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Sermon April 14, 2022
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, MSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Maundy Thursday
http://lectionarypage.net/YearABC_RCL/HolyWk/MaundyTh_RCL.html
Audio: /documents/Eucharist__Maundy_Thirsday__April_14__2022
Video: https://youtu.be/fsmz5GWaEcs
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’ John 13:34-35
Please be seated
When I was in 7th grade, the church youth group I belonged to decided to form a singing group. It happened after we performed one Sunday morning for the adult Sunday School. Our group was called “Celebration.” We’d perform at church and other community events. We even performed at a church in New York City one year.
We sang lots of contemporary folk songs and included some readings in our programs. All of this was done with guitar accompaniment. We also wrote our own signature song called “Celebrate Life.”
One of the regular songs in our programs was “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.” The song was written in 1966 by Peter Scholtes, a Catholic Priest, and was a popular folk mass hymn. As you have guessed, it was based on these verses from the Gospel of John that we heard this evening.
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
A new commandment! Doesn’t that strike you as a bit odd? I mean, shouldn’t loving one another be inborn?
We all know that loving one another is truly a challenging task. This new commandment was so preposterous to the people of Jesus’ time, that he was executed for living it.
Some days loving one another seems futile, doesn’t it? Sometimes we have to stop listening to or reading any news. Yet, every day, there are stories of love all around us.
Listen to this a portion of this news story recently reported on PennLive: (https://www.pennlive.com/news/2022/03/as-smoke-rose-from-80-vehicle-pileup-on-i-81-wegmans-warehouse-workers-jumped-in-to-help.html)
Pottsville, Pa. — It would have been easy for the workers at a Wegmans distribution center in Pennsylvania to simply continue on with their day as an 80-car pileup unfolded nearby on Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County.
But they didn’t.
Employees at the Pottsville warehouse ended up running a makeshift triage site and shelter for more than 50 victims of the crash. They gave them food, blankets, Band-Aids and ice packs.
They fed injured dogs and cats. Most of all, they listened and offered the survivors shoulders to cry on in a frightening moment.
Local officials initially just asked Wegmans to keep their own trucks on-site and off the highway. About 15 minutes later, the company got a call asking if responders could send some victims to the Wegmans center.
The staff didn’t hesitate.
Wegmans workers greeted crash victims as they were bused to the distribution center. Employees used a lunchroom for the temporary shelter….
Victims were in the warehouse for five or six hours. Eventually, local EMTs and members of the Red Cross arrived to help.
Two of Wegmans’ own staff EMTs ended up helping first responders at the crash scene itself, Mikita said. When they realized what was going on, they grabbed their supply bags and left.
They ended up pulling multiple people from wrecked vehicles.
Love one another. Serve one another.
There are so many stories or vignettes of love, that occur each day, aren’t there? I’m sure you experience them in your life. Maybe you bring some canned meat or fish for our Food Bank collection or put food into our food pantry across the street. Maybe you send a card to someone for a special occasion or call someone to let them know you’re thinking of them.
You donate to the church and include offering for the Caring for Nativity’s Neighbors. We put our resources together and find cribs for families who need them and donations for the many organizations in our community and Diocese.
We support each other every week in so many ways through gathering online or in person and worshipping together and sharing our lives.
We can tell so many stories of love…of loving God, loving and serving our neighbor and loving and serving each other. Those are the things we need to remember and build upon.
We remember that on this night, Jesus gathered with his friends. He lovingly washed their dirty, tired feet as a servant would do. He commanded them to love one another. And he told them that they and we are loved beyond all measure.
Amen
