Fifth Sunday of Easter

Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Several thoughts in my sermon today were inspired by a conversation between pastors John Fairless and Delmer Chilton on their podcast ‘The Lectionary Lab’. But I am beginning with a story of my own.

I have a friend and colleague who, in her prior career, was a pharmaceutical representative. She was one of those people going from one doctor’s office to the next to introduce new medicine coming onto the market. Her job required a lot of travel.

One day, she was driving in a city she wasn’t familiar with. This was in the time before GPS had been invented. She got completely lost. Finally, she pulled over at a construction site and asked one of the workers how to get to her next address.

His response was, “You can’t get there from here.”

Rather funny. And of course, there was a way from here to there. But what he probably meant was: there is no easy connection to where you want to go.

I had to think of that story when I read today’s gospel reading. Jesus is talking about going ahead to prepare a place for us to abide with his Father. Thomas asks, “How can we know the way?” How can we get there? He is hoping for an easy connection. Two stop signs and a right-hand turn and voila!

He is speaking for most of us, isn’t he? We would love an easy way to the Father. Or at least some clear instructions. Can we get a map, please? Or a 12-step program? Or a checklist of things to do to reach our goal? Tell us exactly, Jesus, what we must do so we can reach that place in God’s house.

But there is no concrete outline for the way to God. The way there is through Jesus. “I am the way and the truth and the life,” Jesus says. The way to God is through our relationship with Jesus. There is no map; there is instead a relationship with the Son of God. Finding the way towards abiding with God means following the way Jesus leads, proclaiming the truth Jesus proclaims, living the life Jesus lives.

I am now switching to the other two readings, from Acts and 1 Peter.

Both of those readings talk about stones.

Peter’s letter rejoices in our calling as living stones that are built into a spiritual house with Christ as the cornerstone. In Christ we are held together. The cornerstone described here is not so much the special stone in the corner of a building, but the key stone. Look at the arches above the altar. Way at the top, you see the two big, pale keystones at the pinnacle. These stones absorb the pressure from the two arches and keep the whole edifice standing upright and strong. Christ is that keystone for us, the church. We all are the stones that make up the arches. He is holding us all together.

We are living stones. Peter writes. He is exuberant in his description of what this means: We are a holy priesthood, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people. This letter was written as instruction for newly baptized Christians. What does it mean to be baptized into Christ? It means you are chosen, a royal priesthood in the kingdom of God, God’s own, beloved child. It means you are a living stone in the spiritual house God is building in this world. It means you belong to God; you abide in God; you are God’s forever.

From Acts, we hear the story of the stoning of Stephen. He is the first martyr of the Christian church, meaning the first person after Jesus who is killed because of his devotion to Jesus Christ. Stephen was a deacon, a minister of word and service. His job was to serve at tables where the early church fed the hungry. While doing that, he proclaimed his faith in Jesus Christ. Following Jesus’ teachings, his testimony included criticism of the temple and of the way the temple priests interpreted the law.

This made the council so mad that they dragged Stephen out of the city and stoned him, which means that they threw stones at him until he was dead. Stephen died much like Jesus, asking for forgiveness for his executioners and commending his spirit to God.

Stephen was one of the living stones that built up the early church. He followed Christ’s way and truth and life. He did get to see the heaven opened and God’s glory and Jesus at God’s right hand. But he also died.

Peter in his letter honestly writes that sacrifices are part of being in the royal priesthood. Jesus calls his followers to pick up their cross and follow. Being a chosen race and holy nation, walking the way of Christ, does not guarantee an easy life. On the contrary, it will probably demand sacrifice from us.

While Stephen is being stoned, the Bible tells us, folks took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. Saul was watching their stuff while they were busy stoning Stephen. Saul was standing by, doing nothing, while the stones were flying.

This contrast of stones in our readings is intriguing.

Are we living stones that build up the kingdom by following Christ’s way and truth and life?

Or do we stand by while stones are flying and do nothing?

Do we tell ourselves and others that we couldn’t do anything? That we didn’t vote for this or that? That we didn’t get involved because it didn’t concern my kids, it didn’t happen in my neighborhood, it didn’t concern me directly?

How often do we stand by when the stones are flying, when a child is being bullied or a co-worker picked upon, when a racist joke is told, when a conspiracy theory is proclaimed, when scapegoats a blamed, when our voting system is called into question, when factories pollute the environment, when workplaces aren’t safe, when people with mental illness are discriminated against, when gossip is spread via social media?

We feel so powerless in the face of the many challenges our church, our families, our society, and our world is facing. It’s so overwhelming that sometimes we feel all we can do is watch the coats while the stones are flying.

Jesus addresses this feeling.

He begins by telling his followers not to let their hearts be troubled. Don’t be afraid. Don’t feel overwhelmed.

Then he reminds his followers that through Jesus, we have a place with the Father. We abide with God. We are the chosen, beloved, royal priesthood. That is a gift through baptism and will always be true, no matter what.

Then he calls his disciples to engage his way, his truth, and his life. Jesus’ way is the way of love and grace. Jesus’ truth is that everyone is beloved by God, and that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus’ life is lived in service to others, even in sacrifice for others.

And then Jesus promises this: “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”

We will do even greater works than Jesus, he says. Jesus will support us in this by responding to our prayer requests.

Sometimes this promise that Jesus will give us whatever we ask of him has been taken as a blank check: Just pray hard enough and you will get it. One of the pastors on the podcast compared it to people who play video games, and who search the internet for cheat codes that help them take shortcuts and get to the goal faster. Prayer is not such a cheat code. Prayer is not a shortcut to reaching our goals.

Prayer is rather a conversation with God that seeks God’s counsel and encouragement, direction and inspiration. When Jesus says here, “if you ask me for anything, I will do it,” then keep in mind that the ‘you’ is plural. When you together pray and seek God’s will, I will respond and help you. When you together strive to follow the way and the truth and the life, I will support you. When you together are living stones of the royal priesthood, then I will be the keystone that holds you up.

Through praying together, we as God’s chosen people will receive the direction as to how God wants us to get active in the world. We cannot solve all problems, but we can do something. We are called to start somewhere. Talking with each other and with God, we will discern where we as God’s people in this neighborhood are called to speak up.

Here is an example: Our Delaware Maryland Synod of the ELCA has for many years held the annual synod assembly in Ocean City. Our synod’s creation care team started raising concerns about the fact that Ocean City does not offer any recycling. On top of that, they ship all their trash to an incinerator in a predominantly black neighborhood where the fumes cause health problems, which is a racist practice. Then the synod’s racial justice team pointed out incidents of racist interactions on the boardwalk. The synod council sent a letter to Ocean City’s mayor’s office, but got no response.

So the synod council decided not to return to Ocean City. This year’s assembly will be held in Westminster at a local church. Another letter was sent explaining our decision.

This is costing our synod money. Breaking the rental contract with the conference center cost several thousand Dollars. But we didn’t just want to stand by while stones were flying, hurting Black children of God and polluting God’s creation. We were willing to take a stand, even when it demanded a sacrifice.

Now we hear that Ocean City is starting food recycling programs, that the conference center has a goal of zero waste in a few years, and that police officers will be equipped with body cameras to curb any further racist interactions. I have no idea if our synod’s stand helped move things in this direction, but maybe it did.

We all want to live in a world of justice and peace, a world that allows us and others to abide in God, to glimpse heaven opened, to feel like the chosen people of God. How do we get there from here?

There is no easy roadmap or checklist or instruction manual. There is instead our relationship with Christ and with Christ’s people, a relationship that shows us the way, the truth, and the life; a relationship that encourages us to be living stones who build up God’s kingdom right here on earth.

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people. Believe that. Claim that. Live that. And you will abide in God. Amen.