Lovers of God
Scripture:
John 15:9-17
Jesus said to his disciples:
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father's commandments
and remain in his love.
“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you
and your joy might be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one's friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another.”
Reflection
The main theme of the above text is ‘love one another’.
Jesus describes elaborately what it means when he says: love one another.
It is love that matters for Jesus and his teaching.
Why do we need to love?
We need to love because we are chosen.
We need to love because we are his friends.
We need to love because it is God’s commandment.
We need to love because we bear fruits of it wherever we go and preach God’s love.
1. We are Chosen:
Did we choose Jesus?
No.
We have not.
Jesus chose us.
Why did he choose us?
He chose us to be appointed for God’s work.
What is God’s work?
God’s work is to reach out to one another in their need (Luke 10:25-37).
We are not chosen for our own glory.
We are not chosen for popularity.
We are not chosen to be famous.
We are chosen to be his friends.
2. We are his friends:
Jesus says plainly that we are not slaves.
Slave attitude creates grudging behaviour.
Our chosen life becomes all day and night murmuring and complaining about our lives and others’ lives.
We are not free.
We are chained with our slave mentality.
We hear but we do not listen to the master.
Therefore, our love becomes a hate.
We are not chosen for hate.
We are chosen for love.
We are chosen to be his friends.
How to be a friend?
A friend is the one who knows us.
A friend is the one who understands us.
A friend is the one who supports us.
A friend is the one who cares for us.
A friend is the one who never says no.
A friend is the one who stands with us.
A friend is the one who motivates us.
A friend is the one who forgives instantly.
A friend is the one who says sorry, soon after the fights.
A friend is the one who does not have ego.
A friend is the one who does not have jealousy.
A friend is the one who has no formalities.
A friend is the one who relates spontaneously.
So, Jesus means lot more than what I have said above when he says that we are his friends.
Jesus has chosen us as friends.
Then, it is not just a closed topic.
It is a commitment and a commandment.
3. It is God’s commandment:
Adam was God’s first friend in the garden of eden.
He had no commitment for God’s commandment.
He broke the relationship with God as a friend.
Jesus renews that friendship with God by choosing us to follow God’s commandment in our lives as friends.
It is a renewal.
It is a new life.
It is a risen experience for all of us.
Our friend, Jesus Christ never gives up.
He continues in his love.
He wants us to follow God’s commandment.
The commandment is: love one another.
This love is not something strange.
We have experienced in our lives.
We need to share this love with one another.
It is a commandment with commitment.
And only friends can do it faithfully without any expectations.
Dear sisters and brothers,
We are chosen as friends to be sent out as lovers of God to bear fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
May the Heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all. Amen…
