Put God’s Love First         Easter VI        May 21, 2006

In our readings we hear that little word, love. We heard about love both in the second lesson, and in the gospel reading. It is one of the words that we hear all the time. We hear about it on the songs on the radio, on the television soap operas, in many movies. Love is one of the most repeated words in our language, and yet it is one of the least understood. Who can imagine the amount cruelty, evil and violence have been done in the name of love? There is lots of confusion about this word.

In John’s gospel, Jesus commands us to love one another as he has loved us. That’s a tall order! I’m not even sure if that is possible in this world. I love you all dearly. But I can’t love you as Jesus loved you? Can you really love me as Jesus loved me? No! We’re human and have all kinds of issues with love.

The good news is that God loves us more than any other person could love us. Unlike you and me, Jesus was more than just a man, he was also divine and was God. His love for us was the same love that God has for us. Jesus’ love does not get mixed up in human failings and feelings. As hard as we try, we are not divine, only human, and human love always fall short of God’s love.

Think of a person who really loves you. They do good things for you, help you, adore you. And if you’re like me, that person is someone from the opposite sex, so there is also passion, a physical love between us. Love from another person is a great gift of God, a blessing! Think of all that love that person gives you, and multiply by a thousand. That gives us some idea of the depth of God’s love for us. Jesus Christ loved us so much, that by he gave us the passion of the cross and the resurrection in his risen body.

So why does Jesus command that which we cannot, to love as Jesus loved us? This s a tough question, and I searched for an answer in these verses. I found one word that really helped me come to some understanding about this. I’m not saying I opened the door to solve the problem, but I do think I cracked the door open a little. I found it in looking at the Greek.

Bear with me as I give a little lesson in Greek. When we go from one language to the other, the words never quite the same. So I looked up the Greek words for Jesus command “love one another as I have loved you.” The word is agape, the love of God.

I was really surprised when I saw that the translation for that little word “as”is different from what it appears in English. The Greek verb is in the causative tense. Causative means that the “as” has the sense of meaning also “because.” So the passage could also be translated, “Love one another because I have loved you.” Or, “My love for you causes you to love one another.”

When I understood this causative meaning for as, it was as if a door opened just a crack, enough that I could see what was on the other side. Jesus love for us is primary. Our ability to love another is rooted in his love for us.

How does this command to love applying to our lives? One of the most difficult places to love one another is right in our families and even our congregations. (Congregations often function like extended families.) Why? Since the beginning, the devil has been trying to separate and divide us from God and God’s will for us. The devil has been trying to divide a brother against a sister, a husband against a wife. The devil loves to tear people apart, and the family and church are two of his favorite stomping grounds. So how can we learn to forgive, to reconcile ourselves so that our love can be restored?

The answer is to “abide” in the love of God in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “abide in my love.” Abide is a big word. To abide in Jesus love means that we not only to understand God’s love, but walk with it, live it, breath it, feel it in everything we do. It means taking it home with you. When we abide in Jesus’ love for us, this causes us to love one another because God loves us.

When we have God’s love in our hearts, in our minds, and in our souls, God gives us the power to love one another, even when they hate you. Just as Jesus loved us even when we crucified him, so we can love others even when they want to crucify us. That’s the love that can conquer to devil and all his empty promises.

The best way I know to follow Jesus and keep his commands, is to work on the six marks of discipleship. By following Jesus in these six marks of discipleship, God gives us power and strength to love others as Jesus has loved us.

The first one, worship regularly, at least once a week. Here in worship we are receiving the love of God. In the sacrament of Holy Communion we receive the love of in the body and blood of Christ. By singing our praises to God, we are reuniting us with the promise God made with us. By hearing the Word in our readings and in the sermons, we are training ourselves to love one another because Jesus loved us.

The second mark is pray each day. Praying alone is good for our strengthening our relationship to God. Praying together in the family or small group with your brothers and sisters, husbands and wives lead us to love each ever more with agape love, God’s love. I suggest again that you try if for three weeks, and your relationships will grow in love. I strongly urge you to pray with a mentor on in a small group as well as family members.

For the third mark, we read the Bible. When we do that, we will see all that God has done for us, for Israel, and for all people. I am so happy to hear that our small groups are places where we not only learn about the message of God’s love in the Bible, but in the fellowship and prayer of the people in the groups. I hear they are getting to pray for each other and have some close loving friendships with other members. The small groups are a real blessing! For those who are joining us today, I strongly encourage them to join one of our small groups for Bible study, prayer and fellowship.

Fourth is to Develop Spiritual Friendships This is what is happening in small those groups. There are many other people we meet who are looking for spiritual friendships. When members are inviting them to come to their group, we are loving others as Jesus has loved us.

In the recent Marriage Encounter weekend, Marilyn and I discovered that we have also been spiritual friends in our marriage. That was a great discovery. Now we are working to enhance that spiritual friendship by following these six marks together, particularly praying together.

Fifth is Giving Generously. When we bring our offering, we are reminding ourselves of all the gifts God has given us. God has given us everything we have, and gave us Jesus Christ. God did that out of love. Giving generously to God in the same way God has given to us helps us to love each other as God loves us.

A tithe is 10% of our income. I suggest you try tithing it for three months, and your ability to love others will increase, too. I have never met someone who tried it for three months, and decided to stop except in a severe financial emergency.

Sixth is serving others. Serving others as Christ has served us grows out of knowing all the God has done for us. There are thousands of ways to serve in our families, in the congregation, in the world. We have many ways to do that here at Grace, like our mission trip to Oaks Indian Mission. These six marks are the ways we can live in Christ, and abide in him.

People often think that people who have a strong faith are just lucky. I felt sorry for one young woman who said she had no faith, but sent her children to worship and Sunday School. She told me, “I wish I could love Jesus, but I just never had the faith. I want my children to have the faith I never had.”

Here’s the good news for her, and for all those who want to follow Jesus more closely. We can increase our strength to love by practicing these six marks. This is how we can abide in Christ, and he will abide and live in us. Jesus love is love that never lets us go; it lasts for all eternity.

Amen