Easter C 5

Easter 5C Sermon:

Today’s Gospel is only 5 short verses and yet it is full of drama and deep emotion.

Judas walks out on our Lord and he goes to hand him over to the chief priests and to betray the one who was once his own dear teacher.  What does Jesus feel about this?  Without a cry, without a prayer, without the slightest sign of despair, This could have been a moment of darkness and tragedy, but Jesus is that rare man who thinks of others and in his darkest hour he is filled with affection for his disciples.   Jesus looks on his circle of disciples and calls them “Teknia” a rare term in the New Testament.  It means little children and this is the only time in the four Gospels that the term is used.  And we know that Jesus was not condescending for he loved children and they were always for him the greatest in the Kingdom.

When I think of those rare men who truly and sincerely love children, I think of Mr. Rogers.  Mr. Rogers had a wholesome love for little children and for years welcomed them to his neighborhood. Rogers said, As children become more and more aware of themselves and their world, they become aware of how small they are, compared to people who take care of them. We adults can help young children feel good about who they are when we show that we value what they can do ... and that we don't expect them to be more grownup than they are ready to be.

Most of you will remember December 1, 1997.  On that day a boy, a fourteen year old boy wrapped 5 guns in a quilt and secretly brought them to the Heath School in Paducah Kentucky.  He had told his friends that he was going to do something really big.  He entered the hallway came up a group of his friends who stood in a circle praying before class.  He got off 10 quick shots.  Three students were killed instantly, others were injured, and one paralyzed for life.

When Mr. Rogers heard of this tragedy, he thought about children. 

He said “Oh wouldn’t the world be a different place if he had said, I am going to do something really little tomorrow.”  He decided to dedicate a week of programs to the theme “little and big.”  He wanted to tell children that what starts out little can sometimes become big.  He wanted children to be able to devote themselves to their little dreams without feeling bad about them or expecting themselves to be more grownup than they were ready to be.  He wanted to show children that what they have is enough.   To show children how this works, Rogers turned to an Architect, Maya Lin.  You may know her as the designer of the Viet Nam war memorial in Washington, D.C.  Rogers went to her studio and shared with children her method of making little models that would become big projects.  Great projects!

By now you may be asking what does little and big have to do with our Gospel today.  Jesus is facing his own death and instead of turning inward in self pity, he thinks only of his disciples, his “little children.  You and I are in that group.  Jesus thinks of us.

He tells us that we cannot go where he is going, and to teach us that what we have is enough,  he gives us a new commandment: ‘Love one another just as I have loved you.”

Jesus wants us to devote ourselves to a very practical dream that we can live right now, the dream of loving each other.

It just so happens that this is the one year anniversary of my being your priest.  As I recall many wonderful moments and experiences of this past year, two events stand out:  Number one was the first Thursday in December, the Christmas bazaar.  And the second was the basement cleaning of last week.  Both occasions were “ahah”  experiences.  Do you know what an ahah experience is?   Well there uis the Eureka experience and the ahah experience.  The Eureka experience is when we discover something about the universe, a fact a reality.  It may be a great discovery but it doesn’t touch us personally, but an ahah experience is when something comes to light that is personal.  An ahah experience includes being able to envision my future and somehow being able to trust it.  Ahah, this is the one I am supposed to marry, or Ahah, this is my vocation.  I heard this ahah from everyone who participated in the Bazaar and in the Basement.  You were genuinely surprised at doing a project together in which love was in charge and not any person’s ego. You were genuinely surprised at the joy of Christian fellowship.  You were genuinely surprised that working together was a spiritual experience. I believe that deep down you said ahah, we really enjoy doing this together, because this is a part of our vocation.  I look upon those events and I hear the voice of the Lord saying, Little Children Love one another as I have loved you.  You weren’t planning to do something big or something on a grand scale.  In fact each person was just planning to do something little.  Each person was giving a little of his or her time.  Each of you was committing yourselves to a little work.  But see how something big came out of it, the ahah experience of discovering Christian fellowship is our calling.  Jesus is happy when we take small steps.  Jesus delights in small steps because he knows that big things can come of them.  Like the Mustard seed.  Even mixing chopped chicken and Hellman’s mayonnaise can become through grace, Christian fellowship.  When we got that truck filled up in the Parking lot, I did not look at the community and say, look how much we accomplished.  I said look how they love one another.  When the bazaar was over, I didn’t say look how much money we made.  I said look how they love one another.

Today is the anniversary of my first mass as your priest here at Nativity Church.  There is nothing that gives me greater joy than to thank God that he has called me to this parish family that loves one another.