May
13, 2012
1
JOHN 5:1-6 NRSV
Everyone
who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God,
and everyone who loves the parent loves the
child.
By
this we know that we love the children of God,
when we love God and obey God’s commandments.
For
the love of God is this, that we obey God’s commandments.
And
God’s commandments are not burdensome,
for whatever is born of God conquers the world.
And
this is the victory that conquers the world:
our faith.
Who
is it that conquers the world
but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of
God?
This
is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ,
not with the water only but with the water and the
blood.
And
the Spirit is the one that testifies,
for the Spirit is the truth.
***
Can you imagine the world conquered by love? Can you
imagine every commandment followed always?
Can you imagine a world were God is always first,
always praised, always revered?
Can you imagine a world with no false Gods of greed,
or power, or hate, or self-hate?
Can you imagine a world where God’s name is never
cursed?
Can you imagine a world that rested on the Sabbath,
a world where Sunday was for worship, and an afternoon nap? How much better
would Mondays be if Sunday was truly Sabbath?
Can you imagine a world where each of us truly
honored our mother and father, a world where God is our Father and Mother, and
we are God’s children, all brothers and sisters? Can you imagine if Mother’s
Day celebrated the family of God gathered here?
Can you imagine a world where there was no killing,
no murder, no war, not even self-defense, or for survival?
Can you imagine a world without adultery, without
the temptation and without the pain of betrayal?
Can you imagine a world where no one steals, where
everyone has enough and is content with enough?
Can you imagine a world without lies, without the
need to lie, where truth and justice always prevails?
Can you imagine a world where we do not covet each
other’s goods but instead give of our own?
Can you imagine a world conquered by love? Can you
imagine every commandment followed always?
Would you believe me if I told you that time has
already come, and is now? Would you believe me if I told you that time has
already come, and is now?
That time has already come. Christ has already
conquered the world with love and his commandments. Jesus loved God with all
his heart and his soul and strength. Imagine the love in his baptism. Jesus
came by the water, humble, and knowing his call. John baptized him, and a dove
from heaven came down and God spoke, “This is my Son in whom I am well
pleased.” This is the love that conquered the world. This is the faith that
conquered the world. The one who came by water conquered the world with love.
His love came through water and through blood. Jesus
conquered the world with his blood. He asked God, to take the cup of blood from
him, but Jesus followed God’s will. He
took the cup, and said, “This is my blood shed for you. Do this in remembrance
of me. As often as you take this cup, and eat this bread, do this in
remembrance of me.” This is the love that conquered the world. This is the
faith that conquered the world. The one who came by blood conquered the world
with love.
Come to water,
come to the table.
Children of God,
come.
Love one another,
as God first loved us.
For as we love one another in these sacraments our
faith conquers the world.
Come to the water. Come to be baptized and to
remember your baptism. Remember in these waters God claims us as God’s own. God
knows every hair on our very heads. We are God’s children not only from birth
to death, but from eternity to eternity. We are God’s children and made
brothers and sisters in Christ. We are family. Just as God adopts us, we are
adopted into the church of Christ, we are mothers and fathers, daughters, and
sons. We are family. The Spirit descends on these waters and brings us truth.
This is the love that conquers the world. In these waters our faith conquers
the world.
Come to the table. Come to remember Christ. Come to
the sacrament to remember the sacrifice. Come as you are, as God made you to
be. Come from East and from West, come from North and from South. Come together
in communion before God and with one another. Come to celebrate the joyful
feast. Come to be fed. Come to proclaim Christ’s saving death until he comes
again. Come and witness the Spirit of truth in the remembering of the cup. This
is the love that conquers the world. In this blood our faith conquers the
world.
The world has already been conquered by love, and in
love our faith conquers it still. Come to the waters, come to the table.
