Love One Another

 John 13 31-35

Easter 5  5-18-25

 

There was a history of my seminary,

Philadelphia seminary, and other seminaries

playing a flag football game against each other

at Gettysburg Seminary.

Each team would get t shirts for the game.

 

Our team, got them in purple with white writing.

And when we got there we realized,

the other team had the same exact shirt.

Purple with white writing.

It was a very confusing game.

We could never figure out who was who.

 

Likewise, it’s hard to identify Christians in the world.

We don’t wear particular clothes, or eat certain foods,

We don’t only interact with certain people,

We aren’t really commanded to do much that is outwardly different.

Christians basically blend in with everyone else.

I think we’re meant to do just that.

But how do people identify us and distinguish ourselves from others?

 

Jesus tells his disciples that we will be known by our love.

By the way we love one another.

So we won’t be known for

going to church on Sunday morning,

or wearing a cross around our necks

or praying before meals, or thumping our bibles.

We will be known for our love.

That will make us distinct.

 

Love one another as I have loved you, Jesus said.

This is what will make us famous and well-know.

This is what people will talk about.

 

Jesus gave this command during his last supper.

Right before this, he told them that one of his

disciples was going to betray him.

And right after this he tells Peter

that he would deny even knowing him.

It must have been a very painful meal for Jesus in many ways.

And yet in this same dinner, he washes the feet of the disciples.

All of them, including Judas, in act of humble service

to his students and followers and betrayers and deniers.

 

That is the kind of love that Jesus is talking about

The self sacrificing, self-denying kind of love.

The kind of love that isn’t stopped by pride

the kind of love that includes all, even those not worthy of it.

 

Jesus tells the disciples to love one another,

He addresses this to the disciples specifically.

But Jesus is talking about the kind of love that crosses

boundaries, and a love that doesn’t make more boundaries.

This is Jesus last request, this is Jesus’ new commandment:

Love.

 

This has surely been a struggle for Jesus’ church

both inside and out.

Sometimes the church is better known for its

judgement and condemnation of others,

which some Christians confusingly say is “love”.

Sometimes the church is better known for

it’s infighting and squabbling with one another.

Sometimes the church is better known for its

abuse and brutality towards others.

I would say that these days,  

Love is not the first thing that most people think of 

when they think of those who follow Christ.

 

If you read anything about the very beginning

of the Christian church, the startling thing is how fast it grew.

Christianity wasn’t very organized, it wasn’t a unified institution.

Worshipping Jesus was not part of the main-stream,

it was not the government authorized religion,

it was sometimes even dangerous for most people to be a part of it.

But even under oppression and threats, the church grew big and fast.

And many scholars have said that the reason is

because it was the different way that Christians treated people –

inside and outside their community.

 

At the time, the world was arranged in

strict hierarchy that was supported by Roman religion.

The rich were higher than the poor,

the men were higher than the women,

the masters were higher than the slaves

It was all ordained by the gods,

And people acted and were treated accordingly.

 

But Christians tried to treat everyone the same.

Everyone got the same respect and dignity,

everyone was given responsibilities,

women and slaves were leaders.

everyone was treated with the same kind of love as everyone else.

 

And they showed that love to others too.

they fed the poor with the collection they got during church.

They gave food and company to those who were imprisoned.

They visited the sick and helped them too.

They treated the forgotten people with dignity and kindness.

They shared their love inside the community and outside.

This was radical to the Roman world.

 

Their growth wasn’t about having great worship services

it wasn’t about good music, or preaching, or children’s programs. 

It was what happened when they got outside

of that worship service that made the difference.

It was what happened the rest of the week that inspired others.

 

The things that define us as Christians

aren’t the things we do in here,

it’s the things we do out there.

The way Christians behave towards others.

 

Someone said on the internet that sometimes

the best evangelism we can do is just tell

someone you’re a Christian and then not act like a jerk.

That’s a pretty low bar for us to walk over.

But considering the reputation of Christians today,

that might be enough.

 

But sometimes we Christians can do extraordinarily kind things.

Paying for another person’s groceries

when they’re in trouble at a check out.

Mowing a neighbor’s lawn because they need help.

Helping homeless people, helping refugees,

having unconditional acceptance

of those who are different or marginalized.

Loving one another through our pain and joy and sadness.

Generosity with our money.

Feeding people who need it. Building houses.

 

This is what Christians should be known for.

Not for condemnation of anyone who thinks differently,

not for throwing the first bomb in the culture wars.

But for reaching out to serve, washing each other’s feet.

We should be set apart by our love for one another.

 

Tony Campolo was a popular Methodist pastor and author.

and speaker. He just died this past year.

He tells a wonderful story.

And I feel sure I’ve told this story before, because I love it.

And you can tell good stories more than once.

 

He was pastor, and before he was a famous author,

he got a PhD in sociology.

He was presenting a paper in Honolulu.

He flew there from the East Coast and it was time to go to sleep

in Honolulu but he couldn’t because of the jet lag.

So was sitting in a coffee shop at about 3:30am.

it was the only place open, and it was pretty grungy.

 

There were only a few people in the place

and a group of prostitutes came in.

He was sitting at the counter and they all

kind of sat around him.

 

He was basically in the middle of the conversation

and the one who’s name was Agnes said that it

was her birthday tomorrow. She was going to be 39.

One of her friends said sarcastically,

“What do you want me to do, throw you a party?”

 

She said, "Why do you have to be so mean?

I was just telling you it was my birthday.

I don't want anything from you.

I mean, why should you give me a birthday party?

I've never had a birthday party in my whole life.

Why should I have one now?"

 

After she left the place with her friend,

Tony asked the owner of the place

if she was in there every night

and he said yes, right at 3:30 they always came in.

  

Tony suggested to the owner that maybe they could throw

her a party since it was her birthday.

The owner thought it was a great idea.

Agnes was a nice person and he would love to be a part.

Tony said he would get the decorations,

the owner said that he would make the cake.

 

The next night they decorated the place and

by 3:15, and they had invited the other prostitutes in the area

and other people who knew her.

At 3:30 Agnes and her friends came in.

Everyone yelled out surprise and sang Happy Birthday.

She looked completely flabbergasted.

And then the owner of the diner gave her the cake

it said “Happy Birthday Agnes” on it. It had candles on it.

And she started crying at the sight of it.

Everyone told her to blow out the candles.

She blew out the candles

and then the owner gave her a knife

and told her to cut the cake.

 

She said to the owner,

“Harry, if it’s all right with you,

I don’t want to cut the cake right now.”

He told her it was okay.

She said, “Is it okay if we just keep the cake a little while,

I just live a couple of doors down, would it be okay

if I just took the cake to my apartment and I’ll be back?”

She left the diner holding the cake like the Holy Grail.

There was kind of a stunned silence at this point.

and no one knew what to do.

So, Tony suggested that they pray.

So they did.

 

He said, “looking back on it now, it seems more than strange 

for a sociologist to be leading a prayer meeting with a 

bunch of prostitutes in a diner in Honolulu at 3:30 in the morning.

But then it just felt like the right thing to do.”

 

When he finished, Harry leaned over the counter

and with a trace of hostility in his voice, he said,

"Hey! You never told me you were a preacher.

What kind of church do you belong to?"

Tony said, “In one of those moments when just the right words came, 

I answered, ‘I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for

prostitutes at 3:30 in the morning.’"

 

Harry waited a moment and then almost sneered as he answered,

"No you don't. There's no church like that.

If there was, I'd join it. I'd join a church like that!"

 

How many small opportunities for love and kindness

has the Christian church missed over the last 2000 years

because we were too busy worrying about money,

or complaining about music, or scolding people,

or just being an institution?

 

Jesus gave us a new commandment,

a simple and clear commandment.

That we love one another as he loved us.

This is the way that everyone will know us.

If we have love for one another.