Easter 5

May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

SEASON: Easter 5
PROPER:
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: May 10,1998

TEXT: John 13:31-35 - "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

ISSUE: This passage is part of John's account of the Last Supper, in which Jesus participates in a very intimate scene washing his disciples feet. It is a sign of their purity as well as their calling to be servants in the the likeness of Christ Jesus. In a last will and testament scene, Jesus gives them their inheritance, a new commandment. They are to love one another just as he has loved them. The newness is in the love bestowed upon them without being deserved. As a community of love, then and now, the church is to be a witnesses of God to the world.
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On this 5th Sunday after Easter we are gathered here as a fellowship or group of Christians that have gathered for the reading of the Will, the Last Will and Testament of Jesus for his disciples and friends. The setting that we have just heard from the Gospel of John comes at the conclusion of John's account of the Last Supper. While in the synoptics, the concern of the Last Supper is with the breaking of the bread and the distribution of the wine, as the body and blood of Christ, John's Gospel emphasizes the washing of his disciples feet. After the supper is over, Jesus calls Peter and begins to wash his feet. You will recall that at first Peter resists, but succumbs to Jesus' demand. The footwashing stresses two points. The first point of the footwashing is that the disciples find their cleanliness, their being made clean not in obedience to the law and rituals, but by being bathed by and in Jesus Christ. To be immersed in the way and love of Jesus Christ, to accept him as Lord is to be purified and made clean. The second point of the footwashing experience is that it symbolizes what the disciples are to do for one another. As Christ has taken upon himself the role of the servant, then his disciples are to serve one another. It is all a very intimate and profoundly significant scene as it reveals the closeness of Christ Jesus with his disciples. John is attempting to reveal what it means to be the church of Christ. It is that wonderfully shared intimacy with Christ. There is a significant family of God closeness that is revealed as unique for the world.
Judas, the betrayer slips out to do what he has to do. The time of Jesus death and crucifixion has come. Jesus will be glorified and God will be glorifed. That is to say that God will be honored by the obedience of Jesus to accept the cross. Jesus is the obedient son, and in this culture a father is honored by his son's unwaivering and uncomplaining obedience. At the same time Jesus, the Son, will be honored or glorified by the God the Father raising up the Son from death. It is important to be honorable in this society, to give glory to one another.
At the same time Jesus will be leaving his fellowship, his disciples and friends, behind, and he leaves them his with a new commandment, "that they love one another." Just as he has loved them, they are to love one another that everyone will know that they are his disciples." This commandment is the way they shall honor him.
I believe there are two important things to understand when Jesus commands them to love one another. This is a very initmate scene. He has washed their feet. He is a dying man who is giving them his last words and instructions. This is initmate stuff. This command is not about loving everybody that comes down the road. Granted, that in the Story of the Good Samaritan, (Luke 10:25f) you get the impression that we are supposed to love others, but in this instance, it is about the disciples have a close knit love for one another as Jesus himself had loved them. In this society a group of disciples were expected to have allegiance for teacher or leader, but were not particularly bound to one another. In this case, however, Jesus is calling upon his disciples to be unique, so that everyone will know that they are his own unique followers. They are to remain and be a community of men and women that remain united in the devotion and affection for one another.
Still another issue of the passage which is important to remember is that this commandment that Jesus gives to his disciple is seen as new. What's new about it? The command to love one another is as old and older than the Hebrew text in Leviticus 19:17, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself." This command was an ancient command that called for kinsman to love and support one another." What's new for Jesus, for John, and the early church was that this love was to be central to their inimate relationship with one another. They were to love one another just as Jesus loved them. Jesus' love for them was in that unique servanthood of getting down on the floor and washing their feet. It was a love that called them as poor unworthy and undeserving fishermen, women, and tax collectors. It was the love that allowed him to die for them on the cross. People, as well as disciples and us Christians too, often base our love on who is deserving of it according to our standards. What is both unique and new about the love of Jesus Christ is that his love was given freely regardless of who deserved it. Simply by being a creature of God, one was made worthy of His undeserved love.
Today we are also celebrating Mother's Day, and we give special attention and honor them. What is, of course, at the heart of the celebration is not only that we honor them, but that we give thanks to them for all they put up from us. Mothers honor us. At least ideally, the mother loves her children in an undeserving way. Mothers, however, who are also human can at times be a bit maniuplative by reserving or holding back love in some instances until their children deserve it. But generally, a mother's love is freedly given and bestowed. They put up with a lot. The love of Christ was to freely accept his disciples. It is in that same spirit that he calls upon them to love and accept one another.
Keep in mind what the church faced in the time that John wrote his account of the Gospel of Christ. There were factions and infighting within the various communities. There was conflict between Jewish factions and relationships with Gentiles. Families were sometimes torn apart by family members accepting Jesus as Lord. There were persecutions from the Romans. The one thing if not the only thing that could hold the church together to be the body of Christ was love, a stong bonding faithful attachment to one another, and it had to be the basic premise of the church. It had to be Christ's love. Though they may not be worthy or deserving, they were still to serve one another and bear witness to God's undeserving and intimate serving love. It would mark them as uniquely as the people of God in the world, and as a sign to the world.
In our world today, there is not an appreciation of being honorable as there was in the time of Jesus. Politicians can be corrupt and elected. Athletes can break the rules and still get into the Hall of Fame. Service men in the armed forces can be less than honorable and be restored to high positions with the help of attorneys. Even religious leaders can be charlatans and be restored to their ministries. The sense of being honorable, honoring God and what is right, just, true, good, beautiful, and holy is not always a top priority of the world we live in. the world seems to be willing to accept a lot less than honorableness.
Love in our world is often seen as little more than a sentimental romanticism. It can be trite. We can be inclined to love only that which is deserving and what meets our own needs. It is fairly easy to love that which is loveable and acceptable to us. Most anybody can do that and do do that much. What does not meet our own needs is tossed away and expendable and unimportant.
If the church in the world today is to have anything to say it will not be based on how big we are, how old and traditional we are, how grand are our edifices are. It will not depend on how much endowment we have. We do certainly have problems within in terms of what we believe to be right and wrong, especially in terms of what is appropriate for human sexuality. We struggle with various interpretations of Scripture. We struggle with what seem to be appropriate forms of liturgy and worship. We face as many problems and conflicts as did the very early church in the time of St. John the Evangelist. Yet, the issue for the church in the world today is how much we honor what is of God and how we love one another in terms of our servanthood, our respect for one another. We still need to be connected and see ourselves as the chosen, and continue to trust one another. Our impact upon the world is in how we allow Christ Jesus to transform us and raise us up as his living body in the world, inspite of our differences and eccentricities. He honors us with his love which is undeserved and unwarranted, and we in turn honor him by loving one another as a servant community. We become the on going living sign of the presence of Christ in the world today.
In our church we do some things that are extraordinarily profound. I don't know whether you are aware of it or not. But, we do. So do a number of other congregations both far and near. One of the extraordinary things that we do that is something of a shock to people in our world is that we all gather around a cup of wine, which recollects the Last Supper of Jesus and drink from that one cup. It is an incredible sign of our oneness and unity in Christ Jesus. (At one time the church got away from this practice, but in the Reformation there were those like Archbishop Cramner who gave their lives that this symbol of unity might be restored.) Many of us gather on Maundy Thursday evening each year and wash one another's feet. Again another profound sign of our affection, our love and call to servanthood for one another. But they glorify God; they honor Christ.
These signs we do need also to more than just signs but our way of life that expresses a genuine participation in what God has called us to be and to do, and live out our affection for one another supporting one another in community so we can reach out to others in strength and with purpose united in Christ and an expression of his body in the world. It is our way of honoring God and allowing him to honor us. Living faithfully into the full serving love of God, we fulfill accept our inheritance, and are raised up with Christ.