Love One Another

 

If you knew you were about to die, what would you tell the people you love? What cherished hope or dream would you share? What last, urgent piece of advice would you offer?

In our Gospel reading this week, (John 13:1-15) we hear Jesus’s answer to this difficult question. Judas has left the Last Supper in order to carry out his betrayal, the crucifixion clock is ticking fast and hard, and Jesus knows that his disciples are about to face the greatest devastating challenge of their lives. So he gets right to the point. No parables, no stories, no pithy sayings. Just one commandment. One simple, straightforward commandment, summarizing Jesus’s deepest desire for his followers: “Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” And then, right on the heels of this commandment, Jesus adds an incentive, or maybe a warning: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Jesus doesn’t say as his death is imminent  “Believe the right things.” He doesn’t say, “Maintain personal and doctrinal purity.” He doesn’t say, “Worship like this or attend a church like that.” He doesn’t even say, “Read your Bible,” or “Pray every day,” or “Preach the Gospel to every living creature.” He says, “Love one another.” That’s it. The last dream of a dead man walking. All of Christianity distilled down to its essence so that maybe we’ll pause long enough to hear it. Love one another.

New Testament scholar, D.A Carson says “This new command is simple enough for a toddler to memorize and appreciate, and yet it is profound enough that the most mature believers are repeatedly embarrassed at how poorly they comprehend it and put it into practice. What’s amazing to me is how badly we’ve managed to screw this up over the last two thousand years. 

In our Men's Group this morning we discussed among other things, transactional relationships vs true love relationships that are not governed by any "quid quo quo." In reflecting on our discussion I wonder why is it so hard to keep this simple commandment...Love one another? Is it because love makes us vulnerable and being  vulnerable is a sign of weakness? Love requires trust, and as humans we're naturally suspicious. Love has a way of spilling over into other compartments of our lives and we prefer carefully defined borders so we can avoid complications. Love requires an investment and takes effort, discipline, and the willingness to be transformed. But we're just too darned busy. 

Notice that Jesus didn’t say, “This is my suggestion.” He said, “This is my commandment.” Meaning, it’s not a choice. It’s not a matter of personal preference; it’s a matter of obedience to the one we call God. But what does it mean? Even if we put our culture’s literary and cinematically inspired love clichés aside, we know that authentic love can’t be manipulated, simulated, or rushed without suffering distortion. Jesus doesn’t say, “Act as if you love.” He doesn’t give us the easy “out” of doing nice things but doing them with a rigid heart. Nothing feels as hollow as a “loving” act performed mechanically out of some obligation. I doubt that the people who followed Jesus would have done so if they sensed that his compassion was thin or forced. He says, “Love as I have loved you.” As in, for real. As in, tall the way with authentic feelings, deep engagement and generously. Doesn’t it sound like he’s asking for the impossible?

G.K Chesterton once wrote that "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried." Imagine what would happen to us,  to the world, if we took this commandment of Jesus’s seriously? 

And yet this was Jesus’s dying wish. Which means that we have a God who first and foremost wants every one of his children to feel loved. Not shamed. Not punished. Not chastised. Not judged. Not isolated. But loved.

But that’s not all. Jesus follows his commandment with a spiritual litmus test: “By this everyone will know.” Meaning, love is the hallmark of Christianity. Our love for each other is how the world will see, taste, touch, hear, and find Jesus. Such is the power we wield in our decisions to love or not love.

But here’s our saving grace: Jesus doesn’t leave us alone and bereft. We are not direction-less in the wilderness. He gives us a road map, a clear and beautiful way forward: “As I have loved you.” Follow my example, he says. Do what I do. Love as I love. Live as you have seen me live.

Wash each other’s feet. Hold each other close. Tell each other the truth. Guide each other home. In other words, Jesus’s commandment to us is not that we should wear ourselves out, trying to conjure love from our own easily depleted resources. Rather, it’s that we're invited to abide in the holy place where all love originates. We can make our home in Jesus’s love — the most abundant and inexhaustible love in existence. Our love is not our own; it is God’s, and God our source is without limit, without end. 

“Love one another as I have loved you.” For our own sakes. And for the world’s.

Adapted from Debie Thomas, 12 May 2019.