"The Challenge to Love" - John 13:21-38 - April 1, 1999

Early in my ministry I was confronted by a young couple who had questions about my faith. They wanted to know if I was "saved" and when and how I knew that. They also told me they didn’t appreciate a particular children’s message I had given that was about how we are to love one another. They said I needed to preach less on the subject of love and more about "being saved" and the "baptism of the Holy Spirit." The couple was angry and didn’t feel I was ministering to their needs.

At the time I had been in ministry for about one year. A special board meeting was called so that the couple could ask their questions and express their concerns with the leadership of the church. I actually had three churches at the time and as far as I knew there were no issues with the other congregations. At the special meeting it became obvious that the leadership of the church was confused about the couple’s intentions and puzzled by their questions. I answered their questions as sincerely as I could. The main thing I remember is that I believed that love was the essence of our faith and at the heart of my theology.

But, nothing I said changed their minds. After the meeting a few of the elders came to my home and apologized for subjecting me to such a difficult meeting. They hadn’t realized that I was going to be attacked. Their biggest fear was that I would get discouraged and leave the church or quit the ministry. I thanked them for their support and assured them that while I was disappointed this event wouldn’t change my commitment to the church. Soon after that, the couple left the church.

When Jesus announced that one of the disciples would betray him the others reacted in disbelief. "Who is it?" they asked. Who could do such a terrible thing? We are all in this together. We are a team, brothers in the faith. We have learned to care about one another and lean on each other.

The betrayal of Judas illustrates for us an important reality. People of the faith are not without sin. We do things to one another that are not loving. We do them out of fear, selfishness and ignorance. We say things that hurt. We hold grudges. We make mistakes. I would be the first to confess that I have done things in my ministry that were not loving.

I believe that in some ways it is more difficult for us as people of the faith to love one another than it is to love our enemies. It’s easy to raise money for disasters or for causes. Our hearts go out to people and groups where there are special needs. But, we don’t know them on a personal level. My experiences in ministry have taught me that it is more difficult to get a congregation to come to the aid of one of its own then to complete strangers.

When Jesus gave his final message to the disciples in the upper room he told them to "love one another." He was speaking to the insiders. He was speaking to the church. One of the primary reasons Jesus appeared on earth when he did was the fact that the faith had become exclusive. Law was the focus rather than love. Who you were related to was more important than a relationship with God.

What does it mean to "love one another?" In the first part of this chapter is the "foot washing." Through this event Jesus demonstrated that love happens when we can reverse roles. He became the servant who washed the feet of his disciples, rather than the other way around. After the evening concert that was given here last Sunday night, I noticed members of the choir and the conductor putting away the risers. Doing the work of a stage crew was not beneath them. It demonstrated their commitment to the faith.

Secondly, love means death to prejudice. Notice that Judas was not excluded from the communal supper. Love means we are willing to accept everyone. In Yugoslavia we are bombing the Serbs because of their "ethnic cleansing." It’s easy for us to point the finger to people we don’t know and condemn them for their prejudice against people who are different. We may not be committing atrocities but how frequently do we talk about people in our midst who are different? How often do we exclude others because they dress differently, come from a different neighborhood or associate with people we don’t like? Or maybe we are suspicious of them because they are not "saved."

Ironically, the one who is rejected in this story is Jesus. That is the tragedy of the gospel. The world rejected the very one who loved them and taught them how to love. Rejection is what Jesus wants his disciples to avoid. For Jesus, love has no boundaries. Jesus taught his disciples a whole new concept of what it means to be people of the faith. He taught and demonstrated through this communal supper that they are a community. They are to love one another more than their own families. What bonds them together has nothing to do with nationality, race, or vocation. What bonds them together and makes them unique is their unconditional love of one another.

Finally, love means we are willing to forgive. "Just as I have loved you," Jesus said, "I want you to love one another." The loving thing Jesus did for us was to forgive us. To forgive another person in the household of faith is to act out this new commandment.

As I look back on that first year of ministry I think that what that couple really wanted was my friendship. I was from the big city. They grew up in a small rural community. In many ways we were different. I might have gotten to know them if I had taken the time to go to their home and try to understand where they were coming from. Perhaps I was too stubborn and to new in ministry to be pastoral. I know I have made many mistakes. There is none here who needs forgiveness more than me.

Jesus gave this new commandment on love to the disciples because he needed them. They were the future church. He was dependent on them for the future ministry of the church. Through their model of love others would come to the faith and be in relationship with God.

When that couple left the church in my first assignment the church was devastated. They grieved for months over the loss of this young couple and their children. It wasn’t easy to attract young families and they felt a real sense of defeat. But a funny thing happened in the following months. The church grew.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio