28 April 2013 John 13:31-35 Loving One Another
I remember one year when we were doing a thematic Bible
study of all of the various passages about who we were supposed to love – God,
each other, our neighbor. Some folks
told stories designed to help all of us remember the breadth of this required
love – stories that illustrated the prodigal son, the good Samaritan, the going
the extra mile. Others’ stories
questioned the depth of this required love as they brought up folks like
Hitler, condemned child molesters. Then from
the back of the room came a voice that calmly said, “you don’t know my
neighbor! I can choose not to do harm to
him, but don’t ask me to do the impossible and love him too!” I remember we all sat speechless for a
moment, then we laughed nervously, but we had no response to that revelation.
I have thought about that day over the years. How DO we learn to love one another? I watch Jesus. Jesus spent his life telling stories that
invited us into a new vision, a new way of looking at “the way the world ought
to work.” He lived compassion for the
poor, the weak, the outcasts, and the marginalized. In his stories and in his living, Jesus
strove to raise our awareness, our consciousness, of the universal brotherhood
of all persons, of the interconnectedness of all things. Compassion (L. com -, together + pati -, to suffer) – our ability to suffer
together - comes from the raising of our consciousness. It is out of compassion that love flows. What is the breadth and depth of that
love? Jesus watched Judas leave to betray
him and immediately turned to the remaining disciples and issued the ultimatum
– “everyone will know you are my disciples if you love one another.” Love became our Call when through his death
and his forgiveness Jesus demonstrated that love can triumph over the worst of
human destructiveness. Consciousness – Compassion – Love. When we can love, we can work for justice
for all of God’s creation.
