9As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. 12“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. This is my commandment, “that you love one another as I have loved you.” “Love one another as I have loved you.”
Look, Full Disclosure: I’m going to preach a sermon about Jesus telling.. commanding us to love one another in the same selfless, sacrificial way that Jesus loves us. I promise to preach with sincerity and humility, but the honest truth is...try as hard as I might...by the end of the day I will likely fail at this commandment. “love one another as I have loved you.” Within hours of today’s service the odds are high that I will cast judgement for no other reason than being judgmental. I’ll probably mumble something under my breath at someone driving in traffic. I might sigh or dismiss someone’s story or experience...and it will all likely happen without me thinking about it.
This is my commandment, “that you love one another as I have loved you.” There’s something to be said for straight-forward, no guessing, tell it like it is Jesus. The parables and metaphors might be a bit confusing, but at least we can interpret them in ways that allow us to to hide or avoid the parts that feel convicting. But when Jesus speaks so...explicitly, it’s almost a bit frustrating. My heart and my mind tell me that Jesus is right. He is preaching absolute truth and it’s a commandment, but everything else in me says, “Yah right Jesus...easier said than done.” Or better yet, Jesus, I’m willing to meet you halfway. I’ll love my neighbor just as you love me...as long as I get to pick and choose who my neighbor is.
Today’s text are about love. For those of you counting, our lessons today use the word love 14 times. And by the end of the sermon I’ll have used the word love 90 more times. But despite how many times we read or say it, there is an enormous loss in translation from the original text to English.
In English, we’re a bit loose with the word love. We tend to toss it around from one extreme to another and rely on our tone of voice to convey how much affection we put behind the word. I love board games. I love sweet tea. I love my NC State Wolfpack. I love fried shrimp. I love my dog, Cooper. I love my family. I love my wife.
Somewhere in all of that there is an implied understanding as to how much, or how deeply I love. Surely my love for sweet tea or fried shrimp doesn’t register on the same scale as my love for my wife, let alone my love for God.
The original biblical language, the greek does well to account for the breadth at which we use the word love. The Greek has 4 different words for love, and I won’t get into those specifics today, but three of those words...three of those greek words parse out all of my aforementioned loves. Right, my love for food or drink...love for pet..love for family or spouse….All of those implied understandings are parsed out in Greek by these three different definitions of love.
But there is a 4th word for love. Agape. And what’s important to know, is that the Greek reserves this one word for love, Agape, to describe God’s love for God’s son, and Jesus’ love for us. Agape love, is a selfless, sacrificial love. It’s not a romantic or emotional love. It’s not a kinship or friendship type of love. No Agape is reserved to intentionally to describe the power of God’s love in Christ, and Christ’s love in us. Agape love is the kind of love that is unconditional, unwavering, unlimited. Love that Christ laid down his life for our salvation. It is agape love that God created the world.
And Jesus says, “this is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus uses Agape when he talks about the command to love. In fact, every single use of the word “love” in today’s texts is the word Agape. So like it or not, Jesus is commanding, not suggesting, or encouraging… he’s commanding that we love one another as God love Christ and Christ loved us. Not to love one another as we love a TV show or a favorite restaurant. Not to love someone as we love the Jags, Noles, Gators, or Steelers. Not to just love in a warm and fuzzy, emotional way. Not to love someone like we love a sibling or family member. But rather, Christ commands us to love one another with the same selfless, humble, life giving, sacrificial, unconditional, unwavering, unlimited love that Christ showed us. A Love that consciously risks everything for someone else.
And the disciples, the saints,.. you and me…we’re commanded to this love...this agape love, which until this moment was reserved in scritpture to only talk about the way God loves the world and the way Christ loves us.
OK, Jesus, I hear ya, I do,” but again I say that’s going to be easier said than done.”
What do we do with this command? In a world and society that is more receptive to divisiveness, greed, self-destruction...people hurting one another...what do we do with this command from Christ?
With countries at war, fighting over land, oil, terrorism, nuclear capabilities...as borders are defended, attacked, and destroyed...nations against nations...what do we do with this command from Christ to love one another?
Even this weekend as almost 200 refugees caravan to the US border, or the thousands more out of syria, the middle east, and beyond who travel to various other countries...as they flee in fear seeking a place to live peacefully...what do we do with this command from Christ to love one another?
Or in the midst of such significant cultural movements…from #me too to #black lives matter. From march for our lives to #times up. What do we do with this command from Christ to love one another?
To be sure, the list goes on. Our communal lives together in society and in the world are inundated with conflict, divisiveness, terror, fear, disagreement…you name it...So what are we to do with this command from Christ to love one another?
Sometimes it seems so hard, so unachievable, so impossible to reconcile Jesus’ command to love with the realities of our daily living. I think that we view this command from a distance as something we all agree should be the standard. And we do our best, we try our best, we ask God to help us, but for whatever reason we struggle to achieve such a level of love. I fear that we view this command of love as something for us to strive towards or achieve. Hide behind that.
But the truth is, in Jesus, the command is quite the opposite. This agape love is not a hoped-for outcome, or a worked-towards goal. This agape love is not unachievable or so far off that we can write it off. Rather, it is who we are created to be. As Jesus said, you did not choose me, but I chose you. God claims us in the water and makes a new, loving servants of Christ. We are Christ’s body in the world. And rather than lament or excuse that we may never do as Christ commands us to do, we would do well to remember that is is who we are. We are Christians, washed and saved by love so that we might be love.
And look friends, agape love for one another doesn’t mean everything everyday is perfect and peaceful. It doesn’t mean we won’t have conflict or disagreement. It doesn’t mean we won’t clash over personal opinions, morals, or ambitions. After all, Jesus had his fair share of encounters with political, social, and religious opposition. Even his best friends, his disciples argued with him.
But what this command DOES mean is that we are called, commanded, created to begin and sustain each and every relationship with a foundation of Agape love. Agape love for one another is a starting point, not a hopeful ending. Love for another as Christ loved us. Because that is who and whose we are.So what do we do? Where do we start?
Well, we usually start with confession. Before God and one another that “We are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves.” Sin that pits us against one another and distances us from the source and command to love. We confess that we have not loved with our whole heart and we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.”
And in that confession God forgives us and reminds us the we are claimed children in the body of Christ. For God chose us, we did no choose God. God entered into a relationship with us and that relationship is rooted in love. Agape love. Selfless and sacrificial. It is unwavering, unlimited, and unconditional. That is the foundation for God’s relationship with Christ and with us. And God willing, by Christ’s command, may it always be the starting point for us and one another. Amen.
© Preached by Pastor Daniel Locke on May 06, 2018 @ St. Mark's Lutheran Church
© Preached by Pastor Daniel Locke on May 06, 2018 @ St. Mark's Lutheran Church
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