JOHN 13:31-35
A new commandment:
‘love one another’.
Not just loving on whim or fancy
but loving
‘as I have loved you’;
selfless
self-giving,
not a self-destructive
doormat-for-others kind of loving.
Not to be confused
with the command
to love your neighbour as yourself;
a command
about how we relate
one to another within and across
the holy communion
into which we are incorporated
by the love
of the one who calls us to so love.
The failure to love in this way?
A history
of dispute and disunity,
sects and denominations;
of power and pride,
interpretation and doctrine
getting in the way of love.
The one whom we follow
loves and treasures the other branches
of the church
as much as ours,
loves and treasures the folk in our congregation
who irritate,
as much as the nice people
who share our opinions;
calls us, commands us:
“Love one another”.
(Adapted from a sermon from years ago, which may have drawn on material from other, long-forgotten, sources.)
Jeff Shrowder, 2013.
More for Easter 5C…