Sixth Sunday of Easter

Lectionary: 57



“Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him."

 W e often speak of "the passion, death, and resurrection of the Lord," but fail to mention a fourth mysterious and wonderful incident. That is, his commission. The "resurrection accounts" of the Gospel include the Lord's sending his disciples, and their immediate decision to tell others what they have seen and heard.

Jesus's return from the dead and appearances as a divinized human being with the ability to pass through closed doors and traverse enormous distances are not just interesting historical anomalies. They demand much of those who believe in him.

A recent, comical video imagines that a skeptic's opinion about the Church's beginnings. They suppose the apostles fabricated the story of his resurrection after he was crucified, and then attempted to spread their deception to the entire world. In the video this is Peter's brilliant idea: "We'll hide his body and then tell everyone he's alive!" 
All but one of his disciples immediately all in on it. That’s a great idea! Let’s do it! Only Thomas complains that the same people who crucified the Lord will murder us for telling this story!
But the boys are caught up in the "spirit;" they’re eager to be crucified, beheaded, skinned alive, and burned to death – and so the fake gospel continues to this day. They were all martyred, and thousands with them, for telling a lie.

So the skeptics would tell us. It's a speculative notion more absurd than common sense or the Gospel! Who are they trying to kid?

John 14:23, the verse quoted at the top of this page, describes the manner of those who believe in Jesus, and why they are ready to announce the Gospel from Jerusalem to the whole world. They are possessed by the abiding Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God has taken up residence within them and they are filled with life, energy, and courage. They will travel to every town, city, and nation; and learn every language. Becoming God's presence in the world they will not hesitate to speak of him even in the face of death.

Theologians describe the mystery of the Holy Trinity with a Greek word, perichoresis, the mutual indwelling and inter-penetration of the three persons of the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Perichoresis signifies that each person is fully with, in, and for the others, possessing the same divine essence while remaining distinct. They are entirely in one another, present, available, and vulnerable before the others. Although they are three, and each is God, there is only one God. 

This verse from Saint John's Gospel assures us that what we know in our hearts -- God's abiding presence -- truly describes the ineffable wonder of the Holy Trinity. As the Lord lives with us, so do the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit abide in each other, in a perfect Trinity of love.

As humans we know that three is an unstable number. When three people live together, they are continually, playing the game of victim, rescuer, and tormentor; pitted one against two and two against one, and their alliances shift continually. (Great fun is had by all!) 

That is not how it is with God. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit continually surrender to one another; and love one another because their love is total and their communion complete. Nor should we imagine their presence to one another is static; there is life and dynamism in God. That harmony is so beautiful we can't imagine it, and yet we know it's true because we find that communion, peace, and harmony within our Church and within our hearts -- at least occasionally.

Because the Trinity of God abides within his disciples, they are not reluctant to make the sacrifices which God himself makes for them. Jesus has said,

"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you."

In today's first reading from the Acts of the Apostles we hear how some so-called “Christian missionaries" came from Judea to Antioch to tell the recently baptized, gentile men that they must be circumcised, and could not be saved if they were not. The message sounded familiar even to gentiles; and for that reason, right. It also assured them that believing in Jesus was not as demanding as it seemed. It's really the same old Jewish religion rebranded and repackaged but not altered.

But some disciples were disappointed with this more comfortable, more familiar doctrine; and Saint Paul was horrified. It can't be true! he insisted. It completely dismisses the passion and death of the Lord, and the sacrifice he has made for us. How can we be a part of him if we want no part in Jesus's sacrifice of himself? How can we eat his flesh and drink his blood if that eating and drinking does not demand, and bring us to a total surrender of ourselves in faith to God. Circumcision means nothing, Paul insisted, 

if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you.... For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

Half measures mean nothing. If we do not take up the cross of daily sacrifice, we cannot follow the Man who died for us. A one off surgery, as painful as it might be, does not assure salvation to anyone. 

I have today spoken of the indwelling of the Holy Trinity within us; and of the total sacrifice that God's dwelling within us means. Finally, I must remember that we are sinners. When I graduated from Saint Helen’s School over sixty years ago, I probably thought that a whole lot of hypocrites attended that church. When I come back today, I find that I fit right in! Either I have become a complete hypocrite, or they have become saints! 

I think it’s the latter.
Or rather, God has embraced us, hypocritical sinners that we are. 

When someone tells me the Church is full of hypocrites, I assure them, “There’s room for more!” We don’t pretend to be anything but what we are, sinful people who believe in a good God who is kind and compassionate, just and merciful. And, as Saint Francis said, “Good, all Good, supreme Good.”