In Lent we are looking at the many ways the Baptismal Covenant calls us to serve Christ in each other. Fellowship, prayer, repentance, evangelism, and service are all ways to show and share the love of God. Jesus told his disciples, A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:34-35)
The final question in the Baptismal Covenant asks, “Will
you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of
every human being?” Striving is a word that we don’t hear much now. In
fact, it often has the negative connotation of causing fights. The root of the
word is from the French estriver and estri, meaning to quarrel.
However, it also means endeavor or try really hard.
We are called to work for justice and peace. Sometimes
that can seem like an overwhelming task. There seems to be so much injustice
and violence in the world. Certainly, we are confronted by it daily in the news
and social media. We know about the least little disturbing event in the
farthest corner of the world almost immediately. Probably there aren’t more
awful things happening than years and centuries ago, we just know about all of
them. And we are bombarded by the various ‘spins’ that politicians and social
media impose in an attempt to influence our minds. We have to be careful what
we believe and who we follow.
When we are rooted in the promises of the Baptismal Covenant, we have a roadmap for Who to trust and how to respond and act. O Zion Haste (#539 in the Episcopal Hymnal) gathers much of the Baptismal Covenant into beautiful word. As the hymn suggests, when we are engaged in our mission of sharing the story of peace, redemption, release, and love we are in fact our “mission high fulfilling.”
O [Christians], haste, your mission high fulfilling,
to tell to all the world that God is light,
that he who made all nations is not willing
one soul should perish, lost in shades of night.
The hymn ends with the stanza that calls us to Proclaim
to ev'ry people, tongue, and nation/ that God, in whom they live and move, is
love;/ tell how he stooped to save his lost creation/ and died on
earth that they might live above. The refrain tells us how to do this
proclaiming Publish glad tidings, tidings of peace,/ tidings of Jesus,
redemption and release. We are to tell the Good News of God’s hope and
love even, and especially, in the face of injustice, war, and dehumanization.
You can hear the words on YouTube, along with some lovely images:
The Christian church has not always done a good job of proclaiming glad tidings without driving rough-shod over those we are sharing the Good News with. Much evil has been done in the name of religion and continues to be done. We can repent that history and strive (that word again) to do better in our lives and work.
In the Gospel this Sunday (John 12:20-33) we hear of some
Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to
him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” These Gentile (non-Jews) want to know
more about Jesus, just like much of our hurting world does. Jesus responds that
the disciples must lose their life in order to live fully dedicated lives. He
says, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just
a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life
lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal
life.
Too often we don’t want to lose our life—to give up control
of the result—in our work for and in God’s Beloved Community. We forget we are
seeds being planted and may never see the fruit. The seed is changed and dies
so that a new crop can sprout. It’s human to want to make the outcome the one
we want, even in our work for justice and peace. However, not everyone has the
same definition of justice or even of peace. My way may not be the best way to
accomplish a birth of justice or peace. I may think I am respecting someone’s
dignity, but due to cultural differences, I may accidentally be insulting them.
All we do must be done in and for Love, nor for recognition or gain.
As Philip does in the Gospel, all we need to do is introduce
people to the true loving God who, as we heard last week “so loved the world”
that Jesus became incarnate and lived a human life. Next week is Palm Sunday,
then Holy Week, when we hear of the triumph and tragedy of Jesus’ final days on
earth. He kept love as the hallmark. We would do well to do the same.
Where am I being asked to die to control so that something
new might be able to sprout?
How might I live so that God’s love is seen in my life as an
invitation to see Jesus?
