Easter 5 A + Stop Whispering + 5.7.23

 

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Acts 7:55–60; Ps. 31:1–5, 15–16; 1 Peter 2:2–10; John 14:1–14)

 

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.”

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

I heard two statements about love earlier this week. One struck me as kind of sad, and another was a challenge to me. A friend referred to the song “They will know we are Christians by our love,” and said that it sometimes makes them cringe because many folks are not feeling love from the Christians in the world right now. And I had to agree. Many Christians are supporting legislation that feels outright hateful to many in various communities, whether they be people of color, LGBT folx or other communities.
But then I heard this other quote, from author and activist Marianne Williamson. She says:

“Hate has talked so loudly for so long.

Greed has talked so loudly for so long.

Liars have talked so loudly for so long.

Love has got to stop whispering.” (Facebook.com)

Wow, that hit me. Because we as a loving, inclusive multicultural and intercultural church thinking we are speaking in a normal voice, but what if we are whispering? It really made me wonder. And it made me want to be louder about love and helping others.

I don’t want to be on the sidelines. I want to be a part of love in action.
I don’t know if you have noticed this about the image of Stephen, the first martyr and also one of the first deacons, being stoned. But there is a point at which he sees God’s glory and those who are set on killing him have to cover their ears in order to move forward. They have to prevent themselves from hearing about God and God’s glory and God’s love, because it might interfere with the hateful action in which they are participating.

How about us? Are we on the sidelines when the Stephens of the world are being injured or killed? Do we close our eyes, or ears? Can we imagine not just those who stoned him, but also Saul, standing on the sidelines, perhaps having encouraged this act. Do you think hearing about Stephen’s vision of glory convicted Saul, Saul who would become Paul, one of the most ardent teachers and promoters of the Christian faith? He stood on the sidelines then, but his glimpse of Stephen’s communion with God and his forgiveness of the crowd, had to have moved him.
It had to have moved him, even though his conversion happened later. Because I will tell you, one of the most moving parts of visiting the Holy Land for me was visiting the underground grotto underneath St Stephen’s Orthodox Church just outside the old city of Jerusalem. Stephen was probably driven out, and here was stoned. But that underground place shines somehow in its darkness. All along the walls there are murals of Stephen’s life and death, and the most amazing to me, was an image of Jesus’ face in the sky. I imagined Stephen, fixing his eyes on Jesus, and just commending himself to God. His faith moved me to tears, in that underground grotto filled with candles of the faithful.

Who are the Stephens in our world? Thomas asks Jesus to show him the way to the Father, but we know that the way is through Jesus. And the way is through showing love. Showing love to one another and to those whom God has given us. That is how we do greater works. Not because we are better than Jesus, or can do more impressive things. But because if all of us Christians can work together for love, we will be an unstoppable force.

How do we do this? I suggest that first, we do not close our ears. We might be tempted, in the overwhelm of the news cycle, to close our ears. And of course, for our sanity sometimes we need a break from the news. But what we do read about, we must pray on. We must act on, in whatever small way we can. Sometimes just through prayer, but sometimes by doing one small act of love and mercy. But it all starts with simply not stopping our ears so we can let the other’s experience enter in. So, we can hear about God’s grace, even when it is not what we expect to hear about. I can’t tell you how many times people have preached to me about abundance when I have expected to preach to them about scarcity. God is bigger than our imaginations. We must repeat that to ourselves and keep our ears and hearts open.

Secondly, we must act in love. What if just one person had stopped a person throwing rocks at Steven? What if we happen to see someone being verbally or otherwise assaulted and can say, “no, that’s not right.” What if we don’t call someone out but call them into their best selves. “Hey friend, I can see you are angry. But (so and so) doesn’t deserve those words. How can I help you?” What if we pray for those in need as we pass them on the freeway or read about them in the paper or online? What if we are part of the solution? I think of our friends who are at the Swap Meet every last Sunday helping immigrants learn their rights. Every step we take to be a part of the solution, to be the visible voice of love, is powerful. And you never know when a Saul is watching who will be an even bigger part of spreading the good news.

Now, I will be honest. This is tiring stuff. Speaking of showing up like this in her book See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love (2020), Valarie Kaur recognizes this fact and then reminds us: “The good news is that you don’t need to feel empathy all the time. Love is not a rush of feeling. Love is sweet labor. What matters is the work your hands do. So, breathe and rest and, when you are ready, see if you can wonder about the world just a little, just enough to show up to the labor one more day. Let wonder surprise you (pp 59-60).”

This made me think of an image Pastor Alene shared with me about a choir sustaining one long note. She said- it is not that the members of the choir have stopped breathing while making this note, but they take turns breathing and singing to maintain the unified sound. We are like that choir, singing and breathing our notes of love.

We are not alone. There are many of us Christians who love, and love deeply. Who honor the dignity of every human being. Let us, like the psalmist, fix our eyes on God. Fix our eyes on God and not stop up our ears. Let us show up and wonder about the world. Let us be Christ’s hands and feet in the world, and remember that Love has got to stop whispering. Amen.