John 13.31-35
31 When Judas was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Human One t has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify the Human One u in himself and will glorify him immediately. 33 Little children, I’m with you for a little while longer. You will look for me—but, just as I told the Jewish leaders, I also tell you now—‘Where I’m going, you can’t come.’
34 “ I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. 35 This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other. ”
Let the words of my mouth
and the meditations of my heart
be pleasing to you,
LORD , my rock and my redeemer.
You know, we get really tied up in the stuff of doing ministry. And I haven’t seen or heard of a church that’s not guilty of this. We spend so much time on programming that we forget what the disciples of Christ are really supposed to be about.
Covered-dish meals
Cantatas
Building projects
Evangelism pushes
Fund raisers
Paraments
Traditions
Training events
Spending weeks arguing about the color of the carpet…
Details.
And people will leave a church over those details.
Well, maybe we should just let them. Maybe it’s best to hold on to what the church is really about, what it is supposed to look like to be a Christ-follower.
Because, frankly, in those moments and decisions when we get stuck on details, when we let the everyday stuff of ministry occupy all our attention, we become little more than dead weight for a Church that ought to be trying to set sail on the wind of God’s Spirit.
Is that really what we want to be? Is that really what we want to do?
As a pastor, I get to see some of the absolutely ugliest behavior and attitudes that people put on. And that’s not because I’m playing politics or hanging out with greedy corporate CEOs. That’s not where humanity is at its ugliest.
Humanity is at its ugliest when our ugliness contrasts most strongly with the expectation to be our best.
What Jesus expects of us, and what the world demands of us, is that we as Jesus’ disciples ought to be producing fruit. What Jesus expects of us isn’t a whole bunch of programming and arguing and name-calling.
What Jesus expects of us is really very simple.
Love each other.
That’s it. Love each other.
Think you can handle that?
So the next time you find yourself in an argument with your friend, just remember Jesus’ new commandment: Love each other.
The next time you want to pick a fight over who gets to do what and where, just remember Jesus’ new commandment: Love each other.
The next time you start to bully someone into submission because, doggone it, you’re right, just remember Jesus’ new commandment: Love each other.
And I know that his is one of those passages that’s really easy to relate to just the inner circle of the church, those of us who claim and know Jesus as Savior. We only have to love Jesus-lovers.
As if that weren’t hard enough.
But the thing is, early on in the first-century Church, God had this weird interaction with Peter.
Now, the story is twice as long as our reading from Acts, but Peter does a really good job summing it up.
He’s in Joppa, praying or napping or something on a roof, and he has this vision.
Now, the background:
Peter is a Jew. You probably know that. Jews have strict dietary regulations. They can’t eat certain things, like shellfish and pork, which is why I could never be a Jew.
Well, in Peter’s vision, this great big tablecloth is lowered down from the sky, and it’s god a whole bunch of unclean animals on it, stuff that’s off the Jewish menu.
God says, Peter, hunt some of these down and have a feast.
And maybe Peter thinks it’s a test. He refuses.
This happens three times, and the vision ends.
And Peter, who was never very good at catching the hint until Jesus hit him over the head with it, doesn’t understand what’s going on.
Then there’s a knock at his door, and a Roman centurion is asking Peter to visit with him and convert his household. This, also, is against Jewish law.
That’s when it clicks for Peter.
Never consider unclean what God has made pure.
The world that Jesus is healing and calling to God is much bigger than Peter’s Jewish worldview.
And the world that Jesus is calling us to love is much bigger than our “Christian” worldview.
Never consider unclean what God has made pure.
How do we know how God is choosing to work? How do we know through whom God is choosing to do miracles?
Is God really limited by what we think of as being the Church, as being holy?
This limited “Christian” worldview is why I get so annoyed by our preference of “Christian” businesses and “Christian” music and “Christian” events. It’s shocking how often those “Christian” things are embedded with practices that are contrary to God’s economy and Jesus’ command:
Love each other.
When Peter went to the Centurion’s house, he had a very specific experience that led the Jerusalem church into serious questioning.
But I am convinced, and I testify to you today, that Peter’s experience was not a one-off thing. The Holy Spirit had something much bigger in mind.
The experience at Cornelius’ house is a conversion not only for Cornelius, but also for Peter.
Cornelius needed to accept Christ’s sovereignty. He needed to understand and know Jesus as Lord.
Peter needed to accept Christ as Savior of all people. He needed to become the messenger of the good news to a broader world.
I really am learning that God doesn’t show partiality to one group of people over another. Rather, in every nation, whoever worships him and does what is right is acceptable to him. This is the message of peace he sent to the Israelites by proclaiming the good news through Jesus Christ: He is Lord of all!
Lord of all.
All.
This singular event in Peter’s life sets in motion something that the Church still strives against today, I think to God’s great dismay.
We don’t make the rules.
It is God who breaks the rules.
Our rules only get in the way of God’s grace. Our rules only get us in trouble. When we believe that God can only work in certain places, through certain people, that God only calls certain things holy, we set ourselves up for a world of hurt. Frankly, we set ourselves up for a world of judgment, because we could never hope to live up to the standards we set for ourselves.
Instead, God is telling us today:
Never consider unclean what God has made pure.
It’s a hard lesson, and one you will not hear on your Sunday morning broadcasts. Most of the Church wants you to follow the rules and hold on to tradition.
But that’s not Jesus, y’all.
God’s Spirit is breaking the rules, a great maelstrom blowing down our towers and our magnificent theological edifices, but a gentle cooling breath whispering hope and peace to lonely souls who have often been rejected by God’s own people.
Peter’s confession is key, folks.
If God gave [the centurion’s household] the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, then who am I? Could I stand in God’s way?
Friends, the world is changing. The Word of Creation isn’t changing, but it’s being revealed in ways we haven’t seen before. Hardened hearts are being softened. New people are hearing the grace of God. New winds are carrying God’s Spirit in directions the traditional Church never imagined.
It’s time to ask ourselves, as God reveals so much beauty around us, as the Kingdom breaks in through new people, in new ways:
Could I stand in God’s way?
My prayer, friends, is that your answer is “no”.
Because then, your answer to Jesus is “yes”.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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