John 13:31-35

Easter 5 (2^nd May 2010)

Text: John 13: 31- 35

 

I believe that any sermon that has to do with loving one another is one of the hardest sermons to preach.  The reason is that many the listeners believe that the preachers are making impossible or impractical demand upon them.  This morning I have to deal with this issue of why we need each other.  It puts me in a similar situation because it is also a teaching that is hard to fulfil.  We know that when we start to take other people into consideration, it creates a lot of conveniences for us.

This may explain why there are people who offer themselves for baptism and confirmation, and then disappear.  They do not want to trouble themselves having to deal with other Christians.  That may also explain why Churches that promote Prosperity Theology are drawing people in.  It basically teaches you how to get God to serve your demands and fulfil your needs so you can live a happy life.  Both attitudes are the results of “me” mindset. 

And naturally we, who are used to the philosophy of life that focuses upon self, would prefer either one of the two choices.  If you don’t want anything to do with other Christians – stay away from church – you come only whenever you like.  Or you can choose a church where you can listen to the message and receive your blessings, but you don’t have to bother about other Christians.   Wouldn’t it be nice if you can receive God’s blessing while at the same time not having to worry about other Christians?   You just sneak in quietly and you sneak out quietly.  Someone may want to shake your hand, but that is OK.

But that is not what the Gospel is telling us this morning.  Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."  That teaching demands that we take other people into consideration; or to be humble before one another; or to suffer losses for the sake of others.

I remember about 13 years ago, when I presented a paper on Team Ministry at the Diocesan synod.  It was a paper that spoke about change – change in the way we do things in church; change in our mindsets, and cultivate desire to work together in mutual respect, with common vision, and commitment to fulfil the command of the Lord.  I can say that the paper only received a lukewarm response and I was told to set a committee to look into it.  And as I expected, after a couple of years, it came about to nothing.   

The truth is that we don’t need a committee in church to study love and to promote care and concern among one another, and to work as a team.  All that needs to be done is for each one of us to take up our responsibility and exercise this command of Jesus.       

Let us look at this command again.  This “One Another” command occurs almost 60 times in the New Testament.  Why were Jesus and the other New Testaments writers so particular about “loving one another?”   I want to quote what Rick Warren wrote, “The Christian life involves more than just believing – it also includes belonging. We grow in Christ by being in relationship to other Christians.” 

Prosperity Theology teaches us about the secret of receiving God’s blessing so that we shall experience the best in life.  Their concept of what is best in life include: being successful, being wealthy, being healthy, and being free from troubles and pain.   But how long can we enjoy our wealth and our health?  How long can we live this life without troubles and pain?  Either they leave us while we are still alive, or we leave them when we die.

That is why Jesus tells us something different.  He says that we experience our best life now when we shift from a “me” to a “we” mindset.  We shall experience the best in life when we are to be other-centred, not self-centred. The more friends and fewer enemies we have, the better life is.

Our Gospel reading is part of the Gospel we read on Maundy Thursday.  After washing the feet of the disciples Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

First, let us look at our mandate to love. Verse 34 says, “A new command I give you: Love one another.”  Christians are commanded to love each other.  What does that mean? It means that we are to accept and not reject.  We are to serve people and not to use them for our personal benefits or to fulfil our agenda.  We are to listen and not ignore.  We are to give and not just wanting to get. We are to encourage one another and not to discourage.

Jesus called it a new commandment, not because nothing had been said like it before.   The word “New” here does not mean that it is a commandment different from what God has given before.  It is what God spoke through Ezekiel 36:26 many years ago.  He said, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”   The idea is that when you truly have Jesus there must be change in your life because you have a new heart.   You may ask: If that is true, why is it that there are many Christians who are unloving, unforgiving and uncaring?   My answer is: “It is not because they cannot love, forgive and care: they don’t want to.

As I said just now, loving, forgiving and caring is a choice that we make even if we have to spend our time, or even suffer losses for the sake of somebody else.   Now if you read Matthew 22:39, it says “Love your neighbour as yourself.”  Jesus knows how much we love ourselves. And it is obvious that we have to love ourselves; otherwise we won’t be taking care of ourselves.  But at the same time we are reminded to “do to others as we would have them do to us.”  In the context of this Church, it means that we must not only be concerned about what we are doing or getting for ourselves. The Church is here not just to cater to those who are already here.  Jesus tells us about the importance of loving one another because he is also concerned about those who do not know Christ; those who are lost and living in darkness.  They are our neighbours that Jesus is talking about.

Three years ago Bishop Bolly invited me for a breakfast and told me that he was transferring me to Seria.  I told you the very first week I was here that my marriage was in a very bad state, and my transfer would make things worse.  In addition to that my two sons were in two different places because of work commitment – on in KL and another in Kuching and my transfer would mean that my wife remain stay in Bintulu and I in Seria.  I could have told the Bishop that I needed to look into the welfare of my family first, get the problem solved and only then I might be ready for a transfer.  But I didn’t say anything else except “yes” to him - with a heavy heart.  There was nothing I could do about my family problem: I could only commit it into the hands of God.  If it was to Seria that I called to go, then to Seria I go.  I could only trust that God to take care of my needs and the needs of my family.  That was more than 2 years ago and I believe that God has done his work.  I have forgiven my wife for whatever she had done; the relationship is far from perfect, but at least we are on talking terms; and the two boys are now doing fine in their respective works. I cannot ask for more.  I can only thank God.  My point is: when you begin put others above your personal interest, you will be surprised to see how God does his work in your life. But then again God is not duty-bound to grant what I wish.

Next question: How are we to love one another?  In verse 34 Jesus says, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” We are to love the way Jesus has shown his love. In the Old Testament we are called to love others as we love ourselves.  Here we are called to love one another as Jesus loves us. The standard of love gets higher. According to John 15: 9, this is the love that God the Father has for His Son.  Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you”.

Let us look in deeper into this love that Jesus has called us to show towards one another.   First, the love of Jesus is loyal: it does not end.  If you read John 13:1b it says, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.”  Jesus does not stop loving you even after you have turned your back on him. He never gave up on you because you have sinned against him.  He loves you as long as his love could do anything to reach you.  When Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, he also washed the feet of Judas, even though he knew Judas was going to betray him.  

In a church like this, it is impossible for us not to have disagreement with one another over any issue.  It is also impossible not to find people who constantly irritate us.  But in a church like this, it is possible to love even when we disagree with one another.  It is possible to forgive even if we are constantly being offended and hurt.  We can do it not because we are good people but because we have the love of Jesus in us.  

Second, love requires obedience. In John 15:10 Jesus says, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”  In John 14:31, Jesus declared, “I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.”   Sometimes, we would prefer that the command doesn’t apply to us.  I know that it is not easy to forgive because our hearts always want to get even with those who have hurt us.   I know we would like to be excluded from caring for those in needs, because we don’t like to suffer losses and experience inconveniences.  I know we prefer to be in control of things rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to take control of us.   We would prefer to win arguments rather than to admit that we are wrong.  But we choose to live in obedience, because love is also expressed in our obedience to the teaching of Jesus.     

That leads us to a third point: Jesus loves by choice.  This is what Christian love is about: Jesus came down from heaven to live as man and voluntarily die upon the cross to save humankind.  Love is something that you choose to do voluntarily.  Jesus made a choice to love us. That night as he washed the feet of the disciples, he also made a choice to wash the feet of Judas Iscariot.  He did not love people because they were nice to love or easy to love.  He chose to love even the person who has decided to betray him.  And later when he was hanging on the cross, he forgave those who crucified him.   And we also know that Jesus loved people who were rejected, those who were difficult to love, those looked down upon by the general public, or those held in contempt by society.  He loved them not because he wanted the good feeling of love, but simply because of who he was.  The love of Jesus goes out to people who need love regardless of what they are like, no matter how dirty, sick, hurtful, proud or arrogant they may be.

Finally, love is not just some nice feeling that we have in our hearts.   It is not just something we sing about in Church or a topic we discuss in Bible study. This love must be expressed in works or deeds.  That called for sacrifice. In John 15:12-13 Jesus says, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

I don’t have to ask the question whether we live up to Christ’s standard for love.  The answer is “no”.  If people can see how loving our Church is, the pews would be full of people each Sunday, no matter what service – whether it is Iban, English or Mandarin.

Why do I dare to say that?  It is because I measure or gauge it according to verse 35, which happens to be our proclamation verse today: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  We can imagine how good we are and say all the nice things about ourselves until kingdom come.   But people will only see that we are Jesus’ followers by the way we love.   It means in the eyes of the world, our love for each other validates our love for God.  Didn’t 1 John 4:21 says, “And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother”?   

We are not trying to draw more people to church just because we hope to increase our revenue.  Money is important but the church is not all about money. Neither do we organise activities in church so that we appear to be busy.  Work is important, but it is even more important that we carry out our work out of love for God and with love for one another. Love must be the reason why we are doing all these – our love for God and our love for one another, and our love and concern for those outside the church. 

We go back to our theme: Why do we need each other?   We need each other because that is the only venue we show to people outside that we are really followers of Christ.  This is especially important in Brunei because we are not allowed to evangelise outside this compound.  It is important that we draw people in.  But people are not going to be impressed at how well we speak or by the list of activities we are having.  They want to know that if they join our church, they will be welcomed and loved, and that their opinions matter, and their voices heard.   

If you look at the prayers of Jesus in John 17: 20 -23 this was what Jesus said: “My prayer is not for them alone [referring to the apostles]. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one.  May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

If we want to enjoy our best life now, prosperity theology is not the answer.  Neither is staying away from Church.  The best of life that Jesus is talking about is not fulfilling your personal agenda.  I want this church to grow and prosper but it cannot grow and prosper as how I want it – it must be as how God wants it.  And remember: God is not just concerned about me or about anyone of you.  He is concerned about all.  That is why this Church must be a Church that lives for the sake of others and inclusive of others.  A true church is where we all have a sense of belonging, where ideas are respected, and people are loved.  But that can only become a reality when we shift from a “me” mindset to a “we” mentality.  We make that shift when we seek to love each other as Jesus has commanded us.  So when people see that love – they know we are followers of Jesus.  And they too will want to part of that church.  

About two weeks ago I downloaded a book from a Christian website, which was given free.  The book title is “The Christian Atheist” written by “Craig Groeshel”.  I have converted it from a PDF copy into a printer-friendly copy and I hope to distribute the hard copies to as many people as possible. That book is a thought-provoking book and it speaks a great deal more than what I have shared with you just now. If you want a copy please fill in the piece of paper provided at the service counter.  If you have email addresses, I can send it to you either the PDF copy or the printer-friendly copy.