Let us pray: "O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. AMEN

Last week we heard that Jesus is the vine; we are the branches and God the vine dresser. As branches of that which gives us life, we are to bear much fruit. This week's Gospel helps illuminate the work we are called to do, the fruit we are to bear. Jesus speaks about love, a confusing concept in this world when it is bandied about with its many definitions. We learn that it is different from the concept so prevalent in the world…an emotion that makes us feel good…but a promise and a commitment that speaks to our deepest longing and our greatest dread.

First, the story in Acts continues with Peter baptizing Gentiles. That controversy had erupted in the early church with Paul calling for full inclusion and Peter, and the church in Jerusalem, insisting upon conversion to Judaism and Judaic law. Peter experiences a change of heart through his encounter with Cornelius and a dream in which he was told that "…all God has cleansed, you must not call common." (Acts 10:14) The Gospel of Jesus Christ was then opened to all believers. Further, we read in the lesson from the first letter of John: "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God…" (I John 5:1) Clearly, the Gospel is one of radical inclusion for all of God's children.

Anthony Trollope wrote in his novel, Barchester Towers:

"There is, perhaps, no greater Hardship on mankind in civilized and free countries, than the necessity of listening to sermons. No one but a preaching clergyman has, in these realms, the power of compelling an audience to sit silent, and be tormented."

"In contrast, Jesus showed love. He lived love. And the way the disciples were to love one another centered on this experience of love that they had with Jesus."
(Synthesis, May 2006, Oemig)

With apologies for the language of 1897, Trollope's words hold true for today. The Gospel of John helps us understand that which the disciples experienced. Agape love seeks the good for the other, even to a willingness to lay down one's life. It is not an emotion, but a commitment chosen. Alexander McKelway has described it as: "…a selfless love of God and the ideal of human love inspired by grace." He contends that agape love is rooted in the good of the community, not in self-satisfaction. (Alexander McKelway, LectionAid, 5/27/2000, p.25)

Agape love is, first and foremost, extant for the good of the community. It is rooted in the covenant between God and God's people, the underlying theme of the Holy Scriptures. It is based on faithfulness, loyalty, commitment and fidelity. (Susan Andrews, LectionAid, 5/27/2000, p. 32). It is instigated by God, not humankind, and knows no limits for the Christian in terms of its application. It is an incarnational and radical love in which God steps over the gap between Creator and creation and enters human existence. The condition, as Jesus said, was to stay connected to the source of life, the root of which we are the branches, for we cannot love as we are charged without the sustenance of the abiding love of God in Jesus Christ.

Second, this love is characterized by mutuality, a radical concept in which Jesus calls the disciples friends, not servants. Servants/slaves are often obedient out of fear and powerlessness. If their yoke is lifted, however, they may rebel or flee…much as would a caged animal. Friends choose to be in covenant with one another; they choose to enter a relationship of parity. Jesus' only condition was that God's people mirror the love God has shown them.
Loving is not easy, for it touches us at our place of greatest vulnerability. All of us want to be loved, to be valued and cared for, by God and by others. When we are so loved we feel great joy and a profound sense of security. It is then much easier to love others, to reflect our own experience. No matter how self-confident or how deeply religious we are, there are times for each of us when we do not feel such love. It then becomes very difficult to love the other or, even, to love God. The very purpose of life, the abiding joy in being, is at risk.

I suspect that we love one another as a reflection of the love God gives us, by addressing one person at a time. When we are feeling most at risk we might start with those who are easiest to care for –a small child or even a pet – understanding that our task is to move on to love those who are increasingly more difficult. We are not called to "like" all persons, but to seek the good for each equally. As I read more about reconciliation and peace-making, I have set a personal task of trying to understand and develop a relationship with three or four people that I find terribly difficult. It is involving listening and being present without the aura of judgment that has, in the past, colored my thinking. I can claim a couple of successes, and, I confess, that there are two or three people who continue to present a monumental challenge. I am convinced, however, that it is only through personal reconciliation, first with myself, and then with others, that I can begin to understand reconciliation on a larger scale.

We are here at St. Margaret's because each of us has chosen to be here. In the outside world we tend to gravitate to those with whom we have much in common. Here we find a place of great diversity; our commonality is found in our shared commitment to Jesus Christ and to the value of every human being. We do a good job much of the time as friends demonstrating mutuality, respect and caring across racial, gender, and age lines. This is a gift, one we must treasure but dare not hold too closely. Our challenge is to take what we have learned and experienced here into a world that is radically different in its level of acceptance of diversity. Just as Jesus showed the disciples how they were to love by the way he lived his life, so we are to show others the love we experience from God and one another in the greater world.

We understand that, as Christians, we are called to reconciliation…whether we are the ones who have hurt, been hurt, or both. In Matthew 5:23 we hear: "So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother (or sister) has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift." There is no wiggle room here…for it is a direct function of being the branches of the source of life here on earth and for all eternity.

When we hear the words of the dismissal this Sunday and every Sunday, let us recommit ourselves to showing agape love to the fallen world in which we live. Let us leave this place to "love and serve the Lord" by loving and serving all of God's children.