I've been thinking a fair bit this week about the passage from Chapter 13 of John's Gospel, where Jesus gives us a new Commandment- Love one another. On the surface, this seems simple. But as I have come to realize this week, this commandment is anything but simple.
Why is that? If we stop reading at the words "love one another" it is very easy to think that all we must do is have some sort of a general feeling of good will towards others, and that is enough. But Jesus did not stop there, so neither can we. In fact, Jesus goes on to say "as I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35.)
When we begin to dive into this second half of the Commandment, we begin to realize just how radical this statement is. To love others as Jesus loved us involves a total sacrifice of nothing less than everything that we have to offer. It means that we must be willing to do anything for another person, up to and including dying for them, should that be necessary. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I love a lot of people, but I'm not sure that I would be willing to die for any of them! But that is because I am still selfish, still focused on myself, and still wanting to make sure that so much of what I do is in my best interest, and I am not fully willing to surrender myself for the good of others. But that is just what we are called to do. It is radical, but then again, what part of the Gospel isn't? Anyone who thinks that being a follower of Christ is "easy" is only deceiving themselves. We MUST learn to make real sacrifices for the sake of the Kingdom if we wish to have any hope of dwelling there when our earthly Pilgrimage is through. We MUST begin to bring about the Kingdom of God HERE and NOW, not wait for it as if it is something that is far away, that we have no control over. We must begin to make the love of God known to ALL people, regardless of their race, gender, creed, Religion, sexual preference, etc. We MUST call all people to greater holiness through the Love we have for them, NOT by using the Gospel as a weapon of hatred as so many have done. And when we can begin to that, then people will truly be able to see the face of God through us.
But it will not be easy. We are living in a culture that glorifies the individual, and that does not believe that we should do things for other people. And sadly, i believe that this is what is the root cause of so many of the problems we have in our society today. If we could learn to put others needs ahead of our own, think of how different the world would be! It's going to take a lot of work, but I am convinced that if we as Christians, no matter what Church we belong to, make a commitment to truly try to love as Jesus loved us, we can turn this world into a better place. But we must not get discouraged when we fall short and miss the mark, because we are only human, and we will fall short of fully realizing that ideal. But even then, what we are called to do is to get back up, seek forgiveness, and keep moving forward, always seeking to more perfectly emulate the Love of God shown us through his Son, Jesus Christ.
