Good Friday

Luke 23:32-34 “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Luke 23:35-43 “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

John 19:25-27 “Here is your son. Here is your mother.”

Matthew 27:45-47 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

John 19:28-29 “I am thirsty.”

John 19:30a “It is finished.”

Luke 23:44-49 “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

“LAST WORDS”

Often people have taken notice of the last words of famous people. They tell us sometimes how they lived and how they died. Over the centuries people have collected them. Here are some prominent ones. Czar Alexander II of Russia said, “Home to the palace to die,” after an assassination attempt. Rabbi Akiba ben Joseph said, “Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad,” (“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God! The Lord is One!”) as he was being killed for teaching the Jewish law, and many after him began to use those words as their last ones. The second U.S. President, John Adams, said, “Oh, yes; it is the glorious Fourth of July. It is a great day. It is a good day. God bless it. God bless you all.” Then after a period of unconsciousness; he mumbled, “Thomas Jefferson …” He died on July 4, 1826, and it is assumed that he meant that it was good that Thomas Jefferson was still alive, when, in fact, Jefferson had died several hours earlier. The Emperor Augustus said, “I found Rome brick, I leave it marble.” P. T. Barnum said, “How were the receipts today at Madison Square Garden?” John Jacob Astor IV said, according to some, to his wife who was about to get into one of the Titanic’s lifeboats, “The ladies have to go first. Goodbye, dearie. I'll see you later.” Benedict Arnold said, “Let me die in the old uniform in which I fought my battles for freedom, May God forgive me for putting on another.”

Jesus’ last statements are different than these in many ways. The last words of people are sometimes given without thought or awareness. Often, they do not know that what they are saying are their last words. Jesus, we are told from the Gospels, knows where he is going and chooses this path. He asked to be spared this, if it is God’s will. But this is the way it must be and so Jesus obeys.

Sometimes the last words of people demonstrate their work in life. Jesus’ words do this. They show his concern for others and his life’s purpose is only complete with this. They show that with this, his work is finished. Sometimes last words are expressions of regret. There is none of that in Jesus’ last words. As he suffers, he does not talk about regret for past mistakes. There is no anger, not even towards those who insult and hurt him. His hope is that they will be forgiven. Some people’s last words are hopeful, too. But Jesus knows the future, whereas they do not. Sometimes people will say things that sound so ordinary, so mundane, at a most important time. What Jesus says on the cross is important and shows that what he does is vital to us.

We traditionally call these seven statements the Last Words of Christ. But in fact they are not his last words. Sometimes they are called the Last Words from the Cross. That is better. They do mark the end of his earthly life, but only in a way. We will see in the Gospels that he will soon talk again with his disciples, in the garden, in the upper room, on the road to Emmaus. These, what we hear tonight, are not Jesus’ last words.

 As we are reminded of Christ’s death, though, we talk about these as the last words. They are not the last words, because he will speak more, but in a very important way they are the last words. They are what he says as he does something final for us. It is a different use of the word “last”. Another word that is used of this day is “good”, as this is Good Friday. That, too, is a strange way of using a word. Frederick Buechner talks about this word by reminding us that God so loved the world that God gave the only Son. God gave the Son at infinite cost. It is good because out of his death came eternal life and the power to heal a broken world.

On this day it is appropriate to talk about the last words of Christ because of what he did. This is what we hear. He died so that he would have the last word over those things that threaten us—sin, lostness, death. He died to live again, be raised from the dead, and be present among us, to speak words of grace. He died to lead us into life. He died so that death would not have the last word. +++++

Maundy Thursday, Year B Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" 7 Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." 8 Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." 9 Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" 10 Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." 11 For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean." 12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord -- and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16 Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 31 Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13.1-17, 31b-35 NRSV) “LAST SUPPER” We know that the combination of food, people, and a purpose is one of the powerful things in life. Those combinations form much of our lives together. They define who we are and go with us along the year, year after year, into the years of our whole lives. Take, for example, a group of family and friends with chips and dip and a big-screen TV in late January. They are gathered to watch the Super Bowl together. A couple with roses, strawberries dipped in chocolate, champagne, and love in the air in February. Celebrating St. Valentine’s Day. Cake, candles, a special song, and gifts and best wishes. A birthday. Burgers, potato salad, brats, and fireworks and a reminder of freedom. The Fourth of July. Formal attire, music, the promise of the future, and rings amid a huge crowd. A wedding. Turkey (or ham), stuffing, prayers of gratitude, and a chill in the air. Thanksgiving. Holly, cider, a tree with lights, a child in a manger. Christmas, of course. We go through the year with these expected and sometimes unexpected holidays and events. We get together to join in the festivities of the seasons with loved ones and acquaintances, to eat familiar foods, do familiar things. There is something about celebrating these events that binds us together. This evening we hear again about the last supper of Jesus with his disciples. It was the time of Passover, when the Jewish people recall the deliverance from slavery in Egypt. They do it by coming together, telling the story, eating familiar things. We see the scene as depicted by Leonardo da Vinci in his painting. It is marvelous, but is it correctly named? Is this the last supper? In a way it is, as it is the last meal before our Lord’s death on the cross. The time had come for him to depart from the world, the Gospel says. But it is not the last supper. In three days he will be eating again, in a new way, with the disciples on the road to Emmaus. The time will come when he will eat fish with them and have breakfast by the sea. And not only that, this meal is itself a commandment. The words of its institution tell us that we are to continue this meal until Christ returns. This, what we hear about in the Gospel, is not the final meal, not the last supper. It will continue on, as so many of our family and cultural traditions do, from generation to generation. Jesus leaves behind a community. They are joined together in belief in him and in the life he set out for them. He brought them together and will keep them together. He gives them commands to do that. One is that they love each other. That is the foundation. They also share many things. They share Jesus’ washing their feet. It is a reminder that Christ serves them. The master is willing to be their servant. They share in forgiveness. When Peter refuses to let Jesus wash his feet, he misunderstands. It is not a simple cleaning up after the day on the dusty roads he offers. It is to have a part in his work, his sacrifice for the world. They, and we, are to trust in that work for us. That is what brings them together. Jesus leaves behind a meal. It is simple meal, bread and wine, but behind it is the memory of who gave it to us. It is like the retelling of one’s romance, or life’s story, or the tale of our independence, or how the first settlers survived and were grateful, or Christmases past. It invokes the memory of the one who gave it to us and how we are thankful for God’s grace and hand on our lives. It is also the presence of Jesus with us, that as we celebrate this meal, he honors his promise to be with us in it. Jesus leaves behind a tradition. It is like the old purpose, to remind the people of long ago when God liberated them from slavery. But it is also new. The slavery we are freed from is slavery to sin, slavery to self, slavery to the world. It is a new life, putting aside the old one. It is a new freedom to be the people of God. It is to be passed down from generation to generation as the best tradition. All this is found in this sacred meal, this holy feast. It shows us who God is and who we are. It shows us the community to which we belong. Oscar Greene talks about how this meal brings past and present together. He is proud of his grandson Shawn who came with them to church on World Communion Sunday. At the age of eleven, this would be his first opportunity to take communion. Oscar thought back to the first time he took Communion over 70 years ago and how the sacrament never lost its meaning to him. He says this, “‘Do this in the remembrance of me,’ Christ said, and for nearly two thousand years, people have followed Him. Now it was Shawn’s turn.” This tradition was delivered to us, given to us so that we can take part in it. This evening we remember a supper. It was not the first. It is not the last. But it is one with everlasting significance. It gathers a community around it, as it has done over the centuries. That community continues on as the commands of the Lord are followed. It is one of special food, taken from the ordinary way we live our lives, but a reminder of God as the source of and support for our lives. That meal continues on as we hear the eternal word and promise of God. It is a sign of our freedom. That continues on as we live in Christ’s presence daily. This is not the last supper, but it is one that carries us into eternity.

Palm Sunday, Year B When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 27 And Jesus said to them, "You will all become deserters; for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.' 28 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." 29 Peter said to him, "Even though all become deserters, I will not." 30 Jesus said to him, "Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times." 31 But he said vehemently, "Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you." And all of them said the same. 32 They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33 He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. 34 And he said to them, "I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake." 35 And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 He said, "Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want." 37 He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? 38 Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." 39 And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to say to him. 41 He came a third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand." (Mark 14:26-42 NRSV “NO JOKE” Today is both April first and Palm Sunday, an unusual combination. For a long time the first day of April has been called “April Fools’ Day” or “All Fools’ Day”. The origins of this are unknown. It might have started with ancient festivals but nowadays is most often marked by practical jokes. You know, pinning the “Kick me” sign on someone’s back, the dribble glass, and so forth. The “fool” is the individual who is tricked. There can be some kind of deceit involved. You can see where this could get quite mean rather quickly. I guess I tend to see the point of view of the one who is tricked and so don’t really care for pranks. There was a TV show years ago called “Candid Camera” for which they photographed the expressions of people who would see something ridiculous, like a dog driving a car. Other times they would play tricks on people, misguide them in some way and then watch their reactions. One time they had a hidden camera in a hotel room. The TV set didn’t work and people would call down to the desk and complain. The desk attendant would say that he was turning it on and nothing would happen, and typically the people would get angry and call back, and get angrier and angrier. One person who took the room was Mr. Rogers, Fred Rogers, the pioneer in TV programming for children. They didn’t hear a complaint from the room. So they called him. He said, “Oh, we really don’t watch TV.” Their attempt to make a celebrity angry and embarrass him publicly didn’t work because of how gentle he was. The trick was on them. As I said, I don’t like pranks. I do like jokes. Humor, too, involves some kind of “trick”, a surprise, what you were expecting is not there, as in these jokes from a Wisconsin pastor who hosts a humor night at a local coffee shop: Where was the Declaration of Independence signed? *At the bottom of the page What can you never eat for breakfast? *Lunch & dinner If you throw a red stone into the blue sea what it will become? *Wet If you had three apples and four oranges in one hand and four apples and three oranges in other hand, what would you have? *Very large hands If it took eight men ten hours to build a wall, how long would it take four men to build it? *No time at all, the wall is already built. Humor is light-hearted, with the ability to bring people together, sharing in a joyous experience. That is the mood of that day when Jesus came into Jerusalem. Jesus rides in on a colt. People spread their cloaks and leafy branches on the road and shouted: Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming dominion of our ancestor David!” All this has the suggestion that Jesus is coming as a king, a new king, the Messiah in the line of David. They are hopeful that this is the time; their freedom from Roman rule has come. But we know that the week will not continue on in this hopeful note. There is a surprise. The great excitement of this day will not last. As the week unfolds, Jesus will drive the money changers from the Temple and have many confrontations with the authorities. They will plot against him. He will predict the destruction of the Temple. There are signs of trouble ahead and a special meal, a last supper. And Jesus will predict that they will leave him at the hour of his arrest. They scoff, say that this will not be so, but they cannot even stay awake while he prays. They can’t deliver on their ideals. When this does come to pass, they will not act as they thought they would. They will be shocked at how different the reality is from their hopes. This would all be tragic if it were not for the meaning of the week. It begins with celebration, but in the middle of the week there is betrayal, abandonment, arrest. It starts out with hope, but by the middle all hope seems lost. If all you have is the beginning, you might feel you had been tricked. They cannot see the end. That is where the real hope lies. It is not actually the end, but a beginning of something even more glorious than they had imagined. Here, though, in the middle of the week, as described by the Gospel reading, we have the failure of the disciples. By the end of the week they will find forgiveness. Here the road seems to lead to Jesus’ death. By the end of the week it will lead to the defeat of death. By the end of the week they will find something different than what they hoped for at first. The road today is lined with palms, but it is an enthusiasm they could not and we cannot maintain. By the end of the week we might find that it is not all up to us, that we have a Savior. What we will find from this week, when seen with faith, is that when we disappoint God, God will not disappoint us. The disciples did not act that week in the way that they would have hoped to. The week did not turn out as they thought it would. Circumstances can change, but even from that we can see a new path, although not one we would have chosen at first. The unexpected can open our eyes in new ways, to new things. We can start out with a fantasy and end up with reality. Pam Kidd talks about a lesson from the unexpected. Soon after she and her husband were married, they were off to a mission parish in Appalachia. They went from a world of plenty into one of poverty—lacking a sanitation system, a landscape defaced by strip mining, uneducated people living wretchedly simple lives. When they were wondering about what to change first, personal disaster struck. Her doctor ordered complete bed rest from complications of an ectopic pregnancy. People from the town brought pies and casseroles each day. People cleaned their house and did the laundry. She describes what happened: “People came to sit and talk, share their own tragedies. ... Faith no longer seemed a dry abstraction debated by textbook intellectuals. Here, faith was living, breathing, reaching out. It was as real as the smell of hot rhubarb cobbler, as clean as the white sheets laundered by a neighbor woman, as sure as the words of comfort offered by a retired miner. Funny, how David and I had thought to change these people. God had other plans when He sent us to that faraway place.” What we will find in the unfolding of this week is the purpose for Christ’s coming to our world. It was not so that we could be confident of our flawless behavior, our perfection in our following him, but that we find God’s mercy and grace. Behind all this is God’s generosity. God does not leave us in failure. We are not stuck in the middle of the week. That is why this week is not what it seems at the beginning. It starts with celebration and will come back to it, but the week ahead is a serious week. What we will be celebrating at Easter is, in fact, a serious matter. It is the fulfillment of our deepest hopes and dreams. But they are not the dreams at the start. With the people lining the way with palms, it is easy to lose sight of what this day means. It is a day of joy, but for different reasons than many of those in the crowd think. It will be a week of frustrated hopes for them as Jesus goes from the procession in the street to his arrest. But for those who see things differently, it is a week of fulfilled hopes. We learn that we are not alone. We learn that God has provided a way to keep our failures from defeating us. We learn that God’s plan triumphs over human wickedness. We learn that there is no shortcut around life’s difficulties. And we look forward to the greatest celebration, the Resurrection, when death itself is defeated.

Resurrection

The 5th Sunday in Lent, Year B The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt-- a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31.31-34 NRSV) Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. 27 "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say--'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." 29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." 30 Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." 33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. (John 12.20-32 NRSV) “THE LIFE OF A SEED” When I was young, I had a small patch of ground out back behind the garage on which I had a garden. I tried growing various things. My grandfather also had a garden, a bigger one, and I remember from way, way back seed catalogs and his grow light to start the plants indoors. I helped in his garden. I remember spending an afternoon weeding his asparagus patch. I can still close my eyes and see the weeds. Didn’t like them; loved the asparagus, however. Everything he planted grew and was wonderful. My lettuce did not turn out. Hot weather makes it bitter, I found out. I did well at green bell peppers which Grampa liked in the years when he could no longer garden and grow them for himself. Also cherry tomatoes which my Dad liked. One of the great things about gardening is that you often have appreciative fans. My carrots were good and zinnias and radishes, but my green beans and sweet corn weren’t. My Grampa’s were. The reality is that to have something grow you have to plant it. You can admire the catalogs and be overjoyed when the seeds arrive, put them in a special place, and dream about what the garden will look like and the vegetables will taste like, but when the time is right—and there are many different ways of telling when it is the time for planting—you have to let go of the seeds. They have to disappear into the earth. Only then will the full potential be fulfilled. Only then will they come alive. Only then can the hopes become reality. In gardening, first you have to get the soil ready. Grampa had a machine to help with this. When I used to do this in my little garden, it was by hand, and I would see bits of glass and old tin cans. It puzzled me as I was getting ready to put things into the ground, not expecting to take them out of the ground. I found out that the neighbors used to bury their garbage on our lot. As I would turn over the soil, the garbage of the past came out. But that comes first, and then the planting. That is the message of the Gospel reading this morning. Jesus starts out saying that the hour has come for him to be glorified. That is, the time has come for his death and resurrection. He describes it by talking about a grain of wheat. The grain of wheat must die, vanish, disappear before there can be a yield. By itself, it is just one grain of wheat. But having died and risen it becomes many new grains. This is the pattern of Christ’s life, he dies, but there will be a resurrection. It is a sign of what is to come for him, but also for those who have faith in him. Jeremiah gives the word of the Lord to the people and tells them that there will be a new day. They will come back to the land from exile, back to the land they had been deported from. They lost the land because they could not keep the covenant with God. But God will do a new thing. Instead of laws which they cannot keep, God’s word will be planted in their hearts and God will enable them to keep it. It will give them a new heart, not a disobedient heart of stone, but a living heart of obedience. It is a hopeful land not only because its bounty will sustain them, but because there, again, God will be their God. And the past will stay buried. Lent is the time when these ideas come together. We long for newness of life, such as we see all around us in spring. We long for God’s word to be in our hearts. We long for the salvation of our souls and hear God’s words through Jeremiah and Jesus’ words and know that they are to apply to us. In a week we will begin Holy Week, and know that we will remember Jesus’ suffering and death. Those are our reasons for hope. Jesus’ life and death for us gives a shape to our lives as well. He is the seed dropped into the ground to bear much fruit. In Christ’s death and in our Baptisms, the power of sin is destroyed. It is what lets our past sins stay buried. But the resurrection is what we long for. Jesus’ life tells us about our own. As we hope for the future, we must give up holding on to the seed. We must let go of what we cling to and give it to the ground in faith so that it will bear fruit. There are things we need to give up, place in the ground, before there can be a harvest. What Christ experienced shows us that we are not alone. Just like in life, my Grampa was an example to me in gardening, so Christ shows us life and death and the new risen life and gives us hope. He has been through it and can accompany each one of us along this path of life. That can give us hope in life instead of fear. Evelyn Bence writes this about letting go. She has a fear of heights which makes navigating the District of Columbia subway system difficult, especially the long escalators riding up. When her older sister Alice came to visit they rode the subway to an unfamiliar stop. She panicked. Alice encouraged her and held her hand all the way up. Some time later, a friend asked her, “If you could choose one person to be at your side when you die, who would it be?” “Alice,” she answered quickly—“I’d want her to hold one hand. And Jesus the other.” With the promise of Christ with us we can bury our fears. We also have the example of Christ to us to inspire our daily lives. God can bless how we live as we learn to let go of what we have to find something better as we entrust it to God. The old can turn into the new. It is how seeds work. Tim Williams associates this with spring in the desert. It is a harsh environment. A lone white primrose appears. The next day it the rocky earth is covered with them of all colors. He recalls another sign of spring. It was a young lady from the poorest of homes gathering the tough young boys of the neighborhood into her back yard with a plate of cookies to hear Bible stories. There they heard that God loved them. Williams does not know how they all turned out but as he puts it, “for a least a single spring morning, beauty reigned in a barren place.” God can use what we offer to God. It can bear fruit in unexpected ways. To explain what was soon to happen to him, Jesus talked about a seed. A seed must go into the ground before it can do anything. What we hope it will do is produce much. What we hope for is not the end of life but a new life. What we hope for is more than one seed. This is a picture of what is to come. Jesus must first go into the ground of the tomb. But then comes the resurrection. This is the hour for Christ to be glorified. We will remember that in the weeks to come. He goes before us in death and in life. Then it will be the time for him to walk with us in glory. Now is the time for us to walk with him in faith. What we plant will rise. Let us plant our lives with Christ, in Christ. Soon, the resurrection comes.

The 4th Sunday in Lent, Year B You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-- by grace you have been saved-- 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God-- 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. (Ephesians 2:1-10 NRSV) And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God." (John 3:14-21 NRSV) “THE WORLD? THE WORLD!” Belonging to a group is a basic human need. There are all sorts of groups in the world, large to small, formed by people with a common purpose, or common interest, or common origin, or common beliefs or ideals, or a common identity. They vary as widely as Kiwanis to bowling leagues to Sons of Norway to political parties. Sometimes these groups arise naturally as when those sharing a hobby get together or when people from a certain part of the world move and settle in a new place together. Sometimes the people can be different in almost every way except the one that they share. Sometimes they are alike in almost every area of their lives. They might have all grown up together. Sometimes, though, very different people come together without any prior connection and form a tightly knit group. The story of one such group has recently been told. “E” Easy Company, the 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division of the Army, has been described first in the book by Stephen Ambrose and then as a 10-episode miniseries for television. It was impressively done. They run it occasionally. I have seen a few episodes. One quick note from what I saw, there are a few scenes and some dialogue that are not rated PG. It follows a group of soldiers, as realistically as possible, from their basic training in Georgia to D-Day to liberation of Carentan and the siege of Bastogne, to the liberation of a concentration camp, and they were the first to enter Hitler’s mountain retreat in Berchtesgarten. It shows their part of the effort to stop evil and set the world right. But it not only the story of the action one group of men saw in WWII; it is the story of how the men from all over the country, with very different backgrounds, formed one unit in that war, in which they fought the enemy together and fought for each other. They left their homes to find one in each other. It shows their triumphs and losses, their joys and their sorrows. The name of both the book and TV series is “Band of Brothers” which is taken from Shakespeare’s play Henry V. King Henry is outnumbered by the French on the eve of St. Crispin’s day and gives a speech to his men. This is a part: From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered- We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition; Such is the character of those tied together. Even the lowest of them, by fighting together becomes the brother of the king. But enough with Shakespeare. That is where the title comes from. “Band of Brothers” tells the story of great WWII heroism and camaraderie, but even in it there are hints of how it does not always work, as when one of their buddies is wounded and comes back from the hospital and then is not accepted back into the unit because he did not suffer as they suffered at Bastogne. And in spring of 1945 the replacements that come are not welcomed. They had not been together from the start. When a group draws together tightly, people can be excluded if they have not shared in the experience or values. The Gospel reading is the familiar words, maybe too familiar. God the Father sent Jesus into the world to save it. We hear again that God loved the world. Not one little corner of it, not just the people who think like we think, not just our family and friends. God loves the whole world. God’s purposes and love are bigger than ours. God loved the world and did something about it. That is why God sent the Son into it. All the things that we think make up community pale in comparison to this. It is faith in Jesus which either makes a person part of the community or not part of the community. It is like a bright light which either you turn to or run from. This is a community across the ages and across the globe with only one thing in common—faith in Jesus. It is faith in Jesus that gives us eternal life, makes us one, makes us brothers and sisters. For a long time now, this passage from the Gospel of John has been used in many places to call people to join churches. It is used as a means of invitation. There are those who think that churches are to be tightly-knit communities and they are right. We share a mission to promote the gospel. We share many views and an identity. We come together to support one another. But we also have to ask the question of whether others are shut out when we come together. Do we understand God’s love which is given to us is to be shared or think it is to be hoarded? In Ephesians, we are given another version is this idea. Do we earn our place in the kingdom? Paul talks about how the gospel and faith has given them life, has taken them from what they were, dead because of their sins, going through the world completely unaware, slaves to the lower passions of life. Even in that state God loved them and had mercy on them and us. And God made us, like them, alive with Christ. We have been saved by God’s grace, by God’s gift. It is not through our greatness that this happens. We are not loved because of what we have done; we are loved despite what we have done. And so we have nothing to boast about except God’s greatness. We have no great superiority we can claim. And anyone else has the same way of belonging. Does what we do invite others to join us or turn them away? Are we a part of this community of faith because we are better than others? No, it is given to us as a gift. If we understand this, then others should be welcomed on the same basis. Places can become closed off without really intending to. Gina Bridgman’s eyes were opened when at the library and she picked up a book on the architecture of houses in America. She found that one of the earliest design elements was the porch, connecting the house to nature and the world outside. The tall stone structure of castles are designed to keep the world out, the porch welcomes the world to the front door of a house. She thought of the “front porch people” she’s met, whose ways invite others to get acquainted. It’s too easy to smile and say Good morning, without much thought behind it in a Sunday-morning service. We should be giving others a genuine welcome. The porch is not only the place where people see us. It is not only the place where we talk to those we know well. It is where we can invite them in. We welcome others on the basis on which we ourselves are welcomed, God’s love. We long for closeness. Closeness gives much joy and meaning to our lives. The danger of closeness in groups is that it can turn from including others, especially strangers, to excluding them and just staying around each other. We remember God’s invitation. It is for the whole world, it is for those who have faith to join God’s family. It is an invitation to belong to a community formed by God and serving God’s purposes. When we find that for ourselves, it is life’s greatest blessing. And it is a reminder that it is to be shared with others so that they can find a home. For God so loved the world. For God so loved us.