Jesus’ Final Words

                                                               John 13:34-35

It takes some work to get inside the heart of Jesus.  There are the miracles and his death and resurrection.  There is the ascension and the fact that according to the Apostle Paul he prays for us.  But you have to extrapolate to get at the heart of Jesus.  John’s Gospel gives us, as strange and other worldly as it sometimes seems is as Roman Catholic scholar Raymond E, Brown calls it “the most adverturous theology in the New Testament.”

The words we heard from Ron were spoken after two things happened.  Jesus washed the disciples feel and Judas began his betrayal of Jesus.  They are a command embedded in what’s called the Farewell Discourse, a discourse that John imagines happened in one night whereas the rest of his Gospel happens over three years. 

The foot washing takes center stage in John’s Gospel like the Last Supper takes center stage in the other three gospels.  Judas’ betrayal is an illustration of one who doesn’t believe (believing is John’s primary preoccupation) and both of them brings us to the new commandment.

Jesus knows he’s going away.  I believe he knew it once he made the decision to go to Jerusalem some months before.  He is aware of his impending death.  It is the day before the Jewish Passover.  What must the first Christians in John’s community been like for John to emphasize that love for one another must be their primary mark.  There are two communities, the one Jesus first said it to, and the one that heard Jesus say it to them some 70 years after these words first came out of Jesus’ mouth.

Both communities were divided.  The very next verses are of Peter denying that he knew Jesus.  After the crucifixion two of the disciples on the Emmaus Road said “we had hoped he was the one to save the nation of Israel.”  Before the encountering the resurrection for themselves and being blessed with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost the early church was riven by varying interpretations of what Jesus was all about.  It took 300 years for the church to conclude that Jesus was fully human, fully God.  There were as many interpretations of what he was about as there were house churches.

And the churches who first received this letter (I believe) in the last decade of the first century were riven too.  Some had only heard of the baptism of John and didn’t know anything about the Holy Spirit.  They were sporadically persecuted by the Roman authorities who claimed that Ceasar was Lord and when popular like Ceasar Augustus, Savior as well.  There were Jewish Christians and Christian Jews who differed on how much you could keep kosher and worship in the synagogue.  It was not easy being a Christian in the later part of the 1st century and beginning of the second century after Christ.

So Jesus gave his command to his immediate disciples and those who he hoped would follow them.  It’s the love command, the commandment that a wise pastor named John Najarian told me once should be every pastor’s closing sermon when he or she is about to leave, for another church, after disruption or upon retirement.  “Love one another as I have loved you.”  And the second part is as serious, “this is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.”  The command is internally focused and outwardly expressive.

The truth is I don’t feel I’ve practiced the second part of the commandment in my work with you, the “as I have loved you part.”  I regret that my love did not include learning to consistently use technology to stream and beam our services.  I regret that I have not reached out to the part-timers as much as I should have so they feel included in the fellowship.  I regret I have not told you about the good things God through the Presbyterian Church is doing through our 78 mission co-workers in 80 countries around the world.  Jesus was more blunt and mysterious in his proclamation of the Good News.  But all of that is laid on the table and confessed and I pray that God will bring you a pastor servant who is better with technology and bolder about what the Presbyterian Church is doing around the world.

The second part of the new commandment is more germane.  It’s a reminder that love is a lesson.  Love teaches.  It reaches. It sets an example that makes others take notice.  I’ve seen that in my parents as reflected upon in this holy season.

This is the first Christmas I’ve celebrated without having one of my parents living.  And when I reflect on my mother’s love for my father, and my father’s love for me mother, it was a love that wasn’t talked much about in our home, but one that was steady and strong.  I remember my mom telling my dad, no more jewelry, because my mom wasn’t one for wearing much perfume or jewelry.  I remember my dad primarily showing how much he loved my mom and us as children by his work ethic and his attention to his fitness through high school officiating of basketball, football and soccer.  Love teaches and reaches, and it does for the community.  We’ll affirm our faith by singing it this Sunday, “they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”   That’s more than a slogan out of the 1960’s.  I believe it’s the major evangelistic witness for the younger generations.  They want to see Christianity in action, in food banks, in building homes, in standing up for minorities and the disabled, and then they’ll darken the door of our worship services and possibly unite with us.  This is how they’ll know you are my disciples, if you love one another Jesus repeated himself in the Farewell Discourse.  They’ll know we are Christians by our love.

And know that there’s something Jesus is not saying.  Jesus is not saying “they’ll know we are Christians by our pastor.”  Each time a pastor comes and goes 2 or 3 people leave the church and sometimes go elsewhere, sometime stay home.  This is to be expected.  Every pastor has a style, some are good with technology, some are better teachers, some are better preachers.  I heard of one pastor who stayed 8 or 9 years later but when debriefing his successors departure the Session said our previous pastor didn’t visit us much in the hospital or in our homes.  I’ll never forget an older pastor saying “I visited, but it was my least favorite thing to do in pastoral ministry.”    The church is much more than the pastor.  It is what our former Book of Order said “was the provisional demonstration of what God intends for all humanity.”  Wow!  A body of believers.  A body on the way to someplace, in this life and the next.  A place of nurture and growth, where the kingdom of God is realized in some small measure prior to Jesus’ return.  You will honor my pastorate the most if you learn to love the 20 or so people who God has brought into this fellowship including the 10 people who live here part-time or contribute from afar.

A few ideas for living the love.  Take time out before the Designated Pastor comes to take someone out for a meal or a cup of coffee just for the fun of it.  You can pick your friends but you cannot pick your family.  I’m enough of a Calvinist to believe that it was God’s prior choice of you to be part of God’s family that makes you all brothers and sisters. Some of us are naturally introverted, some more extroverted.  Some of us were educated in the liberal arts.  Some in the health and building trades.  Some served God primarily by raising a family.  The interim before the designated period is a time to broaden your horizons, get to know people who you just see on Sunday morning, even invite people who have left in my tenure back to see who we are.

It's also a time for experimentation. Acting on a tip from a mentor I have used every week for our Call to Worship and either Prayer of Confession or Prayer of Adoration the Presbyterian Church of Canada worship resources.  But with guest preachers for the next three months you’ll be exposed to a lot of different styles, and life experiences.  One woman you have preaching for you in the next months was a lawyer before she was a pastor. Another was a library scientist before he was a pastor to pastors.  Ask them about their backgrounds and life experiences. It’s all part of loving one another to be curious about your guests.

So love one another.  And don’t be afraid to be shameless about it.  Because this is how the Bear Valley and each of you will know you are Jesus Christ’s followers.  It’s a big challenge.  But you’re up for it.  Because you have loved me well, as seen by the farewell brunch and the love gift and I know you can love some more.  Tbis same author said in his letter, we love because he first loved us.  Revel in that love, and spread it around.