{"id":4522,"date":"2022-05-15T16:56:29","date_gmt":"2022-05-15T16:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2022\/05\/15\/love-one-another-based-revelation-211-6\/"},"modified":"2022-05-15T16:56:29","modified_gmt":"2022-05-15T16:56:29","slug":"love-one-another-based-revelation-211-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2022\/05\/15\/love-one-another-based-revelation-211-6\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLove. \u00a0One. \u00a0Another.\u201d\tbased Revelation 21:1-6 and John 13:31-35"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

I chose the Revelation 21
\npassage for the same reason I usually choose an \u201cend of Revelation\u201d
\npassage: they’re visions of hope for the future. \u00a0And I think we NEED
\nhope.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThis is a good one. \u00a0God makes
\nGod’s home on earth, so the people’s lives are no longer (in any way)
\nseparate from the Holy One, and that means that death and pain,
\nmourning and crying are all over.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nI like it.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nI’m not sure what it says about
\nme that it feels like a cop-out.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\n(Please don’t answer that.)<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThis whole \u201cthe earth goes
\naway and gets replaced by a better one\u201d thing \u2013 that’s what feels
\nlike a cop-out. \u00a0I’m pretty committed to working with God on building
\nthe kindom of God on earth, and having the whole thing go away and
\nget replaced seems like it defeats the whole purpose.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nOf course, I don’t think that
\nall of us working together, even with the Divine, are going to
\neliminate pain and death from the human experience, so if that’s
\nwhere we are wanting to land, I can see why we’d need intervention to
\nget there.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd, of course, I can understand
\nthe deep human yearning for connection with the Holy One, and for a
\nfuture without a separation from God.\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nBut, while I remain grateful for
\nvisions of hope with enough power to help us through the hard times,
\nI’m finding myself less inspired by Revelation’s vision of perfect
\nfuture than by John’s dream of a loving faith community.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cBy this everyone will know
\nyou are my disciples, if you have love for one another.\u201d \u00a0That one
\nsends shivers up my spine. \u00a0That one feels like the call on my life.
\nThat one feels like the best I’ve ever seen of people of faith and
\nfaith communities. \u00a0That’s the one.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nImportant note: the commandment
\n\u201clove one another\u201d was NOT new. \u00a0It was central to the faith
\ntradition of Jesus and his disciples, Judaism. \u00a0There are two ways to
\nthink of it as new. \u00a0One is \u201cas I (Jesus) have loved you, you also
\nshould love one another,\u201d so it is new in being reflective of
\nJesus. \u00a0The other is probably more accurate, the commandment is not
\n\u201cnew\u201d but living that sort of love is part of the \u201cnew life\u201d
\nthat people of God are called to \u2013 a distinct form of life from one
\nof competition and fear. \u00a0But please remember that loving one another
\nwas already a part of the Jewish tradition, and had been for a LONG
\nTIME. \u00a0We do not want to participate in anti-semitism, much less
\npretend it is part of our faith.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nNow, back to \u201cBy this everyone
\nwill know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one
\nanother.“ \u00a0This is both one of the most inspiring phrases I know
\nof, and one of the most worrisome. \u00a0Because, let’s be honest for a
\nmoment, it invites us to ask \u201cis this true?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nIt must be true in part. \u00a0It
\nmust be or I wouldn’t be here. \u00a0I have been inspired by the
\nhere-on-earth expressions of God’s love I’ve experienced in churches,
\nat church camp, in the Love Your Neighbor Collation, and with Upper
\nNew York for Full Inclusion. \u00a0I’ve known people whose very presence
\nexudes love. \u00a0I’ve been in communities that have taught me that I’m
\nworthy of love, just as I am, no matter how awkward. \u00a0I’ve seen the
\ntransformational power of love being offered to people who have
\nreceived other stories about their lives: to teenagers with abusive
\nhome lives, to people who are transgender and have been told horrible
\nthings by other churches, to queer clergy people afraid for their
\nlivelihoods, to veterans who fear their traumas makes them
\nunloveable, and to every day people who just wonder if they’re
\n\u201cenough\u201d who experience the community of God and learn they’re
\nloved and lovable.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nIt is the every day miracle of
\nthe church, and it is why I am a part of the church, and it is
\nprobably the thing I’m most committed to continuing with my life.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd it isn’t the full story of
\nchurch.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nI wish it was. \u00a0I heard an idea
\nonce that it is easier to be a spiritual person outside of faith
\ncommunity, to commune with God in nature and solitude. \u00a0Not just
\nbecause God is easy to access in nature and solitude (true for me!)
\nbut because faith communities are full of struggle: \u00a0conflict and
\npersonalities and differences of opinion and people behaving in ways
\nwe don’t like. \u00a0But this idea suggested that this is GOOD not bad,
\nbecause communing with God in nature may help us feel and be
\ncentered, but it is in practicing being loving when it is ACTUALLY
\nHARD that we GROW. \u00a0We need the challenges of community to learn how
\nto be loving in the midst of real life.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThat’s one of the most lovely
\ntakes on faith community I’ve ever heard, and I hold it dear.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nBecause as much as I’ve seen the
\nchurch transform lives with its generous love and welcome, I’ve seen
\nprofound pain too. \u00a0There is the glaringly obvious pain of being part
\nof a homophobic and transphobic denomination. \u00a0But there are also the
\npains that result when we as a local faith community aren’t as loving
\nas we want to be. \u00a0When someone is forgotten, or unseen in their
\npain. \u00a0When cultural differences are too big to be overcome. \u00a0When it
\nseems some people are more valued than others. \u00a0When values
\nthemselves are violated (or seem to be). \u00a0And when it feels like no
\none cares about a person when they stop showing up.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThere are days when I wonder
\nabout the balance of if all, when I wonder if the love we are sharing
\nis more than the pain we are causing. \u00a0I wonder if \u201cThey’ll Know We
\nare Christians By Our Love\u201d is \u2026 well… true.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nIn the church at large
\n(annual conference and denomination) I have come to peace with
\nknowing that much of what happens is about power, and money, and that
\nfear is used as a means to an end to increase the power of a few over
\nthe needs of the many. \u00a0I hold hope that isn’t true on the local
\nchurch level, but when there IS conflict, it IS often about power
\nand\/or over the authority over money, and I think based in fear of
\nwhat happens if one’s power is lost and one’s vision doesn’t prevail.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nBut, I also know that’s overly
\nsimplistic. \u00a0When it comes down to it, at least on the local level, I
\ntrust that everyone is doing their best and trying to enable the best
\nsort of loving faith community, and doing that by the means they
\nbelieve most effective. \u00a0Which means we disagree about HOW, and maybe
\nWHY, but not WHAT we’re trying to do. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd I often hope that’s enough
\nto hold on to to build on love, instead of letting fear drown us.
\nAnd I’m willing to keep on spending my life empowering faith
\ncommunities as long as I can believe that we are showing love, and
\nGROWING in love.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nSo, I want to spend the rest of
\nthis sermon on this central question of faith: \u00a0what helps us be more
\nloving, to share God’s love? \u00a0Because I believe we WANT to be know by
\nour love. \u00a0I think we’d be delighted if every time someone
\nencountered any one of us or a group of us they were astounded at our
\nlove. \u00a0But I think that requires us to be attentive to growing
\nin love.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThe basis of love, as far as I
\nknow is… (wait for it)… love. \u00a0God’s love is the starting point
\nfor our lives, our faith, our actions. \u00a0And, I HOPE, the love of the
\npeople of God has been transformative in our lives too, so we start
\nour journey to deepen love balanced on the love of God and God’s
\npeople. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nIt also helps, a lot, to see
\npeople acting in loving ways. \u00a0Having models of what radical love
\nlooks like, and broad and different models at that: to see the love
\nshared between our breakfast guests, and to see the love shared
\nbetween members of Church Council, and to hear stories of support
\noffered to those who are struggling. \u00a0Knowing what love looks like, a
\nhuge range of what it looks like, helps us see how we can live it.
\nLove lives differently in each of us, and it can take seeing it in a
\nlot of forms before any of us know how to let it live most easily in
\nus!!<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nIt also helps, as far as I’m
\nconcerned, to hear people talk about living love. To talk about what
\nthey do with intention, and when they’ve struggled, and how they’ve
\novercome barriers to love. \u00a0The real, sometimes small, tangibles.
\nThis sort of learning has often happened in Bible Study or small
\ngroups for me, and it is a big deal to talk about the small stuff.<\/p>\n

\nA huge gift in growing in love
\nis growing in the capacity to know I am loved EVEN when I’m wrong.
\nJohn Wesley actually helps me with this. \u00a0He said that we’re all
\nwrong sometimes, but we don’t know when we’re wrong (or we wouldn’t
\nbe), so when we come to a disagreement with another person, we should
\nenter into it with humility because it may well be one of the times
\nwhen we are wrong. \u00a0That simple idea has made it easier for me to
\nforgive myself for being wrong, which helps lower my defenses, which
\nhelps let others in.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nFor me, one of the greatest
\ngifts in growing in love is spiritual practice. \u00a0That is, when I take
\ntime away from \u201cproductivity\u201d to \u201cjust be\u201d and that helps me
\nremember that God loves me for who I am rather than what I can
\naccomplish. \u00a0Also, God lovingly holds up a mirror to me, to help me
\nsee what I’m doing and why, and let me decide as I’m ready to change.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThere are also straight up
\nSKILLS that can help with being loving, particularly in a community,
\nwhich means in a group with conflict. \u00a0Non-violent communication.
\nActive listening. \u00a0Careful use of \u201cI statements.\u201d \u00a0Or, just,
\nintentional empathy. \u00a0All of which are actual skills that can be
\ntaught and learned and developed. \u00a0I sometimes think we undercut
\nourselves by thinking that if we are simply taught of God’s love,
\nwe’ll become the humans we want to be. \u00a0When, in fact, we need other
\nskills and models and learning as well. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nI \u00a0dream that the church we
\nbecome might be able to be a source of healing people’s\n<\/p>\n

\n trauma, that we might become
\nparticularly skilled at sharing judgement-free love, and listening
\nwith empathy so that those who spend time in this faith community
\nmight experience HEALING from being here, and that the healing might
\nbecome a part of our story and what we offer our community.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThat would require a pretty
\nserious investment in those skills, and in developing the resilience
\nto respond to conflict in new and different ways. \u00a0SPPRC is working
\non some of that, with a hope of bringing opportunities to our church
\nas a whole as well. \u00a0It has become clear in the past 5 years that we
\nneed more skills than we have. \u00a0Which doesn’t make us bad, but does
\nmake us responsible for developing together. \u00a0 For finding the ways
\nto face our conflicts with love. \u00a0For becoming more loving. \u00a0 For
\nstepping up so people might see us and be astounded by our love for
\none another. \u00a0It could even be that these years of conflict could
\nbecome a saving grace for us, an opening to a new way of being that
\ncould meet people and the world just where they need us to be.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nIn any case, growing in love is
\nwhat we’re about. \u00a0God is with us, encouraging and enabling our
\ngrowth. \u00a0May we commit to it as well! \u00a0 \u00a0Amen <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rev. Sara E. Baron
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she\/her\/hers
http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a>
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/a><\/p>\n

\nMay 15, 2022<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

<\/p>\n

The sculpture Reconciliation by Vasconcellos showing two former enemies
\nembracing each other. It was erected in 1995 in the north aisle of the
\nruins of St Michael’s Cathedral, Coventry. (Destroyed during fire bombs
\nduring the Coventry Blitz on 14 November 1940). (Image by
\ncommons.wikimedia.org)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I chose the Revelation 21 passage for the same reason I usually choose an \u201cend of Revelation\u201d passage: they’re visions … Continue reading \u201cLove. \u00a0One. \u00a0Another.\u201d\tbased Revelation 21:1-6 and John 13:31-35<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[34,38,28,39,33,1631,1636,1641,1635,1265,1638,1640,1633,1634,228,1632,56,1637,57,1639],"class_list":["post-4522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-fumc-schenectady","tag-progressive-christianity","tag-rev-sara-e-baron","tag-thinking-church","tag-umc","tag-betcha-cant-spell-schenectady","tag-compassionate-communication","tag-dreaming","tag-easier-said-that-done","tag-first-umc-schenectady","tag-growing-in-love","tag-i-hope","tag-john","tag-love-one-another","tag-nvc","tag-revelation","tag-schenectady","tag-skills","tag-sorry-about-the-umc","tag-theyll-know-we-are-christians-by-our-love"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4522\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}