Fifth Sunday of Easter C.  May 2, 2010.  Our Lady of Grace, 5:15, 7:30, 9:30. (9:30 First Communion)  Acts 14: 21-27. Revelation 21: 1-5a.  John 13: 31-33a, 34-35.

The flight from Minneapolis to Denver was very heavily booked.  A previous flight had been cancelled.  The line was very long at the ticket counter.  All of a sudden a very angry passenger pushed himself to the head of the line elbowing other people out of the way.  The man said to the ticket agent, “I have to be on this flight and it has to be in first class, now!” “I am sorry, sir,” the ticket agent replied very calmly.  “I’ll be happy to help you, but I have to take care of all these folks first.  Will you please take your place at the end of the line?”  The angry passenger was not impressed. He shouted at the top of his lungs, “Do you know who I am?”   The ticket agent very calmly picked up the public address phone and said over the public address system. “May I have your attention please?  We have a passenger here at the gate who does not know who he is. If anyone can help him find out who he is, please come to the gate.”

A few weeks ago I was trying to locate the parents of a little boy.  I said to him, “Who do you belong to” hoping that he would point at his parents.  Without any hesitation the boy said, “I belong to God.”   His answer was so simple and so right on that it stunned me.  Sometimes children understand their faith more simply and powerfully than adults do.  Maybe that it why Jesus said, “Unless you become like little children you will not enter the kingdom of God.”

Today Jesus told us, “I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you.  This is how all will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”

Jesus loved us when we were still sinners.  Jesus died for us even when we were acting in ways that were very unloving.  God does not love us because we are good.  God loves us because God is good.  We are to love in the same way.  Jesus does not command us to love others because they are good.  Jesus commands us to love others because we have been reborn in baptism. Jesus commands us to love even our enemies because we are children of God.  We love everyone because we are children of God.

God loves us and Jesus died on the cross for us because God sees deep value in us even when we appear to be unworthy and unlovable.  God looks beyond our sins and sees a person created in the image of God.  God loves the saint that is hidden deep within each of us even when we are very sinful. Every human person is sacred to God.  Do you know who you are?  Do you believe in who you are?  

A preacher took a $20 bill out of his pocket and asked if anyone in the congregation wanted it.  Every hand went up.  Everyone wanted it.  The preacher than crumpled up the $20 bill until it was a tiny wrinkled wad.  He asked the congregation again if anyone wanted it.   Again, every hand in the church went up.  He next took the wrinkled $20 bill and placed it on the floor.  He stamped on it and jumped on it until it was a filthy mess.  He asked one more time if anyone wanted the filthy $20 dollar bill lying on the floor.  Again every hand in the church went up.  The preacher told the people in the church, “It is obvious to me that you understand that a $20 is still worth $20 no matter how filthy and messed up it is.  You all want it because even when it goes from fresh and beautiful to dirty and ugly it is still worth $20.”

We are all loved sinners. We have all been crumpled and ground into the dirt, sometimes by the events and happenings of life, and sometimes by our own choices and our own sins.  Still, we were made in the image and likeness of God.  We came forth from the font of baptism as people sharing the life and glory of God’s saints.  Looking honestly at our sins, our shortcomings and our failures, we may wonder what we are really worth.  In the eyes of God our worth never changes. In the eyes of God a saint is of infinite value. In the eyes of God the sinner who has made a mess of life still has infinite value.  

The cross of Jesus proclaims that there are no worthless, unworthy or hopelessly ruined or depraved human beings in this world.  Every human being has value in the eyes of God.  The cross of Jesus proclaims that even those who have chosen the path of sin are worth the love of Christ, the blood of Christ and the death of Christ. By stooping low to die on a cross, Jesus lifts us up to the dignity of sons and daughters of God. Every time that we celebrate the Eucharist and receive Communion God affirms our dignity and claims us as beloved children. No matter what we have done, the Body and Blood of Jesus given to us here as our food and drink proclaims our goodness and our dignity as children of God.  Communion helps the saint in each of us to grow.  Communion is the gift that allows us to love in the same way that Jesus has loved us.

Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you.  This is how all will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”

Jesus is not talking about sentimental love or even about romantic love, even though both of these are good.  Jesus is not talking about loving those who love us even though that kind of love is good too.  Jesus is talking about the love that he had for those who crucified him and the love he had for the thief crucified next to him.  This kind of love is more than human love.  This kind of love is filled with God and God’s grace. Do you know who you are?  We are bearers of God’s love. We are called to love every human being in the same way that God has loved us. For the love of Christ for us and offered to others through us we give God thanks and praise.