Churches are funny places. You know that by now. I always love a good story about funny things that happen in church. Some of them you couldn’t make up.
I read recently about a “Women’s League” in a certain church that wanted to announce a new project for the church. The president announced the project on a Sunday morning to the congregation. After a brief description, she asked all of the ladies of the league to “march up to the front of the sanctuary”--a group of women mostly 55 years of age and older.
The pianist for the church took it upon himself to give the ladies a marching tune to encourage them as they came down the aisle. He started playing a children’s chorus, titled, “The Lord’s Army.” If you’re not familiar with the words to “The Lord’s Army,” they go like this: “I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery . . .” In the pianist’s mind this was a wonderful marching tune to dramatize the women’s service.
Unfortunately, everyone besides the pianist was hearing the words in their minds to the original tune of The Lord’s Army, “The old gray mare, she ain’t what she used to be, ain’t what she used to be, ain’t what she used to be . . .”
The pianist said afterward, “When the surprised Women’s League President asked why I was playing that tune, I got so flustered, I couldn’t answer, so I just left through the side door.” (1)
That was probably a wise move. Funny things happen in churches, but friends, all of Jesus’ plans for the world are centered in the church.
Our lesson from John’s Gospel is directed at the church. It reflects who we are. We are those who follow Jesus. We do not simply believe in Jesus. We do not simply worship Jesus. If we want to truly be the church of Jesus Christ, we try to live our lives following his example and his teachings as God gives us the grace to do so.
It’s like a group of hikers who decided to climb up the beautiful Blue Mountains in Jamaica. The earlier parts of the hike were quite fine but the closer they got to the top, the more treacherous the path became. They could no longer walk in groups but now had to walk in single file. Halfway up the mountain, in the pitch darkness, the leader said, “Now, follow my feet. Do not venture to your right.”
After he said this, he reached into his pocket, retrieved a stone and asked for their silence. He threw the stone off the right side of the trail . . . and they waited and waited and waited, until finally they heard the sound of the stone reaching the bottom. From then on there was no question about everyone following close behind their leader. Everyone in the group leaned against the side of the mountain going up the rest of the way, trying hard not to venture to the right. It was a long difficult journey following the leader, but when they got to the top, it was nothing but glory.
In the same way, Jesus calls us to follow him. The path may be treacherous, but, if we stay close to him, one day we will share in his glory.
Our lesson for the day takes us back to before Easter. It’s the Passover and Jesus and his disciples have gathered for supper. Satan has already entered Judas’ heart to betray Jesus (John 13:2). Jesus rises from supper and begins washing the feet of his disciples. He then says to them that if he as their Teacher and Lord would wash their feet, they should follow his example and wash one another’s feet.
Jesus then reveals that one of his disciples will betray him. Notice that Jesus does not identify the individual who will betray him. To do so might have jeopardized Judas’ safety. Certainly, Simon Peter, had he fully understood what Judas was about to do, would have drawn his sword like he did to the servant of the high priest in the garden when Jesus was betrayed (John 18:10). Throughout the whole experience, Jesus demonstrates grace and mercy. No surprise there--grace and mercy were what Christ was all about.
After Judas had departed, the events leading up to Christ’s death fell into place very quickly. The long tension building up toward his death would soon be over.
At this point Christ turns to the remaining disciples and says, “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.”
This is interesting, don’t you think? He addresses his disciples as “My little children . . .” These were big, tough men. But he calls them, “My little children . . .” This is a term of love by which Jesus expresses his concern for them. And then once again he announces that he is going away and they will not be able to find him. This is not the first time he has tried to prepare them for this eventuality (Matthew 23:29; John 8:21; 12:8). Soon, they would be on their own. But this separation would be a temporary one. In time, his disciples would be able to go where he’s gone, to that place he has prepared for them (John 14:2). But first, they must endure a treacherous journey before reaching the summit of the mountain.
Then he speaks these words to them: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Just like those hikers who survived the treacherous climb up Blue Mountain by staying close to their leader and following in his steps, the eleven disciples would survive in his absence by obeying his teaching and following his example of love.
There are some things we need to note about this new teaching by Christ about love.
First of all, the command to love, in itself, was not a new commandment. Leviticus 19:18 teaches the principle of loving your neighbor as you love yourself. The disciples already knew they were to do that. Gracious! Christ told them to love their enemy. Loving their neighbor as they loved themselves ought to be a piece of cake. It’s called the Golden Rule and, of course, variations of it are practiced today by people all over this world to one degree or another.
Oh, there are some people who find it too difficult. When D. H. Lawrence first read a collection of Ernest Hemingway’s short stories, he said that they all ended up in the same place. He said the message that Hemingway was conveying was this: Whatever it takes in life, make sure of one thing: don’t ever get too attached to anyone! Don’t ever commit yourself to another person! Never get caught in that trap!
And you know what? That’s exactly how Ernest Hemingway lived. In fact, Hemingway once fired a babysitter because his sons were starting to care for her too much! Not good for you, boys! Don’t get too attached to anyone! (2) Perhaps the quality of his relationships was one reason Hemingway took his own life.
We were never designed to live detached from other people. Even football coaches talk to their players about loving one another. Vince Lombardi, one of the toughest NFL coaches who ever lived talked about that. He said on one occasion, “There have been a lot of coaches with good ball clubs who know the fundamentals and have plenty of discipline but still don’t win the game. Then you come to the third ingredient: If you’re going to play together as a team, you’ve got to care for one another. You’ve got to love each other. Each player has to be thinking about the next guy and saying to himself: If I don’t block that man, Paul is going to get his legs broken. I have to do my job well in order that he can do his. The difference between mediocrity and greatness is the feeling these guys have for each other. Most people call it team spirit. When the players are imbued with that special feeling, you know you’ve got yourself a winning team.” (3)
Of course, no NFL coach is going to talk to his players about loving their enemies, as Jesus did. Not unless you can somehow spin “loving” to mean “tearing their head off.” But it was not a new teaching when the master said, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” That’s an idea nearly 3,000 years old.
Here is what is new in our lesson for today. We are not simply to love other people as we love ourselves. We are to love them as Christ loves us. Now this is moving the goalpost a whole lot farther. The standard for love is moved from ourselves to Christ. Christ’s love is perfect and unconditional. He extends it even to loving the “undeserving.” Christian love, like Christ’s love is unconditional and sacrificial. That’s the kind of love we are to have for our neighbor. Let me give you an example of that kind of love.
In her inspiring book and film, The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom tells the story of her family, a Dutch Christian family, who ended up in a concentration camp for trying to rescue Jews during the Nazi occupation of their country.
Corrie said her family carried a heart for the Jews over three generations. Her grandfather Wilhelm ten Boon started a weekly prayer group in 1844 in the city of Haarlem, near Amsterdam for the salvation of the Jews. This weekly prayer meeting amazingly continued uninterrupted until 1944 when the ten Boon family was sent to a concentration camp for helping Jews flee from the Nazi persecution.
Corrie tells an interesting story about her father Caspar ten Boon. When the Jews were forced to wear the “Star of David,” Casper lined up to receive a star even though he was not Jewish. He wore it because he wanted to identify himself with the people for whom he and his family had been praying for all those years.
He so completely identified with the Jews that he was willing to wear a sign of shame and suffer persecution for the sake of the people he loved. He didn’t have to wear the Star but chose to. (4)
Corrie and her sister Betsie followed in the footsteps of their family. And they both suffered mightily because of their concern for their Jewish neighbors. In fact, Corrie’s sister Betsie died in the Nazi concentration camp. That’s not simply loving your neighbor as you love yourself. That’s loving as Christ loved. That’s loving sacrificially.
What does this love look like? How do we manifest it? Jesus tells us how in Luke 6:27-36: “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you . . . If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? . . . But love your enemies . . . Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
This is, indeed, a new kind of love. It is a love that is usually only manifested by those who have given their lives entirely to Jesus. And the first place this love should be made manifest is within the body of believers.
Listen again to his words, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
This command is directed to the church. We are to love one another as Christ loved us. This is how the world will know that we follow Christ--because we love one another.
Some of you may be familiar with a singer/songwriter named Ken Medema. Ken is almost totally blind, but he is a man of great spiritual vision. Several years ago he wrote a song directed at the church that contains several pointed questions. He writes,
“If this is not the place where tears are understood, where can I go to cry?
If this is not the place where my spirit can take wing, where do I go to fly?
If this is not the place where my questions can be asked, where do I go to seek?
If this is not the place where my feelings can be heard, where do I go to speak?
If this is not the place where you accept me just as I am, where do I go to be free?
If this is not the place where I can try and grow and love, where do I go to be just me?”
What great questions! The church is intended to be a safe place where we can be ourselves without fear of judgment. It is intended to be a place where people truly love and accept one another.
A well-known pastor was talking about Jesus’ teaching to “love your enemies.” This pastor said, “I don’t think I have any enemies . . . outside of the church.” He was not being tongue-in-cheek. This will surprise you, but sometimes church people don’t reflect unconditional, sacrificial love even toward one another. No wonder people outside the church wonder about the credibility of our witness.
Loving one another as Christ has loved us is not easy. Christ does not expect us to do that which is easy but that which is right. Stay close to Christ. Live as he lived. Follow the leader. Follow the way of love.
Some of you may remember the 1960 off-Broadway musical “The Fantastiks.” The best known song from that popular musical was “Try to Remember,” a sentimental ballad written by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt. Perhaps you remember some of the lyrics: “Try to remember the kind of September . . . When life was slow and oh, so mellow . . . Try to remember the kind of September . . . When grass was green and grain was yellow . . .”
Do you remember how the song ends? “Try to remember and if you remember, then follow, follow, follow, follow . . . (5)
I’m not certain what Tom Jones was saying about following, but I am certain what Jesus was saying. We are to stay close to him and follow in his footsteps. And he was saying one thing in particular: the one place we simply can’t have an enemy is within the church. If we do, we are to do everything within our power to make that enemy a friend. How are we to love? We are to love others as Christ loved us, he who was willing to lay down his life in our behalf.
“A new command I give you,” said Jesus, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
1. Carl Crouse, http://sumasacchurch.weebly.com/sermons/category/a%20front%20row%20seat.
2. Wayne Brouwer, Wedding Homilies (Seven Worlds).
3. Laura Schaefer, Man With Farm Seeks Woman With Tractor (Thunder’s Mouth Press). Cited in Reader’s Digest, September 2005, p. 115.
4. Martin Dale, http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-revd-martin-dale-stories-59492.asp
5. The Rev. Dr. J. Bennett Guess, http://day1.org/529-follow_follow_follow.