Sunday Homily, May 17, 2015, 7th Easter, B
Readings:
Acts 1, 15—17, 20-26, They proposed two, Judas, called Barsabbas, and Matthias.
Psalm 103, The Lord has set his throne in heaven.
1 John 4, 11-16, If God so loved us, we also must love one another.
John 17, 11-19, So that they may be one.
Acts: a review–
Author: Luke, the author of The Acts & The Gospel
Date: ca. 50 years after the death of Jesus
Our Selection: Believe it or not, on this the last Sunday we read from Acts, we are now back to chapter 1 after getting as far as chapters 9 & 10. What is going on is this. The chapter opens with an introduction and then a description of the Ascension, Jesus going up in the sky. Apparently the event took place about a half mile outside Jerusalem on the Mt. of Olives.
Afterward, all the community come together in the room they had been hiding in. About 120 are present and Peter gets up to speak. We read Peter's words.
John's letter: There is a great line in this selection. See if you can spot it when you hear it. I'll tell you after the reading, but a hint, it is the last line.
Sources: Good News Bible; The New Interpreter's Study Bible
Our World, Good or Bad?
I like the line in 1 John which says that God is love. This seems to go contrary to what our ancestors believed because they present a vision of a god who is certainly not into unconditional love. I would like to believe God is loving.
However, there is another line in John’s gospel that I want to talk about this morning, the line that says we do not belong to this world. Like, is the world bad? What do you think? Is the world bad or good and do we belong or not?
I propose that we do belong and that the world is good. We make it better because we belong. A story.
One morning recently I walked into the J (Jewish Community Center) at 5:30 to do my spin class. As I walk in, another rider whom I like, Mike, comes in and we walk together down a long hallway to the room with the 25 stationary bikes.
Somehow we get talking about his dad. Mike is one of 12 kids and the family has done well. The family came from Europe during the time of Hitler.
At one point he tells me that during the holocaust his dad lost 70 to 80 first cousins.
I am stunned and shocked. I have never known a person who has this experience in their family. In fact, I have never known in my life so many Jewish people. It is privilege and a pleasure.
Mike’s story gave me two thoughts. First, I was reminded of how horrible a time it was during the reign of Hitler and the 3rd Reich. A person living then, especially a Jewish person, could easily see the world as bad.
My second thought was that Mike was an amazement, not bitter, not seeking revenge, but a person who presents himself as peaceful, friendly, and accepting of the events that took place in his family. You know me, I actually got choked up with him when we talked a bit more after the spin class. Mike chooses to see the world as good.
Despite all the evidence to the contrary, I propose that the world is good, is beautiful, because of three phenomena, people, nature, and events.
Mike makes the world good, Romeos make the world good (sometimes, maybe), you people make the world good and beautiful. The people I go camping with in Yosemite also make the world good and beautiful, at least some of them.
Nature? I find the beauty of Yosemite so overwhelming I have to go back every year. I can find a beautiful world sitting in a rocking chair on our back porch having a cup of coffee early in the morning, while I gaze at the grass & trees in our yard.
Events? What about the marvel of our Sunday get togethers? I go crazy over the beauty of Ragbrai, that bike ride I make the end of July west to east across Iowa, along with 15 thousand other crazies. Talk about a people event.
What do you think? Bad or good? If good, what is your data?