Service for May 18 Fifth Sunday of Easter
Sermon for May 18, 2025 Fifth Sunday of Easter
Today is the fifth Sunday of the Easter season; five weeks since that initial shock that death does not have the last word; that resurrection, new life out of death is possible. In these weeks, in the aftermath of that event that is no less profound today than it was 2000 years ago, we continue to explore what it means that the resurrection was not just a one-time event but that it is also for us and for all humanity and that resurrection life begins now as we live this deep intimacy with God that Jesus’ death made possible.
Resurrection life beginning now! What does that mean? What does that look like? Jesus left clues for us like the one we heard in the reading from John. Jesus was with his disciples for their last night together, when no one but Jesus knew that it was the last time they would all be together.
Jesus wanted to give them a model of what this new life he was giving could be like. Jesus wanted them to have a reminder, of all of their time together: every person Jesus had healed, every meal they had shared with outcasts, every word of his teaching – all of it - to show the disciples what love looks like in this world, in these human bodies, in a life shared centered in him. And so to encapsulate it all Jesus gives them a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you. “As I have loved you.” That’s the hard part!
There are other places Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves; that loving our neighbor is how we are to show our love for God. But, here, in this one particular event, at this one meal, Jesus says, “Love one another as I have loved you.” It’s a commandment naming the expectation that those who follow Jesus will live differently than the rest of the culture. We who follow Jesus should live in relationship so loving, so self-giving, so God-centered that it would be a shining example for everyone to see, drawing others in to experience and be a part of this extreme love.
This is so much more than being nice and it has nothing to do with always agreeing with each other about everything. This love does not mean we are cookie cutter versions of each other. On the contrary, we see example after example of the truth that Jesus and God love diversity; that actually, the world thrives on diversity. This is really hard for us to understand, always has been.
So, Jesus gives us a visual aid, an enactment of that love in action. Taking a towel, Jesus gets on his knees and washes each person’s feet: dirty, smelly, calloused feet. A job only a servant would do, Jesus moves from one person to the next, washing, gently holding this precious body, lovingly washing, humbly filling this simple need.
And when Peter thinks he is beyond this act of love, claiming humility, that he is not worthy of Jesus’ care, Jesus teaches that only when we can in all humility receive the care, and love of others, only then can we truly love. We can serve others rightly only when we allow ourselves to be served. If we hold back, if we refuse to be so vulnerable as to allow ourselves to be served, we are not loving as Jesus loved. If we cannot enter into the vulnerability of being served, we are putting our needs ahead of the needs of those we are called to serve.
What does that look like? Well, there are so many ways! We humans are really good at fooling ourselves that we’re being loving when really, we’re putting our needs ahead of those we want to serve.
It may look like offering food to the hungry but expecting them to express their gratitude sufficiently. It’s not uncommon when serving at a meal for the unhorsed to hear someone serving complaining that the people don’t say thank you or that they’re being too picky, maybe asking for white bread instead of wheat. Sometimes we hear the comment, “Beggars can’t be choosers.” That’s an expression of that need to put a barrier between ourselves and others instead of understanding that there is absolutely no difference between the person who has the food to share and the one in need. Each one is God’s precious, dearly loved child. And we all have the need to make choices, we all have preferences and there’s nothing wrong with that, even if you are hungry, even if you have to accept a handout. We love truly when we give unconditionally; loving the person in front of us in the giving.
We are holding on to our need to serve rather than being served when we insist that others are truly welcome, without exception to our worship but we don’t provide accommodations for their needs or we welcome them as long as they don’t smell bad or they don’t act inappropriately. We welcome everyone but ask them to be like us, and resist changing or or adapt for them. This shows up in how we resist changing things in worship, repeating those 7 deadly words: “That’s the way we’ve always done it!” Even though, loving our neighbor, our neighbor who may be young or may never have been in a Lutheran worship service before may not understand or relate in any way to what we are saying or doing! Could we love them better by adapting our words, or songs, or style to be more inclusive? Could we be open to experimenting with doing things in a new way for the sake of putting the needs of others ahead of our own?
How do we serve with vulnerability and humility? We think of the other person first! How do we serve people who live on the streets? We understand them for who they are: many without access to dental care, so having few if any teeth, and so we make sure there are soft foods for them. We understand that if you don’t know when you’ll get your next meal, you may take more when it’s in front of you than what you can eat in one meal to save some for later. We understand that what we think of as “healthy and economical” food may not be what is needed. Many people don’t want canned foods when they live on the street or in their car. They may not have a can opener. They may not have a way to heat the food. Don’t judge the mother who leaves the dried beans and rice on the shelf at the food pantry and instead asks for microwaveable Mac and cheese. You don’t know her life. It may be that microwaveable food is what her children can make for themselves while she is working the night shift at her second or third job to keep the roof over their heads and prevent them losing their apartment.
Those are just simple examples. You’ve probably experienced times when someone says they want to help but their help is not really all that helpful. There was a time for me when I was struggling with going to school and paying bills and trying to keep our girls fed and clothed. A friend wanted to be helpful so she got me a gift certificate for a few hours at a spa to get my nails polished and a massage. That may have been helpful and even a loving act for someone else. But to me it said, she didn’t really know me. I would have loved an hour of her time to watch the kids while I went for a walk or even a simple meal dropped off so I didn’t have to cook one night. I was not ungrateful for her effort but it said more about her and her need to be helpful than about her taking the time to know me and what I really needed.
I’m sure you all have experienced times when you wanted to help but didn’t know how. We all try our best to do that and most of us need to work on accepting help from others, being vulnerable enough to ask for help and for the help we really need. It’s hard and it’s a muscle we all need to exercise to strengthen. Because, in the end, we all must be served. We came into the world in need of care and we will all leave the world needing the care of others and that is right and good. That is how it should be.
It’s terrifying to think that Jesus expects us to love as he loved, to the point of giving everything even life in the name of love. But, here’s the thing! That is how much WE have been loved. Jesus gave everything out of love for us, for you and for me! And in return, in thankfulness and praise for that love, we GET TO love others in the same way, to the best of our ability! We GET TO try and try again to put the needs of others first, not being a doormat. There is nothing loving about letting someone use you or hurt you Each of us is worthy of love and out of that we love we love; we give; we respond to the needs of people around us.
And when it seems too hard to that we remember the words of the writer of 1st John, “There is no fear in love”… perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.” Perfect love, which none of us is capable of, perfect love is what is required so that we can love like Jesus loves. This is, of course, impossible…unless… we are not the ones required to do the loving. Unless…God is doing a new thing through Jesus, loving the world as Jesus loves the world through us. May it be so here and now and more everyday as we encourage one another in loving as we have been loved. Amen.