6 Easter A

April 27, 2008 

Acts 17:22-31

Psalm 66:7-18

1 Peter 3:13-22

John 14:15-21

If you were to take a good look at our wide extended family, both mine and Kevin’s, scaling the far reaching branches of our family trees you would find virtually all the complexities of human life on the earth. I’m happy to say that. I see it as a great gift that our family has a face and a name, a flesh and blood person, to represent all sort and manner of humanity. We have gay people in our family and straight people, even some in between. Some who have been married too many times to count, female relatives whose last names change so often we never know how to address their Christmas cards. And we have some who have been married to the same person for more than 65 years. We have interracial marriage and bi-racial children. Some born in this country but their first language was French or Spanish, not English.

We have Down syndrome and Autism and clinical depression. We have war veterans. Some are okay. Some are not. Gamblers and substance abusers, some in recovery, the rest we pray will be. We have people with lots of education and people with almost none. We have doctors and nurses and lawyers and clergy, of course. We have race car drivers, a world renowned chef, fireman, deputy sheriff, teachers, accountants, and bankers. Artists, people who do hard steady work with their hands, janitors, and sanitations workers.

The good thing about taking a look like this at our family, without shame or judgment, not wanting to disown any of them because of who they are, what they do, their particular station in life, or the challenges before them every day, is that we get a tiny glimpse of what God sees and has always seen when God looks at humanity. A tiny glimpse of the truth that God sees and knows about all of us. We don’t want to disown members of our family no matter what because we know them – they’re our people, we love them. We don’t have to take responsibility for them or for the choices they make so we don’t have to judge them. We know they belong in the family the same as we do.

Family members reveal things about themselves to other family members when they believe they are cared about. That’s why we know as much as we do about the branches of our family trees. Can you imagine sharing from the depths of your heart with people who despise you? Or sharing your joys with people who are jealous of you?

Jesus is saying in this farewell speech to his disciples that if they love him they will stay in relationship with him even in his absence by remembering what he told them and keeping his commandment of love for God and for each other. Jesus said only those who love him will look for him after he leaves. And if they look for him they will find him. For the sake of their love he will send the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, to open their eyes and help them see the way to the Father.

Before he left his disciples to walk into his suffering and death Jesus wanted them to know that love is the first requirement for him to reveal himself to them. Then he would send the Holy Spirit and through love and the Holy Spirit they would know God is present among them.

We read these words today as we stand at the brink of the remembrance of the Ascension of our Lord. We have had the resurrected Jesus with us now since Easter Day and this Thursday we will remember his ascension into heaven. From where he is seated now "at the right hand of the Father" as we say in the creed, he sees the whole human condition, flesh and blood examples of all sort and manner of humankind, each one with a face and a name.

At his ascension he will commission us to spread the Gospel to all nations, to baptize in his name, and teach the commandment of love that he taught to his disciples. He will entrust his ministry on earth to us and promise to be with us for as long as we continue to minister in his name. But as he said, we won’t see him, we won’t know he is with us unless we love him and look for him as he is present in the lives of those around us.

I don’t think our extended family (mine and Kevin’s) is much different from many of your extended families. The geographical separations are bridged by Christmas, anniversary, and birthday cards, graduation announcements, wedding invitations, emails, jokes and prayer requests, births and deaths. Those are ways of staying connected, of staying in relationship with each other when we are separated by distance. Jesus told his disciples that keeping his commandment of love is the way they would stay in relationship with him when he was separated from them. When the Holy Spirit comes they would never be separated again, not even in death.

The ministry our Lord passed on to us is to be attentive to his family, the Christian family. To do that, each one of us must be diligently attentive to our relationship with him. We must love him and look for him in others.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love you; for the honor of your Name. Amen.