Sixth Sunday of Easter, cycle C

John 14:23 - 29

In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles we hear about the controversy over circumcision and by extension, how Jewish you had to be in order to be a Christian?  It was a serious debate because the early Christians were mostly Jewish converts, and there was no question in their minds that God had given the Jews a lot of commandments.  If you were Jewish, you just accepted that this was the way you lived.  But as the Church began to reach out to gentiles,it had to begin the difficult task of looking at what had been given to Jews and asking what was essential, what of Jewish law applied to the new converts to Christianity.  And as it did so, the Church could not allow these questions to divide it.  The apostles valued unity among the assembly so highly that they sought to speak with one voice.  That’s why Paul consulted with Peter; that’s why in the early church there were ecumenical councils. Unity meant peace, and Jesus, after he rose from the dead, told the apostles “Peace be with you”. 

In a few minutes Father will offer us the peace of the Lord.  I will then ask you to offer a sign of peace to each other.  Some of us will wave, some bow, some studiously look straight ahead and not move at all.  And there will be the wavers and a few people who just have to shake hands because they can’t imagine the sign of peace without actually touching.  And after a couple of minutes we will be back to ignoring each other as we prepare for communion.  There have been some liturgical authorities that think we should do away with this little ritual, or maybe have it at the beginning of mass, so that we could all say hello to each other before we get down to the serious business of why we are here.  And being really old, I remember the Mass before Vatican II.  The Priest would be saying Mass in Latin with his back to the people.  You couldn’t hear what he was saying because he was speaking very softly.  And then he would abruptly turn around and say in a louder voice, “Pax vobiscum”.  And the altar server, me, would answer for the congregation, “et cum spiritu tuo.”  

But there is an interesting document from the third century which has come down to us in Syriac and Greek, and we have several copies or fragments of copies.  It was called in Latin, the Didacalis Apostolorum.  Some people of that time thought it had been written by the apostles, but we doubt that today.  It was kind of an encyclopedia about how to carry out the liturgy, who could administer sacraments, who could marry who, and so on and so forth.  But the part that has something to do with today’s gospel is a description of the kiss of peace.  Once the priest or bishop had finished the Eucharistic prayer and consecrated the Bread and Wine, he would kiss the deacons (I want you to know I am not saying we should go back to the old way).  The deacon would then kiss a few members of the congregation, who would in turn kiss more members, until everyone had exchanged the kiss of peace.  The celebrant was instructed to stop the liturgy if the kiss of peace was refused by someone, or not given by someone.  The celebrant was instructed to intercede until the two individuals had their differences smoothed over; and if they could not, they were to be expelled from the congregation before the Eucharist was given.  It was considered absolutely necessary for everyone to share the peace of Christ before receiving the Body and Blood of Christ.  

Jesus contrasts the peace he gives with that given by the world.  When he mentions the peace the world gives, what undoubtedly came to the minds of his hearers was the Pax Romana.  The Peace of Rome was attributed to the Roman state, which built roads and cities, controlled the shipping lanes, and in general maintained an effective civilization -- at the cost of suppressing dissent by the use of its huge standing army.  The Romans were very proud of the peace they had brought about.  But it was fragile;  there were rebellions, invasions from the north and east of the empire; and sometimes nature would step in to shake up the peace with an earthquake or a plague or a volcano..  

Jesus’ peace is different.  It is based on the giving of the Holy Spirit, who God promises will stand beside us and speak for us and through us -- that’s what an advocate does.  In another place Jesus promises that we don’t need to prepare what we are to say in our defense before the authorities -- the Spirit will provide the words.  Jesus' peace also comes from knowing that he is with the Father and has promised that if we keep his word the Father will love us and Jesus and the Father will make their dwelling in us.  With these kinds of promises it is no wonder that the early Christians did not fear the powers of the state and went to their martyrdoms singing.

So you can see how, every time the liturgy was celebrated, the congregation would exchange the kiss of peace which reminded them that they had been given the peace of Jesus Christ, and that if we accept it, our hearts cannot be troubled or afraid.  Remember that today as well when we exchange the sign of peace, that in this community, in our unity, the peace of Christ truly lives.

Fifth Sunday of Easter, cycle C

 John 13:31 -35

In today’s gospel Jesus gives his disciples a new commandment  But what is new about it?  The old testament is full of admonitions to love your neighbor.  The writings of Moses insisted that the strangers and foreigners in the midst of the Israelites should be treated not only with respect but with love.  So what is this commandment of Jesus’ all about? Why is it new?

Jesus is at the last supper.  Judas has gone of to betray him.  He’s alone with the other eleven disciples.  Notice that he says, “Love one another as I have loved you”.  He hasn’t been crucified yet, he hasn’t given up his life for his people, he hasn’t even started his church.  But he gives them a new commandment, to love one another as He has loved them.  So before Jesus went to his death, he must have loved his disciples in  new ways.  And what do we know about that?  

So how did he love his disciples in a way that they could imitate?  I think you have to look at the whole time that Jesus was with his disciples.  The first thing that happened was that he called them to share in his ministry.  You remember when he called Peter, who fell to his knees and asked Jesus to leave him because he was a sinful man.  And Jesus invited Peter to become a fisher of men.  And as Jesus gathered his twelve apostles, the story was always the same; he called and they answered, and he promised that they would make a difference, that they would be there to judge the world, that they would be able to work miracles like he worked.  But first they would have be be disciples, first they would have to learn from him how to see the world in a new way.  And the disciples did. When you look at the gospel stories and the Acts of the Apostles, you can’t help but notice how Jesus took a band of illiterate fisherman and tradespeople and turned them into evangelists, into missionaries.  The first way Jesus Loved his disciples was to allow them to share in his mission.

The second way Jesus loved his disciples was by serving them.  He demonstrated this by the washing of their feet, which took place just before this gospel story.  It must have been pretty obvious to the disciples that Jesus expected them to serve each other; the greatest among them would be the servant of all.  Peter took this to heart, as shown in the Acts of the Apostles.  He served the early Christian community by being someone who settled disputes, who sought out the Holy spirit in prayer and in consultation, who served the community in humility -- when he was called out by Paul for treating the gentile Christians differently than the Jewish ones, he accepted the correction..  Peter lived for the Church, he put the needs of the Church first.  And we see that among the other early leaders of the Church.  When you read the scriptures you see this, and it's so familiar to us that we don’t see the uniqueness any more.  Before and after Jesus, most leaders chose to be leaders out of self serving motives, and often gained those positions by violence..  But Jesus turns the attention of his disciples to humble service.  This is loving  leadership.

The third way Jesus loved his disciples was by forgiving them.  We think about the betrayal of Peter and how Jesus forgave him there on the shores of the sea of Galilee after the resurrection.  But there were plenty of other times Jesus forgave his followers.  Maybe their offenses weren’t as serious as Peter’s, like when James and John wanted to call down fire upon the Samaritan village that had rejected them, or when they couldn’t see the point he was making with a parable and he had to patiently explain what he meant.  And perhaps that’s the kind of forgiveness we need to imitate.  It’s one thing to forgive an enemy, but when someone does us serious harm we tend to avoid that person in the future, forgiven or not.  It’s another thing to deal with what we see as shortcomings in people -- our children, our spouse, our friends -- and rather than “put up” with them, learn to love those shortcomings, knowing we have them as well.  When Peter proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, Jesus gave him a nickname -- Peter which means “Rock”.  And that nickname would be prophetic, because Peter would eventually become the rock upon which the Church would be built, but he would also be very un-rock like in the courtyard of the high priest the night before Jesus was crucified.  And Jesus called James and John “Sons of Thunder” when they wanted to destroy the Samaritan village.  And I think when the disciples returned from the mission on which he had sent them and told of all the things that had happened, Jesus observed that he had seen Satan falling from heaven.  In other words, as I read the gospels, Jesus loves the things about us that make us unique, and doesn’t just put up with them.  

So the new commandment of Jesus is to love as he did -- to invite others into a common ministry; to serve each other without expecting thanks or recognition; and to forgive each other, especially of the little things we don’t even recognize as worthy of forgiveness.  

And we are all called to this kind of love.  And how do we know when we are living that way?  When people see it and know we are Jesus’ disciples.