Cinco de Mayo

1st John 5: 1-6, NT page 241 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth. Sermon This is a week full of holidays. Today is Mother’s Day and I hope you remembered, but there are two lesser known holidays this week as well – the fourth of May is a holiday to some people as is the 5th. The fourth of May is celebrated by enthusiasts of the Star Wars movies – a series of movies that has been around for years where the good guys don’t say “goodbye” or “see you later” but “May the force be with you” so on May 4th all the big Star Wars fans went around saying, “May the 4th be with you.” I’m not defending the practice, I’m just making note of it. So there’s Mother’s Day this week, May the 4th and while May the 4th is celebrated mostly by Star Wars enthusiasts May the 5th is celebrated mostly by margarita enthusiasts, a majority of whom I have a feeling have no idea what Cinco de Mayo even means. The Mexican restaurants were packed on Tuesday, the 5th of May, which I believe most people assume is the day of Mexican Independence, something like our 4th of July, but interestingly it is not. Cinco de Mayo celebrates not Mexican independence from Spain, the Spaniards had already been kicked out – and Mexican independence is celebrated on September 16th. Cinco de Mayo celebrates when Mexican Independence was defended for on May 5th, 1862, the French sent a massive army attempting to take over. Now most people misunderstand the 5th of May, but no one has even heard of September 16th – so why would we celebrate the one so much more than the other – doesn’t it seem like declaring independence is more significant than defending it – that’s like making a bigger deal out of the battle of 1812 than the 4th of July – but let us take a lesson here from our neighbors to the south because gaining freedom is not so much more important than defending it. The Apostle Paul says it well in his letter to the Galatians: “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery,” but we do. Sometimes we focus so much on gaining freedom that we forget to defend it. So also we focus so much on losing weight – but don’t forget that losing it is only the beginning and keeping it off is another battle altogether. You think about weddings – now a wedding is just one hour in the life of a marriage but we don’t treat it that way. In fact, Lacy Coleman who served this church for over 40 years as the church custodian – he was once working non-stop over the course of a week for a Saturday wedding: moving tables, putting up flowers, cleaning pews, and in this storm of wedding preparation he whispered to someone working beside him, “I just hope the marriage lasts half as long as this wedding.” And here’s the parallel to the life of every Christian, maybe especially every Presbyterian – have we focused so much energy on the gift of God’s salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ that we’re losing the battle of living a life worthy of our calling? Do we honor the Cross if we lean so heavily on grace as to believe no obligation has been placed upon us? Have we forsaken our inheritance as the children of God if we do not love our God by obeying the Commandments? Our second scripture lesson could hardly be clearer: “For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world.” The passage reminds me of an experience I had in college. Sara and I both graduated from a Presbyterian College in South Carolina. It was a good place to go to school – the professors were challenging, but the classes were small enough that we received plenty of individual attention when we had trouble – and the school was in this small town, which meant that there was enough to do on the weekends, not too much but enough, enough trouble you could get into if you wanted to get into trouble - big parties on Friday and Saturday night. That made sense to most of the students – after all, this was college – but some of the students and faculty members didn’t understand how a Presbyterian College could tolerate such behavior, so one faculty member, she was raised in a different religious tradition and was just getting used to Presbyterians, she says to me one afternoon: “Well now I get it.” “What do you get,” I asked. “Now that I understand Predestination it finally makes sense how there can be all these parties at a Christian college – you Presbyterians think that God has predestined you for heaven so now you can do whatever you want.” We should be more careful, because gaining freedom is not so much more important than defending it. Rejoice, for you have been given salvation, but do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. And know that everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, but the love of God is this – “that we obey his commandments.” I believe it’s something like a mother’s love. You don’t earn a mother’s love – or if you do than I am sorry – because the way I’ve witnessed a mother’s love I’ve learned that a mother’s love has to do with something much more beautiful than earning. I’ve witnessed a mother who loved her children before she could know them. Before she could see them. A mother who loved her children before they could make her proud or disappoint her or do anything at all – I’ve witnessed the love of a mother that was simply a gift given that could only be accepted and not earned. Now that’s what we Presbyterians believe about salvation, and so we baptize these babies, we celebrate their redemption from sin before they can so much as speak – and why some wonder – but how else could it be? Can anyone earn something so wonderful as salvation? Is anyone so good that they deserve it? Than it must be a gift, and if so, than the question becomes: how can we honor such a gift? How can we say “thank you”? How can we return the love that we have received? “The love of God is this, that we obey his commandments,” not because doing so will make God love us anymore – but because we must trust those who love us for they lead us towards a way of life that will bring fulfillment and joy. So “his commandments are not burdensome,” no – you want to know burdensome, try sin! If you have been struggling under the yoke of honesty, if you’ve been tempted to conceal the truth or withhold it all-together, then know that nothing will weigh so heavy on your mind than a lie. What could be so heavy a burden as hate? The commandments written down by Moses are intended for you – not as a means to earn anything but as guidance for how to live a joy filled life. “Do not steal,” the commandments say, because the one who gave the commandment knows the weight of guilt theft brings. “Honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy,” and here is a commandment that is more defiled than any other. We defile it because we don’t believe that our salvation is contingent on our obedience to it, and indeed it is not – what is at stake is the condition of your heart. No – God will not strike you down for going into the office on a Sunday; God will not need to for the 80 hour week brings with it its own punishment. “His commandments are not burdensome,” no they are not, especially compared to the weight of sin, so still the words of the Gospel of Matthew that mark our front steps ring true: “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The Lord calls you to obedience. The Lord calls you to a new way of life. The Lord calls you to listen and follow, not because his love is at stake, but because your joy is. Consider the mothers who weep in the court room as their child is convicted. See their tears as a testament to their love, for the opposite of love is not disappointment, anger, or shame – the opposite of love is indifference. Now, just as it is true of your mother, so it is true for God – “For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments” – for our God loves us too much to want us to stay the way we are. There is no room for our self-righteousness given the grace we have received. Our condescension dishonors the God who came down from heaven to dwell among us. And what is our faith if we claim to put our trust in God while ignoring his commandments? His commandments are not burdensome – for whatever is born of God conquers the world. Go out into the world then, and let your life proclaim the victory. Amen.