This summer, as we look ahead to the 500th anniversary of Anabaptism next year, we are exploring 3 core values of the Anabaptist tradition as set forth by theologian Palmer Becker.

The core values are these:

1. Jesus is the center of our faith
2. Community is the center of our life
3. Reconciliation is the center of our work

These statements are ways of trying to get at what it is that is foundational and unique about Anabaptist expressions of faith. They do not fully encompass the Anabaptist experience, however, they do a pretty great job of inviting us into contemplation about what it is we do believe and live out and why in terms of our faith practices.

We have been at this exploration for 3 weeks so we have already covered each of these values once. For the next three weeks we will circle back and take another look at each of these statements again. Today we revisit value number one: Jesus is the center of our faith.

I find myself confessing to you all quite often during my sermons – it’s likely a deep seeded Anabaptist habit of turning to and trusting my community to take the journey of faith and all of its wonderful questions and layers with me. Today’s confession is that when I hear this first core value, Jesus is the center of our faith – my gut instinct is to find it a bit scratchy. So when I found out I would get to preach about Jesus as the center of our faith –

I wasn’t sure what direction this morning would take. You see I have long struggled with the Christian tradition pointing toward Jesus with unabashed reverence when my understanding of Jesus from what I read in the scriptures is that, again and again, Jesus points us, not towards himself, instead towards God.

Aren’t Jesus and God the same thing?!

I would say yes, and no. And that’s a whole long theological conversation that isn’t what I am supposed to be talking about today so I will try to not get sidetracked too much – and yet I bring it up because I believe the heart of my scratchiness about this statement lies somewhere in the midst of that mysterious muddle. In particular it circles around the tendency of Christians to focus on Jesus as Lord and Savior because of his death and resurrection. I don’t want to downplay the significance of that journey for the Christian tradition, however, as a person pursuing an Anabaptist perspective, I lean more towards the camp that views Jesus’ life to be just as, if not more important than his death, in terms of freedom and salvation for all people.

What do I mean by that? I found a lovely way of thinking about this through the writings of theologian, counselor, professor, and my great Uncle David Augsburger:  who reflected on this in a blog post about the Apostles Creed (a brief statement of Christian belief that has been around for centuries) – David’s words:

“Walter Bruggemann once said, “The Apostles Creed leaps from the words, “born of the Virgin Mary”—to—“suffered under Pontius Pilate” with nothing but a comma between. “Only a comma, nothing more than a comma, but Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh what a comma!” [David goes on] We Anabaptists confess [Jesus’] life as well as His death and resurrection. We are saved by it all, or incarnation means nothing at all. Our church Peace Mennonite Fellowship created [a] liturgy which adds what we call “the Anabaptist Comma”.

In the creation of the Anabaptist Comma within the Apostles Creed – Peace Mennonite Fellowship added in 29 expressions of encounters of Jesus in his life before his suffering and death under Pontius Pilot. It is in and through the living of his life, the interactions Jesus had with people, the healing he channeled, the teachings he offered, the expansive love he modeled – and the invitation he issued again and again for people to join in the living of God’s love into the world in and through all of these encounters as he lived and loved that we find the salvific power of Jesus. Jesus is the bread of life – and so it is to his life that we Anabaptists look as we center our faith around him.

The life, healing ministry, and teachings of Jesus are things I can easily get behind. And so I feel much less scratchy thinking of Jesus as the center of our faith when I consider the model and invitation of Jesus’ life as a path for us to follow as we seek to join in the work of living God’s healing, just, and freeing love into the world for the sake of ourselves and each other.

Palmer Becker’s own writings around these core values include the following:

“Salvation, in the Anabaptist tradition, means being transformed from an old way of life to a life that exemplifies the spirit and actions of Jesus. Salvation is not merely a change of God’s attitude toward us. It is a change in our attitudes and actions toward God, toward people, and toward the world. This change is made possible by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, who empowers disciples to follow Jesus in daily life.”

Jesus’ life models for us what the spirit of God’s love looks like in action in and through humanity. We can bear witness to several layers of that in the scripture passage from John 6 that was read today which begins with the Bread of Life offering life-giving sustenance to meet the physical needs of a gathered crowd. What do we learn from Jesus about the spirit of God’s love in this story?

Jesus crossed over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee and a huge crowd followed him.

We learn that God’s love is present and moving in the midst of creation and welcomes companionship on the journey.

Looking up, Jesus saw the crowd.

We learn that God’s love actively pays attention.

Jesus said to Philip, “Where can we buy some bread for these people to eat?

We learn that God’s love doesn’t ask if, instead it asks how the needs of people will be met.

Jesus knew very well what he was going to do, but asked this to test Philip’s response.

God’s love invites people into creative participation.

Philip answered, “Not even with two hundred days’ wages could we buy loaves enough to give each of them a mouthful!”

God’s love makes space for disbelief and despair.

One of the disciples, Simon Peter’s brother Andrew, said, “There’s a small boy here with five barley loaves and two dried fish. But what good is that for so many people?”

God’s love stirs our wonder and curiosity.

Jesus said to them, “Make the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass there, and as many as five thousand families sat down. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and gave them out to all who were sitting there; he did the same with the fish, giving out as much as they could eat.

God’s love invites community participation – it asks us to open ourselves, to prepare ourselves, to receive care and to bring forward and offer whatever it is we might have to share without value judgment.

God’s love receives offerings with gratitude.

God’s love shares with generosity.

God’s love is unimaginably abundant!

In and through Jesus’ presence and actions in this story we learn all of this (and more that I haven’t directly mentioned) about the spirit of God’s love.

I couldn’t help but think about these revelations of the Spirit of God’s love through Jesus’ actions as I watched the opening ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Olympics this week and continued to witness echoes of them alive and well.

If you didn’t watch the opening ceremonies it was a unique spectacle of artistic performances and ideas alongside a showcase of the beauty and history of both Paris and the Olympics itself.

Instead of the traditional parade of nations in which the athletes from each country march independently into a stadium, the delegations traveled down the river Seine to the Eiffel Tower on boats – often with several countries sharing the same boat; regardless of geographical, political, ideological, or language barriers that might be present, they were on the journey together.

Upon reaching the stadium, speeches were held to officially open the games – and within one of those speeches was a reminder of the power of generosity – of sharing – the president of the planning committee was reminiscing about the sport of Rugby and said – it’s not a sport where you keep the ball – you share it! It is a team effort that requires giving and receiving.

After the formal speeches came the tradition of lighting an Olympic cauldron. As the torch made its way closer and closer to its final destination, (the location of which was a mystery – which was also an unusual thing) there was a series of hand-offs on the journey from one torch bearer to the next – all accomplished athletes. What was unusual about the journey of the torch this year (other than the mystery of location) is that when each torch bearer passed off the torch to the next person, instead of stepping back and watching them carry the flame away, they joined alongside the new torch bearer to the next hand-off point, where it was handed off again. With each hand-off the community of support surrounding the traveling flame grew. They took the journey together to the place where the cauldron awaited ready to receive the small flame that was passed from person to person to person and offer it space to spread and grow into an immense blaze illuminating the night sky.

Closer to home, while not the Olympics, people have gathered together to perform a very physical and athletic feat of walking from Harrisonburg Virginia to Washington DC. They have been journeying together over the past 11 days in solidarity and with cries of peace as they have participated in the Mennonite Action All God’s Children March for a Ceasefire.

Back to the Olympics, it also wasn’t lost on me – and apologies if you are a day behind in Olympic coverage and this is a spoiler – that the first gold medals won by members of team USA were in the men’s 4×100 swimming relay – which meant it wasn’t one person up on the podium winning gold – it was a team – a community that had to work together to accomplish success through the offering and receiving of the gifts and talents of each one for the good of the collective whole.

And after all of these efforts, the athletes and participants, like Jesus, were tired. Ready for a rest. Which takes us back to the example of Jesus in the John text today:

The people, seeing this sign that Jesus had performed, said, “Surely this is the Prophet who was to come into the world.” Seeing that they were about to come and carry him off to crown him as ruler, Jesus escaped into the hills alone.

There are layers at play about what Jesus’ actions in this moment reveal to us about God’s love. God’s love is aware that humans will very often attempt to control, manipulate, and wield power in ways that do not prioritize reconciliation, healing, access, and justice. God’s love also understands the need for space, rest, and reset. Honoring these needs is part of the sustaining presence of God at work in and through humanity and all of creation.

This past week wasn’t only host to the start of the summer Olympics, July 24 was International Self-Care Day. I read a short article this week about the balance of both reactive and proactive self-care in our living – reactive self care being self care that we do in the moment to feel good or better and proactive self-care being mindfulness that chooses to do things that help us feel good more often. And self-care in the sense I’m talking about at the moment isn’t just about luxuries or things that offer us distraction or an escape, self-care in this way of living is a practice that makes space to honor and tend to our mental, physical, or spiritual health and wellness so that we can thrive and participate in the fullness of God’s love in the world.

Jesus in his act of escaping into the hills alone, isn’t running away from the needs of the people around him. He is modeling both reactive and proactive self-care for us. He steps away from a situation that has been a space of God’s love and justice on display as the needs of all the people were met with abundance through the sharing of food. He steps away so that he won’t be swayed by human desires of power and so that he can rest and reset for the work of Love that is ever on-going. Jesus reveals that the spirit of God’s love desires and prioritizes justice, reconciliation, healing, health, and wellness.

Once he had tended to his health and wellness and was ready to continue the journey, Jesus returned to the community in the most unexpected way.

As evening approached, the disciples went down to the lake. They got into their boat, intending to cross to Capernaum, which was on the other side of the lake. By this time it was dark, and Jesus had still not joined them; moreover, a stiff wind was blowing and the sea was becoming rough. When they had rowed three or four miles, they caught sight of Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water. They were frightened, but he told them, “It’s me. Don’t be afraid.”

Jesus reveals God’s persistent presence in the midst of all things. Even distance and rough waters will not separate us from the love of God – it is ever moving towards us – seeking connection and desiring us to recognize the holy in all things. The disciples are full of fear as the figure of Jesus comes walking towards them on the water and instead of feeding their fear, he taps into their memory of the presence of God whose chosen name is I AM by simply saying: It’s me. Through this act Jesus reveals that the spirit of God’s love is an enduring and grounding love of accompanying presence and courage.

Don’t be afraid! Jesus says. God is here, with us, in you, fear not.

Whew. That was a lot of revelation about the spirit of God’s love packed into a small story! Which is part of the reason that Anabaptists have been able to follow Jesus as the center of our faith for almost 500 years (and other followers for even longer!). Jesus’ life is full of witness, wonder, and modeling of the dynamic possibilities of God’s love in action in and through creation. Jesus’ life not only models the spirit of God’s love in action, it also invites us to join in the transformative reality of God’s love in action. To join him in living out and modeling God’s love in the ways we engage in our living. Making choices and acting with courage in ways that prioritize justice, connection, reconciliation, healing, health, and wellness as we seek to embrace Jesus as the center of our faith, living with generosity and gratitude that make space for the unfathomable abundance of God’s love in the world.