Homily:
6th Sunday of Easter – Cycle B
Sometimes I fear that I suffer from a critical lack of
imagination. Even though I’ve studied a
lot about the Bible, I often find it difficult to imagine vividly the dramatic
scenes presented in the Scriptures. My
guess is that I’ve watched too much TV in my lifetime instead of reading books,
like I should have. TV, though, has come
to my rescue in the form of the NBC mini-series titled “A.D.” This series was produced by the same people
who produced “The Bible” mini-series and the movie “The Son of God” and it is
just as good as these two previous productions.
What the “A.D” mini-series does for me is it “puts flesh” on the
Scriptures and it helps me to put faces and personalities with the names and
the words recorded for us in the Scriptures; help that my weakling imagination so
desperately needs.
Peter, obviously, is a very central character in the
mini-series and I’ve become absolutely enamored with him. He’s shown in all of his raw humanity: a mix
of emotions and convictions that is both bold yet hesitant at the same time and
it has really enlivened my reading of the Scriptures, including passages like
we’ve read today.
In it, Peter enters the house of the Roman Centurion named
Cornelius and, prompted by a vision he had in a dream, he begins to describe
how God does not distinguish one nation from another, but rather wills that all
men in every nation would fear him and thus be made acceptable in his
sight. As he is doing so, the Holy
Spirit descended upon Cornelius and all who were of his household and they
began to speak in tongues—a scene that should remind us all of the first
Pentecost—thus proving the truth of Peter’s words: that God, indeed, shows no
partiality.
The disciples who were there—Peter included—were astounded
at what they saw and joyful because of it: so much so that Peter ordered them
to be baptized immediately. Given what
I’ve seen of Peter’s portrayal in “A.D.” I can have a sense of just how emotionally
charged this scene must have been as the disciples moved from apprehension over
the acceptance of Gentiles to joy that the Gentiles, too, could receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit.
One of the things that is very true about human nature is
that fear robs us of joy. Just think for
a moment of someone you know who is a “worry wart” and then ask yourself “how
joyful is he or she?” My guess is that
not one of you imagined somebody who is both a worrier yet joyful at the same
time, because these two characteristics seem to be mutually exclusive: the
amount of joy a person has is usually directly proportional to the amount of
fear—or worry—that they hold on to.
Those who are full of joy, on the contrary, can stand in what seems to
be the most fearful situations without being fazed.
Jesus has told us—and we heard it today—that “if we keep
his commandments we will remain in his love” and that “his commandment is this:
to love one another as he loves us”, which means “to lay down one’s life for
one’s friends”; and that “he has told us this so that his joy may be in us and
our joy may be complete.” Elsewhere in
the Scriptures we read that “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts
out fear.” (1 John 4:18) Thus, if we keep
Jesus’ commandment to love—that is, to lay down our lives by letting go of our
attachments and preferences—we will remain in his love, which is perfect
because “God is love” (1 John 4:8).
Therefore it will cast out from us every fear and make us open to being
filled completely with joy.
One of the fears that I commonly encounter here in this
parish is a fear of change. No doubt
change can be a fearful thing and there are many changes facing our parish in
the next couple of months. If we give in
to fear of what else we might lose, however, and begin to grasp more tightly
the things that remain, then we risk closing ourselves off to the unknown joy
that lies ahead. If we let go of our
securities and give in to being uncomfortable, however, we open ourselves to
the movement of the Holy Spirit and risk being filled with an even greater joy
than we could have imagined. Just think:
if Peter had refused to let go of his prejudice that Jesus was the Messiah for
the Jews alone, none of us “gentiles” might be here. But he opened himself to the movement of the
Holy Spirit and thus was filled with an even greater joy than he could have
imagined at first: that Jesus is the Messiah for both Jews and Gentiles
alike—that is, the whole human race.
My brothers and sisters, the question for us today is:
“what are we afraid of?” Jesus wants
joy-filled followers. Yet, Christians
walking around afraid that the world is collapsing down over them are
particular joy-less. On the contrary,
Christians who live detached from the things of this world, and from their
personal preferences and prejudices, are typically the most joy-filled. These focus on giving, instead of receiving;
on laying down their lives for others, instead of preserving their lives at the
expense of others; in short, they focus on love.
My friends, this joy that Jesus promises is a joy that I
want in my life and so I am going to let go of my apprehension and give in to
being uncomfortable so as to see what this movement of the Holy Spirit has in
store for me and for this parish; and I invite all of you to come along with me
to follow Jesus’ command to love unreservedly: because it is by this that we
will remain in his love and it is by this that our joy, made perfect by his,
will be complete.
Given at All Saints Parish:
Logansport, IN – May 10th, 2015
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