St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Perth Amboy, NJ

A sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C

Acts 11:1-18; John 13:31-35

I grew up in the 1970’s. When I say this, I hear some folks say, “Wow! You’re young!” and others, mostly students, say, “Gosh, you’re old!” I guess this is what they call “middle age”!

I also grew up going to church. My father was a United Methodist minister. In those days, there was a new movement in church music going on, what some called the “renewal” movement. It was away from organs and formal choirs and toward guitars and choir members wearing jeans and sneakers! Gasp!

There were Christian t-shirts like one that looked like a Coca-Cola ad. It said, “Try Jesus Christ! He’s the real thing!”

We sang contemporary songs like “I Wish We’d all been Ready” and “Put your hand in the hand of the man that stilled the waters.”

There was another song we used to sing in the 70’s, all the time it seems. “They will know we are Christians by our love”.

We are one in the spirit

We are one in the Lord

And we pray that all unity may one day be restored

And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love

A Catholic priest, Fr. Peter Scholte, wrote this song, trying to give his youth choir something new and contemporary to sing. Little did he know that Christians all over the world would still be singing this simple song almost 50 years later!

Basically, all Fr. Scholte did was put the words of Jesus to music. We hear those words in today’s Gospel.

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Now, pay attention to when this happens in John’s Gospel – at the Last Supper. This happens after Jesus had already washed all their feet, including Judas’ feet, and then Jesus had instituted the Lord’s Supper. These are among his last words to his closest friends. “Love one another. This is how the world will know you are my disciples.”

Soon these disciples would see Jesus tried and executed. One of their own turned him in to the authorities, and even Peter couldn’t stay loyal. He denied he even knew Jesus. They all had fled in fear.

A few weeks back during these Sundays after Easter Day, we heard the story of Jesus meeting Peter after the resurrection. Peter was still hurting because of his denial of Jesus, but Jesus reminded him of his love for Peter and also Peter’s calling to lead the early Church. Jesus’ commandment at the last supper to love hadn’t gone anywhere. It was still at the center of their life as the first Christians.

Flash forward a bit in time to this lesson from the Acts of the Apostles we have heard this morning. Let’s admit it – it’s a strange reading.

It might help to look back at what was going on, just a few years after Jesus’ resurrection. At first all Christians were Jews. Jesus was Jewish. All the disciples were Jewish. Christianity was considered a “sect” within Judaism. But as the good news spread, non-Jews, Gentiles, began to believe in Jesus. Then came the question – what do we do with these strange people?

Jews just didn’t mix with Gentiles. They were unclean. They didn’t eat kosher food. Their men weren’t even circumcised! Should we welcome them to worship with us? Should we share our food or eat with them? Some Christians said no! They are unclean! Other Christians believed very strongly that Jesus would have wanted them to welcome everyone. After all, it’s what Jesus did in his life on earth – he hung out with those society said were unclean, unworthy. Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman at the well. A woman who had been divorced.

But for others in the early Church, maintaining their purity codes and kosher practices was the more important. They demanded that anyone who wanted to follow Jesus would have to become Jewish first, like them. The disagreement was deep. As you can imagine, it didn’t take very long for there to be a church split! Sound familiar?

Peter was left with a real problem – would he side with those who welcomed the Gentiles into the Church, or would he side with those who wanted to keep them out?

That’s where we find him this morning. Peter was an observant Jew. He followed the Law. He kept kosher. Suddenly, God sent a vision to him of all these animals, some kosher, some not. The voice of the Lord tells him, “Kill and eat.” It wasn’t as if a banquet of prepared food appeared before him. The voice doesn’t say, “Try some of the lobster, Peter!” or “How about some bacon?!?” No, the voice tells him to “kill and eat”.

Peter objects, but the voice of the Lord tells him, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”

Immediately following this vision, Gentiles are knocking at Peter’s door. Peter says a remarkable thing, “The spirit told me to go with them and to not make a distinction between them and us.”

This is a major turning point, not just for Peter but for the entire early Church. Gentiles, these “unclean” people, were welcomed into their midst. No distinction would be made between them. Of course there were those who couldn’t stand being near the unclean, and they left the Church. But God’s word to Peter and his fellow Christians was clear, “Welcome them!”

We will work with each other

We will work side by side

And we’ll guard each man’s dignity

And save each man’s pride

And they’ll know we are Christians

The surviving apostles of Jesus and other leaders gathered in Jerusalem, debated, and took a vote. Sound familiar? We do this to this very day! The Church expanded, even while it split.

Our church today has been going through growing pains. Who will we welcome? Will we welcome people different from the rest of society, no matter what the neighbors say? Will we follow Jesus’ command to love, no matter what? Well, to be perfectly honest, we have been going through these growing pains for the entire history of the Church. In the Episcopal Church, we have intentionally welcomed those whom society has rejected, no matter what it may cost us.

At St Peter’s you are searching for your next leader, your next priest. Truly, you already have leaders among you. You have a reputation, whether you know it or not. You are known to be a parish committed to outreach and also once dedicated to inclusion. I pray you keep those two hallmarks well in mind – inclusion and outreach. They truly are the ways you carry on the mission Jesus began the mission God still calls us to.

We will walk with each other

We will walk hand in hand

And together we’ll spread the news that

God is in our land

And they’ll know we are Christians

By our love…