8/22/04

Commanded to Love

Acts 14:8-18
Revelation 21:1-6
John 13:31-35

There's a true story about an event that happened in Scotland over 200 years ago at the parsonage of a Presbyterian pastor, the Rev. Samuel Rutherford. One Saturday evening a stranger appeared at the door, asked for lodging, and was graciously invited in to spend the night. After supper, the stranger was asked to participate in the family devotions which was their custom each night, and he readily agreed. After the pastor read the scripture for the day, each person was asked a question from the Bible. When the time came for the stranger's question, he was asked, "How many commandments are there?" Much to their surprise, he quickly answered, "Eleven." Shocked at the stranger's ignorance, Pastor Rutherford immediately corrected him: "Sir, there are only ten commandments!" But the stranger replied, "Have you never read, 'A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another'?"

The pastor realized the stranger was much more knowledgeable than he had first thought, then discovered that he was none other than the famous Biblical scholar, James Ussher, Anglican Archbishop of Armagh. The pastor invited his Anglican guest to preach the next day to his Presbyterian congregation, and Ussher did so, preaching on the text, "Love One Another," most appropriate, because in that day there was extreme hatred between Anglicans and Presbyterians. (i) In our day, how appropriate also, for us to once again hear these words to love one another, as we deal with the war in Iraq, extreme social unrest in many of our cities, and as we struggle with many personal, political, and moral issues that at times seem to overwhelm us.

When we first read or hear our text from the Gospel of John, it may be a bit confusing, for what Jesus is doing is commanding us to love. He says in effect that loving is a duty, a requirement, an obligation, a mandate, not an option we can consider or ignore as we please. It's a commandment. How can love be commanded?

In addition to the war in Iraq, the unrest in Israel/Palestine, the atrocities in Sudan, the devastation caused by Charley, all of which I am sure concern each of us, maybe like me you're also concerned about the upsurge of violence within some of the minority neighborhoods in Boston. Almost every day we open the paper and read about yet another slaying, another rape, another act of violence of one person upon another, often involving youth or children. Of course, violence is not limited just to Boston; it's rampant in many other places in our nation as well. I am very concerned about the violence in our society in general, from what we see as "entertainment" on television, to extremely violent and gruesome video games, to the activities of street gangs, to the accosting of little old ladies in their own homes, to the bullying acts of children even on the playgrounds of our own communities.

I am especially concerned about discrimination in our society, not the least of which is racism. In spite of what we may have hoped or wished or tried to do over the past forty plus years, the sin of racism is still very real, and is a festering wound throughout our nation. Just this week I read that the rich are continuing to get richer, and the gap between them and the middle and lower classes is getting wider and wider. This is not just a racial thing of course, but minorities are still disproportionately represented in the lower strata of society. It's sad. Economic injustice, unbelievable poverty, unabated prejudice, inadequate public schools in many communities, inequitable law enforcement and police protection are all issues that must be addressed and rectified. Some of us may think that because we live in suburbia, what's happening in the inner city is not our problem. But, if we call ourselves Christians, it is our problem. We are commanded to love, and love is not a feeling; love is an action.

I have also been very concerned about the number of people right here in our own church family who are hurting and in need of spiritual, emotional, or physical healing. Some people have had their dreams shattered and have experienced extreme disappointment; some have had to contend with job losses and resulting economic hardships; illnesses of varying degrees of severity have plagued many; as has the intrusion of infirmities connected with aging; some have experienced internal family problems, difficulties between parents and children or between spouses; some have experienced the death of loved ones. And some in our church family have had to deal with more than one of these at the same time!

Yet, not all of us have been burdened in these ways. Many of us are doing okay, and though we may feel sorry for those less fortunate, it's easy to think, "Well, that's his problem, that's her difficulty, but it's not mine." My friends, if we call ourselves Christians, it is our problem. We are commanded to love, and love is not a feeling; love is an action.

Back to our initial question: how can love be commanded? Perhaps the best way to answer this question is to clarify what we've just been saying about love. Jesus is speaking about ethical love, not romantic love. The love which he commands is a right relationship between people, a constructive spirit to help others grow, a concern which seeks to create and encourage human life. The love about which Jesus speaks has little to do with affection or with emotional excitement, but it has a lot to do with how we treat one another. Gospel love is often concerned with removing barriers and seeking as much good for another as for ourselves. (ii)

If this is the kind of love Jesus is commanding us to practice, how in the world can we do it? As we look closer at this "new commandment," it seems quite impossible to obey. If Jesus is the standard by which love is measured, how can our love ever compare with that of the One whose love encompasses and saves us all? It seems as if our Lord has put us into a no-win predicament. We may not want to believe that this is so, but situations in the world or in our personal lives sometimes so overwhelm us that we don't know where to turn. Maybe we'll find some answers, a sense of direction, as we explore our other two lessons for this morning.

The reading from Revelation was specifically written for those who feel overwhelmed, those for whom Easter has lost its luster, those who are discouraged about society or about things in their personal lives. What is promised is a new heaven and a new earth, not just a temporary fixing up of our problems, but a totally clean slate. The sea, symbolically representing chaos, will be no more. It's not simply a new world view that John is proposing, nor a new world order, but rather a wholly and holy new world. A new city, a holy city, will come down to replace the places of urban blight and decay, the places of pain and suffering and death. And God will dwell in this city, God's presence will be uniquely felt, God's love and care will wipe the tears from our eyes, and even death will be no more. I'm not sure God is going to do this in a single, cataclysmic moment as John thought, but rather, maybe God is already doing some of this right now, and is inviting us to participate, to join in bringing this new world into reality. God continues to offer possibilities to make things new, both in the world and in our personal lives, and we are called to help make it happen, to be co-creators of God's Shalom. (iii)

The reading from Acts may help us also. We were talking before about the seeming impossibility of self-sacrificing love, like the kind Jesus shows to us. But self-sacrificing love is not impossible, it's not beyond our abilities, because Christ empowers us to obey. Like the disabled man in the story from Acts, on our own we are powerless. You remember the story. The fellow had been unable to walk for his entire life, but as the Apostle Paul spoke, he saw deep within the man a readiness to grow, a faith that made him ready for healing, so Paul commanded him to get up and walk. And by the power of God in Christ, he obeyed; with great enthusiasm he sprang us and began to walk! It wasn't on his own abilities that he did this. It was God's gift to him through Paul. It couldn't have happened any other way.

We also receive the gift of healing from a loving God. Jesus also heals us, makes us whole, and gives us a potential for life beyond the present. God's promise to us is that this new life is already ours. Through God's grace, we receive a wonderful resource - the love of Jesus that empowers us, lifts us when we fall, keeps us going when the going gets tough, and gives us something to depend on beyond ourselves. In his love he commands us to love and care for each other by using this love that we've been given. (iv)

The love of Christ that we are commanded to share is not a feeling kind of love, but an action kind. It's a self-giving and self-sacrificing kind. And it will cost us something. To love as Jesus did, means being willing to take great risks, being willing to risk even life itself, being willing to be more Christ-like.

Walter Wangerin tells a moving story called "Ragman," about a ragman who trades new rags for old. To a woman who is crying he gives a new handkerchief, and as her tears are dried, he himself cries in her old one. To a child who is bleeding, the Ragman gives a new scarf, tying on his own head her bandage, and with it, he receives her wound. To an armless man he gives not only his coat, but his arm within the sleeve. The Ragman takes on all the pain he encounters, and in the end he dies. But the story doesn't end there. Three days later he lives again, and begins anew his task, and the author cries out in joyful triumph: "He dressed me. My Lord, he put new rags on me, and I am a wonder beside him. The Ragman, the Ragman, the Christ." (v)

Jesus gives us a new commandment. And it's a command to action. No longer can we allow stereotypical attitudes to dominate our thinking. No longer can we assume that some of the problems of society are other people's problems. No longer can we sit idly by while others are hurting, those near to us and those in places far away. We have a new heaven and a new earth to build, and no longer can we procrastinate. God calls us to love one another, and why not have it begin right here, right in our own church family with one another? The church that loves makes Christian love possible in the world, and through the church the world encounters Jesus. When we love as he loves, selflessly, sacrificially, faithfully, we reflect our Lord in ways beyond measure. And we surely grow in Christ's image. (vi)

I know that God will help us as we strive to love selflessly, sacrificially, and faithfully. We need only be open to God's Spirit moving among us. Jesus has commanded us to love. May God in Christ who has given us this command, by God's amazing grace, also empower us to obey. So may it be. Amen.

The Pilgrim Church of Duxbury
Rev. Kenneth C. Landall

(i) Charles P. Calgagni, "Love One Another," The Minister's Annual Manual, 1992, 5/17/92.
(ii) Pulpit Resource, 5/17/92.
(iii) Allen, op. cit.
(iv) David Mosher, Word & Witness, 5/17/92.
(v Walter Wangerin, "Ragman and Other Cries of Faith, pp. 3-6.
(vi) R. Carl Frazier, Jr., "The Yardstick in the Kitchen," Abingdon's Preacher's Manual, 1992, edited by John K. Bergland, 5/17/92, p. 172.