In a book titled, Life Looks Up, Charles Templeton said the history of this world has been changed by events which took place in two small upper rooms. These rooms are separated not only by thousands of miles, but by nearly thousands of years. Yet the events which took place within those walls have changed the course of human history more than any other events mankind has ever known.

The first "upper room" is a drab flat over a dingy laundry in a poor district in London. Through the dirty, curtainless windows we see a round table piled high with strange stacks of articles, worn manuscripts, an old pipe, and a few odds and ends. A man is seated at the table, writing with passionate intensity. This man is Karl Marx, the father of Communism. He is writing the book which he titled Das Kapital, the book which changed the history of nations. He believes the doctrines he formulated from that upper room will revolutionize the world.

The second "Upper Room" is located in one of the oldest cities of the world - Jerusalem. There was also a table in that room. Around the table sat thirteen men, and before them were some bread and wine. One of the men, the host, who sat at the center of that table, performed an unusual ceremony with the bread and wine. So meaningful was the ceremony to those who shared this event that it is still carried out today in every country of the world. After the ceremony, the host, who had been with these men for three years, talked to them for the last time. He told them he would no longer be with them as they had known him. This man was Jesus Christ. The words he spoke that night have altered the course of human history. His message was that faith in God, love, freedom, and brotherhood among people would revolutionize the world. How strange that 1,800 years later Karl Marx proclaimed that strife, rigid control over human lives, and a godless philosophy would give the world the perfect society. During these Lenten Sunday mornings we want to think together about some of those things Jesus told his disciples in that "Upper Room" on the last night of his earthly life. His instructions were so important that all four Gospels report them at some length. One-fourth of the Gospel of John is devoted to that eventful night in the Upper Room. You can read it in chapters 13 through 17. Among the first words Jesus said to his disciples that night were these: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you ..."

At no time in life does anyone speak with greater sincerity or earnestness than when he knows he soon will die. Several times in my ministry I have been called to an "upper room" where a person who knew that life would soon be over asked me to carry out an unfulfilled dream and hope. In a private file today I have instructions given to me by people whose time is limited and whose hopes and desires have been entrusted to me. These are special moments. No foolishness invades these meetings. It is a time for frankness - a moment to speak as never before, to say how you feel, what you think, where you stand, and what you want. In this framework, Jesus told his disciples, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another ..." This is the message of Christianity. This is the heart of the gospel. This is the new commandment that Jesus gave to his disciples. Jesus did not say, "Now, friends, I think it would be a nice thing for you to love people. How much better our world would be if you did that." No, Jesus issued a command - "love one another as I have loved you." This is the quality of love which makes Christianity different from all of the religions of the world. This is truly the mark of a Christian; for Jesus said, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another."

The unique thing about this love is that these words came not from a person who had tried and failed, but from one who obeyed and succeeded. It was a love such as no one has ever known. Saint Paul tried to express it when he said, "... that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge" (Ephesians 3:18-19).

Look at the BREADTH of Jesus’ love. It is as the sea. People set narrow limits for their love - limits like race, color, creed, money, or position. But Jesus never placed boundary lines around his love. His friends included lepers, outcasts, hated tax collectors, sinners, people with whom no respectable person would associate, and men with whom no honest person would do business. His love reached out to those who were suffering all kinds of afflictions - women who sold themselves, people unknown to him, foreigners, mental and physical human wrecks. He treated all of them like loving brothers and sisters.

Look at the LENGTH of Jesus’ love. Actually his love knew no end. No words or deeds could shake, exhaust, or destroy his love. He saw the wickedness and hypocrisy within human hearts. He knew when a person was lying, for he was frequently a victim of those lies. He knew when a person was eager to criticize him, for he was ridiculed because he healed on the Sabbath. He knew men’s hearts could be treacherous, for he was betrayed for thirty pieces of silver. He knew how weak and unstable people could be, for his closest disciples denied him. He knew the wickedness of the human heart, for he was crucified. Jesus had every right to curse the human family. Yet he still saw the marvelous possibilities within the hearts of people. He believed the weak could become strong, the deceitful could become honest, the sinner could enter God’s Kingdom, and the poor and oppressed could know hope and joy.

Look at the HEIGHT of Jesus’ love. How can we describe the height of love? Only his words can depict the ultimate expression of love, the loftiest act which love can experience: "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." That is the height of love. Freely, abundantly, lavishly, and openly Jesus gave himself to others. He shared his time willingly, spent his strength liberally, poured out his energy unselfishly, and gave his sympathy generously. When he was needed, he was always there. He gave himself to all needs of all people. He gave his life because he believed that only by so doing could he save people and bring them back into his father’s house.

Look at the DEPTH of Jesus’ love. There was no motive in his amazing love. There was no selfish reason for his overflowing love. His love was not like human love. There is always something selfish about our affections for other people. We love a person not for his sake, but because we find him lovable and because his lovableness appeals to us and brings us pleasure and happiness. But the love of Jesus went deeper than any human love. He loved people because they belonged to God. Whether they accepted him or not, they were still God’s children. Having loved them from the first, he went on loving them, caring for them, forgiving them, working for their salvation, even when they nailed him to a cross and left him there to die. No person ever loved other people with such depth of feeling.

What amazing breadth, length, height, and depth we find in his love for people. There has been nothing like it before or since. Looking at it, people found themselyes witnessing something eternally true about God. In Christ the love of God became visible. It was the love of God for human lives - not in word, but in deed. It was God’s way of life that Jesus proclaimed. That is why he gave us this command: "Love one another." When we do this, we bear in our actions the mark which makes us his disciples.

Christianity is primarily a religion of love - love for God and love for people. The great Christians of all ages, the people who have truly brought the redeeming power of Christ into the lives of their fellow men, are those whose hearts overflowed with love. One of the things which has disturbed me through the years is that there are people who are members of certain denominations who claim to be so holy and righteous and yet show so little love and understanding and simple kindness for other people. There are groups of people who call themselves Christians, but unless you believe as they believe, do as they do, feel as they feel, and act as they act, they want nothing to do with you. Many of these so called "saved" people will actually condemn other Christians for their faith and mock the churches where they worship God. We who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ have been guilty of emphasizing our differences, and we have forgotten our oneness in our Lord. Some Christians place much significance upon nonessential details such as the amount of water at a baptism. They fail to grasp the real meaning of faith and the command of Christ - "love one another as I have loved you." The picture of the Church of Jesus Christ looks at times like the description Lewis Browne wrote about in his book, This Believing World. "That Arab in his robe looks with loathing on the Armenian in his sack suit; and both look with disdain on the Jew. The Carmelite monk looks with anger at the Episcopal missionary; and both look with contempt at the Greek priest. Hatred seems to be all around; almost a noxious vapor that one can see. These creatures seem unable to bear the very sight of each other. They actually seem ready to kill."

Several years ago a former member of our church came to me with ill-will in his heart and said: "I have never heard you ‘bawl out’ people on Sunday mornings. You need to get some hellfire and brimstone into your sermons." His "horns of self-righteousness" were eager for an opportunity to blow. To his surprise I answered: "Thank you for that remark. I have never wanted to scold and frighten people to believe in Jesus Christ. I have only wanted them to love him. I don’t believe that hellfire and brimstone really make good Christians. We love him because we want to love him. After hearing my answer the man left, saying he would not be back in Trinity church again. My heart was sad, because I felt that I had failed. The words of Dean Swift came to mind "We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another."

These Lenten days let us ponder the love of Christ and then seek his help to reflect his love to those around us. We are quick to judge other people, but we are slow to love, accept, and understand them. A pastor with a heavy heart went to a clergy friend. He told him he had officiated at a funeral the previous day for a woman he had misjudged and mistreated. He said when he first came to the church he saw her name on the church membership rolls, but never saw her in church. When he asked about the woman, another member said, "She doesn’t come to church any more. She used to be such a faithful worker and was so active. She was a beautiful Christian woman, but then something happened. She stopped coming to church about three years ago, and boy, has she changed! She won’t have anything to do with anybody any more. We think it is because she inherited some money. Those who have stopped over to the house say she’s always lounging around in very expensive, flimsy negligees, wearing expensive perfume, with a glass of liquor always in reach. She watches television continually, and what’s worse - once a week when her husband is at work, a strange man with out-of-state license plates drives up, goes in and stays about an hour and leaves. What a pity that such a beautiful Christian can go so suddenly to the devil."

Then the pastor continued and said: "She died. Her husband asked me to conduct the funeral service. I told him she was dropped from the membership rolls and what I knew about her." The husband was shocked and said: "My wife had an incurable fatal disease which hit her three years ago. She bought the perfume to cover the odor. She wore flimsy negligees so the weight of the clothing would not hurt her abdomen. The liquor was bonafide medicine. The man who came in once a week was a specialist from out-of-town. She was secretive because she wanted to keep it from the kids so they wouldn’t know they were going to lose their mom. Oh, she was a beautiful Christian all through it to the very end."

How quick we are to judge and how slow we are to love and keep loving in spite of outward appearances.

How can we have this kind of love? Years ago Henry Drummond wrote a classic sermon about love titled "The Greatest Thing In The World." He concluded by suggesting that if you put a piece of iron in the presence of an electrified body, that piece of iron becomes electrified. It is changed into a temporary magnet in the presence of a permanent magnet. As long as the two are together, they share the same characteristics. In the presence of Christ we feel his love and take on his likeness. We have a new quality of love which would be impossible without him.

By no supreme effort of our willpower can we achieve this love which is the distinctive mark of Christian discipleship. Yet if we live close to Christ we receive from him the inspiration and the power which lift us from that discouraging cry, "I ought and I must, but I can’t," to his glorious word, "In my power you can and you will." Let us this Lenten season walk more closely with our Lord and ask that his love not only come to us but shine through us to all people.

Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you
that you have given us an example of what
love is and what love does.
Open our hearts to your love.
Help us to have that same unselfish and
gracious love for all people.
Forgive us for our lack of concern
for the feelings and needs of other people.
Give us that desire to practice Christian love as
we go about our daily tasks.
In your name we pray, Amen.