If you ask anyone to tell you
which holy days define the Christian Faith, people will generally say that it's
Christmas and Easter. These two days
are, of course, both days that celebrate birth, but it is Easter that
celebrates birth into eternity, as our exemplar, Jesus Christ, is the first to
lead the way. We are, what can be
called, an Easter people.
And in today's Gospel, we are told by Christ that He's
leaving, but that He gives not as the world gives, in a way that is temporal,
in a way that is fleeting, in a way that will fade. He gives us peace, that which is beyond this world, that which is steadfast and
will last forever. And he will be going
to the Father to advocate for us.
Each time we say our Baptismal vows, we are reminded that
we agree to advocate for Christ among the people here. We have the peace Christ gives to us. Think about that peace, that gift Christ
gives. Turn to Page 304 in the Book of
Common Prayer, toward the bottom of the page.
Will you continue
in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in
the prayers?
People I
will, with God's help.
Will you persevere
in resisting evil, and , whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the
Lord?
People I
will, with God's help.
Will you proclaim
by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
People I will,
with God's help.
Will you seek and
serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
People I
will, with God's help.
Will you strive
for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
People I
will, with God's help.
Each of those statements provide us with active, action
verbs – these aren't just words. These
are vows that exemplify that we are
advocates for Christ here on Earth.
These are instructions on how we fulfill those baptismal vows.
And what does that look like? Well, we have the first lesson this morning,
where Paul was stoned, and left for dead.
The disciples came, surrounded him, and through Christ, healed him so
that he got up, went to the city, grabbed Barnabas and started again. We have an example of someone who never gives
up; he just gets up and teaches the next day.
We have the example of the disciples, healing someone who has certainly
been beaten down by the world. And we
have Barnabas who walks as a companion with Paul, ensuring that sometimes,
there's strength in numbers.
Paul doesn't rail against the world here, but rather
focuses on what's important – advocating for Christ. In several of the translations of the Bible,
there's a different connotation with the statement " I will no longer talk
much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me…" If you hear, instead of "ruler",
the word "prince", how does that change the meaning of this
passage? Christ has provided us with His peace, because the world is about to
get ugly. The prince of darkness has no
power over Christ, and Christ has provided us
with the peace that allows no worldly power over us. But unless we step up, and fulfill our
baptismal vows, provide those who don't know Christ with His peace, we are literally leaving them to languish under the rule
of darkness.
The Psalm this morning speaks about the glory of God, about
the kingdom which is everlasting, and about our own testimony, telling others
of the glory of God. "The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up
all who are bowed down." In every
vow of our Baptismal promises, we have God's help. Our actions speak for us, advocate for
Christ. Listen for that voice of God
that reminds us of the choice – in anything we do. What is the best way to exemplify an Easter
people, to draw people to Christ, and to teach them about the greatest gift He
gave us? Listen for that voice, and
choose wisely.
No comments:
Post a Comment