Welcome to Resurrection Parish as we begin the third week of our Easter message series, “Love Lives.”  We all want to love the people in our lives, and make sure that they know that we love them.  However, we all also fail to do so from time to time.  Instead of making the loving choice, we fall into selfishness.
            Jesus not only was, but is, love in action.  Whenever we meet Jesus in the gospel we see love in action.  Sometimes his love was kind and gentle, and sometimes his love was challenging and fierce.  But every time you see Jesus, you see love in action.
            Despite being love in action, Jesus was not appreciated by everyone that he encountered.  In fact, many of the religious leaders of the time opposed him.  Eventually, on Good Friday, they put him to death.  It looked as if love had lost.
            Then something happened that no one was expecting.  Jesus didn’t stay dead.  On Easter morning Jesus emerged from the grave victorious over sin, death, darkness, hatred, jealousy and violence.
            Easter is the celebration that love lives. God is love and he lives. It is the celebration that love and light are greater than death and darkness. It is a celebration that the same power that gave Jesus the ability to love others is available to us.  Through a relationship with Jesus Christ
we can access the power to love the people around us the way we really want to love them.
            Last week we looked at an important lens we need to use to love others. We need to look at people and understand that they’re God’s sons and daughters. Everyone has value because our Father in heaven sees them as his children. The first key to love the people around us is to see them as God sees them.
            Today we are going to look at what love looks like when you experience a rift in a relationship. Relational rifts run the gamut from simple misunderstandings to disagreements and divisions to feuds and fights.  Misunderstandings are commonplace.  Other rifts come from disagreements or divisions.  Then there are the feuds and fights that are the result disappointment, broken promises, thoughtless remarks, needless drama or overreaction, gossip, lies, unpleasantness, unkindness.
            In any relationship, there are myriad ways in which rifts can occur. And the reality is that if those rifts are never addressed, they can become deep divides.  What does love look like in those situations where there is a rift in a relationship?
            We are looking at an encounter that takes place on Easter Sunday evening.  Peter and John and the other apostles were trying to make sense of what is happening.  They were dealing with a whole mix of emotions; disappointment, fear, confusion, and shame for having abandoned Jesus when he seemed to need them most.
            So, the apostles are in this whole muddled mess of emotion when Jesus appears to them.  And what are the first words that Jesus says to the apostles who had abandoned him in his time of need?  Luke writes, “He stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’” (Luke 24:36).
            There was a rift in their relationship and Jesus shows us what love in action looks like. He offers peace.  Jesus reassures them by saying, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions rise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have” (Luke 24:38-40).  He even asks them if they have anything to eat and eats in front of them all to show that he is not a ghost.  He does all he can to break down any barriers between them.
            St. Luke continues, “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:44-45).  Jesus opened their minds to help them to see what had happened from God’s perspective.  It had been part of God’s plan all along.  He said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:46-48).
            God had sent Jesus into the world to suffer, die and be raised for the dead to re-establish a relationship with a broken world, a relationship he refused to give up on. Jesus is not only making peace with the apostles by appearing to them. He makes peace by giving them a job to do.
            Love lives in us when we are the first person to bring peace to relationship rift. As Christ’s followers, we can extend peace to others because we have peace with God through Jesus Christ.  I know that God is not holding my sins against me.  Can I do any less?
            So let me make three suggestions when it comes to bringing peace to a relational rift whether it takes place at home, at work or with your friends at school.
            First pray.  Pray in such a way that you are reminded of the peace you have with God
because of the Cross of Christ. Prayer helps us to develop the right attitude of desiring peace. A right attitude precedes a right action.  To achieve peace, I’ve got to get over the idea of always being right, or having the last word, or winning every argument.
            Second suggestion – make peace as quickly as possible.  You may be thinking that things
will sort themselves out. She’ll get over it. He’ll get over it. Let’s just get on with it. But that is rarely the case. A few minutes of just addressing an issue goes a long way.
            Third, do something simple as a sign of peace.  The spiritual life is simple but not easy. Extend the olive branch in a simple way.  Saying “I’m sorry” goes a long way. In most cases we can say “I’m sorry” with honesty and integrity because, if we’re at all honest, we must acknowledge we own at least part of the problem.
            God’s love seeks to make peace.  St. Paul writes, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18). What if everyone here did this? It would transform our families and our community. But first of all, it would transform our own hearts.
            You can love others enough to offer them peace because the same Jesus who died so you could have peace with God, lives in you to help you understand and see as he sees.
            To love as God loves, you’ve got to see as he sees.