Grace and Peace to you from God our Creator, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, Amen
Love. It’s about Love. It’s always been about love. It will always be about love. Jesus sits down and has a meal with his friends. His last meal, with his friends. He knew where he was going. He knew what he was doing. He got up, during the meal, and washed the feet of his friends. Paul references a famous hymn in his letter to the Phillipians. He says that Jesus humbled himself, in the form of a slave… On that night, Jesus humbled himself in the form of a slave and washed his friends’ feet, all of them, even the feet of the one who was to betray him. Even Judas. And, even if Peter protested, even if Peter always protested.
The man was about to die. He knew he was on his way to be killed, the man who was to betray him was in the room with him, eating with them, and yet… Jesus still washed his feet. Washing feet was reserved for the slaves, for the people lower than low to wash the feet of the houseguests, because they were all walking around in sandals, and one’s feet would surely need a good washing.
Jesus, representing the lowest of the low, showing the disciples what humility looks like, serves his friends with food, and then service. Jesus shows them what love is. Then he tells the disciples a New Commandment - that you LOVE one another, as Jesus, as God - loves you. By showing your love for one another… that is how people will know that we are of Christ.
Like the old camp song goes… And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love…
But how do we show this love? A man who lived his life preaching, teaching, feeding and healing all who crossed his path, showed us how to love all who need love the most. The forgotten ones. The lowest of the low. The beaten and downtrodden.
Love is coming down to their level, getting in the muck, in the fogginess, in the messiness of life and showing others what love is. It’s getting down on your hands and knees and humbling yourself before God, doing the work that no one else wants to do. It’s being there, right alongside them in their hurt, their pain, their suffering, and dwelling among them. Taking a walk in their shoes.
For Lent, I’ve asked the people of Zion to give me suggestions as to where we see the darkness of this community, and where the Light of Christ can be shown to all of the people in the shadows. The missing voices in our community. I’ve asked Zion to confront the darkness, and shine a light on the problems we see in our community, so that as a congregation and community, we could bring some hope and love to this community.
I’ll share the responses to those questions after Sunday, and you can certainly add more to the box until then. It’s still Lent, after all.
Love is shown best, when we look beyond whatever wrong we feel has been done. Love is shown best when we look at each other as God sees us: as God’s children, equally deserving of love as everyone else, for all of us are children of the Holy One. All of us are loved, and can show love, and are called to love one another, as Christ, as God… loves us.
Love is when you acknowledge the hurt, the pain and suffering of your neighbor, and talk with them, be with them, dwell with them. Even if they don’t look like you, talk like you, walk like you, love like you, believe like you… You are called to love your neighbor as yourself. Love your neighbor as God loves you.
God’s love is unconditional. God’s love looks beyond what people think is wrong based on what they read or hear. God’s love looks beyond the barriers people put on each other. God loves you. Period. Not only is God’s love unconditional; God’s love is irrevocable. There is absolutely nothing you can ever do to ever cause God to stop loving you. That is what divine love looks like.
Now, we’re not God. We’re not perfect beings. We sin. We harm. We take for granted our own privilege. We cannot possibly give selfless love to everyone we meet. We cannot possibly show our love to everyone we meet. We are merely human.
But - if we hold on to the truth, that God loves us, no matter what. That Christ got on his hands and knees to show love to his friends, and even the man who betrayed him… Selfless love is an aspirational thought that we can hold onto, but knowing that we will always fall short to the glory of God. We will always fall short, and sinning is truly part of our human nature.
And that, don’t you see? That is the ultimate expression of God’s love. That knowing that we’re going to sin; knowing that we keep on sinning; knowing that even in our quest to be better people, we sin… Knowing that as imperfect as we are…
Christ got on his hands and knees, and washed the feet of his friends. Christ was betrayed, beaten, and nailed to a cross… for you. For all of you. For all of us. That beyond what we will ever do, ever say, or ever fail to do or say… Christ was nailed to that cross… for you.
Love. It’s about love. It’s always been about love. From the moment time began until time runs out… From Moses and the Israelites being led out of Egypt to the Promised Land to Jesus hanging on the cross… It’s always been about love.
Remember the love that Christ has shown you. Remember your Savior who died for you. Remember that Christ, when you see people not being welcomed, loved for who they are. Who they love. What they look like. That person not being welcomed, loved, embraced for who they are... Remember that they have that same God that loves them too. That same Christ who went out of his way to show his love for the outcast… That same Christ that died for you, died for them too.
Every person has the same right to the same inalienable rights that you possess, based solely on God’s love for them. For you. For all.
In a world divided by words of hatred and bigotry… In a world rocked by yet another terrorist attack in a set of terrorist attacks across the globe… Love. It’s about love. It’s always been about love.
It’s about seeing the love of Christ poured out for all, in his death on the cross, in anticipation of our Easter to come… It was love that Christ shared with his friends that night. Love that Christ shared with the world on the next night. Love that awaits us all, through the unwinnable, unattainable, unshakable grace poured out for us all… to save us all from ourselves.
Amen.
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