Just about three years have
passed since you sent me on my way to a Florida retirement! In most ways it has
been an excellent move. But, I have discovered that one does not easily replace
nearly 40 Connecticut years of liturgical fellowship, associations, and
friendships - 6 of those years at Christ Church Cathedral. I still do not feel
well settled church-wise, and this does leave life wanting. It truly feels
wonderful to be here this weekend - at this time of the year - to
worship with you. Fr. Gushee sends his love to you all! The Cathedral looks
absolutely wonderful, even without palm trees! My thanks to Provost Mansfield
for ordering me here to fulfill my annual liturgical responsibilities as a
canon!
In today's reading from the
Gospel According to John we heard Jesus instruct his disciples to abide
in his love, to show the same kind of love that is shared between the Father
and the Son. He taught that our love is shown by keeping his commandments - by
living in great loving intimacy as his friends. For the author of John,
the fundamental commandment is that we love one another, thereby confirming for
all people our Christian discipleship.
Instead of a model sermon, I'd
like to offer some reflections on love as grounded in the Resurrection of
Christ. But first we should acknowledge that many are convinced that love in
any form is not positive for human lives. Throughout history some have
seen love as a weakness, an excuse offered by frail people who are fearful of
conflict. Others have viewed love as a self-deceptive, bio-chemical mood
conjured up by the emotionally delicate.
Furthermore, now and then we
hear of several competing alternatives to love as the supreme virtue.
Here's a list of some: industriousness, intellectual excellence, courage,
selflessness, pride, independence, self-control, prosperity, and pleasure;
also, kindness, hopefulness, faithfulness, happiness, wisdom, fairness, and
humility. None of these qualities are wrong in themselves, but they are valued
by some people more highly than love.
Additionally, in any discussion
of love we need to bear in mind that Christianity has no monopoly on love.
Among other religious folk we often hear the word "love" with reference to the
Divine and other persons. Not only are versions of "love" found in other
religions, but some atheists and agnostics regard love as primary and essential
to wholesome human development.
If we are persuaded that
love among people is the way to go, why should we I bother with love beyond
human relationships? Is love of God an unnecessary and complicating product of
the human imagination? Why should anyone take seriously Jesus' Summary of the
Law? - "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your
soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the
second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two
commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
It is appropriate for
considerations of love to be linked to the current Easter season around which
the entire church year pivots. For in this unique Milestone the Almighty
declared an awesome and powerful "No" to the human attempt to silence God's
Word of love, Jesus Christ. As the defining moment in history, the Creator
proclaimed an astonishing "Yes" --- that Jesus - his proclamation of God's
sovereign love, his other teachings, the quality of his relationships, his
healing presence - is indeed the clue to what life is all about. Crucified and
risen, Jesus embodies the Creator's purposes for all humanity.
I realize that some honorable
people regard the Resurrection of Christ as an internal event solely within the
human psyche. But, with a Semitic passion for God's acts in history, St. Paul
declared, "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and
your faith is in vain." Without the Resurrection there would have been no
justification of the love lived and taught by Christ. There would have been no
Gospels, no history of the apostolic communities, no epistles, and no Church.
As we read the various accounts
of the first Easter, we find that they do not read like a mythological tale
valuable only as a metaphor. Nor are they mere human windows on some nebulous
"transcendence." Although the narratives are faith-filled proclamations that
may include embellishments, their authors did not deliberately contort or
falsify the object of their attention, Jesus the Risen Christ. That the
accounts were written four or five decades later is no reason for trivializing
them. After all, I still remember pivotal events of my youth (some 45 years
ago) well enough to record them quite accurately, though no doubt with
enhancements here and there!
Furthermore, those who would
have preferred to suppress the Good News of the Resurrection could have done so
- by producing Jesus' corpse. They could not, and they did not. In fact, the
appearances of the Risen Christ to several disciples confirmed that he was
alive in a new, transfigured way unknown to us, more than as a resuscitated
corpse. Their Good Friday doubts, confusions, fears and disappointments were
transformed. The Risen Lord was the divine guarantee that the Kingdom of God
launched by Jesus would come to fruition. As a result, the disciples were
changed and made new. From this holy Event arose vital metaphors for new
beginnings after scarring tragedies, for joyous victory after painful despair,
and for everlasting life.
The chosen witnesses to the
Risen Christ were not touched by a folk tale, metaphor, or some kind of inner
enlightenment. They were moved by the visible, exalted presence of Christ. It
is within the ongoing Resurrection community, the Church, that you and I meet
the life-giving Christ. Within this fellowship the Resurrection becomes our own
account of the Risen Lord in our lives. Back at daily patterns, duties and
relationships, we choose the Easter perspective of hopefulness, confidence, and
triumph rather than a defeatist credo of immovable stones, insecurity, gloom,
and failure. Indeed, Easter authenticates and shapes who we are most
fundamentally: that together you and I are children of God, with a primary
vocation to love. For every one of us Easter confirms the ultimate
trustworthiness of the one true and personal God disclosed in His Christ. We
are assured that we are never separated from God's victorious love and healing
grace. For Christians, Easter radically alters the way we view all the seasons
of life.
With my mind and heart I am
persuaded that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a true, extraordinary Event,
a unique manifestation of the God of Abraham, Jesus, and Mohammed. I am
convinced that the New Testament portraits of Jesus are sufficiently
illuminating for us to discover together, with room to differ, the rich
meanings of the Gospel. I believe that the love lived and taught by Jesus
Christ is the Creator's alternative to lesser virtues. Within Christian
fellowship you and I are invited to grow in our comprehension of the
Resurrection Faith of love and its significance for our individual lives, for
the Church, and for the world.
My fellow worshippers, the
reality of Easter in history and today's Christian community provides more than
a source of nostalgia, a sense of a caring community, or a consoling mythology.
The historical Resurrection is a singular "divine surprise"- powerful
justification that the love lived by Christ is the supreme virtue and
fundamental moral absolute, the paramount unifying power in the Universe.
Love in Christ transforms and encompasses all other good values and rejects
their opposites. To philosophers, psychologists and others proposing
alternatives to this love, you and I say with confidence, "Look to Jesus
Christ; choose God's Word of love, because truly, The Lord Is Risen! He is
Risen Indeed. Alleluia!"