Let Jesus Show

 

sermon by Carrie Eikler

John 13:31-35

April 28, 2013

The American writer and theologian, Fredrick Buechner, told a story…
a story that happened to a friend of his,
an Episcopal priest.

This priest was officiating at a Christmas Eve service in his parish.

And as happens at many Christmas Eve services

or Christmas pageants,

the children were decked out in their neo-nativity finest:

as I can imagine, wise men with towels hung on their heads,

angels with cardboard cut out wings.

Sheep, in white sweatsuits.
 

In the middle of the service,

probably long before the final Christmas carol was to be sung,

the time came for the entire child entourage

to descend upon the crèche.

Children scuttled away from their parents

proclaiming that buoyant declaration:

Peace on Earth! Goodwill to All!
 

Now the children gathered and gathered and gathered

around the Holy Family.

And one little angel, who was much shorter than the rest

was unwillingly relegated to the back

the fringes of the crowd.

And as the scuttling quieted, her frustration rose and she shouted

“Let Jesus Show!”
 

Buechner said that his priest friend recalls doing the boldest thing

he has ever done in a worship service.

He ended the service right there.

And he proclaimed the benediction.

There was no better message for that group

gathered on that Holy Night

to walk away with.

No simple proclamation that Jesus had come,

but a command,

one that Christ himself echoed to his disciples:

Let Jesus show.
 

--

Aparenting blog I have been reading recently has been

talking about communicating and showing love to children

through how we talk to them.

Some of this advice, I should say,

also works with most grown up people you communicate with.

The advice is this: when considering whatto say,

especially to children, (who only have so much space and attention

in those lovely, energetic, processing minds)

consider if the words you are about to say are

true, necessary, and kind.

Is what you are going to say true, necessary, and kind?
 

And then the article suggests a bit of kid connection.

Get close to them in proximity –that is, don’t shout an order from another room

and expect a four year old to eagerly respond.

Get close to them.

Look them in the eye.

Speak firmly, but with soft eyes.

Give a loving touch, even just on the shoulder or arm.
 

And of course, repeat what you say if it seems like they aren’t getting it.

Repeatto them. Havethem repeat .

And as you repeat , filter again what you are going to say:

is it true, necessary, and kind?
 

Now we might not have to take all these steps when communicating with adults,

(but it might not hurt in some circumstances).

But it sure seems like Jesus knew a little

contemporary parenting when it came to talking to his

little children…I mean, disciples.
 

Gather them close, look them in eye, speak firmly, give a loving touch. Repeat.
 

Let Jesus show.
 

One of the last things Jesus asks of his disciples-

asked of us--

is to draw near to him by

drawing near to each other.

He says, in his ever-so cryptic way

(and here, this is not good parenting skills,

cryptic doesn’t really work very well)

he tells him in his Jesus-sort of way

that he won’t be here forever.

 

That if they want to maintain this sense of closeness to him

they have to get close,

perhaps uncomfortably close,

to each other.

To love each other.

Not just say they love each other,

to shout it from another room, like

“I love you and while you’re at it go get Jesus a donkey”

But to love each other

and show it

a “get down and wash that person’s funky smelling feet,”

type of love for each other.

In a way, Jesus is getting out to those following him

his last will and testament.

It is his swan song. He’s making sure to

hit home the most important of things.

His legacy, if you will.

 

Think about it,

if you were sitting around the supper table

with the closest of your friends, your family,

and you knew you would never gather with them like this again

(and coincidently, your guests don’t know that),

what would you say to them?

What would you want to pass on as your legacy?

For Jesus, it’s love.

I love you.

And you must love one another.

I wonder if the disciples were a bit baffled by that.

I mean, Jesus had given all sorts of discourses on love:

love your neighbor as yourself

love your enemies and do good to those who persecute you.

Repeat.

 

So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise.

But I wonder how it felt for him to say love each other.

Did Simon Peter give a sideways glance at Philip

and give an inward sigh?

Did James burrow his eyes into his brother,

still feeling like mom always liked John the best?

And Judas…Judas? Where has Judas gone?

2,000 years later it doesn’t really come as a surprise to us,

to hear Jesus talking about love.

We know it.

We’ve heard it countless times.

Repeat, repeat. Repeat back to me.

 

And as any parent or child will tell you,

repeating can get boring.

But repeating shows the importance of the

statement, or command, or plea.

Especially if it is truthful, necessary, and kind.

 

How you hear “love one another” today

is likely not how you thought of love one another 15 years ago,

25 years ago. 10 months ago. 3 days ago.

Or how you will hear it,

in one year, or seven years.

--

Here, in this place, in this time

what or who or what situation do you think of

when you hear “love one another as I have loved you,

by this they will know who you are, if you love one another.

[pause]

A lot of things come to my mind.

But I’ve been thinking a lot about the bombing in Boston

and the capture of Dzokhar Tsarnaev

There is so much for Christians to put their faith into practice here.

How do we forgive? Where is restorative justice?

But I’ve also been thinking about all this can call us to love.

 

I’ve had to reel in my critical (OK, cynical) nature at times in the past two weeks.

This is the part of me that wants to look at the situation and say

3 people dead is nothing

compared the 100 dead each day in Syria, according to UN reports.

Or the 175 children who, to date, have died in US drone attacks around the world.

 

This comparison of misery…this, is not a good attitude to have.

 

So, I’m trying to have Jesus’ message
look me in the eye, get close, repeat, now repeat back.

Love one another.
Here, I’m trying to have love deepen my compassion and empathy
wherever violence happens.

in Boston. in Sandy Hook, in Syria, on the south side of Chicago, in a residential neighborhood in Florida.

I willtry send out love
I will recognize they are there,
even though they don’t look like me
or talk like me
or live in my country

or worship like me.
 

I willtry to send them my love

even though they do look like me

or talk like me

or live in my country

or worship like me.

 
 

I will send out love.
However I can muster that

each day.
And that is how, I pray,

people will know that

God dwells in me, richly.

And yet, I realize,

again,

Jesus here, in this upper room,

Jesus is talking to those immediately around him.

He did say love your neighbor as you love yourself,

(and we look over our fences, and over our borders)

He did say love your enemies and do good to those who persecute you

(and we look into the jail cell of a young Chechen)

AND, and, and and…

he draws our gaze in closer
and says love each other.

That person you breathe next to at night
That child who makes you want to pull your hair out.That co-worker you see everyday who…makes you want to pull your hair out.

The person sitting in front and to the right of you here in worship.
Those within your intimate circle.

They are your practicum. They are your internship.

Your home, church, workplace. That is your testing ground

The place where you can make it real, not just an nice idea from the bible.
The place you can most easily—

but perhaps with great difficulty,

Let Jesus Show.

“Where I am going you cannot come. I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Amen.