April 7, 2015

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments…He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.” John 14:15, 21

“We cannot love G*d unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other. We know Him in the breaking of bread, and we know each other in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone anymore. Heaven is a banquet and life is a banquet, too, even with a crust, where there is companionship. We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community. It all happened while we sat there talking, and it is still going on.” Dorothy Day (1897 – 1980) The Long Loneliness: An Autobiography

Jesus was taking the time, during his last supper with his disciples, to give them some lessons about life in community. Love is the overarching lesson that is necessary for a community to thrive – not just survive but to thrive. Jesus tells us to love one another – and our love for G*d begins with our love of each other. Just as our love of G*d begins and is strengthened within relationship, our love for each other requires that we do the same. Dorothy Day is stating that exact point in her comment, “It all happened while we sat there talking…” Relationship begins with talking to one another. Talking with one another begins with respecting each other enough to listen to one another – which means we allow the other to speak.

One of the ways that we can be in community with one another is to break bread frequently. When my wife and I were first married, we were members of a large Lutheran Church. When you are a member of a large church, it is hard to develop relationships with other members – because there are so many people – it becomes overwhelming. It is easy to slip into worship un-noticed – and to slip away after services un-noticed. So, the church must work hard in developing opportunities for members to get to know one another. At this church, we were placed into a group that would get together once a month, in one of the member’s homes (which rotated every month) to have a meal and time to talk. The groups were developed by age, marital status, and life activities. For example, we were put together with other young couples who either had no children, or were just having children. This gave our group some common ground for our discussions – and allowed our relationships, and our love for each other to grow. As Dorothy Day said, “…to love we must know each other.”

But all relationships take work. If you are willing to work on your relationships in church, strengthened by your relationship with G*d, then all of your relationships will benefit. You can live life alone — but your life will be lonely. But if you take the time to allow the love of G*d to fill your life, your relationship with G*d will grow, and your relationships with others will also grow.

Pastor Dave