Sermon - Maundy Thursday

John 13:1- 17, 31b-35

Love – As I have Loved You

Maundy Thursday takes its name from the commandment that Jesus gives to his disciples on this, the final day of his life.  “Maundy” is the middle English pronunciation of the Latin word for “commandment.”   Jesus calls it a “new” commandment.  But it really isn’t new.  It is the heart of so much of what he has said and lived during his time among us.  Maybe he calls it “new” because this is he wants his disciples to remember, and to do, above all else.   Jesus says to his disciples, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” 

This is the commandment (the maundy) for which this Thursday is known.

“Love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”  

Earlier in his ministry, when asked which of the previous commandments ought to be considered the “greatest,” Jesus lifts up love of God and loving one’s neighbor as oneself.  Jesus is careful to root this “new commandment” at the very heart of what God’s people have been about from the very beginning.  Here, on the last night he will spend with his disciples, he returns to the same theme.  He instructs them that what he expects of them is that they will love.  That they will love as he has first loved us.

To follow this to a conclusion, two points need to be made.  The first has to do with the way Jesus loves.   What is meant when he says, “Love, as I have loved you”?  The second point is to ask the question (the painful question) of whether it can truly be said that we do emulate this love.

First point - the love with which Jesus loved is a love that is giving and self-sacrificing.  Let’s remember that as he spoke these words, Jesus is just hours from being betrayed into the hands of those who would orchestrate his death.  This is the model he gives us for loving.

And we see this model, not only on Good Friday, but throughout his life and ministry.  Remember the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ attempt to withdraw from the crowds.  He tries to get away, to a quite place.  He travels across the sea only to discover that the crowd has rushed around the shore in order to be there when he reaches the other side.

The love with which Jesus loved is selfless and self-sacrificing.  He gives all that he has.

I was pleased with the impact from Operation In-As-Much; but we didn’t have the participation such efforts deserve.  Clemson Congregations In Touch has been forced to take stock and evaluate whether there is sufficient interest to keep it going.  Maybe it is a rejection of organized programs and projects but our support for the Clemson CROP Walk for the hungry continues to decline. 

We are tired; and we are overworked.  But how much of this exhaustion comes from the tasks which advance our own careers or aspirations?  Are our schedules full because we are seeking ways in which we can be of serve to others, or are they jam packed with the drive to acquire more and more stuff?

The love, with which Jesus loves, leads him to the cross.  Are we willing to follow where he has lead?   Seems doubtful when we struggle to find even a handful willing to sacrifice one Saturday a month in order to work on a Habitat house.

I don’t mean to overlook or to ignore the sacrificial acts performed on behalf of family members.   I have watched, over the past five years, as many of you set aside choices for how to spend time in order to attend to the needs of our ailing parents.  Such self-giving acts are certainly a reflection of the love with Christ has first loved us.  We do reflect the love of Jesus when we provide care for those to whom we are intimately connected.  The trouble is that the circumference of our circle of love seems to end there.

In a separate biblical story, a young man tries to justify his narrowing of the circle of care.  He asks Jesus to define “neighbor.”  In that story, Jesus makes it clear that neighbors are not simply those who own the house next to us or sit beside us in worship.  Jesus speaks of neighbor as anyone we encounter – especially someone who is in need of our help.

We do a pretty good job of loving those whose lives are connected to our own.  It is admirable and honorable to take care of and protect one’s family.   And no one is more popular than the guy next door who helps us blow our leaves, collects our mail when we are out of town, and comes over to ask snoopy questions when a stranger shows up at a time when we are away.  But the circle of Jesus’ love is much wider.  He has compassion on all those whom he sees.  He cries over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.  He dies for the sake of all creation. 

I am coming to the conclusion that it is easier to follow the command to “Preach Jesus” than it is to follow the command of Jesus.  It is simple to believe in our hearts and confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord.  What is hard, what is trough, what really divides the sheep from the goats is when it comes to loving one another with the love with which Jesus has first loved us.  The difficult question, the tough question, the question which embarrasses us is the one which asks whether we are offering to others the love with which Jesus has first loved us.  It is easy to say we love the Lord.  It is another thing all together to love doing what it is that our Lord did.