6 Easter A 2026

By The Rev. Dr. Molly Scherm

​There are so many ways in which the times we’re living in are troubling.  I don’t need to list them for you, and I assume that all of us are here this morning for the same reasons – in these difficult times we’re looking to renew what grounds us and balances us and helps us to stay connected in our relationships with God and with one another.    We’re looking to experience what our new bishop, Miguelina, has introduced as a new diocesan watch word:  “We’re in this together”.

And that’s one of the issues.  One of the problems in today’s world, and particularly in our own nation, is the deep divide and mistrust between people of different perspectives, assumptions, and priorities.  As we know, this often comes down to a division between political parties, and we are living with a government impacted by partisan politics that almost completely prevent it from getting things done.  “Trash talk” these days goes beyond the realm of sports: our public life is dominated by divisive language that would never have been acceptable in earlier times.

So why do I bring up this unpleasant topic?  It is because Paul and Peter and Jesus have some advice for us, in this morning’s readings, on how to be in relationship with people whose perspectives differ from our own.

We began with Luke’s account of Paul’s visit to Athens.  Following Paul’s conversion to following Christ, in the days when the movement of Christ’s followers was just getting underway, he set out to preach, teach, and baptize both Jews and Greeks throughout Asia Minor.  In Athens, he spoke with Jews in the synagogue and philosophers in the marketplace.  The Athenians were interested:  in the verse just preceding today’s passage Luke tells us that “..all the Athenians … would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new.”

So Paul went to address the local administrative council, the Areopagus.  He was concerned about the idols he had observed throughout the city, and in particular by an altar inscribed “to an unknown god.”  Paul is a master of diplomacy in his approach to the council, however.  He is brief and respectful.  Even as he proclaims to them the God “in whom we live and move and have our being”, “who made the world and everything in it”, he commends the Athenians for the spirit of search that he has found throughout the city and connects his own message to theirs by quoting and affirming their own poets.

If only our own politicians took heed of Paul’s model; it turned out to be effective.  In the final verse of chapter 17 of Acts we learn that “When they heard of the resurrection of the dead some scoffed;  but others said “We will hear you again about this”.  And some became believers.

In Peter’s first letter to followers of Christ in Asia Minor, he advocated the same spirit of respect while still standing one’s ground.  At that time the Jesus movement was a new religion and significant tensions existed between its followers and the larger Greco-Roman culture.  Just as Jesus himself been viewed as a danger to the religious and political order, the first Christians were viewed with fear and mistrust, as a potential threat to social stability.

Peter’s advice is clear:  “Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence.”  Peter doesn’t deny that even respectful gentleness and reverence may not succeed in averting conflict.  Those who stand for the Gospel may well suffer.    They will at least do so with a good conscience, and he implies that they will serve as an example to those who witness their testimony.

Our gospel this morning is a very brief excerpt from John’s account of Jesus’ farewell discourses to the disciples.  In recent weeks’ readings we have been hearing stories of love and reassurance: Christ’s acknowledgement of Mary in the garden on the third day, the visitation to the disciples locked in the upper room and the acceptance of Thomas’ need for direct evidence, the appearance to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and Jesus’ likening himself to the shepherd who cares for the sheep.

In last week’s gospel, today’s, and next week’s, we return to John’s accounts of Jesus’ words to his friends at the Last Supper in which he prepares them for his departure, and for the life they are called to lead when he is no longer with them.  This morning’s message is simple – keep my commandments, the primary commandment being to love one another.

The command is accompanied by promise:  we will send you an Advocate to be with you forever… I will not leave you orphaned… the Spirit of truth will abide with you.

It is trust in God’s grace, in God’s presence with us in the most difficult of times, that can enable us to meet the hostility that the world sometimes offers, with quiet faith.  In a world where angry response and retaliation seem to be the norm, we are reminded that there is  another way, and that we are called to it.

Certainly there is a place and a need for respectful dissent.  We are called, as Peter’s letter reminds us, to stand for the Gospel of Love, to be firm in speaking against injustice and to serving as advocates for the needs of the vulnerable.  Confrontation is unavoidable where deep differences exist, but we have models of respectful opposition that we can look to, not only from Paul in Athens, but in our own time as well.

I’m sure many of you are familiar with the words of Marion Budde, Bishop of Washington, in the sermon she preached on the day of President Trump’s inauguration in 2025, and with the dustup that followed.  In her sermon Bishop Budde offered the hope of unity despite difference, “ the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division, a unity that serves the common good.”   She identified three “foundations for unity”:
“honoring the inherent dignity of every human being, which is, as all faiths represented here affirm, the birthright of all people as children of the One God.”
“honesty in both private conversation and public discourse.”
“humility, which we all need, because we are all fallible human beings.”

The Bishop then went on to reflect on the humanity that easily undergirds our conflicts:
“We say and do things that we regret. We have our blind spots and biases, and we are perhaps the most dangerous to ourselves and others when we are persuaded, without a doubt, that we are absolutely right and someone else is absolutely wrong. Because then we are just a few steps away from labeling ourselves as the good people, versus the bad people.”


Bishop Budde then went on to speak directly to the President, asking that he might govern with mercy.  I’m sure you’ll recall that there was considerable backlash against the Bishop following the sermon, and denunciations of her person and her words as “disrespectful”, “nasty”, and “boring”.   Peter correctly anticipated how standing up for the Gospel could go.


In another recent example, we have also been witness to the prophetic and measured statements by the new American Pope, Leo XIV, speaking out against the war in Iran.  


In these days of deep divisions and seemingly intractable conflicts, we are so very fortunate to have the models and leadership of faith leaders who are committed to the wisdom of scripture and to the Way of Love.  May we give thanks for them, and lets please continue to pray for them.


As we go forward -
May we follow their leads, and enter conversations with respect and humility.
May we listen even when we disagree, have the discipline to pause to consider, when we need to, and quiet the impulse to judge.
May God’s gift, the Spirit of truth, guide our hearts.

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