Love One Another

John 13 31-35

April 24, 2016

There is a history of my seminary,

Philadelphia, playing

Gettysburg Seminary and eventually

other seminaries in a flag football game.

Each team would get t shirts for the game.

Philadelphia got them in purple with white writing.

And when we got there we realized,

another team had the same exact color of tee shirt.

It was a very confusing game.

We couldn’t identify who was who.

Likewise, it’s hard to identify Christians in the world.

We don’t wear particular clothes, or eat certain foods,

We don’t only interact with certain people,

We aren’t really commanded to do much that is outwardly different.

Christians basically blend in with everyone else.

I think we’re meant to do just that.

So how do we tell ourselves from others?

Jesus tells his disciples that we will be known by our love.

By the way we love one another.

So we won’t be known for 

going to church on Sunday morning,

or wearing a cross around our necks

or praying before meals.

We will be known for our love.

That will make us distinct.

Love one another as I have loved you, Jesus said.

This is what will make us famous and well know.

This is what people will talk about.

Jesus gave this command during his last supper.

Right before this, he told them that one of his disciples was going to betray him.

And right after this he tells Peter that he would deny even knowing him.

It must have been a very painful meal for Jesus in many ways.

And yet in this same dinner, he washes the feet of the disciples.

An act of humble servitude to his students and followers

and betrayers and deniers.

That is the kind of love that Jesus is talking about

The self sacrificing, self denying kind of love.

The kind of love that isn’t stopped by pride

the kind of love that includes all, even those not worthy of it

Jesus tells the disciples to love one another,

He addresses this to the disciples at a private meal

and it could be understood as an internal kind of thing,

just to share inside our churches

and between disciples and among members.

But Jesus is talking about the kind of love that crosses

boundaries, it doesn’t make more boundaries.

This is Jesus last request, this is Jesus new commandment.

This has surely been a struggle for Jesus church

both inside and out.

Sometimes the church is better known for

it’s infighting and squabbling with one another.

What gets in the news are

denominational spats and theological wrangling.

And sometimes the church is known better for it’s

hate and admonition of those who are different.

But most Christians are just trying our best to

take Jesus words seriously and love one another

and the people around us.

If you read anything about the very beginning

of the church, the startling thing is how fast it grew.

Christianity wasn’t very organized,

it wasn’t a unified institution.
Worshipping Jesus was not part of the main stream,

it was not the government authorized religion,

it was sometimes dangerous for most people to be a part of it.

But even under oppression and threats, the church grew big and fast.

And many scholars have said that the reason is

because it was the different way that

Christians treated each other.

At the time, the world was arranged in

strict hierarchy that was supported by Roman religion.

The rich were higher than the poor,

the men were higher than the women,

the masters were higher than the slaves

It was all ordained by the gods,

And people acted and were treated accordingly.

But in Christians tried to treat everyone the same.
Everyone got the same respect and dignity,

everyone was given responsibilities,

women and slaves were leaders.

everyone was treated with the same kind of love as everyone else.

And they showed that love to others too.

they fed the poor with the collection they got during church.

They gave food and company to those who were imprisoned.

They visited the sick and helped them too.

They treated the forgotten people with dignity and kindness.

They shared their love inside the community and outside.

Their growth wasn’t about worship services

or music or preaching or children’s programs.        

It was what happened when they got outside

of that worship service that made the difference.

It was what happened the rest of the week

that inspired others.

The things that define us as Christians

aren’t the things we do in here,

it’s the things we do out there.

Tony Campolo the popular Methodist pastor

tells a wonderful story.

Before he was a pastor, he was a sociologist.

And he was presenting a paper in Honolulu.

He flew there from the East Coast and it was time to go to sleep,

but he couldn’t because of the jet lag.

So was sitting in a coffee shop at about 3:30am.

it was the only place open and it was very sleazy.

There were a few people in the place

and a group of prostitutes came in.

He was sitting at the counter and they all

sat around him.

He was basically in the middle of the conversation

and the one who’s name was Agnes said that it

was her birthday tomorrow.

She was going to be 39.

One of her friends said,

“What do you want me to do, throw you a party?”

She said,

"Why do you have to be so mean? I was just telling you, that's all.

Why do you have to put me down?

I was just telling you it was my birthday.

I don't want anything from you.

I mean, why should you give me a birthday party?

I've never had a birthday party in my whole life.

Why should I have one now?"

After she left the place with her friend,

Tony asked the owner of the place

if she was in there every night

and he said yes, right at 3:30 they always came in.

Tony suggested to the owner that maybe they could throw

her a party since it was her birthday.

The owner thought it was a great idea

and got his wife who was the cook involved.

Agnes was a nice person and he would love to be a part.

Tony said he would get the decorations and even bring a cake.

The owner said that he would make the cake.

The next night they decorated the place and

by 3:15, the place was full of prostitutes

At 3:30 Agnes and her friends came in.

Everyone yelled out surprise and sang Happy Birthday.

She looked completely flabbergasted.

And then the owner of the diner gave her the cake

it said “Happy Birthday Agnes” on it

it had candles on it.

She was crying at the sight of it.

Everyone told her to blow out the candles.

She blew out the candles

and then the owner gave her a knife

and told her to cut the cake.

She said to the owner,
“Harry, if it’s all right with you,

I don’t want to cut the cake right now.”

He told her it was okay.

She said, “Is it okay if we just keep the cake a little while,

I just live a couple of doors down, would it be okay

if I just took the cake to my apartment and I’ll be back?”

She left the diner holding the cake like the Holy Grail.

There was kind of a stunned silence at this point.

and no one knew what to do

So, Tony suggested that they pray.

So they did.

He said, “looking back on it now, it seems more than strange for a sociologist to be leading a prayer meeting with a bunch of prostitutes in a diner in Honolulu at 3:30 in the morning.

But then it just felt like the right thing to do."

When he finished, Harry leaned over the counter

and with a trace of hostility in his voice, he said,

"Hey! You never told me you were a preacher.

What kind of church do you belong to?"

In one of those moments when just the right words came, 

I answered, "I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for

prostitutes at 3:30 in the morning."

Harry waited a moment and then almost sneered as he answered,

"No you don't. There's no church like that.

If there was, I'd join it. I'd join a church like that!"

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.”

Christ is alive and with us today.

Let us be the church that is gathered around that miracle.

Let us be the ones who are known by our love.