10.15 Holy Communion 17th May 2009

John 15:9-17 & Acts 10:44-end

This is my commandment, that you love one another

If you knew that your time on earth was short, that in a little while you would be separated from those who mean most to you, what would you say to them? What message would you want them to remember you by? It would need to be short, but still convey something of what is important to you. In our Gospel this morning, we have Jesus’ answer to this:

‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.’ This simple command is part of a wonderfully rich passage, from verses 1 -17 of John 15. It is part of what are called ‘The farewell discourses’; if you like, Jesus’ last chance to get across to the disciples what is really important to him. They are profound and full of meaning, and we would need a whole teaching series to explore them adequately. So I have limited myself to what seems to be his central message: vs. 12 ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.’ And what Jesus says is sandwiched between what he does. He has demonstrated the servant nature of love in washing their feet and is about to do what he talks of in the next sentence – to lay down his life for them, because there is no greater way possible of expressing his love for them.

As I thought about this commandment three questions emerged which I want to consider with you now:

1) Out of all the things Jesus could have left them with, why this?

2) If love arises out of abiding in him, just as grapes grow on healthy vine branches, why does Jesus need to make love a commandment?

3) If it’s so important for his followers to grasp, how do those of us who seek to follow him today know if we are obeying that commandment or not? So that’s where we’re going…Why this? Why is love commanded? What does it mean to obey it?

So firstly, why did Jesus make this his closing commandment, to love one another? I wonder if you have thought of what your final message would be. It’s not quite the same thing but Spike Milligan said he wanted this put on his tombstone: “I told you I was ill.” Of course it’s flippant but even that says what’s important to him – humour. What we choose shows what’s important to us. So when Jesus says, I leave you with this commandment, to love one another, we need to sit up and take notice. What is most important in the new order that he came to establish, what is central to the Kingdom of God, is the quality of mercy, one to another. St Paul understood this and expresses it beautifully in 1 Corinthians 13. It is a suitable passage for weddings but Paul is addressing it to a church. “If I understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” All the concerns you have and argue about, says Paul: prophecies, tongues, conduct in worship, these all fall away, till only three things remain, faith hope and love – and love is the greatest of them all.

This is my commandment, that you offer the best possible worship to my Father week by week. No.

This is my commandment, that you make sure my teaching is not lost but spread as widely as possible. No.

This is my commandment, that you are active and hardworking, relevant to those around you by drawing up and actioning a 5-year Strategic Plan. No…

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. This is how people will know you belong to me, by the quality of your care for one another, and the character of your relationships. Why? Because it is this profound love that lies at the heart of my relationship to the Father. He is the Source of all love. So the character of the community you build should reflect the character of the One you serve.

So now to the second question. Why does Jesus need to command love? If love, along with joy, peace, patience etc. are the fruit of the Spirit, if they arise out of abiding in Christ, why do we need telling? The answer here is very simple, but it does need us to be honest about human nature. It does not come naturally to us, to love others. Well, it might be natural to love our children, and members of our family, but not those who happen to attend the same church. Be nice to them, yes, be polite, of course; but to lay down my life? No! I do not have that kind of love on my own. I am not those things Paul describes as love: patient and kind; I am often envious and boastful and proud. I do insist on my own way and am often irritable and resentful; I wish I did not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoiced in the truth. I do not see that kind of love in myself, but I do see it in Jesus. If I accept his invitation to ‘abide in his love’ then I have more chance of having His love bear fruit in me. He has chosen me, but now I need to choose consciously to remain attached to him. ‘I am the Vine, you are the branches’, he says. The Vine draws up nourishment and goodness from the soil, the branches take nourishment from the Vine and can then bear fruit. And I am bothered by the possibility of being cut off, the words are harsh: ‘Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.’ So I DO need telling. I need to choose to abide in Jesus, so I can fulfil his commandment to love as he loves. I need telling because too often I act on my feelings. But if I waited till I felt like loving others, it won’t happen. I love out of obedience, my heart may follow, and I can be transformed. When I was 17 and newly converted, my love for God seemed alive and strong. But to my horror, there was another boy in the sixth form I couldn’t stand! He drove me mad! And I knew that was inconsistent with following Christ. So I prayed for this boy and set my will to seek his well-being, even though it wasn’t in my heart. Over time, I was transformed, and I ended up feeling compassion and mercy for him. I need that commandment.

Thirdly, how do we know if we have got it right. We won’t spend long on this. The quick answer to this is - we will probably know if we haven’t got it right. Some years ago, I went to a wise Priest for some advice. I was feeling pressured into joining a Christian organisation, which was doing worthy work, but in a rather joyless way. It felt like my duty to join them, but there was little love or excitement in the prospect. The Priest said that any community that claimed to belong to Christ should exhibit His character, and the Spirit of Christ is love, joy and peace. I didn’t join.

Kahil Gibran said this:

“Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy. Work is love made visible”

To love is to serve with joy.

There is a great deal of joyful service that is undertaken in this cathedral community. I could easily reel off a list. I am humbled by what I see; day to day concern for others behind the scenes, faithful service and often, sacrificial foot-washing. There is very little of branches that are fruitless. But I still wonder how truly obedient we are to the commandment to love each other as Christ has loved us. As clergy we need to ask whether this is the guiding principle behind all our work. I’m not sure it is. Are we sometimes in danger of being “a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal?” Not a comfortable question but the commission is fairly clear:

“You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last,”

‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.’

May the Lord give us all the obedience to do as He commands, the confidence to abide in His enduring Love, and the humility to admit that only as we abide in Him will our lives bear fruit, and fruit that will last.

Amen.