Easter 6/C: 5/9/10
The Rev. Dee Anne Dodd
St. Paul's, Wallingford CT
On the night before he
died for us, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ made this promise: “Those who
love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to
them and make our home with them.
I feel better just driving down that familiar road.
My heart races as I round the driveway.
But I relax the moment I step through the threshold.
Because I’m home.
This is what it’s like (or at least it used to be like) for me to go to Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, NY, along the Hudson River. As much as I cherish my North Branford home – the lovely house where I live with my husband and children – I appreciate Holy Cross as a sort of “’spiritual’ home away from home”.
What is it about Holy Cross Monastery that does this for me? Well, there’s some history. I started going there when I was in seminary. My relationship with the place has changed as I’ve changed. But there’s a certain constancy that feels like home.
When I'm there I eat well, I exercise, I even get enough rest for a change. I’m quiet for a change, even as I enjoy some excellent company -- which includes no less than God Almighty. And whenever I've been there I sense that it’s exactly where I need to be.
Home at last.
I think some of you know what I'm talking about. I've heard many of you say the same thing about Mercy Center where St. Paul's has its annual retreat each spring. Or maybe you have this feeling at the home of a very dear loved one. Or maybe right here.
In today’s gospel, Jesus says this: “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”
This makes me wonder. Am I a good home for God? What could make me as hospitable to God as Holy Cross Monastery is to me? What I’m wondering is how can I love God in the manner of today’s gospel? How can I be a home that's suitable for God in Christ?
I think there's something to be learned from my relationship with Holy Cross, or any special place that feels like “home” to us.
The operative word here is relationship. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is home. Even with your house – you’ve got to be there occasionally if only to make sure it’s still standing.
But do I take the time to tend my “home” for God? It’s the easiest thing in the world to say that we’re too busy – too busy to pray, too busy to be quiet, to look and listen for God in the world around us, even too busy to take care of ourselves.
Would it help, I wonder, to realize that we’re not just taking care of ourselves for our own sake.
With these mortal bodies and whatever time we have here, we’re entrusted with the care of a home God loves.
God the Creator could have made a grand dwelling beyond our wildest dreams. But God chose to make us. We are the home God loves. We are exactly where God wants to be.
Some of you may recall that last Sunday we began a series of readings from John’s Gospel called the “Farewell Discourse” made up of sayings of Jesus in anticipation of his death. In last week’s installment, Jesus gave the “new commandment” -- that is, to love one another as God in Christ loves us.
Today’s gospel offers practical insights into this love. Jesus promises the disciples that he’ll remain with them even after he’s gone. How can this be?
The answer, again, is love. Love endures even unto death. Love, as most anyone knows, is what makes a home. The word translated here as “home” comes from the Greek root meaning “to remain”, as in to stay, dwell, abide. Love, then, is not some sweet or ephemeral concept; it’s the down-to-earth means by which God in Christ is with us right now.
Taking this love – and then giving it away in this world God so loves – is what makes us a home.It’s what makes us “at home” with God, creation, our neighbors and ourselves.
Here we are at the time of year when even the least domestic among us often feel obliged to take on some spring housekeeping, even as we dig in (literally) some yard work.
What if we decided to take better care of ourselves too? Dare I say it today, to "mother" ourselves?
I promise I’m not packing on another project. If anything, I’m giving us permission to ease up a bit. It's a matter of realizing that you’re God’s home. Treat yourself with all the respect, gentleness and love that implies -- not just for yourself, but for God who lives in you. Maybe you need to get outside more or eat better. Turn off that computer or television earlier and get more rest! I confess that I'm way overdue a trip to Holy Cross Monastery.
I wouldn't be surprised if you too have something that feeds you that you've been neglecting.
And, yes, we do have that few minutes a day of intentional time to share with God in prayer and quietude.
Welcome God . . . home.