6th Sunday of Easter

Today's Link
My Mutterances

Today's Saying
These things I command you, that you love one another.
John 15:17

Today's Picture

In the liturgical churches the Easter season is coming to an end. Next Sunday will be the last Sunday of Easter. This Sunday is the sixth Sunday of Easter.
Of course, in some sense every Sunday the Church celebrates Easter and what God has done for us through the death and Resurrection of Christ. Soon , however, the texts will shift from what God has done for us to what God expects of us . At first glance today’s text would seem to be one of those texts.
Jesus tells us we are to love one another.
Well, okay! Most people in my church are lovable. If you don’t count that cranky old guy who never smiles.
It could be worse Jesus could be asking us to love everybody.
But just the “ one another’s” that make up our fellowship I can do that.
But then Jesus adds “ as I have loved you”.
Now that’s pushing it .
Jesus laid down his life for us.
There is no way I’m willing to die for that cranky old guy.
The best I can do is sit with him at coffee and let him tell me how bad his world is. But die for him, never!
Jesus expects the impossible.
Then a miracle happens. He makes it possible.’
We can love the cranky old man, the uppity lady, the know it all and any other odd character in the fellowship because Jesus loves them.
His love flows through us.
His love bears fruit in us.
His love prepares us to love those outside the fellowship.
But the good news is that Jesus knows how hard it is to live the faith.
He knows how badly hurt we can get out there in the real world.
He knows that unconditional love can get you killed.
So his directions to love starts with the fellowship.
We need a place to be safe.
We need somewhere to be loved.
The Church is that place. We are to love one another.
We are to support one another.
We are to be conduits of God’s love to one another.
That’s why I like St. Mark’s. They love this cranky old guy. They listen to me whine over coffee. They support and build me up.
The Sunday school welcomes and supports autistic and mentally challenged individuals.
In an imperfect world the love of God flows here.
And God has blessed us with a succession of great Pastors.
God has enabled us to reach out in love to the world in so many ways.
But Sunday after Sunday we come back to the source of that love.
Christ comes to us in the Word preached and in the Holy Communion.
We are sustained. We are up lifted. We are transformed.
This is Church as it was called to be.
For here we love one another through the love of Christ.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Here is part of Pastor Joan’s sermon for today:
When I was in high school and trying to decide if God was calling me into the ministry I always went to the annual meeting of the congregation. Well, to be honest, I had to because my father was on the Board.
Every year the same guy, his name was Herman, sorry Herman but that was his name. The same guy got up and complained that we were paying the Pastor too much, that we didn’t sing enough old hymns, that we needed to use a different communion method, that the janitor wasn’t doing a good job, and so on. Every year he did this.
It so upset me that I thought if this is what qa Pastor has to put up with then I should become something else , anything else.
But my senior year God opened my eyes to something I hadn’t seen before. The pastor and the congregation still loved Herman. That’s right. In fact Pastor had coffee with Herman at least once a month and let Herman tell him everything that was wrong in Herman’s world. Nobody ever said “ Herman shut up1” They loved him.
They cared about him.
So I went and sat down with the Pastor and asked how it was possible to love Herman when he was so obviously unlovable.
Pastor said “ Jesus does therefore I can”
It was that simple. Jesus loved Herman. So we should love Herman too.
Then Pastor helped me see a different Herman. A Herman that had been hurt by the world and was still being hurt. A Herman that had lost his mother when he was very young. A Herman that needed healing. The Herman that our loving God saw.
When I read today’s text and the call of Jesus to love one another I think of Herman.
Somehow he found his way to a fellowship that would love him.
Or maybe not somehow, maybe God lead him there.
When my home church saw the need for a shelter for battered woman Herman offered to chair the committee. He understood pain and suffering. He did a great job. He was just the right man that God had in the right place for that ministry.
I’d like to tell you he stopped complaining at the annual meeting but he didn’t.
But they still love Him .
Our first task is to love those of the fellowship so that they can be free to love the broken and hurting of the world.
In Christ Jesus we can do this.

Wrap UP

Another glorious day. We went to church. The sermon was great but the ending was special. The Pastor's wife and daughter sang a song to the tune of the twelve days of Christmas thanking the people of the congregation for their service. They acted out each verse. Then new members were welcomed into the congregation. It was just great.
In the afternoon I brought St. Mark's website up to date and then cut the volunteer song off of the sermon and posted it separate under pictures. Then I visited everyone who left a comment yesterday.
GBYA

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