For those unfamiliar with an Anglican Service there are four Scripture readings before the message. Today’s readings were: Acts:11:1-18; Psalm 148; Revelation 21: 1-6 and John 13:31-35.
I am sure that most of us have seen dominoes set up by the thousands or ...... even tens of thousands.
And after they are arranged ..... someone tips over the first one .... which sends them tumbling one by one.
A lot of planning goes into ..... something like that.
The event must be designed, ... mapped out ...... and then .... set up.
It takes hours, .... days, .... even months.
When the dominoes start falling, .....we witness a chain reaction .....which leads to .....a glorious finish. (Pause)
Now Glory ....is one of those words we hear quite often .... that is never clearly defined.
It is a word that contains much emotion and much wonderment.
It is often used when we experience something that has a .... (Slow) Wow factor.
Such as, .... "Oh what a glorious view!" ......or "That performance was glorious!" or Honey you look glorious. (Pause)
Jesus uses the word glory ....five times in our Gospel passage today.
As we reflect on the Gospel, we need to ask: What is the Wow factor ......that Jesus is talking about?
What is the glory ...... that Jesus is speaking about? (Pause)
Judas left the room. His decision to betray Jesus is now final.
The events which lead toward the crucifixion of Jesus ....were set in motion.
The events were now "Falling" into place.
The dominoes are tumbling.
Tumbling toward the climax of the Cross.
As Michael Card, the great contemporary artist sings, "The climax of the cross, ...... the moment our hope was born." (Pause)
The cross certainly had a Wow factor, ....but not in a conventional way. (Pause)
According to John’s testimony, Jesus final words from the cross were, .... (Slow) "It is finished."
The dominoes have fallen .... and the glory of God in Jesus .... is displayed on the cross.
That is the glory Jesus was speaking of .....that astonishing night.
It was also on this night that Jesus reclined with the Twelve ..... to eat the feast of the Passover.
They all would have looked to Jesus ..... to fulfill the fatherly role ...... in the Passover ceremony.
To answer the questions concerning the importance of the Passover meal. But on this night the disciples role ..... is unique.
They witness Jesus answers ... which will bring out a new meaning ....to this night.
A meaning that centers on Jesus suffering. His Suffering is also...... part of the Glory... Part of the Wow factor. (Pause)
So.......Why does Jesus state: "Where I am going you cannot come?"
Where is Jesus going that the leaders of the Jews and his disciples .... cannot go?
Peter later in the Scriptures ...asked him that very same question, "Lord, where are you going?"
The disciples cannot go because, .... Jesus is going to the cross ....and then ...... to the Father. (Pause)
(Slow) It is the Wow factor in Jesus relationship with his disciples .....that I want to focus on .... today.
Our Lord gives a new commandment ..... a commandment that is based on the disciples’ relationship to him and to one another.
He said, BIBLE "I give you a new commandment: that you Love one another. ....... Just as I have loved you, you also should love one other." END
Now...This standard is not something that was completely new to them.
His disciples would be familiar with this law of love as it is given in the Law of Moses
Leviticus 19:18 States this command, BIBLE "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD." END
But Jesus... this night.... takes it to a personal level... a higher level He says: "Love one another," ...., "as I have loved you."
The Wow Factor!
If Christians love each other the way Jesus showed his love to the world, .....then it will be unmistakable!
It will be a love that the world will stand in amazement to see.
That the world cannot comprehend.
Jesus did not simply say, "Love one another."
Jesus was very specific about the kind of love his disciples must share.
He said (Slow) "Just as I have loved you."
And His love is unconditional, Jesus love is limitless. Jesus love requires Self Sacrifice!
The unmistakable Wow factor of this love ...is portrayed in the cross!
Jesus suffered and died for the greater joy.. for the greater love... rescuing the lost from ...sin and death.
Jesus sacrificed himself ........(Slow) out of His love for us, Now that truly is truly glorious.
That love is the foundation of Jesus words to Nicodemus. BIBLE "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." END John 3:16
Jesus commands us to "Love one another," To Love each other "just as I have loved you."
Real love .... Christian Love...requires ....a sacrifice to self. (Pause)
One hundred years after John wrote his gospel, the famous theologian Tertullian, reported what the non-Christians of his day ..... said of those who were followers of the Christ:
"See how they love one another!" And "How ready (they are) to die for one another!" REPEAT
The message of Christ is sacrificial love .... The love he commanded us to give......sacrifices self.
It is a love that the world and the flesh....cannot comprehend.
The Western culture .... and this post modern world have perverted the message of self sacrificing love.
Today’s culture is obsessed .... It is obsessed with self.
It seeks only self, "Gratify your desires,.... Always follow your heart, .... if it feels good ...do it."
These are the messages we hear ..... every day.
Yet the message of the cross ... the Wow factor is something completely different.
Real love, the love we are commanded by Jesus to share, ..... (Slow) always sacrifices self.
And that is a glorious love that the world cannot..... and will not ..... ever comprehend. (Pause)
Do our actions portray to the world how deeply we truly love .... each other?
What would cause them to say, "See how they love one another!?" "See how ready they are willing to die for one another!" (Pause)
Where do our hearts and minds need to be every day if we are to become ....(Slow) that kind of people?
If real love sacrifices self, ....then what should it look like?
Well John 1 John 3:18 tells us in his first epistle. He says: "Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action."
Jesus has also told us that we must be as little Children.
Why? .....Because Little Children seem to understand the Wow in God’s glorious sacrificial love. (Pause)
Some school children shared some moving story’s of this kind of love.
My grandmother has arthritis and can’t bend over to paint her toenails, ... so even though my grandpa also has arthritis in his hands, ... he paints them for her.
"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries ....without making them give you any of theirs."
"Love is what is in the room with you at Christmas .....if you stop opening gifts ..... and just listen."
"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends .... even after they know each other ....so well."
Love is when someone hurts you, .... but you don’t yell at them ..... because you know it would hurt their feelings.
Love was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.
Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and sat there.
When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, (Slow) "Nothing, ... I just helped him cry" (Pause)
We are to become as little Children .... Children understand what glorious love .... really is. (Pause)
We put our names on our belongings so we can identify them.
We brand cattle so we know who they belong to.
And in our countries early history, .... before they could afford keys and locks, they would cut out a sliver of wood from their door post and hide it.
If there was a question of ownership, ... they could match that sliver to where it was cut from, and prove their ownership. (Pause)
There is also a mark that Jesus puts on us ....so we can be identified as belonging to Him.
Jesus JOHN 13:34-35 tells us what that mark is.
BIBLE "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. (Pause) 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." END
Sacrificial Love ...... is that Mark! Sacrificial love is that Glorious Wow Factor!
What does this love look like in our lives
Beloved sacrificial love should look like: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
These qualities are the evidence that we are experiencing ... The Wow Factor ... of God’s love.
These qualities are evidence that the Holy Spirit is present and operating in our lives.
The fruit of the Spirit is one fruit .... One fruit ....that encompasses all of these glorious sacrificial qualities.
If you allow the Holy Spirit to permeate you .....to work within you .... then every single one of these qualities ..... will be apparent in your life. (Pause)
We are called to not only have this love but to share this love with one another ..... and to those that God places into our lives.
It is imperative to share this love especially to those who will not ..... or cannot return it. (Pause)
If you have ever been around a hospital neonatal unit, you will notice what the nurses advise the parents and relatives .... concerning these tiny babies.
They tell them to visit them daily and regularly.
The families are told to touch the babies’ arms and abdomens and legs with their fingertips.
They are also instructed to softly and gently say, .... "I love you."
To say it over and over again ...... to those little ones who are fighting for their lives. Why are they told to do that?
Because.....It is virtually impossible to voice the words of love ...... without having those words take hold .... in your own heart.
The more love you have in your heart, .... the more that love will be felt in your touch.
No matter how old a person is, ..... they still have that little child inside them; ..... they still need that loving touch.
They still need to hear those 3 words: "I Love You." (Pause)
(Ending One) O Beloved .... It is time to move forward in the faith.
Do not ignore our Lords words to those that call themselves his disciples!
" I give you a new commandment .... That you Love one another......By this everyone will know that you are my disciples. (Pause)
And when we allow this command to permeate our very being ...., the world will take notice and exclaim:
"See how they love one another! How ready (they are) to die for one another!"
Amen and Amen!
(Ending Two) O’ Beloved .... we must become as little Children (Pick up the Jack in the box turn the crank and sing)
All the way round the Mulberry Bush the Monkey Chased the weasel. The Monkey said it’s all in fun......(Long Pause) ...... Pop goes the weasel.
O’ Beloved .... we must become as little Children and be open the wonderment .... To the Wow factor that God continually places in our lives.
Experience his glory .... Experience his love and let the anticipation and joy of each moment fill you to overflowing.
Amen and Amen!
Help: I retired in November 2017 and am attempting to supplement my income by sharing on Sermoncentral. If this Message has been helpful to you, please consider a nominal gift: Send to The Rev. Jeff Smead 11725 Regent Park Drive Chardon Ohio 44024. Blessed To Be A Blessing.
Dear Reader: So I can better help you, if this Message was not helpful and you rated it low, Please let me know what it lacked or why it was not helpful. You can search by contributor Smead" (Constructive Criticism is very helpful) and contact me there. Blessings Jeff.
