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Love One Another
by Lay Pastor William Schuler Jr.
Old Testament Psalm 66:8-20 New Testament John 14:15-21
In our reading from Psalm 66, the Psalmist calls us to praise our God who has not rejected our prayers or withheld his love from us.
Our focus for this morning is the passage from John’s Gospel in which Jesus is telling his disciples that one of them would betray him and this is when he gives them the new commandment to love one another as he has loved them.
Do you remember the setting in which Jesus said the words “If you love me, you will keep my commandments?” It was the night of the celebration of the Passover with his disciples when the darkness of the world was closing in on him as they gathered to share this final meal. It was at that time that the Lord rose from the table. Took a towel, wrapped around his body, and proceeded to wash the disciples feet. Then after this act he spoke of one of them betraying him and then he gave them the new commandment to love one another as He had loved them. He told them “By this everyone will know you are my disciples if you love one another. In this section of John’s account, in a nutshell, is Jesus’ own definition of what it means to be his disciple.
As we heard in the reading of today’s Gospel lesson, we hear Jesus say, “If you love me you will keep my commandments.” Then he goes on to repeat the new commandment that they love one another as I have loved you, We must remember that in the Gospel of John this is the only commandment Jesus gives them.
So, there you have it, this is the commandment The Lord is speaking about. Love one another. All of Jesus’ other teachings about how to live are a fleshing out of this commandment; shows Christ’s disciples then and those of us now how the commandment to love is worked out in our everyday living.
Since John wrote his gospel long after Jesus had ascended to the Father, it is written looking backwards, in the midst of a community for whom Jesus was only a memory. Most of the people in John’s community had not met Jesus when he was on earth. Most-if not all-of the disciples present when He has this love commandment were dead. The Temple at Jerusalem had been destroyed-which for a lot of folks was a sign that the end-time was coming soon. But the end-time did not come. Earthly life went on, and that was in some ways, the hardest part of all. Even when all the signs seemed right, Jesus had not come back. This community of believers that John writes to felt pushed to the very edge of despair and defeat.
So, John pulls together many of the things Jesus said into this one section of his book
which is known as “The Farewell Discourse.” Here at the table in the Upper Room, we
hear the Lord say some of the same things over and over, in different ways, to make
sure the disciples get the message. He emphasizes the central word is Love as he
gives the command: “if you love me, keep my commandments.” I give you this new commandment, “that you love one another as I have loved you.” He word used here for love is “agape” which describes the kind of love that Jesus has shown to us: a self-giving love that seeks the good of the other, generous, and is a sacrificial love.
I imagine the disciples must have wondered, But how can we do that? Each of them knew that they had a hard time loving each other while Jesu was present with them, but he is going to leave; so how could they in the way Jesus loved them after he is gone?
Given the realities of our lives and the people we live, and work with-how can we find is possible to obey this commandment to love? In this world, we encounter many folks who are different from us, and who do not value the same things we do, so how do we love as Jesus loves? God knows – it is not easy. The truth that Jesus wants us to live by- the truth of this love is that the rest of our world cannot understand or make sense of. It is a love that as followers of Jesus makes us different.
We do not always live up to this truth. We many tines fall short of the kind of love Christ wants us to show in our lives. Love is at the heart of what Jesus commands us to do. Love is what the Holy Spirit helps to make possible in our lives. Love is not just for our families, or friends and not just for folks who are like us. No, love is for all including our enemies.
Friends, it is hard to love one another in the way Jesu loves us, but the good news is that God is with us and Christ has come to give us healing, love and a community of justice and peace, a life of abundance.
God keeps coming in our lives through the Holy Spirit who encourages us, guides us, and walks with us as our advocate, Jesus that the Holy Spirit would be with us, helping us to follow our Lord’s commandments to Love One Another. Thanks be to God! A-men.
Let us pray:
Come Holy Spirit, call us to use your guidance to step out boldly to love our fellow human beings as Jesus our Lord has loved us. A-men.