The Way of Love

Homily for Sunday, June 8, 2025
Day of Pentecost
John 14:8-17, (25-27)

If you were to enter the Metropolitan Museum of Art at the 82^nd Street entrance and once inside turned left, you first would come to displays of ancient Greek pottery.  If you continued on, you then would come to an ancient Roman “peristyle” hall ringed with columns and with a large fountain in the middle.  Among the sculptures displayed around the perimeter of this hall is one labeled, “The Marble Bust of a Man – Roman, mid 1^st century CE.” It is a so-called Roman “portrait bust,” composed of a sculpted head, neck and shoulders.  Portrait busts were popular among the Roman upper classes, who had them sculpted not only to help a family remember an ancestor, but also – especially when displayed publicly – to assert a family’s lineage, prestige and service to the Republic.  This particular portrait bust is in the so-called “veristic” style; that is, rather than show an idealized and perhaps younger man, it shows an older man with furrowed brow, wrinkled cheeks, and rolls of flesh at the back of his neck – all signs of wisdom and experience, which were prized during the Republic.  His tightly-sealed lips, stern expression and closely-cropped military hair style embody the gravitas expected from a man of public service and hint at valor on the field of battle.  Though the subject of this particular bust is unknown, such portrait busts were often displayed publicly by the Roman emperors, though not as a means of remembrance, but rather as propaganda.  These publicly-displayed busts asserted the emperor’s authority, projected his supposed strength and virility, and (it was hoped) thereby squelched dissent and any thoughts of insurrection or rebellion.  

In today’s Gospel lesson from John chapter 14, Philip says to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”  I wonder, what did Philip have in mind when he asked Jesus to show him the Father?  Was Philip looking for Jesus to describe the Father using words or metaphors?  Did Philip hope Jesus (similar to what Jesus did with the woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8) [did Philip hope Jesus] might bend down and draw with his finger on the ground an image of the Father? Or was Philip, with his Greek name and coming from Bethsaida, the Roman-ish town on the northern side of the Sea of Galilee, [was Philip], himself probably having seen portrait busts, imagining that Jesus might be able to point to a portrait bust somewhere and say, “That one there looks similar to the Father”?

We don’t know.  But given the context of John’s Gospel, I can’t help but wonder if in today’s passage the evangelist is contrasting Jesus with the Emperor.    

The Gospel of John is thought to have been written during the reign of Emperor Domitian, who ruled from 81-96CE.  Domitian was the first emperor to claim the titles dominus et deus, or “Lord and Divinity.”  He insisted on absolute fealty and subservience not only from average citizens, but also from senators and all government officials.  Domitian was known for his authoritarianism, self-aggrandizement, unpredictability, corruption and cruelty.

In this context of fear, unpredictability,corruption and cruelty, John remembers Jesus speaking words rather of love, stability,truth, and compassion:

·       Of love:  “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”  “Love one another, as I have loved you” (15:12).

·       Of stability:  “The Father… will give you another Advocate, who will be with you forever.”

·       Of truth:  “This is the Spirit of truth.”

·       Of compassion:  “Philip… Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

In contrast to the Emperor’s busts of propaganda displayed on public thoroughfares and in public buildings,Jesus speaks to the apostles face-to-face and personally, “How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’… Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”  In contrast to the Emperor who claimed his words were Divine, Jesus says, “The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own.”  In contrast to the Emperor’s acts of corruption and cruelty, Jesus points to his own loving “works:”  “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe because of the works themselves.”  And in contrast to the Emperor, in contrast to the “world” (as John puts it) – who cannot receive the Spirit of Truth, “because it neither sees nor knows him” –  Jesus says to his followers, “You know him,because he abides with you, and he will be in you.”

As did John’s community, we live in a world in which many live lives filled with fear.  As did John’s community, we live in a world in which much seems unpredictable and unstable. And as did John’s community, we live in a world that knows corruption and cruelty.  And, as he did for John’s community, Jesus offers us another way.  

This morning, we are initiating Lilly into this other Way. And Emilie, Lilly’s mother, and Liz, Lilly’s grandmother, have been preparing for this initiation for months. In our Baptismal Preparation Group , the team has spoken with Emilie not impersonally – we haven’t put up “portrait busts;” nor (to use a contemporary metaphor) have we spoken with Emilie on X or any kind of social media – rather, as did Jesus with his disciples, we have spoken with Emilie personally and face-to-face.  Lest we step on the Holy Spirit’s toes and stray into thinking that our word is in some way divine or that we have answers, each of our sessions began by gathering around the Holy Scriptures and asking questions, such as:  “What word or phrase stood out for you?”  “What do you think the passage meant for hearers then? And what do you think it means for us today?”  Or, “How can we best support each other in our lives in Christ?”  And lest we think that it is by our own agency that Emilie is prepared for Lilly’s Baptism, we ended each of our sessions with prayer, laying our hands on Emilie and asking the Holy Spirit to work in her.

Above all, Emilie, I hope that we did not communicate to you a “portrait bust” version of Jesus, “veristic” or authentic though it might be.  Rather, I hope that – having been with you all this time – as Jesus by his very person made the Father known to Philip, [I hope that] we by our very persons have made known to you (to quote from 1 John) “what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life” (1 John 1) – that Jesus is love.  I hope we have made known to you that with him we need not let our hearts be troubled, we need not be afraid.  For love, Jesus’ love, makes all the difference.  To quote Pope Francis, “If love reigns in our heart, we become, in a complete and luminous way, the persons we are meant to be, for every human being is created above all else for love.  In the deepest fiber of our being, we were made to love and to be loved” (Dilexit Nos, 21).

It is not easy to live this Way of love – there is much in our world that is fearful, chaotic, corrupt and cruel that would hinder our living this Way of love.  But I hope the graces of today will enable you, Emilie, and through you will enable Lilly, to hear the voice of the Shepherd, who loves us with an immense and unconditional love, [to hear the voice of the Shepherd] calling you – calling each of us – to follow him in this Way that is different from the world:  Jesus’ healing, consoling, joyful, peace-filled, and soul-satisfying Way of love.