Easter 6 May 1 st, 2016: We re beginning to see more and more advertisements focusing on the upcoming Olympic Games in Brazil later this summer. They include plenty of pictures of carnival dancers in colorful feathered dress, and of course shots of the VERY minimal dress worn on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. But, also included are the required helicopter fly-by shots of Mount Corcovado, topped by the 126 foot tall, art deco statue of Christ the Redeemer with all 92 feet of his arms outstretched over the city. It was constructed between 1922 and 1931 at a cost of $250K (3.3 million today) raised through donation, mostly from Brazilian Catholics disgusted by the godlessness they perceived in their society at the time. The reinforced concrete and soapstone sculpture was, and is, considered by many to be one of the new seven wonders of the world and a cultural icon of both Rio, and Brazil. But, it is no longer the tallest statue of Christ in the world. In 2010 that honor went to a statue of Christ the King erected over a small village in Poland. He is 33 meters (108 ft) one meter for every year that Jesus lived, says Sylvester Zawadzki, the priest who created the statue. But local officials say the statue is 51meters high (167ft), if one includes the mound it sits on and the golden crown on its head. Like the statue in Brazil, this Polish Christ the King was built with donations that came in from around the world. Fr. Zawadski declines
to comment on the cost, but London s Daily Mail reported it at 900K pounds ($1.4 million dollars). What Fr. Zawadski did say, as workers hoisted and set the statue s head, complete with it s 27 foot diameter golden crown, was "I have never been as happy as I am today... This is the culmination of my life's work as a priest." I think Fr. Zawadski may have missed the point. Yes, if we went to Poland or Brazil to stand in the shadow of either of these amazing works from the hand of man, I m sure we too would find them breath taking, but would they be life giving? As Jesus sat with his disciples his friends on the night of his arrest speaking gently to them of his eminent departure -- to suffering and death on the cross and how he wants them to remember Him he didn t say anything about erecting a gargantuan concrete statue. What he said was, 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. What Jesus asked for and what Jesus creates with and for disciples is a life-giving community one bound together by God, the Holy Spirit and love. John the Revelator called this community the new Jerusalem offering it (as early Christians understood it) as a metaphor for the church. A community that shines by the glory and presence of God in their midst its lamp [Christ] the Lamb -- a beacon of hope to all people. A community whose gates are always open to all people and
nations a place of safety and inclusion a community made whole and pure by the river of mercy and grace that flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb -- nourishing it and bringing it to life. But, as we can attest from our own experience, this idealistic picture of who we are to be, is often far from the reality we often know. At times the church reflects more of what imperfect humanity has brought into it than it shines with the glory of God. At least this is how it appears to an observing world, as Christians fight with one another and separate over right doctrine or over who s in and who s out who s clean and who s unclean attempting to highlight their own names in Lamb s book of Life and erase the names of those they don t like don t trust don t understand or just flat out fear because they re different. As I ve said before, say what you like about St. Paul call him a patriarchal misogynist because things written in the Epistles are said to express his views on women in church [which, by the way, may not have been written by Paul at all, but by someone writing under his name after his death]. But even if its true if Paul were not able by the guidance given by the Holy Spirit his obedience to love of Christ and his own hope in God s new community -- to set those feelings aside and sit down and pray and share the gospel with Lydia a Gentile woman he met on the bank of the river outside the pagan city of Philippi and baptize her in that river -- the community of the church may not have existed in Europe at least not one that Paul would later find himself
remembering, drawing strength and support, as he sat chained in a prison cell in Rome. And if the church exists today under less than perfect circumstances, then it s helpful to remember that it was also formed under less than perfect circumstances It is a wonder of the Gospel, says Gail O Day, that on the eve of Jesus own death, he pauses to speak to the disciples about their fears, anxieties, and despair. The word he offers them that he asks them to keep -- is not a simplistic offer of comfort and assurance... but is derived from his knowledge of the love of God for him and his own -- and his confidence of the triumph of that love over the world. Jesus moves his disciples beyond the pain of the moment... into a future in which God is always present to them through their love for one another and the communal indwelling of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. i All of the personal pronouns in these verses are second person plural, not singular. Jesus does not promise the Holy Spirit, or his own return, or the home-making of God and Jesus to individuals, but to a community who lives in love obediently keeping to his word. Not a perfect community an obedient and loving community engaged in the enlivening work of becoming together -- like Paul and Lydia open and available to the power of the Holy Spirit if we are to be judged faithful to the Lord a community grounded in God's power and love -- as Jesus revealed it in his own life, death, and resurrection. The mega structures of Brazil and Poland and other places are breathtaking wonders, to be sure. But, this holy community -- even at
its smallest when it comes together when it works together when it plays together when it worships and prays together -- is far greater than them all. Jesus does not give to us as the world gives go looking for a reason to hope out there, and the world offers you concrete and steel come looking for a reason to hope here, we give you our hand. i Gail R. O Day, John IN: New Interpreter s Bible Commentary, Volume IX, Leander Keck, et al., Editors(Nashville, TN/Abingdon Press) 1995