Known by Love

May 19^th, 2019             “Known by Love”      Rev. Heather Jepsen

John 13:31-35

         This month the lectionary has us jumping all around the gospel of John.  We started at the end of the book with the story of Jesus and the disciples at the seashore.  Last week we jumped to Jesus teaching in the temple.  And this week we are jumping to the last supper.  Context is important here so we are going to take a moment to get our bearings. 

         It’s Jesus’ and the disciples’ last meal together as they celebrate the Passover.  Jesus begins the evening by washing the disciples’ feet, demonstrating his role as a servant.  He then speaks of his impending suffering.  One among their own ranks will betray him.  Jesus marks Judas as the one to bring about the next events and so Judas leaves the party and heads into the night.  The time of betrayal and death is imminent.

         It is into this context that Jesus speaks the few verses we have in our lectionary.  This time is precious.  He knows that his death nears and that this is very likely his last chance to speak plainly with his disciples.  Anyone who has shared a final moment with a loved one on the verge of death can recognize the holiness of this moment.  Jesus knows the end is near, and what he has to say now is of the utmost importance.  This will be his last speech to his disciples.

         Jesus begins by discussing glory.  He says he has been glorified and that God has been glorified in him.  The writing in the gospel of John is confusing and I am sure the disciples were confused at this point.  Even though Jesus just told them that he was about to be betrayed, I am sure that when he started speaking of glory they weren’t thinking what he was thinking.  I am sure the disciples were thinking of glory much in the way we see it in our world today.  Glory is worldly renown.  In Jesus’ time it would have meant military success and might, a return to Jewish rule.  In our own time glory is magazine covers, million dollar salaries, and thousands of twitter followers.  In Jesus’ time as well as ours, glory is something the world recognizes, knows, and loves.

         That isn’t what Jesus is talking about.  Instead, Jesus is talking about love.  He’s talking about his upcoming suffering and death.  He is talking about the betrayal that will occur when everyone leaves the room.  Jesus’ glory and the glory of God happens on the cross.  That is when humanity comes face to face with the depth of God’s love for us.  And as Jesus will say later on in this speech no one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 

         Jesus speaks of this coming glory and he speaks tenderly with love.  He knows the disciples do not understand and yet he still reaches out to them.  “Little children” he calls them.  Those he loves, but also those who don’t fully grasp what is happening in the world around them.  He tells his followers that they will look for him soon but he will be gone.  And where he is going, this path of suffering and death, is a place they cannot follow.

         Since the disciples will not see him and cannot follow him into this glory, Jesus offers instructions for the future.  “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.”  This commandment to love is the core of Jesus’ final message to his followers.  It is the core of the gospel of John and the core of the Christian faith.  We are told to love, and it is by this love that our faith will be measured.  “Everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

         It seems so simple, this call to love, but in history and practice the followers of Jesus have found it to be very difficult.  Within the first few hundred years the measure of faith came to be belief, not love.  How one defined a true Christian was based on what doctrines were acceptable, what church we fit into, and how we believed.  Love had little or nothing to do with the issue.  Fast forward several thousand years and we are still in the same boat.  Christianity is so often defined by membership at the right church, in the right political party, and following the right belief structure and it is so rarely defined by love.  How have we gotten so far away from Christ’s simple command?

         I think the answer to that question is fear.  From the very night these words were spoken to our time today, we have let fear define our actions and not love.  On that Passover night the disciples were afraid.  Judas, in fear for his own status and in fear perhaps of the threat Jesus presented, agreed to the act of betrayal.  In fear the disciples will flee from the Lord as he suffers though his trial and crucifixion.  And in fear the early church is born, as Jesus visits the followers where they have locked themselves hiding away.

         Early on the church was in fear of losing control of the growing movement, and so they built the community on a foundation of fear and not love.  There was a strong desire to declare which beliefs were correct and which were wrong.  Just as there was a strong desire to declare which writings were scripture and which ones were heresies.  The desire to control the early church was based in fear, fear that the community would not be successful, would not turn out the way men wanted, or (gasp!) would even lead other less desirable folks like women to rise to power.

         Even today we are defined by our fears.  As a country, we pour countless resources into the military industrial complex whose sole purpose is to protect us from what we fear.  We fear those who are different from ourselves and so we seek to place ourselves in like-minded groups of individuals based on our race, gender, age, or political preference.  Our days are defined by fear as we awake in our locked homes, drive our children to school, go to our jobs, and return home to our locked houses limiting as much interaction with others as we possibly can.  In our desire for comfort we pursue a life that limits opportunities for fear.

         Fear becomes a root for sinful behavior as it is a direct manifestation of our lack of faith.  If we trusted God we wouldn’t be afraid.  If we trusted God to hold our days, our past and our future, we would move forward without fear.  But we don’t really, and so we let fear dominate.  And fear divides us.  It pulls us apart and helps us to ignore the common good.

         Jesus doesn’t teach the disciples that they will be known by their fear.  Instead he teaches that they will be known by their love.  Jesus offers tools to help the disciples counter their fear.  He gives the gift of the Holy Spirit, a comforter when the disciples are afraid and an advocate when the disciples are under threat.  Jesus knows that fear has stopped the disciples in the past and will be a block for them in the future and yet still he asks them to act out of love.  “Everyone will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

So how can we love in the midst of a world governed by fear?  I think we do it by moving past our fear, by reaching towards that which makes us afraid, by trying to find the holy in the other.  Like the disciples, we too have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us move past our fear into places of freedom and new life.  The Holy Spirit helps us become a people of love, rather than of fear.

         Realistically, I don’t think we can banish all fear from our lives.  Our whole society is built upon it.  But I do think we can name fear and move past it into love.  This is about reaching out to strangers and neighbors.  This is about overcoming barriers and divisions.  This is about trusting in God to provide for our future so we are able to share what we have with others instead of hording it for ourselves.  This is about welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives and allowing our lives to be changed for the good.

         The disciples had plenty to be afraid of.  Jesus will be arrested, face trial, and be crucified.  They will be left alone and distraught, engulfed by their fear.  And then the risen Lord will appear among them, which is a comforting and also frightening experience.  They will move through the events of Jesus’ final days on earth before he ascends and then they will experience Pentecost.  The church will face hardship and persecution.  Followers will suffer and be killed.  They will be rejected by their hometowns, their friends, and their families.  They have plenty to fear.  And yet through the power of the Holy Spirit, they will carry on in love and the church will be born.  In fact, charity and love were the main reasons folks joined the early church.  It was the love that the first disciples showed that caused the church to flourish.

So too, if we can embrace love and move past our fear we can do incredible things together.  In my own life, love has led me to change my career, move my family across the country, travel to Malawi with you, and travel to Israel/Palestine with strangers.  All of these things were accompanied by fear but I was able to move past fear with the love of God.  As a church we have been able to build the Culton street outreach center, create lasting mission relationships in Malawi, tear down a crumbling building, and look toward the future with anticipation.  All of these actions involved fear, but as a church inspired by the Holy Spirit we were able to move past fear and embrace love.  And like the early church, the more we display the love of God, the more we will flourish.  As we continue to live our motto, “Find welcome here” we continue to live this love of Christ, and it is through that outlook on mission and ministry that we will grow.

In his final speech to his disciples in the gospel of John, Jesus makes it clear that the mark of a true disciple is love.  It doesn’t matter what we believe, what church we are a member of, what political party we vote for, or what banner we were baptized under.  The mark of the true follower of Christ is love.  If we are able to live lives of love, then we know we are the people of God.  Let us strive to cast out fear and live every moment, every day, in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.