Love One Another

by the Rev. Dr. John D. Lane

This sermon is based on John 13:34-35. Click here to listen to an audio version of this sermon.

[Jesus said,] “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The former rector of a parish that Bizzy and I attend in New Hampshire had a standard opening for virtually every sermon: “Boy, can you believe those lessons this morning? Weird stuff.” She would then ignore the scripture for the day and launch into something totally unrelated. Occasionally the lessons are difficult to understand and even more difficult to preach, but I did get tired of her opening every sermon this way.

For me today is the opposite. The lessons are rich, and to me they seem to be related to one another. I feel lucky to deal with them. I will attempt not to do what a US Army chaplain used to tell me, “Pick a text from the Bible ... and depart from it.”

I detect two themes and there are probably more: (1) Love one another; and (2) God is everywhere, in everyone and in everything. As Carl Jung put it, “Bidden or not, God is present.” I’ll be bold enough to suggest that love and God’s presence are interconnected.

We learn in the lesson from Acts about Peter’s vision in the city of Joppa. He sees a sheet lowered that contains all kinds of unclean, non-Kosher food: “I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air.  I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’”

At about the same time, some men arrive from Caesarea and insist that Peter go with them. His vision, along with his experience among the believing Gentiles whom he then meets, persuades him that salvation is open to everyone. God loves each of us. The commandment to us as Christians is to love one another. Jesus makes it clear time after time that this means without exception.

So there are no outsiders. According to Jesus whom we worship, the world and certainly the Christian world is not divided into the righteous and the unrighteous. That’s the theology of the Pharisees. Jesus’ main opponents are the Pharisees. Paul has been a Pharisee, but as we know he is struck to the ground and blinded, and turns his back forever on his former life.

Relationships that are difficult can move us into tolerance, evolve into acceptance, and end in genuine love. Probably more than any other country on earth the United States is a nation of immigrants. Even Native Americans came from Asia at some point. Immigration is something to celebrate. Much of our strength comes from this diversity. Many nations make immigration very difficult, if not impossible. France has immigrants from its former colonies, but such people often find acceptance difficult, and have trouble advancing in society, no matter what their talents.

Our differences have always been a challenge: newcomers versus old-timers, gender, sexual preferences, ethnicity, disability, and especially religion. Love one another.

Our youngest child Andrew was disabled, born with muscular dystrophy, dying at age 24. Those who didn’t know him may have thought him weird. He was confined to a wheelchair, which probably made some people uncomfortable. But he was known and accepted at church, at school, and in the neighborhood where he lived. His disease set him apart, but many people came to love him. We were blessed to be his parents. When we widen the circle to include everyone, we love one

I have a story, which has been around for a while; you may have heard it before. It’s about a disabled boy named Philip, born with Down syndrome, affecting his ability to learn and threatening his life expectancy. His disability does not, however, decrease his enthusiasm for life. Harry Pritchett, an Episcopal priest, knew him and told this story as part of an Easter sermon.

Philip moves to a new town when he is 8 years old and his parents take him to Sunday school where he joins the 3^rd grade class. He is clearly different from the other kids and he is a newcomer, two strikes against him. He has trouble being accepted as part of the group.

One beautiful Sunday during the Easter season, the teacher takes the kids outside and gives each of them a plastic pantyhose egg. “Find something that represents new life to you, and put it inside the egg.” Towards the end of the hour, he brings the kids inside and asks them to put their eggs on the table.

One by one, he opens the eggs, and the kids comment on the symbols of new life inside. He opens the first one, and a pretty flower drops out. The next one has a fresh blade of grass. Another kid has found a butterfly, which flies away when the teacher pops open the egg. Next comes a rock–there’s a least one rebel in every class.

And then he opens an egg with nothing inside. The kids say, “That’s stupid. Someone didn’t do it.” Then Philip tugs on the teacher’s sleeve. “I did too do it! The Tomb is empty!”

Suddenly, this is the best class this creative teacher has ever taught. The kids know that Philip is indeed different. Now they see that he is truly special. From this day forward, they begin to accept him.

The following winter Philip catches a cold which ges worse very quickly, and he dies the next day. Near the beginning of Philip’s funeral, nine boys march to the front of the church, and each one lays a plastic pantyhose egg on Philip’s casket.

The Tomb is empty.

Christ is Risen!