May 9, 2004 John 13:31-35
When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.
“My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
The writer of Ecclesiastes focuses on the fact that everything is “meaningless.” Why was that? All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. (Ec 1:3-9). The reason why he considered everything meaningless was that life is an endless circle - a constant routine that never seems to end - with nothing new. Even though computers, planes, and cars are relatively new to the world - the basic concepts of life, eat, work, play, sleep - remain the same. Nothing remains new - it all gets old.
In today’s revelation, Judas had just left the upper room to betray Jesus. So Jesus then turns to his disciples - about to share some of the last moments with them prior to his crucifixion. What did Jesus have to say? What were his final instructions? A new command I give you: Love one another. This is a strange statement, because love is the oldest command there is - it’s as old as the heart of man. Mormons, Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Buddhists, and even atheists teach it. There’s nothing “new” about it. So the question we answer today is -
What’s So New About Love?
I. The primary motivation
When kids get bored with school - the same old routine - what do they do to freshen things up? They misbehave, right? When I was in the 7th or 8th grade we used to have an above average class in the area of naughtiness. Every day we’d have a red headed teacher of the 5th and 6th grade come in to teach spelling or English - I can’t remember exactly what it was. But what I do remember is that it was a dull routine. We didn’t sit around and plot how exactly to liven things up, but over time the class ended up having a competition as to how quickly we could get Mr. B to explode. His face would get redder and redder, and he’d slam his book down and yell, “now knock it off!” When this break in the routine happened, we were happy for the rest of the hour. The point I’m getting at is that as humans, we will go to great extremes to experience something new or to create at least a sense of excitement so that life won’t seem like such a long, predictable, and dull routine. We crave “new” things - and we’re willing to break the “rules” to get them.
One of the most tell tale signs of this is found in marriage. In marriage a man and a woman vow to live the rest of their lives together - to love one another “til death do us part.” For some couples they wish that death would get going and to it’s parting. Because it’s such a long time - it’s not an easy commitment. It’s not easy socially. It’s not easy sexually. It’s not easy materially. It can easily get boring. So married couples who are somewhat committed to each other constantly do things to spice up their lives. They have kids. They get new jobs. They move. They go to marriage classes together. They plan vacations. They argue. They party. They join sports leagues. They do everything they can to keep things “fresh” and “new”. If that doesn’t happen - if marriage doesn’t at least keep some newness in it - it often ends up in divorce because they don’t feel they “love” each other.
I can see this same thing happen in people’s pursuit of “religion.” A somewhat surprising thing was that after the attacks on the twin towers, many Americans - even many so called Christians - actually looked into the Muslim religion - not just to find out what it was about - but in an actual interest to join. What was it that attracted them to this religion? I think the main thing was in the fact that it was so different than Christianity. It seemed interesting to them that some people would be willing to kill themselves and thousands of innocent people for their religion. It was different to see this religion bowing down five times a day. It offered a sense of discipline and conviction that modern day American Christianity wasn’t giving them. So they sought it - as something new.
This even happens within the confines of Christianity. Whereas some Christians love the same old routines, it seems a lot more don’t like it as much. They want to run from one church to another in search of a seemingly “new” and “exciting” feeling. New music, new faces, new liturgies, new buildings - it’s a constant search for that feeling that gives them the impression that this place is “with it.” Many churches know this. So in their attempt to “grow” they do their best to attract those who are seeking this feeling of having something “new” and “active.” With overhead projectors, the most modern music, and the most active youth group - they try and portray this sense of activity. They’ll choose a trendy name, a trendy logo, and trendy themes to try and attract more people. They have Christian comedians come and seek converts through using comedy and the message of Christ. Pastors also feel a great sense of urgency to be up with the most recent trends in their messages. If you’ll notice around town I would estimate that at least forty percent of the churches are going through the “new” book, “40 days of purpose filled living.” In their attempt to be “new”, I wonder how much of these things get old and repetitive? I wonder how many pastors and churches secretly yearn to not have so much pressure to try and be “with it.”
I suppose you can read an agenda in this message. Pastor Pankow is stumping to stick with the old and faithful. He’s setting himself up so he can be uncreative and boring and so noone can accuse him of not trying hard enough. That’s not my intention or my point. The Apostle Paul said by inspiration of the Holy Spirit - To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. (1 Co 9:22) If we can bring people into our church to hear the Word because of a catchy theme or a cup of coffee or a public service of some sort - something new - that’s great. Many churches are making many more efforts and better efforts to do those things than we are. They are growing faster than we are. That’s not the point I’m trying to make.
These methods may work to get people to come. That’s good. But there’s a big difference between convincing someone to go on a date with you and convincing them to spend the rest of their lives with you. Convincing someone to marry you takes more than one date and some strong cologne. It takes someone getting to know you, and a lot of effort on your part to get to know them. Then, when you convince them to marry you, you also have to convince them to stay, which is a much more difficult task yet. What I see in today’s society and in today’s Christianity is many people who seem to be burned out - tired of seeking something “new” all the time. They enter the church based on a decision that they make in front of a big group of people. It’s a very emotional decision and a very public decision that they sometimes make on the spur of the moment. So they try to stay faithful to their decision. But after a while, that decision isn’t enough. They just don’t have the drive to keep coming. So they fall off for a while. They might go somewhere else that seems neat for a while, but then that wears off too. Then a few years later, they really make a decision. This time they mean it. And the cycle repeats, repeats, and repeats. What’s the problem? Their motivation is based on the commitment THEY made to Christ or a constant want for something “new”.
I see this same struggle in Christians trying to stay married. They aren’t getting along. They aren’t enjoying their time together. But they are trying to stick together because they made a vow - for better or for worse - and there are kids involved. I see this problem in kids who come to Bible classes year after year. They don’t really want to, but they’re only doing it because their parents want them to. In reality, they’re getting burned out. Now, people can do tremendous things by sheer will power. But if you only try to love your family out of a sense of duty or come to worship because you feel you should, sooner or later you’ll burn out. It will get old. They’re trying to love because it’s their duty to love. Not only does it get old, it also doesn’t work very well. There has to be something MORE.
Jesus offered something more, something new when He said, As I have loved you, so you must love one another. The kind of love that Jesus showed for people was completely different from the love of his day. Jesus was willing to reach out to the scum of society - the lepers, prostitutes and tax collectors. In love, he forgave them and even healed their diseases. In love, Jesus fed people. He stood up against the modern thought that these people were too far gone - lost causes. Even among his own disciples - Jesus showed a different kind of love. Just prior to this, He - the master - washed the disciples feet. Jesus’ version of love was an unconditional and sacrificial love - a willingness to give it all for the good of seemingly worthless people. He kept doing it throughout His life - He never burned out on it! That ultimate love was going to be shown itself now that Judas had gone to betray Him. Jesus was about to go to the cross - to die for the sins of the world - the righteous for the unrighteous. Out of love to His Father, and love for His children, Jesus was willing to put His body on the line - and go through hell for the salvation of the world. This was a love like no one had ever shown or ever would show again. God became man to live under the law and die under the curse of the law for the sinful world. He died with that love and rose with it as well. He didn’t do it because He was commanded to. He did it because He wanted to. He didn’t do it because we deserved it. He did it because He cared for us and loved us in spite of who we are. He did it because He was God - and only God can really love like that.
So Jesus doesn’t really say, “you must love each other.” I don’t like that translation at all. What Jesus literally says in today’s text, “Just as I have loved you in order that you may love one another.” It’s not so much of a command as a natural and purposeful result of His love for us. It’s different from the old love of the age old religion. Ideally, it’s different because of our motivation for doing it. It’s just a natural response that Christians have after they see Jesus sacrifice himself for us. You can’t really command someone to love you that way. Either you will or you won’t. It’s kind of like the recent death of Pat Tillman - the young man who forewent over three million dollars to fight for America. Those who appreciate what he did will paint him out to be a hero - wanting to encourage more young men to do what he did. But those who think the war is unjust will paint him out to be a misled young man - in the hopes that no more people go and fight. Joining the army at this point in the war is not a matter of money. There’s no amount that can pay you enough to risk your life. It’s a matter of philosophy. Either you think this is a battle worth fight or you don’t. The same motivation goes with this new command of Christ. If you look at Jesus life and death as a life of LOVE where He sacrificed Himself for you - you’ll either believe in it and want to love. But if you look at Him as an innocent victim who unfortunately died at the hands of the Romans, you won’t think much of His “love.”
I believe that Jesus’ sacrifice was the most loving thing He could have done. I was on the way to hell. There was nothing I could do about it - steeped in sin from conception. I believe that Jesus changed my status with God. I believe His sacrifice made me holy in God’s sight - that it completely acquitted me of my sins. I believe that the Holy Spirit tore me out of my sinful chasm of death and brought me to faith. That’s what God’s Word - not mine - clearly says. 2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Ephesians 2:4-5 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. The writer of Lamentations put it this way - Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (La 3:22-23) Every day that I sin, I can go to sleep in the wounds of Jesus and wake up to a new and gracious way that God has been merciful to me. When I see Jesus put His life on the line for me - it makes me want to say, “Lord, help me to love others in that way. Keep me patient as a father. Make me caring as a pastor. Help me to take the time for the lost souls of society.”
What about you? Isn’t that why you came here today? Isn’t that why you stay faithful to your spouse? Isn’t that why you come to Midweek school? Isn’t that why you take care of your children? Isn’t that why you obey your parents? We love because Jesus loved us so much to live and die for us - and God accepted that sacrifice. Every day that we see our sin and we go back to the cross - it’s as if we have a fresh and a new start. Every day we crave to hear and learn more about this God who would die and rise from the dead for our salvation. We don’t need new liturgies and new songs and new programs to try and get us excited about Christ. We don’t need kids our age coming to worship with us or zippy tunes. We don’t even need any close friends at our church. True Christians are motivated by one thing daily - and that’s the same old message of the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Granted, there are times that my flesh sometimes tires of old liturgies and songs that I’ve heard a hundred times before. There are tunes that my mouth doesn’t like singing very much. But the message within the song and the constant message of Christ crucified is enough to keep me coming back - even if the message could be wrapped in better paper. If that isn’t enough motivation for you to love each other - no command or brow beating will work. It has to come from the Gospel.
II. The secondary purpose
That, my friends, ironically, is the key to evangelism as well. You can see this by looking at the secondary purpose as to why we love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. The secondary purpose is that when you genuinely love one another - all men will know you’re Jesus’ disciples. I got to thinking about that - and I thought, “what’s the big deal about whether someone knows I’m a disciple of Jesus or not?” Back in high school we used to play basketball against Northwestern Preparatory School. They had a cheer that went, “we are . . the preps.” I thought to myself, “who cares? Do you really think it matters to me who you are? Am I supposed to be impressed by this or what?” I didn’t quite get the cheer - other than that the school was arrogant - as if being preps made them better than us. You know, I believe that situation applies to the way people view Christians today. What do I mean? For some reason, Christians think that we need to attract people to Christianity by declaring to them who we are. So Christians wear crosses, or buy Christian t-shirts that say things like, “soldier of the cross.” We put fish on our license plates. The Christian society plans a national prayer day where they stand in front of the American flag and pray in public. Again, I’m sure that they want to reach out to unbelievers with these actions. They’re trying to draw people to Christ by basically saying, “I’m a Christian.” Yet I wonder how many people look at these prayers and actions and just say to themselves, “who cares?” I wonder how many think that we’re just being arrogant when we say, “look at me, I’m a Christian!”
What is the key to evangelism - according to Christ? By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. No matter how much the disciples told people about Him, if they couldn’t love one another - all of their words would fall on deaf ears. You see, evangelism is not a matter of telling people who you are. It’s not a matter of having just new and innovative stuff. It’s a matter of just loving one another. When unbelievers see you really love others unconditionally - out of a pure love to the Lord - that is what attracts them to Christ. It makes them say, “I want the joy that they have. I want the generosity that they have. I want the hope that they have. I want the convictions they have.” If you want to attract people to Christ - then forgive your spouse. If you want people to be attracted to Jesus - then spend time with your children. Sacrifice some time to get to know your neighbor. Take some time to mow his lawn. Send a card of care and concern to your unbelieving cousin who’s in the hospital. In other words - instead of loving your time alone, your video games, or your job, love people. If we don’t grow, the problem isn’t a matter of us not being “new” enough or “exciting” enough. It’s a problem of not showing our love enough. You don’t have to act a certain way or put on a certain kind of clothing to attract people to Christ. Just love people. Make that your bumper sticker. Put that around your neck.
In the 1980’s there was a movie called Field of Dreams. If I remember it correctly, this guy living out on a farm in the middle of nowhere was told by some spirit or something to build a baseball field in the middle of nowhere. He was told, “if you build it, they will come.” It sounded foolish and it cost him all the money he had. But he built it, and people came.
Two thousand years ago, on two pieces of wood God said to Jesus, “if you go there, they will come.” So Jesus went there. In that one act of love, God brought the sins of millions of sinners together and nailed them to the cross. Three days later, Jesus rose. So on those two pieces of wood, God has built an army of disciples - a huge kingdom of followers of Jesus Christ. The message of love in Christ draws people from all tribes, nations, and languages to the greatest story ever told. He built it, and enabled us to come.
If you think that worship, church, or faith in Christ is getting old - go back to the foundation of faith. Christ crucified and risen is our motivation for living, loving, and sharing all that we have. We have a God who loved us and died for us. The wonderful thing is that it never grows old. Every day that we sin, we experience God’s love newly. So this is what we do - we love, we love, and we love some more. Every challenge and sin that we face, we have new opportunities to share our love in exciting and new ways. The love of God in Christ makes love new every day. The love of God working through us attracts more people to him. It keeps love new in our hearts every day. Amen.
