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"The Search for Eternal Life"
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
Fifth Sunday of Easter
May 6, 2007
Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18
Acts 13: 44-52
John 13:31-35
It was about a week ago that the cares of our lives - global
warming, war, politics, dirty dishes, homework, even bishops
were interrupted for a moment – and our minds and imaginations
could soar to another world, an earth-like planet, the first
of its kind to be discovered.
This is not the first planet outside of our solar system to
be discovered. Other planets are known to exist – but
they are giant balls of gas – like Jupiter. The gravitational
pull of these planets makes their stars wobble. When scientists
see a wobble, they know there is a planet.
This new planet was discovered in the constellation of Libra,
which orbits a sun called Gliese (glee-sa) 581. It is a mere
20.5 light years away. The important discovery is that the planet’s
size and distance from its star make for mild temperatures,
from between 32 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit. These conditions
make it possible for liquid water to be present, and maybe even
some form of life as we know it. If you were to be on this planet,
its star would appear to be a reddish balloon, five times larger
than our sun. Gliese 581 is the 87th closest star to our sun,
and like us, a part of the Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers estimate
that there are 300 billion stars in the Milky Way. Our neighbor
galaxy, called Andromeda, is 2.5 million light years away and
contains another 100 billion or so stars. The Milky Way and
Andromeda galaxies pin-wheel around each other. There are other
galaxies circling, which comprise what is blandly labeled “the
local group” which is a small part of the Virgo cluster.
The Virgo cluster is one of millions. At this point, the magnitude
of the universe boggles the mind. How many “earth-like”
planets are out there? Thousands? Millions?
I think it is important and necessary to gain this perspective
on our significance. We are small. Our sun, which is a million
times larger than the earth, is a grain of sand in the Sahara
dessert. We wonder if life exists elsewhere in the universe,
and we are searching for it, and for the conditions that would
allow for it. Over 100 scientists at SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence) are engaged in projects to detect life in the
universe. As humans, we look and listen for signs of life, wondering
if we are alone, unique, special.
While we look out into the creation, we should keep in mind
that the Creator speaks to us. Jesus says, “The word you
hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.”
(John 14:24). Jesus says to his disciples in John 15:16, “You
did not choose me, but I chose you.” We are chosen –
literally sought out by God, and it is God who reveals Himself
to us.
The Word of God, like the universe, is vast. The Biblical text
is enormous, not just in length but in depth. Single words and
sentences can be analyzed and pondered from countless angles.
Interpretations fill volumes upon volumes in Biblical commentaries,
essays and sermons. Given such a vast resource of God’s
revelation, which ones seem to be quoted most often?
John 3:16 comes to mind. It is often displayed on bumper stickers
and banners, as if it indicates that it sums up the Christian
message. The verse reads, “For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in
him may not perish but have eternal life.” What is the
goal of those who quote it? Often as an underhanded threat to
non-Christians – that only those who believe in Jesus
will have eternal life. If you read on, the next verses say,
“those who do not believe are condemned already.”
Another verse comes to mind: Matthew 28:19 reads, “Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Today the Dali lama will be in Grant Park. With this passage
from Matthew motivating and guiding them, a group of Christians
will be there to proselytize Buddhists and other non-Christians.
The ten commandments from Exodus and Deuteronomy are considered
an essential staple of Scripture, although few people can list
all of them. Nonetheless, people debate whether is it legal
or not to display them in public places.
A light shines in the darkness amidst the turmoil of interpretation
and use of Scripture. It comes in today’s Gospel from
John. “I give you a new commandment, that you love one
another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love another.”
This is from a verse that begins at John 13:31. Remember this.
I wonder why it isn’t quoted more often. Episcopalians
aren’t known for quoting the Bible, but we should get
in the habit doing so, and especially this one. It is not hard
to remember: one in three, three in one, “13:31.”
Let’s explore some of its meaning and depth.
Jesus says it is a new commandment. To love is not new. As we
have heard from Leviticus today, God has declared that: “you
shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In Luke’s
Gospel, Jesus says to “love your enemies, do good to those
who hate you.” (Luke 6:27) But it is new in at least two
ways: 1) because it is boundless yet also assumes relationships.
It resists the question “who is my neighbor ?” because
it is not centered in one person but in the context of everyone.
It assumes a radical mutuality and equality of love. 2) It is
new because I think it is eternally new to us, reminding us
and renewing us in the central essence of God.
But what is this love that we do to one another? Jesus tells
us “just as I have loved you, you also should love another.”
How has Jesus loved us? It is by freely giving and sharing what
he has – healing and abundance but specifically the revelation
of the Father. Over and over again, Jesus says that when you
see him, you see the Father. He has loved us in non-violence.
He has loved us in prayer. He has loved us in community. He
has loved us in danger. And his paramount example of love is
washing the feet of his disciples. Jesus does not ask us to
be Jesus but to love as he loved. I think this fact relieves
us of an impossible burden – that of being Jesus, and
leaves us with the possible –that of serving each other,
of washing each other’s feet.
The commandment is for us, and is it new. And it is for now.
It is given in the unending present tense. The commandment is
given to his disciples at a time of great danger. In fact, it
is night. Judas has left the gathering and is on his way to
return with a detachment of soldiers and police who carry torches
and weapons, the instruments of destruction. The great commandment
is given at a time of despair and darkness because it is meant
for all times. To love another means to do so at all times,
in times of prosperity and in times of destruction and difficulty.
Jesus says that God’s commandment is eternal life. (John
12:50). To love one another in servanthood is eternal life.
This is the lost or ignored key to the oft quoted John 3:16,
which instead imagines eternal life as a blissful afterworld,
the “after this life” world of clouds and happiness
where true believers dwell. This is misguided and misleading
at best, and a profound distortion and manipulation of the Creator’s
message to us. Eternal life is to know the Father, which is
through loving one another.
We need to remember that to love one another means washing each
other’s feet. It is simple act. It is not reserved for
heroes or anecdotes about Mother Teresa or Gandhi, although
it is Gandhi who said, “Christianity is a wonderful thing…what
a pity it has never been practiced.” Let us practice here
in this community and in our lives what the Creator has commanded
us to do. Let us listen to, remember and repeat these words
of John 13:31 and see them as the key to eternal life, that
we may have and find life here on our planet just as we search
for it on others.
Amen.
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