Follow me!

FEAST OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST

January 3, 2016

The Rev. Dr. John H. Eastwood

Today is a special day.  We are still in the Christmas season and still in the midst of our holiday activities - some are gift giving, others are family visiting, a few are marrying, and some are writing letters  - all these are acts of loving and embracing one another.  It is that time when we do some reconnecting - catch up with old friends, meet some new ones, re establish our roots to ground us as we charge on into 2016!

One letter written long ago is very important to our congregation’s history - that is, of course, the gospel of St. John.  Today we celebrate the Feast of St John the Evangelist, our patron.   We honor this writer of the fourth gospel for the unique way in which his gospel brings us the good news of Jesus Christ. It is also, and especially, a time to honor each other - to give thanks for each other  - for our Vicar, Richard, for our leaders,  and all others of us who support in so many ways our daily round of worship and mission. We remind ourselves of the blessings of inspiration, hope, and love that come to us as we gather to break bread, lift the cup.  We also remember each other and how we are all connected to each other through this weekly round of worship and fellowship year by year. Above all, today we give thanks for this our spiritual home!

 It is all about love, loving acceptance of one another in all the ups and downs of our lives. It is about that special character of loving that Jesus means when he says to Peter and all those who came to him - “follow me.”  In these stories of Jesus we find that they are full of abundant grace.  They are significant in a way that sets the whole gospel apart from the other three gospels.  When Jesus says “I am the bread of life”, for example,  the words make you stop and think. “Wait a minute! What does that mean?”   The impact of his words for the community of Jesus who heard them over and over, as is true for us who hear them today, is that they are transformative in nature.  In one story after another, all through the fourth gospel,  we are talking about things both heavenly and earthly, divine and human. That is what John intended.  

Jesus said “Follow me.”  He said it at the beginning of his ministry to some fisherman in the gospel of Matthew.  He says that a lot.  He said it to Peter when Peter began to complain about the beloved disciple in today’s gospel.  Jesus’ words settle him right down.  “No more complaining about your brother!  Follow me!”  He said it to the crowds who wanted something from him but didn’t know about the way of self denial, or selling everything you had and giving to the poor, or the cost of loving in the way he intended.  He said it to those who lived in darkness and were searching for the light.  He said it to those who carried heavy burdens and needed to be refreshed.  He said “Follow me” in other ways.  He said to many,  “abide in me”, “come to me”, “feed on me”. In so many different ways he said these  words of love. “Follow me” could be the two most powerful words in both the Old and New Testaments.

To be accepted and loved is one of the most transforming experiences any human can know.  That is what these words of Jesus mean: loving acceptance for who you are and for whom you can become for others.   That is the message of our patron saint.

The message of loving acceptance has been the heart of the ministry of St John’s over the years.  It has brought this congregation to testify to it many times.  Think of the founding of St Luke’s Hospital in the 1800's and the establishing of three mission churches - Holy Innocents, Good Shepherd, and Epiphany.  Think of what a church does in times when it hears the call to sew the seeds of  love and compassion and it has only 12 people around the altar on a Sunday?  It has to find a way to get out of itself.  It reaches out to its neighborhood with the gifts that God had given it, like space and the Holy Spirit.   And so we have programs like Head Start, art workshops, tutoring, and today, we have  Mission Graduates, Tuesday night Bhuddist meditation,  daily  Gubbio Project, Saturday’s Julian Pantry, and other groups and programs, free meals.  Ovef the years there are services of healing and reconciliation, special gatherings for organizing and worship around issues of discrimination, housing, AIDS.  Love’s acceptance always has meant care for the sick and those struggling with disease who would otherwise be alone.  Sometimes we called it “the spirit of St John’s” other times we called it “More Love”.

Over the years God called the people of St John’s  to know an important truth:   To be accepted and loved is one of the most transforming experiences any human can know.  It is transforming because you are moved out of your own self absorption, and into care for yourself and for others in a healthy way of love.   This is the good news our ministries can bring to others.

There is an unforgettable experience that Pastor Frederick Buechner tells of walking down the street one day at the foot of Central Park in New York City.  He passed by a middle-aged woman who said to him  “Jesus loves you.”  It was an everyday voice, the kind that you would use to say “good morning.”  Buechner said that he was taken off guard by it and actually startled.  Before he could thank her she was lost in a crowd.  He wanted to run after her to say, “Yes, if I believe anything worth believing in this whole world, I believe what you just said.  I believe God loves me.  He loves you.  He loves the whole pack of us.”  But the experience didn’t end there.  Buechner said, “For the rest of the way I was going, the streets I walked on were paved with gold.  Nothing was different.  Everything was different.  The city was transfigured.  It was a “New” York City.  For a moment, it was not the world that I saw, but the world as it might be.”
Today we give thanks for one another and for St John the Evangelist who gave us a picture of Jesus’ loving acceptance of people that moved them to care for others.
At St. John’s we go about our ministry to our world in the same way - through  a glimpse of what it might be.  AMEN