. … and now you know the rest of the story.
Like
Cornelius and Peter, John too had a vision. How better to keep hope afloat for
persecuted Christians than to tell them what God revealed. John’s Book of
Revelation is apocalyptic literature. Filled with vivid imagery for a
persecuted people, its main purpose is to offer hope. John interpreted the
signs of the times as the end, and even though God triumphed over Satan, sin
and death, he did not want Christians to lose focus on the church’s struggle
against evil, false prophets and civil oppression.
In
this passage, John envisioned a new heaven and a new earth, and he envisioned
the old heaven and earth passing away. Perhaps that means nothing to us, but if
you were living under the constant threat of persecution, the passing of the
present age and the vision of a new one would be eagerly welcomed.
So,
consider this: If you stood to lose your job and your friends, your property
and even your family because of your religion what would you do? If you faced
prison, isolation and death, would you remain a Christian? Would you renounce
your faith or would you choose martyrdom?
Did
you know that more than a million Christians chose martyrdom … in the 20th
century? More than a million Christians in Mexico through South America, from
Nazi Germany and across the Iron Curtain, throughout China, Vietnam and much of
Africa were put to death because they did not renounce their Christian faith.
Well,
that’s not going to happen to us because we are citizens who enjoy God-given
rights. We don’t live in 1st century Rome or some 20th
century communist bloc country or Nazi Germany. Our Constitution, Amendments
and Bill of Rights guarantee us rights, liberties and freedoms. We can worship
together, live our faith and fear nothing. But before you jump to that
conclusion, let me tell you how persecution happens here.
When I
was living and working in Berkeley, California, Proposition 8 was on the state
ballot. The state legislature affirmed same-sex marriage, but ultimately the
voters rejected it before the justices of the California State Supreme Court
reversed the voters’ decision. During that time, I sent a $50 check to a
political action committee upholding traditional marriage. Within weeks I
received a letter from an anonymous person who stated that I should be ashamed
of what I did and that I should be fired from my job. So, while we may not be
in the same danger as some Christians in the 1st or 20th
centuries, when you proclaim your faith in word and deed, there are those who
will hate and persecute you.
Finally,
are we moved and dazed by God’s love? Have we moved or dazed others? Are we
moved and dazed when we ponder what occurred in the Upper Room when Jesus
assumed the role of servant and washed his disciples’ feet? Do we pray like
Cornelius and Peter and meditate on the meaning of God’s revelation? Can we
envision with John a new heaven and a new earth where God wipes away every tear
from our eyes? Are we moved to loving one another – like Jesus? Do we risk
loving others or do we prefer to keep love comfortable?
Keeping
love comfortable is what we prefer. I’m sure Peter would have chosen fishing
over shepherding, living on the coast rather than dying in Rome. I’m certain
Christian martyrs of the 1st or 20th centuries would have
gladly lived their lives in peace rather than persecution, but what about us?
I mean
who wants to wash their uncle’s feet? Do teenagers and young adults believe
what friends profess or what their faith community professes? When I was my
mother’s caregiver, there were humble acts of loving kindness that I would have
preferred to be done by someone else, but you rely upon God’s grace to
strengthen you to love beyond your comfort zone.
Humble
acts of loving kindness are not confined to the nursing home or schoolyard, but
they all involve personal interaction. You know, one of the more pleasant
experiences I had after I joined the Lutheran Church was when the men who belonged
to Our Savior’s in Livermore, California reached out to me, and invited me to
join their men’s fellowship. That moved me, and so, I have to ask myself: Does
my love move others? Does our love move others into believing in Christ or
joining us for worship? Or, have the people with whom I interact fallen into a
spiritual daze?
This
week, let’s think about how Jesus moved the hearts of his disciples and ask
ourselves, “When was the last time my humble acts of loving kindness moved
someone else to love?” … Think about what humble act of loving kindness you
wanted to do last week but didn’t. Think about what you’d like to do this week.
And next week reflect upon what you did to bring one more person to Christ.
Let’s
thank and praise God for how He’s loved us and moved our hearts to love more
deeply, and when we do, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding,
keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
