Today’s gospel message is shorter than some – only five verses long. Some might wonder why it even appears here in the lectionary. We are now in the fifth Sunday of Easter and yet John takes us back to Holy Week. The verses preceding our reading talk about the final meeting in the upper room. The air is thick with tension as Jesus reveals to the disciples that one of them will betray Him. The disciples must have been filled with horror as Jesus identifies the traitor as Judas who then leaves to do his dirty work. Once he is gone, Jesus washes the feet of the disciples something we frequently commemorate in the church on Maundy Thursday.
This passage is short but contains one of the most poignant messages Christ ever delivers to his disciples. They are commanded to love one another. I emphasize the word command because this is the exact emphasis Christ has placed on it. Some scholars have called this the eleventh commandment to stress how important it is.
You might well ask yourself why Jesus would emphasize this point so strongly. Wasn’t his whole ministry about love? The answer seems to be tied in with the reason why this reading appears in the lectionary where it does. It has been suggested that this passage is one of the “farewell discourses,” the final instructions given to the disciples to Jesus prior to the crucifixion. esus indeed knew his fate. He’s like one of the professors I had when I was in university. You listened carefully to that final lecture knowing that what was stressed would likely appear as a question on the final examination. Dying family members give their final instructions to make sure the most important things don’t get forgotten. Sometimes that instruction is to take care of someone who will be left after the person is dead. In a sense this is what Jesus is asking. However He isn’t asking us to take care of just an individual but for us to love each other and indeed all men.
Jesus had good reason to make this point so strongly. He knew these disciples well and their human foibles. Recently James and John the sons of Zebedee had been jockeying for position asking Jesus who would sit on which side of him in paradise. Even John author of the gospel we read this morning always referred to himself as the disciple Jesus loved almost inferring he had a special status with the Lord. No doubt Jesus felt sadness over Judas- this disciple that Jesus could not reach. The image of the shepherd with the one lost sheep was no doubt very vivid in Christ’s mind. Then in this rag tag flock of disciples he had Peter who was about to deny him and Matthew the tax collector who was hated by a lot of people just because of his profession. Jesus had good reason for concern about what might happen after he was dead. All he had taught and tried to do might become unravelled in disputes and bickering. A firm hand was needed to make sure his followers would not forget the most important message he had for them. No wonder he referred to them as little children who could not go where he was going. They had work to do - work that Jesus could not complete.
We can look at the scene in the upper room with disdain and wonder why Jesus left such an unworthy group to do his bidding. Almost as if he were a general in the army giving orders to his men fearing that if they weren’t under strict orders, all would be lost. But we are blessed to know that there is far more to the story than that. Otherwise none of us would be here in First United Lutheran Church in the Year of our Lord 2013. The disciples soon to be empowered by the Holy Spirit went on to do great things many of which are chronicled by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles.
When Peter goes to Jerusalem he is criticized for eating with the Gentiles. He explains to them that Christ’s message of love is for Jews and Gentiles alike. We are all familiar too with the work of the apostle Paul, who as we read a few weeks back, had been a strong persecutor of Jesus. After his conversion on the road to Damascus he spent most of his ministry preaching to Gentiles. His letters to the early church make up a goodly portion of the New Testament.
Despite the seeming unworthiness of these men, Christ knew that they were worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit and preaching Christ’s message of love to the entire world. They all shared God’s vision of a new heaven and a new earth as John outlined in our reading from Revelation this morning. What makes the earth new is our loving God as he loves us and loving our neighbours as ourselves. What better way can honour the Alpha and the Omega – the one who gives us water from the spring of the water of life? It is so appropriate to reflect upon this in the Easter season, when as the Celebrate bulletin tells us “Easter anticipates a new heaven and a new earth. Jesus invites us to see everyone in a new light through the lens of love.”
When we examine the men that Jesus had left to do his work we should take heart. They were ordinary people just like us. I look around our church and constantly see ordinary people doing extraordinary things. We have people willing to do sermons, lead worship and Bible study, show hospitality to visiting clergy, work with our children and the list goes on. This is difficult to accept but a long vacancy in a church has positive effects. People shine and use their spiritual gifts that might otherwise lie buried when a minister is present. By using these gifts our congregation members are showing the love that Jesus spoke about in our gospel this morning.
Loving others is so important. Interestingly enough the passage from John this morning often is read on Mother’s Day. This is the day we remember the fourth commandment to honour our father and our mother. Mothers epitomize the kind of unconditional love of which Jesus speaks. For some this is an easy kind of love to give. Loving the unloved is much more challenging. Yet Jesus expects us to love them as well. Just look at His ministry. He demonstrated his love to prostitutes, lepers, and the outcasts of society. It is easy to love someone who loves us back in return but more challenging to give love when none is offered in return.
My heart aches for parents whose children have run away from home or broken contact with them. It really hurts if a child gets in with the wrong crowd or tells you they want nothing more to do with you. I remember a mother speaking with anguish about a son who was living on the streets in Winnipeg. Our own foster daughter told us “My friends say you are only my foster parents and I don’t have to listen to anything you say.” She made a complete break from us and we’ve not heard from her for seventeen years People like this need our love and our prayers. The rest is in God’s hands.
A week ago last Saturday, Pastor Al Lagore spoke at our fellowship breakfast. Pastor Al is involved in the Freedom Outreach Ministry in Denare Beach. For those of you who may not know this the Freedom Outreach Ministry was founded by David Wilkerson, author of the Cross and the Switchblade some fifty years ago. Pastor Al spoke of the successes and failures of the program along with Dan the current program manager who told of his own struggles with drug abuse. “We can offer love and support,” Pastor Al said, “but the person has to want to change. People coming into our program merely as a way of getting out of jail will not likely succeed.”
Dan told us his first attempt to become free of drugs did not succeed and it took him several tries to win against the forces of Satan. But the common thread here is the love that Jesus mentioned this morning. This unwavering love through thick and thin has helped many come to Christ and free themselves of addiction. Loving these people is exactly what Jesus would have done. It was gratifying to hear from Pastor Al that the communities of Flin Flon Creighton and Denare Beach have been very supportive of this program through financial donations, providing jobs for the students and even donating vehicles. We hear so much today
