Alive with the Glory of Love
Okay, so as we start into this time today I want to know
something. You don’t have to raise your hand, but be honest. Who zoned out
while I was reading the gospel? I have to admit that I may have a little bit.
This is some intense stuff we are talking about today! When I first read the
gospel text I had two thoughts. First, I had a Beatles “I am the Walrus”
moment. You know “I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.”
Next I had an Abbot and Costello moment. “Who’s on first, what’s on second and
I don’t know is on third.” As wordy and dense as this passage from John is it
doesn’t require a quick wit or any sort of altered state of mind to understand
and appreciate it. We just have to dive into it a bit…and dive in we shall.
The way
I see it there are three big themes that Jesus is trying to convey to us this
morning: Glory, Unity and Love. The last two especially because of the number of times he
repeats those words. If Jesus is repeating something over and over again I have
found that those things are pretty important. We’ll get to each of these in
turn but first a little more about my family, the women of my family in
particular (it is mother’s day after all).
I come
from a family of strong female figures. Both of my grandma’s are definitely the
glue that holds our extended families together and they each show their love in
different ways. My dad’s mom, I call her Mimi shows her love through preparing
food. I always joke that I am still trying to lose the weight she graced me
with as a child. After lunch or dinner where she had cooked enough food for an
army, where the table was bending slightly in the middle she would always tempt
me with a Little Debbie snack of some kind. This was post-dessert mind you. Of
course I would take it and eat it, it’s my grandma! My mom’s mom, my Grandma,
shows her love through her support of the things that we do. Growing up Grandma
would be at a lot of my band concerts, Boy Scout awards and milestones in my
faith walk. She also would do a fair bit of teaching too. She taught me about
playing games, gardening and how to be the best sports fan out there. My mom
shows her love through encouraging me to always be who I am and follow my
dreams. Growing up, I remember how we would talk in the car on the way to
church for Confirmation or other activities and she would listen and ask
questions about what was going on in life. She was interested to know what I
thought about stuff which, to a person who is geared to think, is a real
blessing! She is still that way today. Lauren shows her love through taking
care of people. She really has the gift of hospitality. I like to say that we
are running a bed and breakfast out of our house because when guests come to
stay we have extra shampoo, soap, shaving cream, toothpaste and toothbrushes.
We have pretty much everything you could want.
Now I
didn’t mention all the women of my family because you don’t want to be here all
day. I don’t blame you. They all remind me of the three things I mentioned
above: Glory, Unity and Love. Through doing these things that show that they
care about us they bring about unity in our family. I will also be the first to
tell you that when you see them in their element, doing these things that they
love, it really is a glorious sight. Now, you might be thinking “Really? Glory,
Unity and Love as describing family…that doesn’t seem right. Doesn’t really
describe my family” Families aren’t always functional, cohesive, and may not be
the most welcoming place. But I don’t think these things are unique to the
women of my family or even just my family or even family in general. Think back
to the last time you saw someone doing something they truly loved. Did what
they do help to bring people together? Did you notice something different about
them?
This is where we find some space in our gospel from John. At
first Jesus talks about glory. He says “The glory that you have given to me I
have given them, so that they may be one as we are one.” I’m going to read that
again. We are given Jesus’ glory! That’s big stuff, but what does that mean?
Jesus’ glory is through love. Jesus lived the life of a servant. Giving to
others out of great love and trust in God’s power and reign. That was the glory
that Jesus displayed. That when we were unlovable he still loved us. That same
glory is given to us. It is a great gift and call that we are given. To love
those who see themselves as unlovable. What a powerful thing!
This is
so that, as Jesus mentions a couple different times, “they may all be one.”
We’re loved and given a share of his glory for the purpose of unity. Now this
doesn’t mean we have to like each other all the time but what it does call us
to do is to see the face of Christ in each other. We are given love so that we
might begin to love ourselves and in turn love others. We are given love so
that we can be one with who we are, be one with God and be one with each other.
I don’t
have to tell you that we’re not so good at all this. Unity is hard! Unity takes
work! To be genuinely unified you have to get messy and things get complicated.
Along with that the world has a completely different view of what glory is. Glory
is to make a name for yourself! Glory is to make lots of money and live the
good life! Glory is going on a TV show and becoming famous! The path to glory
that the world paves is one that leads more to stepping on each other than
unity.
Here is
the good news though. Jesus knows this and so he goes to work by praying for
us. Wait, what’s that? Yes. He prays to God for us. This passage from John
comes at the end of four lengthy chapters before Jesus heads out to the garden
of Gethsemane. As a part of these chapters Jesus prays for his disciples that
were present on that night and the disciples to come. In a moment for them of
confusion, dismay, anger and fear Jesus prays for them. He prays for unity,
glory and love. Jesus prays for you and me: unity, glory and love. That we
might be so alive with the glory of love that we would be one with God,
ourselves and each other.
This is
something that we can do for one another. We pray for people all the time in
our congregation during the prayers of the church. We are going to make it more
personal today. I want you to take one of the blue cards from out of the pew.
Now, in the spirit of full disclosure you have a choice to make. You can either
write your name on the card or not, but know that you won’t be walking out of
here with your card. On that card I want you to write something that you need
to be prayed for. It can be a sickness, something you are struggling with, something
you’re worried about, a joy, something you are celebrating. You can be
ridiculously broad or very specific. Doesn’t matter to me. Now I want you to
fold it in half, take the card and pass it…
We are going to be alive with the glory of love this week
and pray for each other. You may know the person you may not, especially if
they didn’t write their name. I want you to pray for that
person this week. Pray for their struggles or their joys. Just as Jesus prayed
for us so we are called to pray for each other. Someone is praying for you this
week. Using their gift of glory and love to pray for unity in your life. This
is only one way to live out the glory of love, there are many more. If you like
praying you could always consider being a prayer partner for the Day School.
They need some. It could be taking someone out for lunch this week. It could be
writing a prayer for someone on their Facebook status or wall. It could be
calling a family member or friend just to tell them you love them. Whatever
form it takes this week may you know that you are indeed alive with the glory
of love. May you remember that Jesus and someone in this worship service are
praying for you this week. And may you find multiple opportunities to unite
those around you because of the love that you show. Amen.
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