As I Have! Series

As I Have: John 13:34-35.

Well over the last wee while we have been looking at a sermon series that I have called ‘from here to there’. It’s been about mentoring. This is the part of a sermon when an officer hopes that some of the congregation have reasonable recall otherwise he may just have to preach the whole series again. Now I’m interested what are some of the things that I have spoken about?

Today I’m going to take a slight diversion, while I’m going to talk about mentoring and what it is again, I’m going to tackle one of Jesus teachings that gets a bit of airplay, but often is lost somewhere in the accounts of the lead up to Easter and does not get heard as much as it should. It should because these words of Jesus which I’ve used before are of importance to an individual’s journey and they are of extreme importance for a person’s relationships with other believers and God.

If you could open your bibles to John 13, you will find a passage entitled if you’ve got an NIV Bible, Jesus predicts Peter’s denial. Now right among this passage is a couple of verses that point to Jesus divinity and also a way in which Christians are meant to live. Let’s have a look at them in verses 34 and 35. “A new command I give you: Love one another” [That’s the command]. the question is how do we love; read on Jesus qualifies it, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” [ So we have to love one another thoughtfully and sacrificially, giving all we are and prayerfully considering one another, to say just a little of what Jesus did for us]. Why do all this? “By this men will know you are my disciples if you love one another.”

Now that is a good thing!

Now this is about mentoring because this is what the sermon series is about. Let me ask you what is love? Andy Gibb brother of the Bee Gee’s told us that, “Love is, higher than a mountain, Love is, thicker than water” So love is very tall and has a consistency like hand cleaner. Amy Winehouse told us, “Love is a losing game”, so love has something to do with playing against the Crusader’s Rugby team? Alicia Keys tells us “Love is her disease.” Sheryl Crow, “Love is free”, Whitney Houston, “that my love is your love”, Pat Benatar, “Love is a battlefield”, Wet Wet Wet, that “Love is all around” and Ziggy Marley that “Love is his religion.” So now that we have cleared up what love is let’s move on.

Is there anyone here who is a little confused about what love is, and how we are meant to love one another as Jesus loved us? Well let’s have a look at what the bible tells us, let’s have a little look at 1st Corinthians 13: 4-8 (1st sentence).

This is real love, is not the push till you get what you want…, “love, love me do, you know I love you”, I know what feels good, so give it to me substitute for love.

Patient, kind, not rude, always protecting, trusting, hoping. This is the love that Jesus lived, this is the love his disciples were commanded to live, the love those of us who call ourselves by His Name are commanded to live.

Paul tells us to “Follow the way of love and to eagerly desire spiritual gifts etc.” (1 Corinthians 14:1)

1) Back to LOVE, what is the command of Jesus? “Love one another as I have loved you!”

For Christians this is not a stick it in the corner and think about it kind of a comment. This is a get on with it command (repeat). When it comes to mentoring this love is seen in the willingness to engage in mentoring and the willingness to be mentored, not just for your own personal good but for the good of the body of Christ ’the church’ and for the kingdom of God here on earth.

2) We are to follow the example of Jesus in this love… as this is part of a series on mentoring this is about engaging in mutual love for one another, respect for and engagement in the lives of one another.

Now I know that all this talk about love can be a bit much for some. Particularly some blokes. This love bizzo can all sound a bit mushy I think Rochelle referred to it last week and said some see it as being a bit pink and flowery.

I firmly believe Jesus is a true bloke in the human sense of the word as well as being God in the divine sense. The Lord’s earthly Dad was a carpenter, Jesus went fishing, walked a lot, yip he liked tramping, washed his disciples poo laden feet, knew a lot about gardening and farming, was well read, had a fair kind of a grasp of finances and spoke up for what he believed in. Jesus was a real bloke! A real bloke indeed and with that he also showed compassion, he healed people; he mixed with the kind of people who were untouchable and to most unlovable.