here was the schedule of events (some basic highlights but missing a lot of the details):
wednesday, 7th - after a long day at work, i took off in order to drive to st paul. arrived there at 1 am. yup, 1 am. where i met laura, who was really nice.
thursday, 8th - woke up at 5:30 in order to be driving away at 6 am. which i did. right after briefly saying hello and goodbye to katie e. then i proceeded to drive a long, long, long way.
highlights of that trip:
- seeing the line of school buses as they all warmed up before going off to pick up the children (yup, that's early, folks!).
- driving in snow in wisconsin.
- driving past lindsay's hometown (and of course calling her cause that what i does).
- getting stuck in traffic in chicago (construction is even less fun in big cities).
- picking up my sisters at midway. good size for airport. horrible location.
- driving through a very seedy part of chicago. at one point, kendra (who was illegally laying down in the backseat) asked me to not stop because the buildings were creepy and the windows were all boarded up.
- realizing that indiana and ohio are boring states.
- meeting liesl, kayla's friend from college way back when. we spent the night at her house. where we met a gigantic dog. and admired the stuffed moose and squirrel. and where kayla and kendra proved liesl wrong. liesl thought that those two wouldn't be able to fit and sleep on one twin bed.
friday, 9th - drove out of ohio (yay, no more ohio!). and into pennsylvania. which was not as bad as people led me to believe. cause i didn't mind the curves, which were a nice variation to the boring straight roads of the turnpikes and toll roads. don't get me wrong, i love prairie and straight roads. but two days of them...i appreciated the change of scenery. arrived in poughkeepsie, ny at about the same time schools got out. which meant that there was a wee bit o traffic. but not bad. then we managed to reconnect with krissa at vassar! when we got there, we ventured to the bookstore in order to update our vassar apparel. as in, we needed to be awesome. other shopping highlight of the trip: cheap dress pants and new shades. watched movies.
saturday, 10th - slept in (somewhat). watched a rugby game for the first time ever! interesting sport. nonstop movement. a few injuries. including krissa who managed to hurt her hand and who managed to have her ear piercing split open. short explanation of the ear: she just got the top of her ear pierced and it was slightly infected. when it got bumped, it started to bleed. which meant that she had to wear a smelly scrum cap the rest of the game. i hear it was smelly because it was borrowed from a boy who never washes it. after the game, the ice cream truck showed up. so we got some free treats.
then that night we went to the rugby team party. and was an outsider who got to observe just how close that team was. as they proceeded to get drunk and sing pub songs. i realized that i like gin while at the party.
sunday, 11th - slept in and didn't go to church. walked around campus in our cute outfits, which we had all ready cause of my threats that i was going to make everyone to go to church. then changed so we could play a little game of soccer. where four of us were barefoot and three shod. then on to watch some quidditch practice. which was a letdown. cause we were all hoping they would practice in their capes. which i guess they wear at real games, but not practice. then we baked up some taters, broccoli and brownies. then we watched some movies with katie j, who drove over from conneticut to see me.
monday, 12th - early to rise, hopped on a train to nyc, found a bus to laguardia airport, and flew. and kayla and i realized that i really should have booked different flights since there was way too much time spent sitting in airports between flights. met up with mommy at kayla's apartment before mom and i drove back to sd.
tuesday, 13th - woke up to a phone call from kiana. she asked me to bring sunscreen for her to the meet. watched kiana jump at the wagner track meet. it was windy. i guess somewhere around 30 mph. gusting up to 40, maybe? then after kiana was done jumping, went to visit grandma mabel. who is now 92. spent several hours with her. which was amazing since i usually run after about 30 min.
wednesday, 14th - waking up to a phone call from kiana. again. this time she wanted me to drop off my copy of disney's princess and the frog so that the band could watch it. paid off a bank loan (yay!) before driving away to kendra's in the afternoon.
thursday, 15th - hung out with kendra in the am before she left for classes/work. and then i spent the rest of the day with the libster. libby is 1.5 years old and starting to talk. still doesn't have a lot of hair. but more than what she was born with. chilled a bit with trevor when he got off work.
friday, 16th - once again, hung out with kendra in the am and libby in the pm. baked some dinner rolls and french bread. and i totally rock at baking. i felt special when trevor stopped by briefly to get his fishing gear and libby only sat in his lap for a few minutes before transferring herself to me.
saturday, 17th - woke up early and began baking. again. then i sadly enough packed up and got on the road to head back to bemidji. rolled into town about 11 hours after leaving kendra's. after 10 pm. i got home, read a note left by my landlords, and crawled into bed.
sunday, 18th - woke up at 6 am so that i could write my sermon. which i hadn't done but needed to be done since i preached...so here it is:
Love.
A very large and important term.
So important that in many cultures they have more than one word for love.
In our own culture, we use the term “love” to describe our feelings for different people or objects.
I myself am guilty of tossing the word around to let others know that I really like a pair of shoes or a film.
Love becomes the ultimate version of like.
But love is still love when we talk about people. Love goes beyond like.
My mother always told me and my sisters that we had to love each other. We didn’t always have to like each other, but we had to love each other.
I wish that the English language had at least two different words for love.
Like in Greek, where there is one that describes the caring and bonding love between friends. Another describes the physical and emotional love that happens between lovers. And the third that describes a love that goes beyond loving only the person standing beside you in order to encompass a love for the whole world.
It would make things a lot easier and less confusing to have more than one word for love.
I would feel more comfortable telling my friends who are important to me that the love I have for them is philos. We all know that Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love. Philos is the Greek word for the love between friends or siblings. The ultimate love between friends is when you love them like they are part of your family.
But I would also appreciate a word to let those most important to me that I would be willing to sacrifice everything for their sake. That the love I feel for them goes beyond simply caring. The Greek term here is Agape. Agape is the word for love that describes how God loved the world.
Agape has become an important theological term. Several scholars devote time to figuring out just what agape means and how it should be lived out.
My favorite use for agape is to compare it to the command to love your neighbor. Agape involves knowing what others need and helping them get their needs fulfilled. Making sure that they have enough food, clothing and shelter. Caring for them and making sure that we do no harm to them. Agape is a big word to describe a love that involves an active doing.
In today’s text, we read that Jesus is asking Peter some questions. What we in the English-speaking world miss out on is the fact that the words for love, which are simply love in English, are actually philos and agape in the Greek.
Jesus asks twice, “Peter, do you love me? Do you agape me?”
The response both times is “Yes, I love you like my brother. I philos you.”
But the third time, Jesus adjusts his question to fit Peter’s response. “Peter, do you love me like a brother?”
And Peter responds in the affirmative.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I struggle with the fact that Jesus adjusts his question.
When I read this text, I’m puzzled and somewhat insulted that Jesus is the one having to adjust to fit the human feelings. Think about it. Jesus in the first two questions is asking Peter to have the ultimate love for Jesus. For Peter to feel agape. Then Jesus realizes that Peter is just not up to that level and brings the expectation of love down a notch.
It can seem as though Jesus is admitting that Peter is just not able to love in the best way. And it can seem as though Jesus settles for philos.
Of course, that would require us to think that one form of love is better than another. That agape is better than philos.
Which may not be the case.
But in our culture and tradition, we have often placed more importance on agape, on that self-giving, self-sacrificing love. Because we were raised to believe that it is far more important to give than to receive. And we were raised to believe that agape is the ultimate giving and loving.
But when we place so much importance on agape, we forget that philos is just as important. Philos is not necessarily lesser than agape; it’s just different. Agape and philos both have a place in the world.
I think that the focus of today’s text is not supposed to be on what type of love Peter feels.
Peter loves Jesus. He admits it. He loves Jesus in the way he knows how to love Jesus best: he loves him like a brother. Peter loves Jesus.
The text also focuses on what Jesus expects Peter to do.
Now that Peter has admitted that he loves Jesus, Jesus expects Peter to do something.
Love is dead when the feeling doesn’t match the actions. Love is dead when we say that we love someone but treat them poorly. Love is dead when we say the words but then abuse others verbally, emotionally or physically. Because love is about caring and helping.
Because we all have heard that actions speak louder than words.
That’s what I thought of when I read today’s text.
Peter is saying that he loves Jesus.
And Jesus is letting Peter know that the time has come for his actions to reflect his words.
So Jesus tells Peter to feed his lambs. To tend his sheep. To feed his sheep.
Jesus is letting Peter know that he is now the shepherd. He is the substitute on earth. Peter is being called to love and care for Jesus’ flock.
So what does all this mean for us today?
Good question. I think that we will all have different ideas of what we should believe and do. Of how we should feel and act.
But I think that we can all agree that Jesus doesn’t just end with the feeling of love. He doesn’t just persist in getting Peter to admit to a feeling. But each time he asks, he follows up with a command for Peter to do something.
I’m sure that God is asking us the same question: “Do you love me? You may love me like a member of the family, you may love me like a friend. I just want to know, do you love me? Because if you do, here’s what I expect you to do…I want you to look after the rest of my flock. You need to make sure that they have enough food. To find them when they are lost. To care for them when they get hurt. So if you love me, go out and love my flock.”
Not exactly the easiest command to follow, but necessary. If we love God, we had better be out in the world caring for others.
Love God and love your neighbor. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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