Easter 4 -Year B

Sean C. Kim
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
Fourth Sunday of Easter
21 April 2024
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            When I was young, I used to spend hours reading the Greek myths and legends. I was fascinated by the tales of capricious gods and the epic adventures of heroes. One of the most compelling stories that I remember from my childhood is that of Damon and Pythias. It’s not one of the more well-known Greek legends, but there’s a powerful ethical and emotional dimension to the story.

            Damon and Pythias are two close friends. Pythias is accused of plotting against the king and is sentenced to death. Pythias requests permission to go home to settle his affairs before his execution. When the king refuses, Pythias’s friend, Damon, steps forward and volunteers to be the hostage until his friend’s return. The condition is that if Pythias does not return, Damon will be executed in his place. The long wait begins, and the king suspects that Pythias will not show up. But when he does return, the king is not only surprised; he is so moved by the friendship of the two men that he allows both to go free. The story of Damon and Pythias embodies the ideal of self-sacrifice in friendship.

            In today’s Epistle reading from I John, we have a similar image of self-sacrifice: “We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for one another” (I John 3:16-24). As in the Pythias and Damon legend, here, too, we have the talk about laying down our lives for another. But there’s a difference. In the story of Pythias and Damon, it is one friend willing to lay down his life for the other. But, here in I John, the attitude of self-sacrifice is not limited to friends. It is a general statement, in which we are called to embrace the attitude of self-sacrifice toward all, friend or foe. Just as Jesus laid down his life for all, we, too, are called to follow him and lay down our lives for all.

Moreover, we are told that this is the definition of love: “We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us – and we ought to lay down our lives for one another…let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action” (I John 2:16, 18). In other words, Christian love is about laying down our lives for one another.

            For me, this is one of those difficult sayings in Scripture. It isn’t difficult to understand; the meaning is quite clear. But it’s difficult to implement and practice. Sometimes, I wonder why Jesus had to say some of the things that he did. Why does he have to demand so much of us? Why couldn’t our religion be easy, requiring little of us but giving us a lot of benefits? Well, friends, it doesn’t get any tougher than this: laying down our lives for one another.

            And yet as tough as it is, there have been countless followers of the Lord Jesus throughout the history of our faith who have done just that, holding before us models of Christ-like love. Some of you may have heard of St. Maximilian Kolbe. Fr. Kolbe was a Polish Roman Catholic priest and Franciscan monk, who was interned at Auschwitz for opposing the Nazis during World War II. When a prisoner escaped, the Nazis randomly selected ten men to be starved to death. When one of the men shouted, “My wife! My children!” Fr. Kolbe volunteered to take the place of the stranger, and the Nazis agreed to his request. He was starved for two weeks and then killed by lethal injection.

If you’re wondering what happened to the man for whom Fr. Kolbe died, Franciszek Gajowniczek, he survived the camp and the war and lived to the age of 93. Inspired by Fr. Kolbe’s sacrifice, he became a lay missionary. Fr.  Kolbe was canonized a saint by fellow Polish priest, Pope John Paul II, in 1982, and Franciszek Gajowniczek was there at the canonization. Fr. Kolbe’s feast day is August 14.

            We commemorate Fr. Kolbe and other saints because they carried out great deeds and lived extraordinary lives. They stand out among the rest of us. The Greeks have their heroes; we Christians also have our heroes. Few are called to the kind of heroic faith that Fr. Kolbe embodied. And yet we, as fellow followers of the Lord Jesus, are called to the same command to love by laying down our lives for one another.

            Laying down our lives doesn’t have to mean giving up our lives. Love doesn’t always require the ultimate sacrifice. We can lay down our lives for one another in other ways. Returning to our Epistle, we read, “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?” (I John 3:17).

            When we help a brother or sister in need, we are laying down our lives. We are giving up a part of ourselves – our time, our resources, our energies. In a way, it is a kind of dying to ourselves and living for others, as we take the focus away from ourselves and turn to those around us in love and service.

And I see this kind of self-sacrificing love everywhere in our community here at St. Mary’s. Just these past couple of weeks, I saw love in action when Fr. Larry and Jami Blakeley went to visit a parishioner, Chip Oldham, who had long been neglected and almost forgotten by the rest of us. He is featured in this week’s newsletter. I saw love in action when our parishioners took the time to join those who had lost loved ones to grieve and mourn with them. And week after week I see love in action when you pick up Blessing Bags to distribute to the homeless on the streets. I see love in action in the volunteers who labor in the kitchen to provide generous hospitality to our community and those in need.

             How about you? How will you lay down your life this week?