How to Love - Prince of Peace Lutheran Church

John 13:31-35

³¹When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³²If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.³³Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ ³⁴I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

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This sermon was originally preached by me, Rev. Sarah Locke, at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church on May 19, 2019. To listen to the sermon (with infusions from the Spirit), click here. 

It is a joy to be with you this morning. I am the pastor for Jacksonville Campus Ministry, which is an ecumenical ministry that serves University of North Florida and soon Jacksonville University through the partnerships of seven denominations and over a dozen congregations in Jacksonville. 

I have the extreme privilege of working with young people and students on a regular basis and I love it. I love it most especially because young people ask all the good questions.

Recently, a student asked, “what is the most important part of Christian life?” As any good pastor or teacher would do, I asked it right back. Well what do you think? 

“I suppose it’s important to believe in Jesus and follow his example,” she replied. What does that look like? I prompted. 

“Well, doing what Jesus did. Loving people. That’s what he tells the disciples to do. We’re supposed to love people.” 

She seemed satisfied with that small answer to her big question, and the subject changed to something else. But I kept thinking about it for weeks afterwards. 

We’re supposed to love people. And this was stuck in my head and it was like a pebble in my shoe, or an itchy tag in the collar of my shirt. I couldn’t figure out why it didn’t sit quite right with me. It seemed too simple, too elementary of an answer. 

As I read the text for this week, it wasn’t the simplicity of Jesus’ example and command that struck me, it is the difficulty. 

The gospel text for this morning is one of the shortest gospel texts we get in our whole three year lectionary cycle. And it is possibly the most important. It is certainly the text that best sums up, not just the four gospels, but the entire Bible. God loves you, so love other people. “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

And that sounds awfully nice, right? It’s nice to be loved, and it’s nice to love others. But often times I don’t think we take this seriously enough. Within the context of when Jesus tells his disciples, he is not just saying to be nice or kind to folks. He had just humbled himself to the point of humiliation by washing the disciples feet. And right after this, he will be betrayed, stripped, beaten, and hanged on a cross for everyone to witness as they come in and out of the bustling city. Love is not just a good feeling. Jesus is not simply commanding his disciples to play nice with others. 

What would the world look like if we erred on the side of this kind of love? 

Love that sacrifices itself for others. 

Love that is without fear of the unknown or the other. 

Love that forfeits power and privilege. 

Love that believes people’s experiences of injustice.

Love that breaks down walls and crosses borders. 

Love that cares more about the health and wholeness of God’s people than profit. 

Love that risks upsetting the religious elite because it is the way of love. 

Love that honors women’s bodies and the lives of minorities and vulnerable communities. 

Love that not only feeds the hungry and homeless, but fights against the powers that create the hungry and homeless. 

Love that cares more about the wellness of God’s people than church or state politics. 

Love that is more than justice or fairness, more than friendliness or politeness. 

What would the world look like if we, as Jesus’ followers, loved people in the same way that Jesus did? In the same way that God does: 

Without wondering if they deserve it. Or the color of their skin, or their country of origin, or if they have the right paperwork. Or even if they’ve broken the law. We love them. Period. Because that is what Jesus has done and that is what Jesus commands us to do. Period. No exceptions. Not when it is convenient. Not when it benefits us the most. Not when we think folks deserve it. No, we love because God loves us. And God gave Godself for us in Christ Jesus to live among us, minister to us, and be God incarnate among God’s people. 

And because this life of love, this way of love, was too much for us, was too radical and too intense, God’s people hung God on a cross and killed him. So that’s the risk we take when we follow this command. We risk losing our power and our privilege and possibly our lives. 

And we know when we are loving in this way… because our community and our lives begin to look like the passage from Revelation. We begin to live into the reality of a new heaven and a new earth. We see God among us, in one another— in every person we encounter. Death will be no more, mourning and crying and pain will be no more. All things will be made new and beautiful and good. Christ has started this work in his life, death, and resurrection, but we are called into that work as resurrection people. We are called and commanded to love. 

And if that sounds like too much for you, if it sounds like too much for us as a community, then I’d agree with you. It is too much. But it is not impossible. We have been equipped for this love in the Holy Spirit that was gifted to us in Holy Baptism. 

We dip our fingers in the water of the font and remember that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit to do this word. 

We come to the table to taste the body and blood of our Lord Christ Jesus and remember God’s love for us.

We confess that we have not loved with our whole hearts, we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. 

We hear the words of forgiveness and acknowledge that we do not have to love perfectly to love powerfully. 

Finally, we remember and affirm that love and the power to love are gifts from God. There is not and never will be a shortage of love. 

So we love. And love. And love. And love and love and love. Until the Kingdom of God is fully at hand and Christ’s glorious name is proclaimed by all. And then we love some more. Amen. 

Re-membering Mountaintop Experiences - Redeemer Episcopal Church

John 21:1-19

After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. ²Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples.³Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. ⁴Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” ⁶He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. ⁷That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. ⁸But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. ⁹When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. ¹⁰Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” ¹¹So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

¹⁵When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” ¹⁷He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” ¹⁹(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

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This sermon was originally preached by me, Sarah Locke, on May 5, 2019 at Redeemer Episcopal Church. You can listen to the sermon (with infusions from the Spirit) at this link. 

Grace and peace to you from the risen Christ who encounters us, changes us, and commands us to follow him. Amen. 

My husband first introduced to me the phrase “mountaintop experience” when we were in seminary and he was describing his time as a church camp counselor and program director. The camp was in the mountains of North Carolina, so I figured it was just camp language. I had never attended church camp in my life, so there was a lot of that culture that I didn’t understand.

But eventually I came to realize that a mountaintop experience was a time when we encounter God. Like Moses on the mountain, coming face to face with God, the disciples encountering the transfigured Christ on the mountaintop in all his glory… 

When God encounters God’s people, when God encounters us, things change. Our lives, our priorities, and our faith change. 

Different for everyone. God can and does meet us everywhere. 

Receive a vision from God 

Mission trip 

Holding your baby for the first time 

It could be a weekend of faith formation at camp

In the midst of great pain or sorrow 

You can have them all throughout your life— for some of us, it is what brought us to church in the first place. Or maybe brought us back to church. 

I’ve had many mountaintop experiences, but my most profound was when I was in Honduras my first year of seminary. We were literally on the side of a mountain in a tiny village. 

God feels so close. 

You know you’re walking on holy ground. 

The existence of God and the love of Christ are undeniable. 

And somehow, in some way, you know your whole life has change and your identity has shifted, your goals and mission have been shifted. 

All of that happened to me in Honduras. Everything changed and I knew I wanted to do international mission work for the rest of my life. I was ready and passionate about it. So much so that my husband, who was then my boyfriend, was worried that I would drop out of seminary and move back to Honduras immediately. 

But when I got back to the United States, I went back to class, work, everyday drudgery, and I began to forget about those powerful moments. The fire started to diminish and burn out. 

That’s exactly where we meet the disciples in the passage this morning. 

Following Jesus for 3 years 

Changed lives, turned upside down

Adrenaline of the trial and a fire was lit with the idea of carrying on Jesus’ mission 

But then Jesus dies and there are rumors that he has been raised, but they hadn’t seen him… and isn’t that exactly where we are? Two weeks ago we came together and shouted hallelujah and greeted everyone with joy. 

Now we are back to the old routine— how quickly we forget that it is still Easter! 

SO they come down from this mountaintop experience, and they know everything has changed. They themselves have been changed. But they had a choice to make— move forward and into the hard, terrifying work of God’s mission, or go back to what they had known before being changed by God incarnate.

And, like many of us to every day, they decided to go back to what they knew before Jesus entered their lives and changed them forever. 

They went fishing. 

They fell back into the drudgery of everyday life. They did what they needed to do to provide for themselves and their families. 

But I imagine the reason they didn’t catch any fish was because they could feel deep within their bones that something had changed and they couldn’t just go back to the way things were. We recognize that too, sometimes, don’t we? That itch or bubbling feeling that what we went back to is not quite right anymore? 

So Jesus, persistent as he is, comes to them and shakes them up again— providing for them, nourishing them. Reminding them of who he is, reminding them who they are and what the last three years were all about. And finally, reminding them of his mission— their own mission— now that the had encountered God incarnate. 

And this is the beautiful, terrifying part. Jesus doesn’t just give the disciples a new job or remind them of their job description. He says, “feed my lambs” and “feed my sheep.” 

Shepherds did not just throw some sheep food into a trough a few times a day. Being a shepherd was a new way of life. Jesus was giving the disciples a new lifestyle, reminded them that as shepherds, they would have a new identity, a new mission. That is what it means to be baptized into the mission of our incredible God— to be given a new name and a new life.

And that is why we come to the table every week— to be fed and nourished, to be reminded that Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again. We come to be reminded that we are given new life and a new mission every time we eat the body and blood of Christ Jesus. We come to be reminded of those mountaintop experiences and relive them once again. Because God incarnate is alive, and he is encountering us at every turn. We must be ready to recognize him. So that we may be ready to do as he instructed: feed my lambs, and follow me. Amen. 

Serious enough to doubt - St. Mark's Lutheran Church

John 20:19-31

¹⁹When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”²²When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” ²⁴But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.²⁵So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” ²⁸Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”³⁰Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

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This sermon was originally preached by me, Rev. Sarah Locke, at St. Mark's Lutheran Church on April 28, 2019. To listen to this sermon (with infusions from the Spirit), you can do that by clicking below.

Grace and peace to you, from our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who shows us his wounds and sends us the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

I believe that the disciple Thomas gets a bad wrap — We know him most commonly as “doubting Thomas.” Despite the fact that up until this point in his journey, he has had as much or more certainty in his faith than any of the other disciples. 

Can’t blame Thomas for wanting proof in this situation— he has just experienced significant trauma, lost his good friend and teacher, someone he loved dearly. It is not surprising that he doesn’t believe the other disciples when they tell him that Jesus is alive. 

In any case, I don’t like to mock Thomas for doubting because the opposite of faith is not doubt. I think that’s a common misconception. That there is something wrong with our faith or that we are not faithful enough if we have doubts. 

But I hope I can convince you this morning that if we do not doubt, then we are not taking things seriously enough. 

I mean, think about what we profess on Sunday mornings. 

At the beginning of worship, we professed that death is washed away forever in the waters of baptism. 

We are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. 

In a few minutes, we will profess our faith using the Nicene Creed, which says absolutely ridiculous things like God became a human being, suffered death and rose from the dead. 

And we come to this table every week and we believe that we are eating the body and blood of Jesus Christ. 

At least that is what we profess. Whether we believe it every week or not is another story. 

These past two years, I served as the chaplain at Luther Springs for God’s Spa weekend. Last year, I had a woman approach me at lunch on Saturday and begin asking me questions about Holy Communion. What I believe. What we are supposed to believe as Christians. Curious, I asked what she believes. “I don’t know.” She said, “maybe all of it. Maybe none of it. Maybe somewhere in between depending on the day. Do you think that’s okay?” She asked.

Yes of course. I think that is natural. I think that is normal and human. 

This is a big misunderstanding I have encountered during my almost ten years in campus ministry. 

Many people have the idea that young people begin to lose their faith around the end of high school and beginning of college. 

For whatever reason they just stop believing.

But this isn’t true at all. They are simply doubting, which is one of the most important steps in the process of forming our faith. 

Process of faith formation (John Westerhoff)

Experienced faith - like praying the Lord’s Prayer without knowing what the words mean, “believing” something because that’s what we have learned. 

Affiliative faith - about being a part of a group— we believe and do things because the people around us are believing and doing them. 

The next step toward true faith is usually sparked by trauma or significant change. That is why it always seems as if young people transitioning from high school and being at home “lose themselves” and their faith lives. No, that’s not the case at all. We are just sorting things out. Growing, changing, and learning, doubting. 

Other times this doubting is caused by the death of a loved one or significant illness. Whatever it is that causes the doubt, it is normal and natural and a vital part of our faith journey.

Searching faith - asking questions like “is this really what I believe?” This is where Thomas is at in the story we hear this morning. Jesus was crucified in front of his friends. Thomas witnessed the death of his Lord and teacher, someone he loved dearly. He entered into the wilderness of searching and doubting— surely not only about what his friend had taught them but also about the meaning of his own life and faith. 

So when the other disciples tell him that they have seen Jesus alive again, he won’t blindly believe what others have told him. He has to find out and believe for himself. That is also where many of us are in our faith journey. 

God does wonders in our doubt. 

The most profound words ever spoken to me were in the midst of my doubt after college. I was frightened, lonely, and didn’t know what God had planned. I worshipped with my community one evening and I sobbed through almost the entire service. I felt so hopeless and as I was invited up for communion, I turned to my friend and said, “I don’t know if I believe all of this.” She took my hand and said, “That’s alright. I can believe on your behalf tonight. Come to the table anyway. You might find God.”

God sent me to seminary in the midst of my doubt and there are still days when doubt overtakes me as I come to the table or pray for the world. 

But that is why God has given us this community— so that we might doubt and question together, so that we might come together and share what we have witnessed— that Christ Jesus is risen from the grave. And when there are those among us who cannot believe, who are too swept up in grief or questions or doubt to profess their faith, we can believe on their behalf until they have witnessed the resurrected Lord themselves. 

And the truly beautiful, incredible thing, is that Jesus comes to us, in our doubt and unbelief, and he doesn’t rebuke us. He doesn’t call us cowards. 

Jesus says, “Peace be with you. Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side.” Touch me. Be present with me. Witness the live-changing truth that Christ Jesus is risen from the grave. 

That is truly what matters, after all. Not only that we have witnessed the resurrected Christ, but how it changes us. 

What happens when we are navigating this journey of doubt is really what matters. If we stay the same— hiding away in an upper room, afraid to be a part of this new reality that has been summoned by God, then we have not really learned anything. We have turned a blind eye to the truth.

But if we are changed… that is what it truly means to believe in the witness of the resurrection, but be resurrection people. 

And the truly good news is that our timeline and God’s timeline are not always in synch. If you haven’t gone through a time of deep doubt in your life— asking the big questions and wondering in community— or if you’re going through it right now, there is still time. You haven’t missed out. 

We have the opportunity to be changed every time we come to the table to feast on the body and blood of Christ and dip our fingers into the waters of baptism. At this table, and this font, we have the opportunity to witness that Christ comes to us and says, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side.” 

Believe and be changed in the resurrection. Amen.