Erl Purnell Sermon

Easter Vigil ~ April 7, 2007 ~ A sermon preached by The Rev’d Erl G. Purnell at Old St. Andrew’s Church, Bloomfield, CT

Genesis 1.1-2.2; Exodus 14.10-15.1; Isaiah 55.1-11; Ezekiel 37.1-14; Zephaniah 3.12-20

Garrett Wilson Reed, here you are! Welcome. You come here tonight to join a wonderful and old family, the Christian Church. We are not the only human religious family. There are many others. But the Church is the one your parents know and they want you, too, to be a part of this extended family.

What I have to say tonight has been heard by most of the rest of us many times and in many forms. There are lots and lots of ways to characterize what it means to be a member of the Church. But at the core is a very simple phrase. It was written by a man named Luke as something Jesus actually said to his friends when he was still alive. The phrase is this: “Be compassionate as God is compassionate.” (Luke 6.36)

Be compassionate as God is compassionate. This simple phrase distills the whole of Jesus message to us. Jesus’ program was intended to draw people closer to God. He was certain that ALL people could have a personal and intimate relationship with God. He often said that the Kingdom of God was very, very nearby. That’s because Jesus knew that God was always present and God was everywhere.

The problem he saw, however, was that most people didn’t recognize the presence of God among them. They were unable to see God in a sunset or the wind playing on water; in the nourishment of food or the warmth of a home; in human relationships or in the goodness of love. But Jesus knew that if ordinary people could come to know God, they would strive to be like God.

So, Jesus did two things. First, he became the face of God. If God was to be a person, Jesus showed people what God would be like. God would be like Jesus. Second, Jesus spent most of his time pointing to God and the goodness of God, the forgiveness of God, God’s desire for justice, and God’s abiding love. To a large extent, these were new ways of looking at and knowing God. The Hebrew God had often been a wrathful God, a God of vengeance and destruction. But that wasn’t the God Jesus knew. And so Jesus called his friends—anybody who would listen—into a new covenant with God.

This new covenant kingdom of God is symbolized by the Church—the Body of Christ—through baptism and the Eucharist. In these, Jesus teaches us what it means to be compassionate as God is compassionate. To be compassionate as God is compassionate is to show feelings of concern and help towards ALL people no matter who they are or what their life looks like. This is compassion itself.

There is more, however. For, to be compassionate as God is compassionate also means to be forgiving. Perhaps this is the most difficult thing for a any person to do—to actually forgive others and yourself. And … and to accept the forgiveness offered to you. Forgiveness is a key to understanding and being compassionate.

To be compassionate as God is compassionate also means to strive for justice. Jesus saw that many, many people were treated unjustly. They were enslaved to a domination system that honored the rich and powerful at the expense of most other people. This situation did not and does not reflect God’s justice, according to Jesus. In Jesus’ eyes, all people are equal and deserving. He challenged his friends, and so us as well, to stand for justice and abhor inequality, bigotry, prejudice, abuse of power, and exclusivity. He showed us what it means to respect the dignity of every human being.

In Jesus’ wisdom, he understood that to be compassionate as God is compassionate meant one more thing: unconditional love. The Jesus program—showing the face of God in this new covenant kingdom of God—could only be held together by LOVE. Now the kind of love Jesus talked about is agape. Agape is wholly selfless and spiritual. It is best expressed by people eating together, that is, sharing your sustenance of life with others so that ALL are nourished. Agape is symbolized by the Eucharist, which is why we celebrate the Eucharist every Sunday and often in between Sundays.

And so Garrett, these things—compassion, forgiveness, justice, and love—are at the center of what it means to be in the new covenant of the Christian family we call the Church. In your life, my hope and prayer is that you will strive to keep these things in your heart and mind and actions, loving God and your neighbor. Blessings and Peace to you now and always.

Amen.