May 17, 2009 - Easter 6

Jesus Puts Us on His Team
John 15:9-17
Easter 6 – May 17, 2009

One of my favorite TV shows of all time was Freaks & Geeks. It didn't last long, but it was good while it lasted. It was about a brother & sister & their groups of friends. Sam, the brother, was in the geek category, and so were his 2 best friends, Neil & Bill. Most of the time they didn't care what people thought about them. They had a great time together.

Well, one episode revolved around what happened when it came to gym class. They were playing softball, and the coach picked the 2 most athletic boys to be team captains. And of course, they picked the fastest, strongest, most talented boys first. Poor Sam, Neil, & Bill. No one ever wanted them. Bill especially. He was always the very last to get picked. We can all imagine how he felt, knowing he would be the last one, knowing that he wouldn't really get to play, knowing that he wasn't really part of the team. Bill & the other misfits got sent way out in the field to play backup outfield, where there was no chance that any action would ever come their way.

Well, poor Bill really wanted to play. He watches the pitcher & catcher & shortstop gather for a conference on the pitcher's mound & he wonders what they're talking about. He wants to be in on the conversation, to feel like he's a real part of the team. He just wants a chance to prove himself. So, through a comic chain of events, Bill gets a chance to tell the coach how he feels & he convinces him to let him be a team captain. The other captain is another geek, always next to last to be picked. And as they start picking their teams, you see Sam & Neil smiling from ear to ear, because they know because their friend is the captain, this time they will be picked first for sure.
When the game gets underway, Bill is at shortstop, where he always wanted to be, and he makes Sam the pitcher, and Neil the catcher. Turns out that Sam really isn't that good. Half of his pitches don't even make it all the way over the plate, they drop in mid-air & kind of roll over the plate. And as Sam is getting discouraged, Bill calls a meeting on the mound. Sam apologizes, tells Bill he should put one of the good kids in to pitch. But Bill isn't there to give him a hard time about his pitching. He just wanted to confer with his friends on the mound, to know what it's like to be at the heart of the game.

The next batter is usually one of the team captains, and Sam somehow manages to pitch the ball across the plate. Crack! The bat hits the ball & it sails up over Bill, who runs back and leaps in mid-air, grabbing the ball and catching it as he falls to the ground. Bill & Neil come racing to Bill, jumping and shouting and laughing and grinning, over the moon! Meanwhile, the other team's players have tagged up and are racing for home - but they don't care. They are just overflowing with the joy of actually getting to be part of the team, of getting to work & play together for once.

We all know why Bill & Sam & Neil were so happy, because we all know what it feels like not to be wanted. We know what it's like to be passed over, to feel like the only reason we got picked at all is because we were the only ones left. We know what it's like to feel like we're not good enough, that we're never going to measure up to what someone else (or maybe we ourselves) think we should be. We all want to be a part of the team, to know that we are welcome & wanted. None of us wants to be sent to play backup outfielder; we want to know that what we do matters, we want to know that we are making a difference, that our lives count.

I kind of think that Jesus' disciples were like Sam & Neil & Bill. They were like most of us. To look at them, no one would have expected much. They weren't the most religious. They weren't the most educated. None of them had a distinguished pedigree. There was nothing about them to suggest that they would amount to anything.

But then Jesus came along, and everything changed. He saw something in them no one else could see & he called them to come & follow. He saw them standing on the sidelines, and he picked them out of the crowd. Jesus, their great team captain, chose them to be a part of his team. Here in the gospel story, during the last supper, he reminds them of that: “...I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.” He invited them out to the pitcher's mound to be part of the conference. He says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last...”(vs 15-16).

These are words for us today too. “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” We'll see the truth of those words again as we participate in the baptism of little Lily here - too young to know who Jesus is, too young to know that she needs what only he can give. She is a beautiful, precious child, but she's too young to even pretend that she is choosing Jesus, too young to seem like she has anything to contribute to the team. And yet in a few moments, we will hear Jesus say to her, “I choose you.” God says to her, as God says to each of us when we are baptized, “You are my child. I choose you. I love you. I name you, and I claim you. You are mine, and you have a spot on my team forever.”

It's amazing to realize that Jesus has chosen each of us, picked each one of us to be on his team. But being on the team means that we have work to do. Nobody gets to be a backup outfielder. We are chosen & appointed to go & bear the fruit, the kind of fruit that will last. We are to go into the world with the wonderful news of God's love. We are to be God's hands & feet, letting God's love transform us & through us, the world! And the only way we can do that is for us to work together. As much as some athletes might like to think that they could win the game by themselves, that their teammates' efforts are nothing in comparison to their own, the truth is, no one does it all alone. Even superstars need the help of the team, working together, training together, playing together if the team is going to be successful.

But teammates don't always get along. They squabble, they fight, they compete, they get on each others' nerves. And that's true of all of us, even within the church, even with Jesus' first band of followers. I think that's why Jesus commands them to love one another. It doesn't mean that they will always feel loving. It doesn't mean that they will always agree (just come to a church meeting or synod assembly if you don't believe me!). It doesn't mean that they will always get along or that they'll never irritate each other.

But Jesus' command to love one another is not about our feelings, it's about our actions. It is a call to bear with each other, to see past our annoying idiosyncrasies to the gifts we each bring to the game. The command to love means being willing to own up to the times when we are wrong, to admit when we have hurt each other and to ask for and offer forgiveness, because we have been forgiven. Loving each other means supporting each other & celebrating together & challenging each other to grow deeper, to hone our skills, so we may all be a productive part of Christ's fruit-growing team.

Being part of a team is never easy. But Jesus has picked each & every one of us. No one is here by accident. And when the team comes together, when everything clicks, through the power of Jesus at work in us, we do things we never thought we could do! But no matter how the game goes, when we play with passion and joy and love, we make Jesus proud. And oh the joy of serving him together in love!

So let's get out there and play some ball! Amen.