Teach Us, Oh Lord, To Love
Posted on Apr 02, 2015 by David Whetter
Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in which of us. Amen
As we do every year on Maundy Thursday, we once again hear Jesus say, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you” (John 13:34). What does it mean to love as Jesus loved? In the washing of his disciples’ feet, Jesus shows us that we are to humbly serve, that is love. In his sharing of the meal, he promises that he will give his life for all. That is love. Love is not a feeling. It is a decision to honor, respect and seek the best for others.
A few years ago I spoke about that 1967 hit of The Beatle’s, “All You Need is Love.” It was a song with a simple message, “love is everything.” You know the lyrics. “There's nothing you can do that can't be done. Nothing you can sing that can't be sung. Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game. It's easy! There's nothing you can make that can't be made. No one you can save that can't be saved. Nothing you can do but you can learn to be you in time. It's easy! All you need is love
Lennon’s message was simple and straightforward, but, I disagree with him when he says, its easy. Loving, like Jesus loved is hard and very much not in our human nature.
For that first “Last Supper,” Jesus gathered his disciples in what we now call the “Upper Room.” While in Jerusalem last November, Jill and I visited the place that legend says was the “Upper Room.” As you can see it was quite a large room and most likely it looked nothing like it does today. In Jesus’ day, we are sure it was a simple room with no fancy columns or painting. It was just a room where he could gather his followers for a meal.
Imagine sitting in that huge room and hearing Jesus give you this new commandment. In my opinion, this commandment must have caused some some terror in the hearts of those who were just beginning to understand what Jesus was teaching. “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you.” This love Jesus was commanding his followers to have was different than anything they had experienced or practiced before. As I have already said, Jesus wasn’t speaking about having good feelings for other people. No he was speaking about offering a new kind of love. He was commanding his followers to be intentional about respecting, honoring, and caring for others. This love he spoke of, taught and lived is a love that is intentional about offering radical hospitality. This love is a fearless love and this love is a humble love.
What is radical hospitality you ask? To answer that, we only need to look at the kind of hospitality Jesus offered. Jesus ate with sinners. He conversed with prostitutes, tax collectors, Samaritans and he welcomed the Pharisees, the scribes, the Roman soldiers and everyone who would sit with him. It didn’t matter that they believed differently, or that they looked different, or that they acted different. Radical hospitality is being open to welcoming all of God’s children into our midst’s, or being willing to go out into the world and live and be among those who are different from us and be intentional about caring for and honoring them for who they are. That is loving as Jesus loved.
What is fearless love you ask? Fearless love is love that is not afraid of the hard questions. Fearless love allows yourself, and others, to explore their faith and their beliefs without condemnation. Fearless love allows doubt to be part of our faith knowing that God is bigger than any doubt and God is in that doubt struggling with us. Doubt is not something to fear, but to embrace. Doubt is what can, and will strengthen our faith when we embrace and use it as a tool to explore God’s love for us. Fearless love is a love that is not afraid to care about, welcome and embrace those who are different from us because that is how God loves us. That is loving as Jesus loved.
Love as I have loved you, Jesus commanded. So, you ask, what is humble love? I would argue that humble love is a love that requires us to “do unto others as we would want them to do unto us.” We Christians love to tell other people what to think, don’t we? But, that is not being humble, is it? In fact, according to a 2011 study of the Millennial generation, the largest generation, one of the biggest issues the Millennial generation has with the church is not God and all of God’s laws. No, their issue with the church is the church’s desire to want tell people what they should believe without getting to know people and listening to them. Jesus, on the other hand, talked to people, built relationships with people and then challenged them to live differently from the world. Jesus willing served those who should have been serving him. Jesus, the Son of God washed the feet of his disciples and fed them. It should have been the other way around, but Jesus humbled himself, so that others might come to know that they, too, are loved by God for who they were. That is loving as Jesus loved!
John Lennon was right when he sang that all this world needs to change and to thrive and to know peace is love, but the love this world needs is not a love that is easy. To love with radical hospitality, to love without fear, to love humbly is hard and it requires us to be intentional about what we are doing. It requires us to be different. It means we have to ask God to teach us to love as he loves.
As you know, every year during Lent, I offer our second graders a class on Holy Communion. This year, we had six of our young people in the class with their parents. Five of those young people will receive communion this evening for the first time. The sixth one, Triniti, will be waiting until Easter morning when she will be baptized along with her mom, L’Eryn, and then receive her first communion. Now, during these past three weeks, we spent a total of 7 ½ hours in class, but when we were done, these kids could summarize the most important thing we all need to know when it comes to this gift of communion in just three words. So, tonight I want them to share what that is. So kids, would stand up, turn and face the congregation and share with them the most important thing we need to remember about God is? (The kids will stand and shout, God Loves Us!)
Brothers and sisters, tonight we once again have heard Jesus command for us to love the world as he has loves the world. This is a difficult task, but it is not impossible. To love as God loves requires us to remember these three words. To love as God loves requires that we be intentional, radical, fearless and humble.
As you come to the table this evening with your hands opened to receive God’s love, may you remind yourself that God loves you and may you pray this simple prayer, Teach Us, Lord, to Love. Amen