ACTS 15:1-2, 22-29
PS 67:2-3,5,6,8
REV 21:10-14, 22-23
JN 14:23-29
I was watching a documentary the other day about Fred Rogers and his PBS show, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. I was struck by how much this man exuded the love that Jesus expected us to show to everyone, even our enemies. The filmmaker asked Mr. Rogers' son what it was like having him for a father. He said it was like having a second Christ for a father. Wow! Can you imagine someone saying that about us? Yet, this gentle loving soul that was Fred Rogers spent his life loving and healing others, particularly children, but adults as well.
Jesus told his disciples to let the children come to him, for such were the ones who dwelt in heaven. Well, Fred Rogers spent his whole career welcoming children. But why? Because he loved them. Jesus' whole ministry was about showing God's love to to others. Saint Paul said that a life without love was meaningless. So what is love? Perhaps we should ask, "Who is love?" The answer is God and all those who love others as he loves us. And today's readings give us an amazing look into the working of God's plan throughout salvation history and his love for humanity.
Before the world began, let us imagine God bursting with a love that he wanted to share. Did God need to create us? No, he was totally self-sufficient. He did not need anyone or anything to feel complete. Yet, love can not be contained. It seeks release. And that's why he created us: to know, love and serve him, and spend eternity with him in heaven.
So, let us travel back through the mists of time to the story of the creation of the world. We see that God was very satisfied with what he had created. "It was good." But it didn't take long for man to rebel and find himself locked out of Paradise. Yet, God's love would not let him abandon his creation. He would one day send his Son, the son of Adam and David, to save us and establish a new covenant between God and man.
Some men came down from Judea and taught the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised after the custom of Moses, you can’t be saved.” Therefore when Paul and Barnabas had no small discord and discussion with them, they appointed Paul and Barnabas, and some others of them, to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question.
Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole assembly, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brothers. They wrote these things by their hand:
“The apostles, the elders, and the brothers, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: greetings. Because we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, ‘You must be circumcised and keep the law,’ to whom we gave no commandment; it seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose out men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who themselves will also tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay no greater burden on you than these necessary things: that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, it will be well with you. Farewell.” ACTS 15:1-2, 22-29
But first, he would need to prepare us for his coming. In the Old Testament, we see the Jews studying the Torah, trying to follow the 10 Commandments given to Moses, and burdening themselves with over 600 rules in the Mosaic law. In our first reading, we see the Apostles deciding to not force new converts, the Gentiles, to be circumcised which the Mosaic law required.
Here is a perfect example of how the Old Testament connects to the New Testament: God loves his people and did not want to burden the Gentiles with rules that more often than not impeded man's relationship with his creator. Yet, he did not want to offend the Jews by throwing out all their rituals and customs. (Even Jesus was circumcised, read the Torah, and followed the rules.) So the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostles to keep just four rules: no eating food for idol worship (but Paul will eventually abandon this regulation as well), no eating of strangled animals or meat from which the blood had not been drained, and no illicit marriages.
So we see that God established new rules that would satisfy the Jews raised in the Mosaic law and the Gentiles who would have balked at circumcision and all those rules. But why did God do it? Out of love. He wanted to create a way for us to re-enter Paradise. And God's way was not hidden. He left footprints, so to speak, through history to show us that he was working on the problem. God was revealing himself and his plan for our salvation by creating a church that was rooted in the past, growing in the present, and destined for glory in the future. ACTS 15:1-2, 22-29
That your way may be known on earth,
and your salvation among all nations,
let the peoples praise you, God.
Let all the peoples praise you.
Oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you will judge the peoples with equity,
and govern the nations on earth.
Selah.
Let the peoples praise you, God.
Let all the peoples praise you.
The earth has yielded its increase.
God, even our own God, will bless us.
God will bless us.
All the ends of the earth shall fear him. PS 67:2-3,5,6,8
Here in psalm 67 we see that the psalmist was affirming that God would bless his church where all nations, Jewish and Gentile, would come together in fellowship. Yep, another footprint. And yes, God blesses us because he loves us.
He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, as if it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal; having a great and high wall; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. On the east were three gates; and on the north three gates; and on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.
I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. The city has no need for the sun, neither of the moon, to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. REV 21:10-14, 22-23
In Revelation, John reveals the future church re-established on earth, rooted in the past (the names of the 12 tribes of Israel), connected to the present (the names of the 12 Apostles), and God and his Son, the Son of Adam and David, filling the church with their glory. God's love will be on full display. And, yes, John's revelation is another sign that God is Emmanuel, he is with us.
Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him. He who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words. The word which you hear isn’t mine, but the Father’s who sent me. I have said these things to you, while still living with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful. You heard how I told you, ‘I go away, and I come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I said ‘I am going to my Father;’ for the Father is greater than I. Now I have told you before it happens so that, when it happens, you may believe. JN 14:23-29
Jesus is talking about the Father loving us because we love Jesus. And we should pay attention because Jesus is revealing the Father's words, not his. And to make sure that we understand what the Father is saying, the Father will send the Holy Spirit to instruct his followers and remind them of all that Jesus had preached. And Jesus gives them advanced notice of what his church is going to experience in the immediate future. Again, we see the Father's love for his people revealed through Jesus, and more evidence that the Father was, is and will always be active in his church.
Who can read these words and not know that God has always loved us, has always been, and will always be with us?
As Mr. Rogers was dying, he asked his wife if she thought that he was a sheep. He was referring to the Last Judgment when Jesus would separate the sheep from the goats. His wife replied that if anyone was a sheep, it was Fred. Rest in peace, Mr. Rogers. We know that you are with God, just as you were when you lived with us on earth. May others say the same about us!
Now go in peace knowing that God loves you.
John
and your salvation among all nations,
let the peoples praise you, God.
Let all the peoples praise you.
Oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you will judge the peoples with equity,
and govern the nations on earth.
Selah.
Let the peoples praise you, God.
Let all the peoples praise you.
The earth has yielded its increase.
God, even our own God, will bless us.
God will bless us.
All the ends of the earth shall fear him. PS 67:2-3,5,6,8
Here in psalm 67 we see that the psalmist was affirming that God would bless his church where all nations, Jewish and Gentile, would come together in fellowship. Yep, another footprint. And yes, God blesses us because he loves us.
He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, as if it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal; having a great and high wall; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. On the east were three gates; and on the north three gates; and on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.
I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. The city has no need for the sun, neither of the moon, to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. REV 21:10-14, 22-23
In Revelation, John reveals the future church re-established on earth, rooted in the past (the names of the 12 tribes of Israel), connected to the present (the names of the 12 Apostles), and God and his Son, the Son of Adam and David, filling the church with their glory. God's love will be on full display. And, yes, John's revelation is another sign that God is Emmanuel, he is with us.
Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him. He who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words. The word which you hear isn’t mine, but the Father’s who sent me. I have said these things to you, while still living with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful. You heard how I told you, ‘I go away, and I come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I said ‘I am going to my Father;’ for the Father is greater than I. Now I have told you before it happens so that, when it happens, you may believe. JN 14:23-29
Jesus is talking about the Father loving us because we love Jesus. And we should pay attention because Jesus is revealing the Father's words, not his. And to make sure that we understand what the Father is saying, the Father will send the Holy Spirit to instruct his followers and remind them of all that Jesus had preached. And Jesus gives them advanced notice of what his church is going to experience in the immediate future. Again, we see the Father's love for his people revealed through Jesus, and more evidence that the Father was, is and will always be active in his church.
Who can read these words and not know that God has always loved us, has always been, and will always be with us?
As Mr. Rogers was dying, he asked his wife if she thought that he was a sheep. He was referring to the Last Judgment when Jesus would separate the sheep from the goats. His wife replied that if anyone was a sheep, it was Fred. Rest in peace, Mr. Rogers. We know that you are with God, just as you were when you lived with us on earth. May others say the same about us!
Now go in peace knowing that God loves you.
John
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