This is not the first, or the last, time that you will hear me passionately talk about the Commandments and why I actually really appreciate their structure, despite the need for some updating of the language! I love teaching about the Commandments because I think they are so much more than a list of things that we should/have to do, like is so often taught. I don’t think this is how we are supposed to view the Commandments. The Commandments are often taught in ways that bring guilt and shame, but ultimately, they are supposed to be life-giving. They are meant to draw us into the life of God and the life of the community by supporting one another and living in such a way that allows all of creation to thrive. This is what is means today when our readings talk about how we love God and our neighbors when we honor the Commandments.
When Jesus says “As my Abba has loved me, so have I loved you. Live on in my love” (John 15: 9) it also reminds us of the love that we have in God. That God cares about us and loves us. It is from that love that we are able to go out into the world to love others, and we do so by recognizing their innate worth as human beings too.
I half-jokingly, half-seriously mentioned at Seekers on Wednesday that one of my pastors used to always say that God says we have to love our neighbors, not that we have to always like them. But, our faith calls us to see each person as a child of God, as someone for whom Christ died. Whether we like them, agree with them, want to be friends with them, etc. We are called to see all of creation as something that was created by God. When we see people and creation in this way, it calls us to care for its wellbeing. To want the best for it. To desire life to thrive. The commandments are centered in our life of faith and how our love for God spreads outward to include all that God created as well.
Now, I want to clarify yet again that this love is not the same thing as condoning harmful actions because harming creation and others is not an action done out of love. Yes, we will all accidentally cause harm, but that is different than intentionally seeking to bring harm upon people or creation. Nor is this telling us that we are always going to have to agree with what people believe and how they live that out.
When Jesus tells this commandment over and over again today, it feels like it should be a lot simpler than it actually is. We often talk about famous last words of history. There are countless websites dedicated to what famous people said before they died, whether that was the name of their spouse or a comedic remark. It’s why it is so important that Jesus takes the time for one last conversation with his disciples before he is arrested, and the topic is this commandment of love. Three times in today’s Gospel, Jesus stresses the importance that the disciples love one another. (John 15: 9-17). Of all the commandments, this is the one that Jesus stresses as the most important, with loving God of course, and this is the last teaching he wants his disciples to hear. And, we know that Jesus didn’t shy away from giving the disciples work that would be difficult.
I’m sure the disciples wanted to grumble and groan. Doesn’t Jesus know that loving people is difficult?! It takes risk and vulnerability. It opens us up to pain and calls us to the hard work of building trust. I’m sure this is the last thing the disciples wanted to hear, especially after they witness what happens to Jesus. How can they love others when their mentor and friend was literally just crucified? How do you love after that? But, I also think that Jesus knew what he was doing.
Jesus knew that love was difficult, I mean he loved the world so much that he went to the cross. Jesus knew that love could be painful and messy, but it is also what connects us to the people and the world around us. Love is what makes a community stronger than just strangers who gather for a brief time and then disperse to only go back to their own lives. Love is what allows us to be our full selves in front of the people who care about us without feeling like we have to hide or pretend. Love is so much more than just cheesy Hallmark cards and even so much more than the words “I love you.” Love is looking at another person and seeing them as human. As wanting to do anything and everything in your power to protect them and to give them a chance to thrive. When Jesus tells the disciples and us to love our neighbors, Jesus doesn’t tell us to only love them when we are comfortable or when it is convenient. Jesus knew that love can be difficult and messy and painful, yet it remains at the center of the last words that Jesus spoke to his disciples.
We risk so much when we love others. It opens us up to pain and grief in ways that feel impossible to describe. But, it also shows us so much more of what the world has to offer outside of our tiny little bubbles. We risk so much when we love others, but I might even argue that we would be risking more not to open ourselves up to love. We risk becoming so insulated that we feel alone in our struggles. We risk thinking so highly of ourselves that all we can do is judge others. We risk letting people and the earth be destroyed because society has the means to do those things.
Love is at the heart of the commandments because when we love God, we want to honor all that God created. To see it the way that God did, as good. We are compelled to genuinely care that people are without shelter and food, that they are living in the middle of warfare, that they are depressed or lonely and don’t know what to do next. When we love God, we can’t help but be astounded by the beauty of the world too, not just the pain. But because we have witnessed the beauty, we catch a vision of the already and not yet of what the world can be like and it moves us to keep pushing for God’s will to be done. Love here means so much more and that is the love that we are called into. I know that it is painful and it takes energy to keep caring about the world, but the more of us that care, the better the world will continue to become. So even on the days that it is difficult to do so, and it would be so much easier to just turn our backs, Jesus implores us to love one another.
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Sunday April 28th, 2024 Worship