Love
One Another
John 15:9-17
1) As Jesus Loves Us
2) As Jesus’ Friend
If you were to summarize the Christian faith in a single word, what would you say? After three years of Youth Catechism classes, how would our three confirmands sum up their in-depth study of what God says in his Word? Maybe you think of the word: believe, to trust in Jesus as your Savior. That’s certainly the most important part of a Christian’s faith. Without it, you have nothing. With it, you have forgiveness, life, and salvation. But is Christianity just about believing and nothing else? Maybe we think of the word: obey, to uphold every command from God. God says a lot of how we are to live as his children. But if it’s just about obedience, couldn’t anyone do this regardless of their faith in Jesus? Obey doesn’t quite summarize the Christian faith.
What about this word? Love. In many ways, it includes both believe and obey. To fully know what Jesus has done for us, we need to believe in Jesus and receive his full blessings. To live a life of thanks to God, we want to obey his every command. Love is a great way to summarize the Christian faith. It’s also at the heart of our verses this morning from John’s Gospel. In it, Jesus plainly tells us to love one another. We do so as Jesus loves us as seen best at his cross. We also love one another as Jesus’ friend who willingly and thankfully do what friends do. As we review how this one word summarizes much of the Christian faith, we also do so to help our soon to be confirmands know what to focus on as they step into this next phase of their walk with Christ.
1) As Jesus Loves Us
We look to Jesus to understand what this love all is. The word for love Jesus uses is the Greek word agape, the word for the highest kind of love. It is unconditional, never-ending, for the other’s benefit, and shown through words and actions. The closest example we can find is the love a parent has for their child. Though it may be rare amongst us, we know what this love should look like. Look to the Ten Commandments given at Mt. Sinai to find a summary of God’s will for all people for all time. Read the sections of Scripture that delve into specifics like Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount where he clarifies and corrects misunderstandings. (If you need a refresher on any of these, just ask our youth confirmands. They spent an
entire unit on the God’s law and the Ten Commandments and probably know better than you what does this mean for each commandment.)
This agape style love is more than a tedious checklist of thoughts, words, and actions though. In fact, it knows no bounds, is willing to do whatever is needed for the benefit of others, even if that’s laying down your life for someone else. Jesus does more than just explain what this love should look like. He, in fact, models it for us himself.
How well do we love one another as Jesus loves us? Perhaps our love is wellintentioned but at odds with God’s commands. The world would have you think that we live in a morally grey, ambiguous world. There are no ultimate rights or wrongs, just culturally conditioned positives and negatives that we ultimately get to decide on. God makes many things black and white in his Word where he lists certain things that will never pleasing in his sight. Yet don’t we find ourselves caught red-handed with good intentions to love one another yet doing so in ways God has declared off limits?
How well does our love for one another follow an agape style love? Is it unconditional, never ending, for the other’s benefit, and knows no bounds? Perhaps it is until it makes us uncomfortable to love one another as Jesus loves us. There’s that one weird kid in school that no one talks to. Will we be branded as a fellow weirdo by associating with them? Perhaps we’re good to go until our love for one another becomes a nuisance. Like when our friend asks for help with their homework because they procrastinated too long. How long will we continue to love one another when it’s unreturned? We give, give, give, and the person we’re loving on never gives it back.
We don’t love one another as we should. But Jesus does. And to see his love for you, just look at the cross. It’s solely because of Jesus’ agape love for us he went there. For he loves you unconditionally, never-endingly, entirely for your benefit, and backed up with words and actions. Jesus’ love for you was right in line with God’s commands: John chapter 3 and how the Son of Man must be lifted up; Isaiah chapter 53 and how the Suffering Servant must be pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, and by his wounds we are healed. In Jesus’ love for you, he knew no bounds for he sacrificed his very life so that you could be forgiven, at peace with him, and call heaven your eternal home.
It’s at the cross we see Jesus’ love for us, the same love we are to show to one another. And because of that cross, we love one another as Jesus’ willing and thankful friend.
2) As Jesus’ Friends
What makes someone your friend? Is it the person you happened to meet and have since grown close to? Is it someone you share interests or experiences with? Are they your kindred spirit? There are many ways to define a friend. I like how one philosopher does so as, “One spirit in two bodies.” A friendship of this kind is of the highest kind, a friend you’d do just about anything for. For them, you’d be willing to help them out when times get tough, pick them up from the airport after a long and delayed flight, and invite to special events in your life like confirmation or graduation. Why do all these things? Quite simply, because it’s what friends do.
Contrary to all reason, Jesus calls us his friends. We’re not so because of something in us, but entirely because of his choice to make us his own. Not only has Jesus chosen us to be his friends, but he’s made everything known to us that God the Father wished to reveal. We find that knowledge in the Bible which finds its home in our heart and head through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Because we believe what Jesus did for us at the cross, we also want to do what his friends naturally do. What is that? The things that Jesus has instructed us in his Word. And there’s a purpose behind this all: that we bear fruit that will endure. This fruit is none other than pointing people to Jesus so they may believe in him, live for him, and then one day see him with their own eyes.
How good of a friend of Jesus are we? Do we listen to his instruction from the Word with eager and open ears? Or do we become deaf because there’s no more Sermon Summaries required for Catechism class? Do we continue to study his Word in Bible study outside of weekly worship? Or do we fall out of the habit because there are no more tests and quizzes to prepare for? Do we bear fruit that endures for eternity? Or do we focus on fruit that is here today, gone tomorrow, and benefits no one besides ourselves? Do we love one another as Jesus’ willing and thankful friend? Or do we outperform everyone else because we’re trying to convince ourselves?
We would never call ourselves friends of Jesus. But it doesn’t depend on us. It depends on Jesus’ evaluation of us. And he has chosen us to be his, calls us his own friends, and has appointed us to bear fruit that will endure for eternity. God
hasn’t regretted his choice for us or changed his mind. Jesus still wants us to be his through faith and to receive the forgiveness he won for us on the cross. Jesus continues to teach us everything that God the Father has revealed for us. The Bible has it all and it’s an open book and a free app for you to dig in! Our Savior showers us with his blessings and transforms our hearts so that we willingly and thankfully do what his friends do. The Holy Spirit works through our efforts and blesses the fruit we bear in Jesus’ name so that it may endure until eternity.
Closing Encouragements
Knowing all this, let’s love one another. We love one another as Jesus loves us with an agape style love that is unconditional, never ending, for the other’s benefit, and knows no bounds with its words and actions. To see what this love looks like, just read God’s Word to see its details in his commands and put on full display through Jesus’ death on the cross. Because of the cross and its blessings for us, we love one another as Jesus’ own friends who do what friends naturally do. We thank Jesus for choosing us to be his own, we increase our knowledge of everything the Father has revealed to us, and we thankfully keep his instructions in our thoughts, words, and deeds.
For the past three years, you three have been with me in Youth Catechism class. We’ve learned a lot and dived deep into God’s Word. But as you seek to make sense of it all, remember this one-word summary of the Christian faith: love. To love one another, we first need to believe in Jesus so we fully understand and completely received his every blessing that is ours because of what he did for us at the cross. With this belief in place, we then obey our Savior’s every command as his chosen friend, appointed to bear everlasting fruit, who willingly and thankfully does what Jesus’ friends naturally do.
As you step into communicant membership here at Grace, may you keep this oneword summary as your guiding principle in all you: love, love one another because of your faith in Jesus who has loved you so and as his willing and thankful friend. Amen.