In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Love one another. That’s a pretty tall order that Jesus left his apostles to carry out. We tend to think the loving one another is pretty easy, especially when we include a cut-off line.
We love people like ourselves, and often consider those who are different as being unworthy of God’s love. Maybe worthy of God’s pity, but not the same kind of love that we’re worthy of receiving.
But God loves even the people we think least deserve it.
The apostles were a great example of the difficulties of loving one another, and Jesus knew it.
There’s a scene in the epic Franco Zefferelli movie, Jesus of Nazareth, in which Jesus arrives at the house of Matthew, the tax collector, for dinner as he told Matthew he would. Peter and the other disciples were trying to convince Jesus not to go, bringing up the arguments of that it wouldn’t look right for a rabbi to be in a sinner’s house, especially eating — sharing a meal.
Eating together was a very spiritual act; it went well beyond the notion of just nourishment. Think about our Eucharist — it is a remembrance of a meal of love offered by Jesus himself among his closest friends. Meals had deep emotional and spiritual connections among the participants.
So the other disciples did not want Jesus to mingle with the likes of Matthew, a tax collector who was banished from the temple and synagogues by the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders.
But Jesus didn’t care about appearances and besides, he came to save sinners, not the righteous.
So Peter decides not to go. He’s laying in the dark in his fishing boat by himself, feeling smug and proper for having not gone with Jesus to Matthew’s house. Then he gets the urge to follow after Jesus, and stands in the courtyard, his distaste for the celebration at Matthew’s house is clearly visible in the expression on his face.
There’s a huge party going on, and Jesus is sitting in the middle of the room. Someone calls out, “Teacher, tell us a story.”
So Jesus looks over at Matthew, his newest disciple, and over to Peter, who is now standing outside the doorway looking in. And Jesus starts telling the story of the Prodigal Son.
It the story of a young man who asks for his share of his father’s inheritance early, and go away and splurges all his money on debauchery. When he comes to his senses and returns home to his father, he is welcomed with open arms by the father, but his brother is offended by his father having anything to do with this son, much less throwing him such a lavish party.
But the father tells the complaining son that they had to celebrate, because his brother was lost but is now found, was dead but now lives.
As Jesus says those words, he’s staring directly at Peter. Tears fill Peter’s eyes and he comes into Matthew’s house to join the party.
The apostles were a ragtag group, or motley crew, of various social levels and lifestyle. At least a third of them were fishermen, not the most educated group of men. There was a tax collector, whom everyone in town hated. Tax collection was a bit different back then. People bought the position of tax collector from the Roman in charge of the region for a fee based on the population and what Rome expected in taxes for each person.
The tax collector was then free to extract as much from the population as he thought he could get away with, usually much more than he had paid for the position. And for a Jew to be helping the Romans was an abomination to them. One of the other apostles, named Simon, was a zealot — the political group that wanted the Romans out of Israel immediately if not sooner. The zealots would stab a Roman soldier in the market place just to create mayhem.
The other groups wanted to keep the status quo and get the Romans to leave eventually and peacefully. The rest of the apostles were working-class folks from various levels.
Only a miracle could get this group of people playing well together. Jesus was not being facetious when he said “everyone will know you are my disciples if you love one another.” There was no way that this group of men would ever be in the same room together, if not for Jesus. He calls us to love each other, not just the people we already like. He calls us to love the people who do us wrong. The people that the world tells us we should hate Jesus tells us to love.
But this wasn’t a new concept; the Jews knew what they were supposed to do for about 15 centuries before Jesus told his disciple. The Lord told Moses, in very clear and concrete terms, how we should treat each other.
Leave a little of the plenty that you have for those less fortunate than you. Don’t steal, swindle or lie. And don’t try to convince people you’re telling the truth by swearing to your lie using God’s name as a tool to add credibility to your deceit.
Don’t defraud your neighbor, and again he says, “don’t steal.”
If you have a position of authority, be impartial and just. Don’t take vengeance against someone you feel has wronged you, and don’t carry a grudge. Love your neighbor as yourself.
I guess we missed that part.
There’s a story about two rabbis in the Talmud, Hillel and Shammai. Hillel was patient and understanding, and more conceptual than his counterpart, Shammai, who was an engineer, or mathematician, in his mindset. According to the story, a gentile went to Shammai and said he would convert to Judaism if Shammai would teach him the entire Torah while the Gentile would stand on one foot — a metaphor for a very brief period of time. Shammai then pushed him out with the ruler in his hand.
The Gentile then went to Hillel, who converted him by saying, “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the entire Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and learn.”
The idea that we should love others as we love ourselves has been around for ages. And for about 3,500 years, we’ve failed to live up to it.
But notice that Jesus has changed the commandment; he’s raised the bar or upped the ante if you will. We’re no longer commanded to love our neighbor. Jesus says, “I give you a new commandement…” and in this case, the word used for “new” means “fresh” or “vibrantly new” rather than “recent” like we often interpret “new” to mean. This commandment is new in three ways.
1. New Focus
While we must still love our neighbor, we are told to have a more intentional focus on our love, directed toward “one another” not just our neighbor. This intensity requires an active participation of deliberate love instead of merely “not disliking” someone.
2. New Standard
Loves others as we love ourselves was difficult enough. Jesus calls us to love others just as he has loved us. The selfless, sacrificial, and unlimited love that Jesus has for each of us is the model of the love we are expected to pour out to others.
3. New Result
As the world and especially the Christian community are infused with the love of Jesus Christ through us, a lost world of sinners searching for the truth will know that Jesus is real, and that he is welcoming all of us back to him.
There are an infinite number of ways to show our love for each other in real, tangible actions. The love of Jesus showing forth through our actions, whether it’s leading people in singing praise to our Lord, organizing youth activities, calling someone who is unable to get out of their house much, mowing someone’s lawn while they’re out of town or hospitalized — be creative.
The Apostle Paul says in his Letter to the Collosians (3:14-15), “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.”
I can’t imagine a more beautiful way to go through life. Loving those of us who seem to be the most unlovable, is a commandment from our Lord, not a suggestion from some self-help book by Oprah or Dr. Phil. We must love those who want to kill us; those who hate us, those who have already hurt us. We can’t do it ourselves. That kind of selfless love can only come through God’s grace. We cannot generate it ourselves.
Remember, we are called to be distributors not manufacturers. If we try creating this love for each other, eventually our supply will run out and we’ll get tired of doing it. But if we let Christ’s love pass through us to others, there’s and endless supply. Think of electricity. Generators wear out and need replacements parts, or just flat out breakdown. But electricity will pass through an electrical cable for many, many years without the cable wearing out.
Love one another, as Christ loves us. The rest is commentary. Go and learn. Amen.
