Easter 6C

Easter 6C May 5, 2013 My mother came to stay with us this week. She was fleeing her home where workmen were doing some sanding and other interior work, and so she spent several nights with us. And it was wonderful! She cooked breakfast and supper for us almost every day; she ran errands, went grocery shopping, helped with dishes and laundry, took care of the children (even waking up with them before 6:00). Of course, there is always at least a small amount of upheaval when someone comes and stays in your home. We make the necessary preparations for their arrival—changing sheets, cleaning bathrooms, etc. Sometimes our plans need to change or at least become more flexible to accommodate another. Our relationship with God is like this. In the gospel reading for today, Jesus tells his disciples, in what is known as John’s farewell discourse, “‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them…Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let you hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid…” Many years ago, when I met with Bishop Gray and David Johnson to hear the news that they were going to send me to seminary to begin training to be a priest, I was so excited, that I almost didn’t hear the last part of what David Johnson had to tell me, but I have remembered his words frequently over the years and reflected on the wisdom of them. He offered me a word of caution, those many years ago, about the challenges of discipleship and about what a life of priestly ministry might entail, and he quoted to me one of his favorite hymns, hymn 661 in our hymnal whose words were written by a Mississippian. The words are, They cast their nets in Galilee just off the hills of brown;/ such happy, simple fisherfolk, before the Lord came down. Contented, peaceful fishermen, before they ever knew/ the peace of God that filled their hearts brimful, and broke them too. Young John who trimmed the flapping sail, homeless in Patmos died/ Peter, who hauled the teeming net, head-down was crucified. The peace of God, it is no peace, but strife closed in the sod/ Yet let us pray for but one thing -- the marvelous peace of God.i The peace of God that Jesus is offering isn’t an end to conflict or hardship. Rather the peace of God that Jesus is offering is the abiding presence of God in our lives. It is the gift of understanding that our lives are not our own but that we can offer them to God for the greater purpose of the fulfillment of God’s kingdom. We see this Peace of God at work in the story from Acts for today. Luke tells us that Paul has a vision during the night of a man from Macedonia pleading with Paul to come to Macedodnia to help them. So Paul changes his plans, travels to Macedonia and takes up residence in Phillipi. On the Sabbath, he and his companions look around for a place of prayer, and they head outside the gate by the river, where they find a group of women gathered. And Paul sits down (in the usual method of rabbinic teaching) and begins to talk to the women (about Jesus). From the beginning of this story, Paul opens himself up to accommodate God’s call to unexpected places and to unexpected people. As a result, God speaks through Paul to Lydia, one of the women who are gathered at the river. Lydia is already a worshipper of God, and she is unusual because she is said to be a dealer in purple cloth, which means she has access to the aristocracy who were the only ones who could afford to wear purple cloth; and she is also unusual because she is the head of her own household, which was most unusual for a woman of that time. Luke tells us that God “opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.” And she and her whole household were baptized, and she urged Paul and his companions to come stay at her home, and so her home became the headquarters of the missionary movement in Phillippi and Macedonia. In this story we see similar actions mirrored in Paul and Lydia’s lives. Each one is open to God and God’s call in their lives. This means that their own vision for how their life is to be used by God is easily set aside when God shows them a different way, a different path. Also, as they open their hearts to God, then their hearts become opened to others, and to the new possibilities that come with opening their hearts to others. It is much like what we do when we invite people into our homes. We open ourselves to change of rhythm, routine, plans, and vision, and we gain the reward of new possibilities, new encounters, and the grace that they bring with their presence. We have seen this at work of late within our own parish as well. In opening ourselves to God, we can reach out to others in gratitude and hospitality primarily in thanksgiving for all the good things that God has offered us. And in opening ourselves to God and to others we are changed in ways that we would never have dreamed. How are you being called to open your heart to the indwelling of God? How is the life that you are living a response to God and a gift of gratitude for God’s generosity? If it’s not, then what is holding you back? What controls or fears might you need to relinquish in order to live more fully in the peace of God? And Jesus answered, “‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them…Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let you hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid…” The peace of God, it is no peace, but strife closed in the sod/ Yet let us pray for but one thing -- the marvelous peace of God.i i.Words: William Alexander Percy (1885-1942), alt. Music: Georgetown, David McKinley Williams (1887-1978) Words: Copyright by Edward B. Marks Music Corporation. Used by permission by The Hymnal 1982. Used without permission here.