On the Many Shapes of God
May 5, 2024
Traceymay Kalvaitis
Acts 10:44-48
While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.
John 15:9-17
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
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Today’s sermon is titled On the Many Shapes of God.
A few weeks ago, a young father of two was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident. His long-term partner and mother of his two young daughters is grieving his death in the most acute ways imaginable. Not only has she lost the love of her life and the father of her children, but in her grief, there was a sense of panic about how in the world to make ends meet. Her partner’s employer has let her know that they will continue to pay his salary for the next year.
Just because I wear a big cross around my neck and preach from a pulpit does not necessarily mean that I know anything more about God than anyone else. The only thing I can say for sure is that I study and pray and pay very close attention to when and where the love-that-is-God takes shape in forms that we can experience. For that young family, bereaved of their partner and father, the love-that-is-God came in the shape of a paycheck.
In January of 2018, I was walking through the airport in Baltimore, Maryland. I was one small person in a sea of people, simply walking along with hundreds of others down the wide airport corridor. I do remember that I was not looking down, and I was not rushing; I had plenty of time before my next flight. I was looking up and out at all the diverse and beautiful faces of the people when I was completely overcome by a feeling of love like I had never before experienced. In an instant, I was able to experience what felt like unconditional love for all of these strangers who were surrounding me. In an instant, I became indelibly impressed with the truth that we are all beings who thrive in the presence of love. In an instant, I could see divinity within each face and I could feel divinity connecting me to them and them to me. Honestly, I do not know how I did not just collapse on the floor, but instead I allowed myself to keep walking and this ability to really see and to really feel lasted probably just a minute before it began to fade. For me, that day in the airport, the love-that-is-God came in the form of many unfamiliar faces.
For the apostles in the reading we heard today, the love-that-is-God came in unexpected and surprising ways, too. We find the apostles in the years following Jesus’s death and resurrection as they are compelled to share their experiences and yet they are unsure about whether or not to be going outside of their own communities. Last week, we heard about Peter sharing with the Ethiopian eunuch, but they already shared the Jewish faith in common. This week, for the very first time in the scriptures, the apostles see that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are available to all people. This is a pivotal moment in the early church and one we should never forget, especially considering that the church over the millennia and still today, has not consistently been a place of welcome and acceptance. For the church, the love-that-is-God has often come and been turned away. We are striving to correct that here.
We are striving to create the kind of community Jesus speaks about in our scripture today from the book of John, chapter 15. Jesus says, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends.”
If I could change only one letter of the Bible, it would be in that sentence. I would change the lower case “f” to an upper case “F.” You may have noticed that in my writing, I always capitalize the “F” in Friends. I learned this from the Quakers. The Quakers learned from the scripture we are offered today. Jesus said, “…the servant does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends.” Jesus was reminding his disciples that they are no longer ordinary friends, they are friends who know of a love that is deeper and wider and stronger. It is a love that compels us to overcome our fears and give of ourselves, completely and unreservedly. It is a love that compels us to share our resources, sometimes in extremely generous ways, like providing a year’s salary for a bereaved family. It is a love that compels us to open up to the possibility that someone unfamiliar, a “stranger” if you will, especially a stranger who does not look like you, act like you, vote like you, or speak like you…that person is of equal worth. Jesus said, “Love one another as I have loved you.”
Of all the professions, I think our society depends the most on fire and rescue to respond in the way Jesus calls us to. In an emergency, fire and rescue respond to one and all with competence, compassion and care. Eleven years ago this past week, over 10,000 people gathered in Waco, Texas for a memorial service for the victims of the fertilizer plant fire and subsequent explosion.
“On April 17, 2013, the West Fire Department responded to a call of fire at the West Fertilizer Company. While on scene, an ammonium nitrate explosion occurred. The explosion killed 15 people, injured more than 160 people and damaged or destroyed more than 150 buildings, including homes, schools, and a nursing home. The blast created a 93-foot-wide crater at the site. Ten firefighters perished while trying to quell the flames, the most firefighters killed during a single incident since the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11. Killed in the blast were Firefighters Doug and Robert Snokhous, Morris Bridges, Cody Dragoo, Joey Pustejousky, Kenny Harris, Jerry Chapman, Cyrus Reed, Perry Calvin, and Kevin Sanders, an off-duty captain.”
This morning we heard the words of Jesus when he said, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Over 150 people who were injured in the fertilizer plant explosion were rescued; thanks to the firefighter’s swift action, only 15 died. On that day, the love-that-is-God came in the shape of firefighters in uniform, committed to serving, to protecting, to defending the value of human life, with no exceptions.
In closing, Friends, I invite you into a spirit of celebration as we prepare to share in Communion and as we also prepare to honor the service of firefighters. Jesus gave his life to save us, that we would know that there is nothing we can do to separate ourselves from the love-that-is-God. Sin can distance us, but it can not separate us. Death can distance us, but it can not separate us. So be it. Amen.
*https://www.firehouse.com/operations-training/article/55016687/this-month-in-fire-history-april-2024
Pastoral Prayer God of lovingkindness, I thank you for the gift of love. I thank you for the gift of prayer. Help us to allow your infusion of lovingkindness to permeate our deepest sorrows, and our darkest fears. Remind us, Lord, to use the gift of prayer as a way to lift up ourselves and the rest of humankind so that we may all keep your holy light in view. Guide us through that light, heal us through that light. Amen.
Benediction
I leave you with these words from the 91st Psalm: “To his angels he has given command about you, that they guard you in all your ways; upon their hands they shall bear you up.”