Year B 3rd Easter 2018 Belonging

Year B 3rd Sunday of Easter 15 April 2018

St James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Belonging”

Collect: O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.Amen.

Acts 3:12-19

Peter addressed the people, “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

“And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out.”

1 John 3:1-7

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

Luke 24:36b-48

Jesus himself stood among the disciples and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

One of the great curses of our age is the disconnect from community. The feeling of isolation that happens in a so-called “connected age.” When we turn to social media for our social interactions, it actually creates distance. It is a tool, like any other. A good one, when used well, like a scalpel or a laser or a paintbrush. Being connected is the goal.

On the other hand, when we feel disconnected, apart from the whole, or that we do not belong, that is one of the great ills of our society and of so many people. The Beatles put it so well, so hauntingly, in their old song Eleanor Rigby. 

[A picture of her grave I took in Liverpool in 2016.]

Ah look at all the lonely people 

Ah look at all the lonely people 

Eleanor Rigby, picks up the rice 

In the church where a wedding has been 

Lives in a dream 

Waits at the window, wearing the face 

That she keeps in a jar by the door 

Who is it for 

All the lonely people 

Where do they all come from? 

All the lonely people 

Where do they all belong?

Eleanor Rigby, died in the church 

And was buried along with her name 

Nobody came 

Father McKenzie, wiping the dirt 

From his hands as he walks from the grave 

No one was saved 

All the lonely people 

Where do they all come from? 

All the lonely people 

Where do they all belong?

Loneliness is as detrimental to the human heart as any disease or affliction. Married people live longer. People involved in community live longer. People with a purpose live longer. The key to belonging is being engaged, connected, feeling wanted and needed and a part. 

Belonging is one of the great needs of the human psyche. Freud, you have heard me say before, explained that we must see ourselves as lovable and capable of loving. Eleanor Rigby, and stop me after church if you would like to see a picture of her grave in Liverpool, was lonely. She had duty as she picked up the rice, but she did not feel like she belonged. So sad. So, so, sad.

We all need a tribe, a group, a family. And too often these days, we have set the bar so high on belonging, or feeling accepted, that some do not even try to attempt to make it into our groupings.

It used to be that affinity groups were about submitting to the authority of the group in order to belong to the group. In short hand, the way things used to be in groups like churches or other gatherings, one had to believe first, and if one affirmed that common belief then one could belong. 

A few decades ago, things got turned on their heads. It went that people did not trust authority, so they rejected groups that tried to impose authority. There were lots of reasons. The War in Vietnam, the counter-cultural movement, etc. And the people for whom this was the norm, the water they swam in, taught the next generation where it was exacerbated. And it has since become worse and worse, as far as believing before belonging goes. So what is our state of affairs.

Might it be that we have to turn things around, and let people try things on and belong first before we can even expect belief? There are even phrases for it: “Fake it till you make it.” And the like. People have an interest in spirituality, and because of that, they may check out church. For a time or two. And what could it be? Could we let people get comfy, and explore before we enforce this is what WE BELIEVE on them? Our creeds can be tools or weapons. I have faith. God is not done with any of us yet, and maybe we are going through some generations of Belonging more than Believing. And one day the pendulum will swing back. It all goes back to the needs of the human heart. 

We all need a tribe. That is why I feel the words of Jesus so powerfully. He came so that we could belong. He came so that we need not have any reasons that would hinder our belonging. He came so that we would have no excuses to being a part of him. When Jesus appeared the night of his Resurrection, the disciples were actually surprised and terrified about his appearance even though he had told them three times in Luke’s version that this was exactly what would happen. As he said, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them,

“Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” 

In his coming back, in a real, corporeal presence, he showed them that everything he said was true. He was the proof. He even ate some fish so they knew it was not a ghost. But notice EVEN HERE, he met them where they were, accepted them, let them see for themselves that they still belonged with him, and then he worked on their belief. Wow.

Think on that, think on the extent God went to for each and every one of us to belong. Start first with the idea that God wired you in such a way to need to belong. We are social creatures. We die in isolation. If you ever wondered if you were made to be social or not, try tickling yourself. You cannot. We are wired to be in relationship. We are wired to belong. If God cared enough about you to make you ticklish, which is fun but silly, how much more does he care about the things that truly matter?

We can only guess. But he cared so much that he did not phone it in, but actually showed up to show us. He came in the form we would understand and recognize. He took on flesh and blood, hunger, thirst, and pain; he took on a family, and friends, and heartache; he took on a name Jesus, Yeshua, God-Saves, that is what it means. Could it get any clearer than that?

And God cared enough that we were given Free Will to choose. God will not force Godself on any of us. Some people see the idea of Hell as off-putting. And of course it is. Could it be, that Hell is not, a place of Judgment? Ponder this with me. As I see it, God wants no one to be separated from Godself. I understand Hell to be the condition of being apart from God. It is the space/time/place of Unrequited Love. God loves us and respects us enough that we have a choice on whether we choose to love God back or not. God forces Godself on no one.

A VERY different way of thinking than most of us have understood. In I John, I feel that is what the author is getting at in encouraging the Church.

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; 

Notice here, not that we will be, or could be. WE ARE GOD’s CHILDREN NOW. It is signed, sealed, and delivered. And this is just the beginning.

I remember when my children were born. All those hopes and wishes and dreams we have for our kids. And life has its ups and downs, its setbacks and disappointments. But it also has its triumphs and joys, its glories and fulfillments, and it is not over yet. There are bright and good and glorious days ahead, and I cannot wait to see where it takes them, and me. The best of life so far is just the foretaste, the sip of the spoon on the heavenly banquet that is yet to come.

From I John again:

...what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Our response to these promises and foretastes is to be our best, to purify and live out the reality of our being God’s Children NOW. We are not in dress rehearsal for heaven. We are in the reality of God’s Kingdom NOW. And when we realize that, and start living in that reality, it makes all the trifles and trivialities less and less important. 

L. R. Knost penned this:

Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. LOVE INTENTIONALLY, EXTRAVAGANTLY, UNCONDITIONALLY. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you. [Emphasis mine]

Sisters and brothers, you may be the only Bible some may ever read. You may be the sermon only some people have ever heard. Just as Christ came into the world to love the world, and that the world might be saved through him. [John 3:16-17] And in the same way, we have been named and claimed as God’s Children. There is no tawdry talk-show paternity test here. God calls us his own. Today, tomorrow, and forever. And in that authority we have been commissioned and sent to be that light in the world that brings out the God-Colors, that salt that enhances the God-Flavors, that difference in the world that leads us all to our Eternal Home.

Beloved, we are God’s Children NOW. You already belong. What have we to fear? As Jesus began with his disciples on that Resurrection night, “Peace be with you! Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?” He could very well be saying the same thing to us. Amen.