Fifth Sunday C 2007

Fifth Sunday Easter 9 AM 2007 There is a humorous story about Alexander Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers. It seems that Dumas and a friend had a severe argument. The matter got so out of hand that one challenged the other to a duel. Both Dumas and his friend were superb marksmen. Fearing that both men might fall in such a duel they resolved to draw straws instead. Whoever drew the shorter straw would then be pledged to shoot himself. Dumas was the unlucky one. He drew the short straw. With a heavy sigh, he picked up his pistol and trudged into the library and closed the door, leaving the company of friends who had gathered to witness the non-duel outside. In a few moments a solitary shot was fired. All the curious pressed into the library. They found Dumas standing with his pistol still smoking. "An amazing thing just happened," said Dumas. "I missed." I am amazed how many are church-goers all their lives and still have missed the Gospel challenges. Many are still stuck in the Old Testament as if in quicksand, bound by legalisms, restricted by the "Thou shalt nots" without being empowered by "Thou shalts." Some examine their consciences exclusively against the Ten Commandments, but ignore the new and eleventh and most important commandment of all, the commandment of the New Testament. Jesus said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall everyone know that you are my disciples, that you have love one for another." (RSV) Note, first of all, that this is what Jesus most desires out of you that you love one another. You may tithe. You may teach in the Religious Ed Program. You may sing in the choir, serve on various parish committees, take communion to shut ins. All of these are wonderful works.. But if you do not love, you have missed the point of the Gospel. Lucy stands with her arms folded and a resolute expression on her face, while Charlie Brown pleads, "Lucy, you MUST be more loving. This world really needs love. You have to let yourself love to make this world a better place in which to live!" Lucy whirls around angrily causing Charlie Brown to do a backwards flip and screams at him: "Look, block-head the WORLD I love. It’s PEOPLE I hate." A priest was playing golf with three lay men. A lightning storm broke out. The four headed for the bar at the 19th hole. The three laymen were complaining about the foul weather. The priest said, “I can see God in the sunshine or the rain. It’s people I can’t stand. So whom do you love? Jesus challenges you to love everyone. You are to love not only your immediate neighbors but also the cashier who checks your groceries and the State Trooper who stops you on the expressway as well as the obnoxious people who cross your path every day. And the most challenging demand of all: love your enemies. You are to put your faith into action through loving deeds. As someone has said, "We are judged by our actions, not our intentions. We may have a heart of gold-but so does a hard-boiled egg." If you took all the psychology texts, boiled them down to one sentence to produce one statement about human behavior you could never improve on Jesus’ simple statement. "As I have loved you, love also one another." Most authorities tell us that we learn to love by being loved. Just as the abused child may become an abuser, a loved child learns to express affection. How desperately we need to love and to be loved unconditionally. We love because we are first loved. The problem with the Old Testament is that the emphasis is on the negative. You are told what you should not do, but not as clearly what you should. The Old Testament includes the commandments to love God and to love one’s neighbor. However, we don’t see a loving God in action until Jesus comes. Jesus showed you what love really is. Then he went where no one has ever gone before. He gave up his own life on Calvary to show yous just how far God the Father will go to demonstrate his boundless and never ending love. Brennan Manning in his book The Signature of Jesus said, God’s message from the cross is this: See how much I love you. See how much you must love one another. When you understand love and make it your own, then you are able to love each other as Jesus loves us and calls us to love. But there is one more thing which must be said. OUR LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER IS OUR PRIMARY WITNESS TO THE WORLD. Jesus said, "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another." There was a preschool teacher who faced what she thought was "burnout." She was a committed teacher whose heart particularly went out to the so-called "disadvantaged child." She had begun to despair over some of the children who seemed so lost, so limited-and in some cases, so neglected at home. In her growing frustration she vacillated between the feeling that there was something wrong with her, or that there was something wrong with "this current crop of preschoolers. They just don ™t respond like they used to." Then her mother died. It was necessary for her to take a week off from her teaching duties to attend her mother’s funeral. She was very close to her mother. Following the funeral she needed some time alone to deal with her feelings. Her frustrations at the preschool seemed like an even heavier burden at this point in her life. After a weekend of aimless shopping, puttering in the garden and watching TV, she realized she must return to her classroom. She felt more like a soldier going into battle than a teacher of preschoolers. The first day back was about what she expected. Her hurt and despair produced resentment which she kept carefully hidden. She went through the paces like the competent professional she was. She smiled at the right times and was admirably patient considering the environment and her raw feelings. But then it happened. She had come around the corner to discover Rachel picking the last chrysanthemum from the pot in the hall. Rachel, by the way, was the most distant, most disruptive child in the class. In a stern, trembling voice the teacher demanded, "Rachel, what are you doing?" Rachel held out in her little hand the flowers she had already picked. "Mrs. Terrell," she said, "You used to be like a mother. Would these flowers help you to be like a mother again? I know you are fussed in your mind. Wouldn’t you like some flowers?" Mrs. Terrell thought, fussed in my mind? You mean it shows? To a five year old? She spoke: "Rachel, what is a mother like?" "A mother is like you used to be," Rachel said. "A mother likes being with children." "But Rachel," said Mrs. Terrell, "I like being with children. I’ve just...well, I’ve been...well, Rachel, my mother...passed away, and..." Rachel meekly interrupted, "You mean she died?" "Yes, Rachel," said her teacher sadly, "She died." Rachel looked up at her teacher and asked, "Did she live until she died?" Mrs. Terrell thought, what kind of question is that? "Well, honey, of course," she said, "All people live until they die; they..." Rachel interrupted her again. "Oh, no they don’t Mrs. Terrell. Some people seem to die while they are still walking around. They stop being what they used to be. Mrs. Terrell, don’t die just because your mother did. Be alive while you are alive." Out of the mouths of babes. How do we witness to the world that Jesus is alive? We do it by being alive ourselves. How do we witness to the world that God is love? We do it by loving one another. My friend, Fr Joe Gallagher in his book, Christians Under Pressure, said, Some people die at the age of 20 even though they’re not buried until the age of 70. In that most popular film a few years back, THE COLOR PURPLE, Sophie experienced some kindnesses in a dark and troubling time in her life that deeply affected her. Looking back on those kindnesses, she said, "It was then I knew that there was a God." You witness to the world that Jesus Christ lives in your hearts every time you perform any act of kindness.. "BY THIS," said Jesus, "shall everyone know that you are my disciples, that you love one another." HUMOR: A Wife’s Prayer... Dear Lord, I pray for Wisdom to understand my husband; I pray for love so I can forgive him; And I pray for patience to deal with his moods; But dear Lord I do not pray for strength because, Lord, if I get strength, I’ll probably beat him to death. Amen THOUGHT: Work to love and be loved.