“Love Is a Verb Not a Noun”

John 14:15-21

God does have a sense of humor. Sometimes he uses it to remind me that humility is a much-needed virtue. I started out assuming that writing today’s sermon would be a breeze. That has been my recent experience. Why should this week be any different?

More than that today’s text seemed to dovetail perfectly with what I heard and experienced at our recent Officers’ Retreat. As we worked together to discern God’s will is for Grace Church, a common theme emerged. We can do a better job of caring for one another. One small group stated that in terms of our Lord’s command that we love one another.

Today’s text being about love, the sermon should have easily flown out of my heart and into the word processor. But it didn’t. It ended up being a slow and careful process of separating the wheat of God’s Word from the chaff of my own ego. Here’s the result.

In response to a question as to which Commandment was Primary, Jesus said, “The first is, ‘Hear O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength’. The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’. There is no other Commandment greater than these.”

On the night of his betrayal Jesus said this to his disciples: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. 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.”

And then there’s today’s text from John 14. Jesus made it clear that loving him involves keeping his commandments, commandments that come from the Father himself. He made it further clear that the very Spirit of God would be with his disciples, enabling and empowering their obedience.

The love that Jesus demands of us is not an emotion. It consists of more than transient feelings. It is something tangible. While it is something we can have and experience, it is primarily something that we do, often a great sacrifice. It isn’t cheap. Nor is it easy. It demands the best and deepest parts of who we are. It involves the totality of our being. It is something we live out within and beyond the community of faith, something that demonstrates to the world that we are indeed followers of Jesus.

This love, this obedient love, was addressed by Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. That particular community of faith was being torn apart by immoral behavior and bitter conflicts. Paul made it very clear, that without love, no spiritual gift could be exercised faithfully. Without love all of our stewardship, piety, and missionary efforts will amount to nothing.

How did Paul describe this love? To use Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase: “Love never gives up. Love cares for others more than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, doesn’t have a swelled head, doesn’t force itself on others, isn’t always ‘me first,’ doesn’t fly off the handle, doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, doesn’t revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the truth, puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps going to the end.”

Saint Augustine put it this way, “Love God, then do as you please.” The catch is, that if we truly love God, then what pleases him will be what pleases us: obeying his commandments, serving him with all that we have and are, loving one another within the Body of Christ, and then loving our neighbor.

Serving rather than being served. Cooperating instead of competing. Practicing forgiveness rather than vindictiveness. Being first by being last. Winning by losing. Sacrificing ourselves for the cause of Christ or the well-being of another. Walking beside rather than running away from those who are difficult. Seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit in all things rather than blindly following the counsel of this world. Thus is love defined.

This love always has moral, ethical, and practical implications. Every Christian community of faith is an ethical fellowship: a community marked by God-directed and God-defined justice, righteousness, and peace. Every Christian has answered a call to faithfully follow Jesus in the way of the cross. The way of the cross is defined by obedience and sacrificial love. God so loved the world that he sent his only Son. The Son, Jesus, so loved the Father that he obeyed him no matter what the consequences. This is the kind of love Jesus modeled for us. This is the kind of love Jesus demands of us. We are to love and obey God no matter what the consequences. We are to love one another regardless of what such love might cost us.

Most of us are familiar with the song, “They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love.” Even though we all too often reduce those words to some sort of ooey-gooey, touchy-feely cliché, if we take those words seriously enough to live them out, those around us will know that we are Christians. They may think we’re foolish or naïve or mentally unbalanced – they may criticize, scoff at, and make fun of our willingness to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, but they’ll know that there’s something different about us, something that sets us apart from the world.

A recent sermon about the infant church in Jerusalem immediately following Pentecost dealt with that church’s witness, its evangelism-by-lifestyle. People were attracted to that church because of what they heard and saw. One of the things they couldn’t help but notice about those earliest Christians was their obvious love for one another. Those first Christians cared about and took care of each other. They enjoyed one another’s company, worshiping, praying, and joining together in table fellowship. They freely shared their financial resources. Their lifestyles, moral choices, and ethical decisions all reflected a love of God that led to the obedience of God. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” That’s exactly what they did.

What are the implications of all this for Grace, the implications for you and for me as we journey together as pastor and people? One is obedience. We are to obey God. The other is love. We are to do what Jesus commands. We are to love God and neighbor. We are to love one another. We are to make it obvious to all who deal with us that we are Christians. They can know us by our love as we practice a twenty-first century version of evangelism-by-lifestyle.

That’s easier said than done. As hard as it was to write this sermon, it is way harder to live it. I’m a sinner. Each of you is a sinner. We all have our rough edges, personality quirks, blind spots, prejudices, and the occasional hidden agenda. Sometimes we’re all overly sensitive. Sometimes we are about as sensitive as a bulldozer. We speak without thinking and react without listening. We jump to conclusions. We can be hyper-critical, short-tempered, and sometimes a bit too gruff. We are, in short, human.

We are also Christians. Within this community of faith called Grace Presbyterian Church we are called by God to love one another in spite of all our faults and failures. Quite often loving behavior is simply a matter of common sense and good manners. Please, thank you, and you’re welcome are basic words that demonstrate love. So are phrases like I’m sorry, please forgive me, or you’re right and I’m wrong. Sometimes we express love with no words at all: an appropriately timed hug or pat on the back, an encouraging smile, maybe a hot casserole, or even a cup of coffee and bit of pastry prior to getting down to business.

There is also, of course, that forgiveness thing, itself closely related to non-condemnation. There’s the issue of accountability. Sometimes we must speak hard truths to one another, but always in love. There’s the gracious acceptance of those things that don’t go our way. Above all there’s that important phrase: “I prayed for you today.”

The long and the short of it is that we love Jesus by obeying Jesus, especially by obeying that new commandment he gave to his disciples on Passover night: “Love one another.” Amen.