FifthSunday of Easter

Fifth Sunday of Easter
John 13:31-35
May, 6 2007
Mr. David Sulzen
 
“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.” The final words of today’s gospel.
 
What is love? We hear the word used so often in the bible – some even refer to the bible as “the book of love.” We also use it often in our everyday lives, and yet it obviously has several different meanings. The love a parent has for a child is different than the love that is returned. Love of true friends for each other is yet another variation. And what about “puppy love” – that total emotional drowning in desire to be around another. And how many of us have confused lust for love at least once in our lives. The love two teenagers talk about is not what those of us who have been around longer recognize as love – but we’ve all been there.
 
We are commanded to love God, and we are commanded to “love our neighbors as we love ourselves”, and yet we are not sure sometimes that we do love ourselves – or what that means. And is the love we have for God the same as the love we are to have for our neighbors?  We are even commanded to love our enemies (Matthew chapter 5 and again in Luke chapter 6) – but what is the nature of that love? And how do you love those you don’t even know? When I was coming home one night last week I picked up an old man who was walking down Route 40 in the Endicott section of Franklin County. He was carrying a water bottle, and a few clothing items. I thought he was probably someone whose car had broken down. Actually, he was a homeless man, hoping to go to Raleigh, or some other big town. He believed there were wolves in these woods, and was very afraid of wolves. He wasn’t even sure what state he was in. I wanted to help, but did no more than to give him a ride to Floyd, give him a few dollars and drop him off at Hardy’s, with directions on how to head south on 221, and then I continued on about my busy schedule. My actions were woefully inadequate to be considered an act of love. I felt helpless, and powerless.
 
We have these monstrously large dictionaries at home, so I looked up “love” in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (mind you, it isn’t really “new ‘ –published in 1964.) But the definition of love took up half a column, broken between the noun and the verb. Since we are obviously commanded to love – a verb – I will give you a bit of that definition. 1 to feel affection for; hold dear, cherish. 2. to feel a lover’s passion, devotion, or tenderness for; to engage in sex play 3. to cherish or foster with divine love and mercy, to feel reverent adoration for (God), 4. to like or desire actively; to be strongly attracted or attached to; delight in, to take pleasure or satisfaction in, to like. 5 fondle, caress. 6 to thrive in (used particularly when referring to plants or animals) 7. choose, prefer, like.
 
It hardly seems fair that we can have so many meanings for one word. The Eskimos have many different words for “snow” because of its many variations, yet we have seven different meanings for the same verb, each of the seven has multiple variations. So is the love we have for God the same love we have for our neighbor? Do we share the same love for our enemies that we do for our children – or for our “lover”? Obviously there are differences, and yet they are all love.
 
Well, let’s switch to the bible.
 
 (1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NKJV) Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; {5} does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; {6} does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; {7} bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. {8} Love never fails.

(1 Corinthians 13:13 NKJV) And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
 
Another one from John, chapter one was made into a nice little song used by Catholics for a short time in the 60’s and 70’s - (1 John 4:15-19 NKJV) Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. {16} And we have known and believed the love that God has for us.
(Sing) God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” The catholic church stopped using that one – maybe they thought it made the whole thing to simple. The dictionary didn’t define love as “God”, even under the noun section.
 
And a final mention of love in the bible, in John 15:13-14 NKJV) "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.” This “laying down one’s life” is not in the dictionary.
 
In today’s bible reading, this commandment to love one another “just as I have loved you” was given right before Christ was taken away to be crucified. Maybe he was telling them that they too would reach similar ends; that they may need to lay down their lives for one another.  Just last month, in the terrible incident at Virginia Tech, we witnessed an engineering professor give his life so his students might escape. The man was a holocaust survivor. Martin Luther King preached love even though he knew he was putting his life on the line every day. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
 
As parents, I am sure we can all say that we would lay down our life for our children. We would also lay down our life for our spouse. We have no doubt that our love extends to that end. Would we all lay down our lives for each other? As friends? And yet, as true Christians, do we not see life as just that transient stage that we must depart in order to enter eternal life in heaven? Is laying down our life for another truly an act of love, or, if we truly believe in Jesus Christ, is it just an act of cutting in line to get to the eternal reward a little bit quicker? I was in San Francisco just a few weeks ago for a school board conference, and had the opportunity to watch my younger brother perform. He is a classical pianist, and lives in Munich, Germany, but travels the world performing, and just happened to be performing in San Francisco that Saturday; listening to him play was a little bit of heaven for me. But when I was visiting with him, he asked me about my religious beliefs – was I still a Christian – did I really “believe”. I told him that I chose to believe. I chose to believe because there simply had to be more – because I still talk to my mom and dad, and friends who have departed this world – who have moved on, and that I couldn’t imagine them anywhere but somewhere wonderful. Yes, in some ways, choosing to believe makes life a little more comfortable. Sure, I battle my doubts, but I choose to believe. If there was absolutely no doubt – how could laying down my life for another be considered an act of love? It might even be considered an act of selfishness. I’m just hurrying on to that next, more wonderful life. But we do have our doubts, and this is an act of love.
 
This morning I have only shared with you some thoughts, and hopefully raised some questions. I know I haven’t offered many answers. But, I hope we can share love with one another, and with our families, and with our enemies – with everyone –and with our God - recognizing that “love” comes in many flavors. I hope we can continue to demonstrate our love in all of Webster’s many ways, and enjoy doing so. And I hope that others will continue to recognize that we are Christ’s disciples by our love for one another.
 
I want to close with just another little hymn; one that I have always liked; a little hymn by Carolyn Arends, the ending of which ties in very nicely with today’s gospel.
 
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love.