Finding Courage: Solidarity

Solidarity

Hear now the word of the Lord, John 15:12—17

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“

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

tline:

Solidarity:

Standing with one another in love and unity.  

You can wonder if it can happen.  In a time of polarization. In a time of division.  Can that really happen?   But I have felt it. And I wonder if you have as well?

Charles:  

It was 9:00, hardest meeting in 17 years of ministry:

I was walking to my car, exhausted. And right beside me I saw his car.

A friend new this was going to be a tough meeting. And he just showed up.  I did not ask him.  He was just there.  We talked outside for probably 30-45 minutes.  

Wondering how I was doing.  Offering his support and listening ear.  

I will never forget that moment.   He did not have to be there.  He had driven across town.   In a time when I was looking for courage.  “I remember saying.  Love ya, thank you so much for being here.”   

Jesus says, “This is my commandment that you love one another.”

Have you ever had someone show up in a difficult moment for you?  Maybe it was a call, a prayer, or a listening ear.  

Wilderness:

 A man lost in the wilderness. I have no way to get out…ran into aother man.  Hey do you know how to get out of here?  No, I do not, but maybe together we can find the way.

African proverb that says this

If you want to go fast - go alone.

But if you wan to go far - Go together

These stories speak to the power of walking together.  Of the courage we can find, in hard times with one another.  It was a hard time for Jesus.  As I talked about last week we again are in the upper room.  Jesus as he said last week has said hte hour has come and Jesus makes tremendous promises in the upper room.   

Promises - Jesus again in the farewell discourse of John.  In the upper room.  

Promises:

I am the resurrection and the life

I will give you an advocate

I no longer call you servants but friends

He says “I am going to prove my friendship by laying down my life for you.”

Sacrifice:

Friend test. Who is a true friend?   Broken down on the side of the road.  In hte middle of hte night…. Who can we call?  List in our heads (neighbors, golf friends, church friends).  Who can I call?

We all know friends who would give you the shirt off your back.  Jesus says I am going to be your friend and to prove it - I am going to lay down my life for you.

Love always involves sacrifice.

Risk:  

But he also says this, “all that I have learned from the Father, I am going to make known to you.”  What does a friend do?  A friend you bring into your confidence.  You tell them how you are feeling.  You let them into your feelings.

He risks letting the disciples in.  Letting us in to all that he knows.  He makes himself vulnerable to the world.  

Love, this love that Christ calls us to always involves sacrifice and risk.  

I choose you…

You did not choose me but I choose you.  

And this is one of the secrets of this passage.  

Like it is written in 1st John.  It is not so much that we love but that God loves us.  

Our strength is not so much in choosing Christ as it is in remembering we are chosen.  You are chosen for this.

You are chosen to serve.  You are sent out to bear fruit.

But is that happening?  Does this kind of love happen?

MM - prayer team (3 pages, and each person, each week is prayed for).

Prayer shawl - Pray for these shawls which are a reminder 

I see the fruit…

But where is Christ sending you.  Who is on your mind?  Who do you need to care about? 

But here is what I have learned.  That our true strength comes not from ourselves, but from Christ who has chosen to stand with us.  To stand with the pain of hte world on the Cross. And when I remember that love, I can also love.  I can love when it is inconvenient, I can love with a love that does nto keep score, I can love with a love beyond myself.  

Let us go and bear fruit.  LEt us go be Christ’s hands and feet.  I give you a command to love one another.  Amen.  

Thanks you (Mac, David)

In this season of lent we continue our sermon series entitled,  Finding Courage.  We journey with Christ towards the Cross, and in His journey, we look to reflect on our own lives and how we might find courage through Him and in Him.  Like a train journey, we will have stations where we will pause and reflect.  We have already stopped at wilderness, Vulnerability, Presence And not we stop in solidarity… I know it is hard to talk about solidarity.  

Solidarity which means to stand with in unity.  

Solidarity might be a little hard to talk about given we just had the Duke verus Carolina game last night.  As you have heard Christ’ command to the disciples, I wonder, if you have ever experienced solidarity with others, which has given you courage?

Let us pray. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable to you Oh God.  You are our rock, our refuge, and our redeemer.  Amen.

Solidarity.  Is it possible? You can be skeptical.  In an age of polarization. Do we really stand with one another? Does loving one another really happen?

It was one of my hardest days in ministry. I walked out of the Session meeting. And there he was. A friend of mine.  He knew this was going to be a tough time. And he was there.  He had driven over.  He just wanted to listen and see how I was doing. I will never forget that moment.  

Have you ever had someone…show-up just at the right time. Or a call.  And in that person you found strength and courage.

Jesus says these words to his disciples.  

“This is my commandment that you love one another.” 

A Man was walking in a wilderness. He became lost and was unable to find his way out. Another man met him, “Sir, I am lost, can you show me the way out of this wilderness?” “No” said the stranger.  I cannot show you the way out of the wilderness, but maybe if I walk with you, we can find it together.” There is an old african proverb which goes like this. If you want to go fast. - Go alone. If you want to go far - Go together.

This week, we continue in the farewell discourse of Jesus. And in these chapters 13-17, Jesus makes some tremendous promises. He says I am the resurrection and the life. He promises the paraclete - which is the greek for the Holy Spirit.  That you will not be alone. And here he promises that the disciples will be his friends. How do we know someone is a friend. How someone is a real friend. I would call it the broken down car test.  So your car breaks down.  It is late at night. Who could I call? We do this. You go through the roster.  Golf friends, the church roster.  Who could I call and help me? And we know those people who would give you the shirt off their back. Jesus says.  Here is how you know that I am your friend. I will lay down my life for you. You are also my friend because I am going to let you in. But Jesus also ssays you are my friend because I am letting you into my confidence. All tha tI have heard from my Father. I have made known to you. A friend is someone who you take into your confidence.  Everything I have heard I have made known to you.  There is a level of intimacy.  That we are invited into. We all know that love always requires sacrifice, and risk. I chose you, and I sent you out in my name. And you can love. Not because of your own strength. But because I choose you, and have given you this love. To exhibit this love, you have to tap into a strength larger than itself.  But it also does not originate from us. Love flows through you. Because we like to love when it is convenient. We like to keep score.  This is not well, I showed up for him twice so he better show up for me. You love, because He first loved us. as First John will tell us. We love because he loved not that we loved God but that he loved us (ist John 4:10) Our strength is not so much in choosing Christ as it is in remembering we are chosen.  You are chosen for this. You are chosen to serve.  And to love always involves some sacrifice or risk.

So I am writing this sermon…. And I am honestly asking this question. Is this really happening.  Are people loving one another? Mary Margaret comes into the office. And Mary Virginia is here, and so I wanted to come to hi. And I stayed for the prayer meeting. And I want you to know. I just happened on the prayer meeting that happens every week at 11:00 in the parlor. And there is the faithful group who are praying for you. For our world, for this church. The list is three pages long. And each person is prayed over. They took an hour and prayed over three pages of names and concerns.  I give you a command to love one another.  But just a few hours later I am still asking that question. How are we loving one another. I was invited to prayer over the prayer shawls that the pastors and others bring to people. These are beautiful shawls, and baby hats.  Made with real care and love.  I can remember going to see someone who was a recipient of these prayer shawls. And it was hung over their recliner.  They said each time, I put it on I remember God’s love. So I am over in the atirum.  They had laid out all these colorful prayer shawls.  As we were praying, you could hear someone come in the atrium. And all of us closed the prayer. We said amen.  And it was a member of our church.  Stop in and say thank you for this. Not only was I, moved by it but my Doctor was moved by it. This is my commandment that you love one another But also in the courage to hear each other’s stories. In listening.  In hearing each other’s stories of courage, we are drawn to one another.  And in that proximity, we find strength. I have learned that truth so vividly in this study. I have gained strength in Steve Legett’s story, Bev story, Jim and Sue Ulrich’s story.

One of our true test wills be as a church. How are we doing caring member to member. Who are you caring for? Who.  

Proximity and presence. Often in our lives, we want to run from suffering and from the suffering of others. We learn an important lesson from Christ that “just as” he stood with the suffering, we are called to do the same. The cross is the ultimate form of solidarity with a suffering world and that may be through Christ’s sacrifice we find the courage to stand with one another.

Pastor, Leslie Weatherhead told about a difficult pastoral care visit.  They were grieving.  In one corner, an old white-haired woman sitting in a low chair, her face half hidden by her hand. . Where is God?” she demands. “I’ve prayed to Him. . . . Where is He? . . . You preached once on the ‘Everlasting Arms.’ Where are they?” . . . I drew my fingertips lightly down the older woman’s arm. “They are here,” He said. “They are around you even now. These are the arms of God.”

How do we find courage? We find it in the Lord.

And you are sent out in his name. To be his ambassador. To be his hands and feet. To show up with this love. To risk. To go when it is inconvenient. To pray even when you are not sure it will work. I give you a command to love one another. Amen.

Our strength comes not from ourselves to love others.  But it comes from the God who stands with us, so we can stand with others. A God who choose to stand with the suffering and in that love, 

________________________

(Unison)

Can a friendship lose its meaning? Yes. We can become disconnected. Sadly, I have friends whom I would not be able to find if I wanted to. We have lost touch. I regret that. And it’s true in the spiritual life.  And so a friendship with Jesus is a relationship that we are called to invest in, to give time to. It is a gift, but we access the gift through the simple acts of prayer and scripture. To do these simple acts is to stay connected to him, even as the branches are connected to the vine.

Let us go forth into the world in peace, have courage, hold on to what is good, return to no person evil for evil, strengthen the fainthearted, support the weak, help the suffering, honor all persons, love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Prayer of St. Francis…

I see the figure in the stone and I set it free. Florence… wanted to see the David, Michelangelo. We read about that statue. Incredible piece of art, sculptured from a block of marble that all other artists had rejected.  It was flawed and so they rejecte dit. He saw his figure of David and set it free. He did so, that the flaw forms the line in David’s back. He made use of the imperfection. So I believe Christ does with us.  We cannot say, my sins of the past disqualify me. Even those sins can be used by the master.  To his own purpose. I am inadequate.  We all are…inadequate for hte task but Christ promises to use us in his redeeming work.

Lord,  plunge me deep into a sense of sadness  at the pain of my sisters and brothers …  that I may learn again to cry as a child until my tears baptize me into a person who touches with care those I now touch in prayer… Amen. —Ted Loder, “I Remember Now in Silence,” Guerrillas of Grace

Her letter said, as sung by Shirley Caesar:

“For the nine months I carried you, holding you inside me - no charge.

For the nights I sat up and doctored and prayed for you - no charge.

For the time and tears and the costs through the years - there is no charge.

For the advice and the knowledge and the costs of your college - no charge...

When you add it all up, the full cost of my love is - no charge.”