Date: May 12th & 15th
Preacher: Pastor Ashley Rosa-Ruggieri
First Reading: Acts 11:1-18
Psalmody: Psalm 148
Second Reading: Revelation 21:1-6
Gospel: John 13:31-35
“And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’” This quote from our Revelation reading is one I want to focus on today. First, because it is the verse that the Northwestern Ohio Synod has chosen as its verse of the year for 2022. The theme to go along with it is: The Year of Vision, and they are focusing on how we are living into the promise that creating a vision for the church with God’s help allows all things to be made new. The second reason is because we are in a season of the calendar year where new beginnings are everywhere. In the sweet-smelling Spring blooms and blossoms of creation, in the celebrating students graduating from high school, college, grad school, or vocational school, in the warmer temperatures that make people come alive with activity. Our current season is certainly one where making things new is not only noticed but celebrated. And so, in this season of new beginnings and season of Easter, I want to share an experience that taught me a lot about the new opportunities that are alive again with the resurrection of Jesus
This story takes place during my year as a Young Adult in Global Mission, where I lived in Cambodia, in Southeast Asia, for the year before starting seminary. One thing I learned quickly during my time there is that celebrations and holidays were taken seriously. They offered times of rest, celebration with family and friends, and recognizing whatever the specific holiday might be. The holiday that has the biggest celebration by far, is Khmer New Year, or Cambodian New Year. Rather than lining up with the calendar new year, this celebration takes place over a few days in April. It also often coincides with Holy Week and Easter Sunday. For example, this year’s Khmer New Year was Thursday, April 14th-Saturday, April 16th, and we celebrated Easter Sunday on April 17th. Though this does not happen every year, it often does, and so it did the year that I lived there.
Since I lived in the capital, a Cambodian friend of mine graciously offered for me to go home with her during the holiday to celebrate with her family in her home village. We spent the days dancing, playing games, eating, participating in traditions, and celebrating the New Year. On Sunday, we attended her home church, which was actually the first congregation of the Lutheran Church in Cambodia, and I knew that it was Easter Sunday. Now, from my previous experiences, one of the first parts of an Easter Sunday worship service, and please help me out with this, is the call and response of, “ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN!” (point to congregation) “CHRIST IS RISEN INDEED, ALLELUIA!” Exactly, so when I attended this Easter morning service, I was not sure if this would be a part of it, but I was curious if this familiar thing I knew would be present. Instead, I found that the service started with a different call and response. The exclamation, “SOUSDAI CH’NAM T’MEI” or “HAPPY NEW YEAR!” was shouted back and forth between leader and congregation a few times. I think of that moment often whenever we are in the season of Easter, and how a shout to welcome a new year is a beautiful opportunity to be reminded of the promise we are given in the resurrection we proclaim in the season of Easter.
As Christians we are people who proclaim that death no longer has the final say, which means that there is always the possibility for something to be made new, to be resurrected. Nothing is too far gone, nothing is too stagnant, nothing is too permanent that God cannot help something new to form. The hardest part of new beginnings is often the resistance that comes from not wanting to lose the comfort of stability. And so, although we have a God who tells us from the throne, “look, I am making all things new,” it can be hard to follow God down that new path without knowing what God has given us for the journey. For that today, I will direct us to our Gospel reading. Jesus tells his disciples that he will only be with them a little longer, and that they cannot follow where he is going. This can sound scary if we stop reading there or worry that this means God is not with us on the pathways to a new beginning. But then Jesus tells the disciples that he gives them a NEW commandment. This is the commandment that we have claimed and are called to live by and into as followers of Jesus. And this NEW commandment is: that we love one another. Just as Jesus loved us, so we love one another.
These words are the ones that fortify and follow us just as we follow God in pursuing the new creation forming around and in us. This love for one another sustains us as we change and grow and become something new. Love leads us in all of this so that when someone needs comfort, encouragement, support, rest, hope, or companionship along the journey, that love provides. God is making all things new, and we are called in love to transform ourselves along with the world into a new creation in Christ. As I said before, we are in a season of new beginnings, in the church, in people’s lives, in creation, and so I never want there to be doubt that you have been prepared for the new thing that is coming. You have been prepared for any and every new beginning through the love of our God who makes all things new. Much like the possibility that comes with a new year’s celebration, the season of Easter reminds us that with Christ’s resurrection, we are joined with God and always have the ability to be made new. And so today, I proclaim to you, Christ is Risen, Happy New Year, may you find the resurrected creation that God is working through you in this season of new beginnings. Thanks be to God.