Not left Orphaned

 John 14:8-27 is the Gospel Text for Pentecost, June 5.

Jesus OWNED the Word, as the Word made Flesh.  He is the Logos.

Jesus OWNED Peace, not as the world gives (Pax Romana), but REAL SHALOM (completeness, wholeness and well-being for all people, that leads to real peace) for ALL people is that to which Jesus calls us, and that which is produced by living Agape Love with one another.

Those who love Jesus will keep HIS COMMANDMENTS, HIS WORDS.  Jesus' WORD, Jesus' COMMAND is the living of Agape Love in the world.

And Jesus promised not to abandon us, even after His death - that we would not be orphaned.  He promised the Advocate, the Holy Spirit to come IN HIS NAME.  He also OWNS the Holy Spirit.

Now, the Spirit of God was not a new concept.  The Spirit of God is referenced in the scriptures of old.  The difference for those of us who follow Jesus is that the Holy Spirit of God always points to, guides to, leads to, drives us to the Christ.  The Holy Spirit is RELENTLESS, working on us to open our hearts and minds to the Way of Jesus.  You can call the Holy Spirit power, influence or conscience if you like.  I believe that the spiritual reality, presence, power and influence of the Holy Spirit is that which speaks the WORD to our hearts and minds and brings us to find a better way to live with God and Neighbor in Jesus' Way of living with God and Neighbor - the Way of Jesus - the Way of Agape Love (committed action on behalf of the other, even stranger or enemy, and especially the most vulnerable among us).

That is what we celebrate on Pentecost.  First, Shavuot, what became the celebration of the giving of the Ten Commandments on Sinai - God's commanded code for how we are to live with God and Neighbor.  On the celebration of The Word, the Holy Spirit's presence and power were made known, not to damage or destroy life, but to open minds and hearts.  The Holy Spirit is known in UNIFYING the people in the room to see that they hold much more in common than their differences.  The Holy Spirit spoke, and people understood in whatever language they knew, the Word.  The Word is Life.  The Word is Shalom.  The Word is Unity.  The Word is Agape Love.  Community was formed in spite of differences.  Commonalities are the foundation of building that community, in which the people were of one heart and mind, lived in harmony, committed to the well-being of one another and found a new, shared context.

For some, Jesus is just the last prophet who came to give God's Will through God's Word.  For others, Jesus is Son of God, Lord and Savior, the Messiah.  The Spirit of God is the Spirit of God.  Either way, the Holy Spirit, the presence of God, points to Jesus' Way of being children of God - a better way for us, a sustainable way for us and a faithful Way for us - the Way of Jesus in the living of Agape Love.

The whole book of ACTS is a witness to this drawing together around Agape Love, and the wondrous transformations that can take place when people find unity in their commonalities.  

Whatever your ethnicity or faith background, first language or economic class, the Way of Agape Love is the only real, sustainable Way for humanity to survive and thrive.  It is the only faithful Way to live with God, according to Rabbi, Prophet, Savior and Lord Jesus, the Christ.

We are never alone.  God is with us.  That is to be both, a comfort and a reminder of our accountability to God and one another.  We have not been orphaned or abandoned.  It may feel like it sometimes, but the Spirit of God is working on us, within us to bring transformation within each of us, in our communities and in our world.  That transformation can bring sustainable and abundant life if we have minds and hearts open to it.  The world, empire will bring destruction and despair, if we continue to close our minds and hearts to the living of Agape Love.  We have seen the results of that all too clearly.  God is working to help us find the other way, the sustainable way, the justice way, the Way of Agape.

God is working on us.  We need to work on ourselves and show the wisdom of the Way of Agape Love to those around us, in order that the transformation to sustainable living may happen in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.

Last Will and Testament

 John 17:20-26 is the Gospel Lectionary text for Sunday, May 29.

This is Jesus' last Will and Testament before God.  It is His prayer of what He has done in His mission to draw humanity together, and His Will that all humanity be one, even as He and the Father are one.

So much of the witness of Jesus' teachings and commands are about human conduct with one another, along with acts of love that restore people to their well-being and to community, that we must look at this desire of Jesus, expressed here in John's Gospel, as His Will.

I have written, preached and talked about Agape Love being central in the teachings, commands and examples of Jesus, toward the Shalom of all people, for a long, long time now.  I believe that I can spend the rest of my life focusing on that and the perfecting of the living of it, and that I should do so.  The unity expressed here is very touching to me, and profound.  It is the Will of God that we all be unified in that Love, humanity with humanity and humanity with God.

I believe that we have much more in common than we have differences.  We have been taught and conditioned to immediately look at our differences, and that creates a barrier toward unity.  We go into encounters with others looking for what sets us apart, rather than what unites us.  We immediately have barriers to overcome in order for us to come together, learn about each other and form friendships or even civil acquaintanceships with others.  Stereotypes and prejudices immediately cloud our vision of one another, regardless of how much we may have in common.  Some among us have used these superficial differences to pit us one against another, so that they might manipulate us toward their own gain.  It has helped to create huge divisions within our nation and across the world.

Jesus, a Jewish Rabbi, reached out to gentiles, women, lepers, the unclean and even those who opposed Him, teaching and modeling love.  Rabbi Jesus used people of other beliefs as examples of faithfulness to God and healed them.  Rabbi Jesus taught people how to mend the broken relationships they had with God and with one another.  Rabbi Jesus gathered crowds and empowered them, even under the oppressive occupation of empire.  Rabbi Jesus acknowledged the worth of women in a society that de-valued them, and Rabbi Jesus lifted up children as special recipients of God's blessings and ones who are to be protected by adults.  Jesus gave His life for humanity, the ultimate unifying act of Love.  Jesus forgave even those who were executing Him, the ultimate unifying act of Love with enemy.

So, what the church has done over centuries is lift up not just this faith, but particular expressions of this faith, as the only right, legitimate belief system for all time and all people.  Jesus taught, commanded and modeled Love, and the church has taught, commanded and modeled indoctrination and assimilation into a culture of greed, lust for power over others and desire for status above others.

We have not honored Jesus' Last Will and Testament.  We have not become one, even among those who profess to follow the same Lord.  We are not united, but are divided - a broken, disjointed body.

I believe it is all about the Agape Love of Rabbi Jesus.  I believe that it is all about that within HUMANITY, and not just certain faiths or ethnicities or cultures or nations.  What we first have in common is our humanity, and the Love that Jesus taught can draw us together regardless of our differences, even of faith.  If it is about LOVE for everyone, then it is faithful to God.  If it is about LOVE for everyone, then it is faithful to Neighbor.

God, whom I believe to wholly other and yet immanent, or more accurately pervasive, is Love.  (I read that somewhere.)

I truly believe what a preacher, preaching among those who did not practice his same faith said, "The Lord is the one within whom I live and move and have my being."

I truly believe the witness of Rabbi Jesus saying, "The Kingdom of God is WITHIN/AMONG you."

I also believe many truths that I have heard and read from countless other belief systems and sacred texts that call for love, unity and peace (Shalom, Eireinei, Salem, etc.).  

In spite of our little differences, let us find our oneness with one another and thus with God, which is the only sustainable way for us to live in Shalom (completeness, wholeness and well-being for all people, which will lead to peace) in this world.

Otherwise, we are doomed to continue on this unsustainable path which leads to despair and destruction.

This is Rabbi Jesus' Last Will and Testament.

We had better start figuring out our own! 

"Those who love me..."

 John 14:(18) 23-29 (31) is the Lectionary Gospel text for Sunday, May 22.

Those who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them... Those who love me will keep my Word... Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me... Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives."

This new covenant relationship is built on love.  It is Agape Love - that love that Rabbi Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us, as we have witness in the Gospels.  Jesus' commandments were centered on that love.  "Repent and believe in the Good News. You give them something to eat.  Give to everyone who begs from you.  Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  Do not judge.  Beware of all kinds of greed.  Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep."  These are but a few of the imperatives of Jesus.  The Gospels are full of them - commands for any who would listen and follow Him.

And they are all designed for one thing - to establish or restore Shalom to ALL of God's people.  All people need the completeness, wholeness and well-being of Shalom.  All people need to have enough to sustain them, equal justice, equal opportunities, respect, dignity, equitable treatment and to be valued equally to others.  When those things that make for Shalom are in place, there is peace.  When they are not, then there is no peace.  Indeed, until all have Shalom, truly none have it in the world.

Jesus said that He left them with Peace, His peace, not as the world gives.  The peace they were used to, under which they had lived for a few generations, was the Pax Romana, which was not real peace.  It was coercion, violent occupation, ruthless domination and bringing a people into submission against their will.  It was good for the elites of Rome.  It was bad for everyone else.  Though they "kept the peace," mostly by executing anyone who did anything they didn't like, it was not real Peace.  It was not Shalom or eireinei - completeness, wholeness and well-being for all people that lead to peace.  The greed, lust for power and desire for status that drove empire was not about Shalom for all the people - it was about more and the best for the few.  Jesus called for, taught and commanded a real Shalom for people in the living of Agape Love.  It would alone be the way to restore any sense of Shalom.  It still is the only way.

And those who love Jesus, love the Way of Jesus in Agape Love.  Those who truly love Jesus see the value of the Good News way of living in the world - that it is the only sustainable way for the world, that it is the Way of God for the world.  If we love Jesus, we will keep His commands around Agape Love and keep His Word of Love and Shalom.  If we do not love Jesus' Way, then we do not love Jesus, who was all about this Way for us.  Oh, we can claim that we love Jesus in order that we might gain favor and salvation, but if we do not keep His commands and live His Word, that is by nature a selfish, self-centered love and not Agape Love that means active commitment to the other.  Jesus commanded Agape Love for stranger, enemy and the most vulnerable - committed action on their behalf.  If we love Jesus, we will keep His commandments and live His Word.

Because His Word is LIFE.  The only sustainable way of life on this planet is that of Love for One Another.  We have seen what a lack of selfless, unconditional love can do in the world - we have been perfecting that for a generation.  It leads to division, destruction and despair.  That is the way of the world, the way of empire.  Jesus' Way of Agape Love leads to unity, upbuilding, hope and Shalom.  Isn't it time that we give Jesus' Way a chance in the world?  Jesus thought so a couple thousand years ago.  We still have not tried it fully.  But with a new generation comes new hope.  Perhaps THIS is the time that we will choose Agape Love over Apathy and Hatred, choose selfless love over selfish pursuits, choose people over profit, shared power over abuses of power and equality in value of one another over status above others out of a false sense of superiority.  When we choose Agape Love, we will have Shalom, Eireinei, not as the world gives, but as Jesus has given.  Not until then.

How are you known?

 John 13:31-35 is the Gospel lectionary text for Sunday, May 15.

A new command Jesus gave them. 

Loving God with all that one has and loving Neighbor as self was taught and commanded from of old.  Here, we have Agape Love to be lived in the example of Jesus as our command.  Jesus has modeled how we are to love in the world.

All that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us is wrapped up in this Agape Love.  It is the Way of Jesus, and it is the Way for anyone who would follow Jesus.  We are called out (eklesia - church) to live a different life from that lived in the world, in empire.  We are called out to be the followers of Jesus in how we live in this part of God's reign, here and now.  If we are to be followers of Jesus, this must be our Way.  Where Jesus went, we must go.

Jesus said that we will be associated with Him by this love.  It is how others will know that we are His disciples.  Not in that we speak in tongues, worship and praise, tithe, carry big and floppy Bibles, quote the scriptures, point out how pure we are or holy or better than others.  Others will not associate us with Him necessarily because of those things.  Wow is that true!  No. We will be known as Jesus' followers simply by how we actively commit ourselves to the well-being of strangers, enemies and the most vulnerable among us (see Luke 10:25-37).  We will be associated with Jesus, not by our claims or labels, church vocabulary or church social mores, but by our committed actions on behalf of others and their well-being, especially those who are not like us and those most in need. 

There is a whole world of people who have been hurt by those who claim to follow Jesus.  Because of their race or ethnicity, because of their socio-economic status, because of their different faith practice or no faith practice, and because of their sexual orientation many have been hurt by the very people who proport to be followers of the Jesus of Agape Love, who reached out to those marginalized by society and welcomed them as His own.  These people have been judged by those who have claimed the name of Jesus and have been commanded by Jesus not to judge.  They have been shunned by some who claim to love the One who called them to welcome these children of God.  They have been refused forgiveness by those who claim the name of the One who commanded forgiveness and gave it to those who unjustly executed Him.  They have been rejected by those who claim to follow the One who was rejected for their sake.  They have even been hated by the people who claim to follow the Lord of Agape Love.  

And the world has seen this.  Many in the world have seen the example of those who claim to follow Jesus, and they summarily reject to be a part of the institutions that bear Jesus' name.  But there are still those in the movement of Jesus' Way, committed to living the Agape Love that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled as God's Way.  And like in the First Century, when the Apostles actively committed to the living of that Agape by actively committing to the well-being of others in it, many see this Agape Love in action and are drawn to it.  They see a very different Way than the Way of empire and the church within empire, for they see a genuine, faithful living of the values of the reign of God.  It is an uphill climb, because they are labeled as "Christian," just like those who have walked away from Jesus' Way in the institution.  Yet, they persist in living this Agape Love in the Way of Jesus, following Jesus.  Because, ultimately, does being a Christian not mean being identified with the Love of the Christ?  For them, it does.  

I see them.  I know them.  They are known to me to be Jesus' followers because of their Agape Love for others.  I want to be with them, work with them and strive to transform the world with them, for I KNOW that they are followers of Jesus' Way.  I am with them, not in the institution that is a part of the world, but in the movement of Agape Love that addresses the world and works to transform it.  I am thankful for those who are known by their living of Agape Love.

You may proudly proclaim your faith, worship all the time, quote the scriptures, speak in tongues, tithe more than your ten percent and preach from the rooftops if you like.  But it is by this that everyone will know that you are a follower of Jesus, and this alone, according to Jesus - in that you live AGAPE LOVE with one another.  Period.  Everything else is just something else.

hear my voice

 John 10:22-30 is the Lectionary text for Easter IV on May 8.

They asked if Jesus was Messiah, quite plainly.

Jesus told them that He had told them, but they would not believe.  It is what Jesus DID that was testimony to WHO Jesus was.  Those who follow Him know, but those who will not believe can be told and shown over and over again but will still not believe in Jesus or Jesus' Way.

Jesus' sheep hear His voice.  Jesus is the Word, the Word of God, the Word made Flesh.  He is from the beginning, according to John's Gospel.  Jesus is the Word of Life, Life Abundant and Life Forever.  Jesus speaks life because Jesus speaks LOVE.  The Word made Flesh is all about LOVE.  Those who are Jesus' sheep are all about love also.  They hear Jesus' voice in the Gospels, and follow Jesus because Jesus knows them.

Jesus gives eternal life.  Jesus is all about that.

Jesus is all about life here and now, also, for the children of God.  

Jesus gave us guidance on how to live in this part of God's Reign, here and now.  Jesus taught, commanded and modeled how to live the Agape Love that is required to be a follower of Jesus.  That is the basis of life with God and with One Another.  To be faithful to God is to be faithful to Jesus' Way of Agape Love in how we live this life, here and now.

There are other voices out there, claiming to be upright and godly, claiming to be voices speaking for God, even for Jesus.  What are they saying?  Is it consistent with the Good News that Jesus gave us?  Is it consistent with the command to love, even stranger and enemy, and care for the most vulnerable?  Are the voices urging love or intolerance?  Are the voices refusing to judge or are they calling for you to judge?  Are the voices calling for mercy and forgiveness, or are they calling for brutal, ruthless punitive measures?  Are the voices demanding love of Neighbor or only personal salvation for self?

Does the Jesus of those voices even resemble the Jesus of the Gospel witnesses?  There are re-creations of Jesus out there, wrapped in an American flag, carrying an M-16 and standing on the dead bodies of those who do not follow the god of American Civil Religion.  There are re-creations of Jesus out there which are intolerant of many peoples, who are wall builders, instead of being a bridge builder.  There are many re-creations of Jesus out there whose voices do not sound like the Jesus of the Gospels at all, but who collect adherents who like the voices of hatred, greed, lust for power and desire for status.  There are many voices of re-creations of Jesus in our image in the world and of the world.

If we hear Jesus' voice, we hear Jesus' teaching and commanding the living of Agape Love.  If we hear Jesus' voice, we hear Jesus commanding us to love stranger and enemy and care for the most vulnerable and welcome the stranger.  If we hear Jesus' voice, we hear Jesus teach about equality and equity.  If we hear Jesus' voice, we hear Jesus warn us about false teachers, about abusing our power, about being selfish and greedy, about striving to appear to be better than others and about making our relationship with God only about what we get out of it.  If we hear Jesus' voice, then we are hearing that we are called to Love God by Loving Neighbor as self, actively committing to their well-being as children of God.

So, to which voices are we listening?

If we are Jesus' sheep, we will hear Jesus' voice.  The voice of life and love.    The Word of love and life.  The voice of God.